I took a long break from 2D Metroid after beating Dread, and I want to replay the 5 mainline titles again, but I've been waiting for Zero Mission to get on NSO so I can use the rewind if needed to get all the best speedrun times needed to get every image reward in the game. So while I waited around for Nintendo to stop twiddling their thumbs on stupidly slow GBA game re-releases, I decided to play AM2R finally as I'd heard many good things about it.

I think the game from a technological standpoint of non-Nintendo devs is incredible! The sprite work is really top notch for the environments and it looks very beautiful, though I do feel like the Metroids themselves have a very uncanny valley look to them. I wish they would've based their designs more off the Metroid 2 manual than the chunky archaic GameBoy sprites specifically. Still, the hard work the creators put into this to make the game look as good as it is should not be undercut all the same, I really appreciate it.

The gameplay is also pretty great too. It's very much taking a lot of cues from Zero Mission and succeeds very well there, I do like the snappy pacing of the gameplay and combat as I did in ZM. The hidden items and power up progression are typical Metroid fare as you'd expect, pretty well designed and fun to seek out.

However, now we get to the story... and I have to be brutally honest, I don't really like the way they tackled it. I will preface this saying that there wasn't a lot else the dev team could try to do story wise given the limited context of the original game and how little they had to work with, but even so, compared to Samus Returns, the official remake's take, I find this one lacking honestly.

For starters, I get that they wanted to break up the monotony of the gameplay loop of doing the same 4 types of boss fights for 90% of the game, and so they took a Zero Mission approach of adding a ton of new bosses and trying to tie it into the lore. However, I think it doesn't really fit here in this game, at all. In any other Metroid game, it would, definitely. But not here specifically.

See, the whole point of the original game's story is Samus goes on a genocide quest that is later proven in the series to have been the wrong decision that screws over Samus multiple times and nearly jeopardizes the entire universe because she killed the X-Parasite's natural predator. The whole monotony of the original game's quest and how the atmosphere being so haunting, forboding, and isolationist was placed there to show and prove that you were doing a very bad thing. Samus Returns, while adding 2 new bosses still maintains that same sentiment, as the retained monotony of the quest and how much they really show in their cinematic cutscenes the pure pain and suffering of these living creatures as they die from Samus's attacks really do carry over that same impact from the original game. Meanwhile that AM2R completely erases that in the service of making the statement, "Oooo, look at Samus! She's so cool and badass fighting off all these powerful machines and robots!" It completely loses the message the original game and official remake went for, as it wasn't supposed to be inherently fun systematically destroying an entire race one member of the species at a time. It's a grueling, taxing endeavor that wears away at one's soul should they have a heart, which Samus is shown in many of the games to be very compassionate, such as when she saved the Etecoon and Dachora at the end of Super despite the fact it nearly got her killed. The fact she spares the baby at all is a sign of the regret of doing what she had to, and that she probably wishes things could've been different.

Speaking of, I also was very disappointed with the end where Samus finds the baby being too 1:1 with Super's prologue, where it doesn't show anything about her hesitation to kill the baby due to limitations of the time the game was made. Samus Returns fixes that and shows her regret, as well as further builds up her bond with the baby through their fight with Ridley which pays off hard in Super. But here in AM2R they just don't bother to do anything with it even though they easily could've. Of all the places to take a liberty with reimagining the original game, they chose not to here when it really would've benefitted the game story wise. Bad move.

Anyway, long story short, these added boss fights just make the game seem like another usual bounty hunt Samus goes on to stop some great evil and look cool doing it, when the story of the game really isn't that at all. Narratively I just feel like AM2R misses the mark on nailing what the point of the game story wise really was in the first place, and I don't like that.

I also don't really like how said new bosses tie into the lore of SR388 either. By the time AM2R was made it was known that the Chozo were the ones who populated the planet and made the Metroids there in general Metroid lore, but the lore makes them seem like this more normal colony alien race and such than the highly advanced, prosperous, and far beyond "menial race squabbles" they're known for being. It doesn't fit them at all, the lore logs make it sound like some other alien race colonized SR388 before the Metroids populated it. It feels like something Metroid Prime would do rather than what 2D Metroid would in terms of characterizing the Chozo and their history and civilization.

The music is good enough, I will say it's better than Dread's soundtrack, but that's the lowest bar in the series so... I don't really think the OST really stands out when compared to Zero Mission or Super though.

Overall I think the game is a solid fan-game, but misses the mark narratively on what this game is supposed to signify in Samus's journey, and the way said changes are tied to the gameplay also hold much less weight as a result and don't really fit. They took me out of the experience personally, and I'm probably going to be one of the only people who will say Samus Returns is a better game and die on that hill. I also just prefer how Samus Returns was a beta-Dread and had a lot of cool stuff like the new lore connections that flesh out the Chozo in-character, the cinematic cutscenes, and stuff like the counter and more precise aiming. It all fits the Metroid world and lore so much better, and adds to Samus's character and her bond with the baby all the better too.

I respect this game and am glad it came out at a time when the Metroid community was in dire need of something when Nintendo forced Metroid into a dormant state, but it's not a game I plan to ever return to. I am glad I checked it out and judged it on its own merits though.

Final playtime: 7 hours, 0 minutes, 9 seconds.
Item Collection: 84%.

Metroid 2, But Buffed to the Max.

That's where things starting to get Interesting.

I haven't played the original one nor the 3ds one, so It's hard for me to judge fairly of this game on it's own. But if I passed that and look at it with my own feelings I would say you will find a valuable journey here that still worth experiencing.

If I summarize shortly of this game's background story of it is... It's a fan remake of metroid 2 and just like Metroid Zero Mission, aims to remake the game with super and fusion's powers included inside.

And it does this better than Zero Mission ten fold.... Mostly.

Before getting into why of that, I want to explain why I choose to play this one rather than og or the 3ds one. That's because it looked the most captivating to me compared to the others. I have a thing for beatiful pixel art and this game just gives you more and more setpieces.

I can't give my general thoughts at other remake or the og but I can say this, sometimes doing a big game on the underpowered and black and white console with ending up looking incomprehensible(at least to me) or having the same game on a more powered but a bland cliche 3d art direction(for me) was enough to getting put off playing it and choose to go on the 3rd party different fan solution. Tbh I had a nice experience so I don't have any sadness choosing this route. But I wouldn't be against to anyone prefering other routes.

Back to the topic on hand, why I said I had more fun time than Zero Mission? That's because this game uses it's power ups and tools to the Max. You have to:
Be careful, Be agile, Be observant.

Because your journey is even more dangerous even more complicated than ever before, be it strong bosses (that can kill you in 5 seconds), be it traps, be it special moments deep in the metroid areas/zones.

While making the adventure more dangerous was enough to make it enjoyable, this game also have one thing more. Setpiece moments that intertwined with the zones itself to pull you into it's atmosphere more.

Without getting into details, imagine that there is a zone that you need to use power cells to start ancient powered special robots, imagine that there is a zone with a nuke ready to explode in it or even a place that your powers does not work or even more and more.

While this setpieces itself isn't something super unique, what makes them great is making the metroid zones like earth, ice, fire feel even more unique and manages to give you their atmosphere to you ten fold with it and greatly pull you into it's atmosphere.

So, because of that I had lots of fun with the journey, It was enough to make awesome. It really felt like a "Adventure". But unfortunately I had some gripes with the game, I assume most of the faults I will say here comes with the premise of original but I find them a little bit dissappointing nonetheless.

This game's premise is, obliterating Metroids. ALL OF THEM. While it's premise does not look bad, there is one caveat to this. You are required to kill all of Metroids in an area to be able to move forward because killing Metroids somehow destroy the lava that stops you from going to the next area. Because of this, everytime you find the necessary power up to move forward feels a bit less satisfactory when you know in the end of the day, you have to find Metroids to kill and "then" you can move on. Also killing all those Metroids however different variations there are, still becomes kinda monotonous and boring at the end.

Also this gatekeeping kinda results with game to end up a bit linear and less Metroidvania. It's not as bad as the situation of the Fusion but it still kinda is. You can choose to tackle which order of Metroid to get of course, but still... Every area/zone isn't, with getting seperated with the main cave road with lava seperating it from your area. So only way to go forward is, you descend to next area kill metroids, go to the main cave and descend again to the next area...

Also when I say descend, you really "descend". So, going back to previous zone requires you to use same way to "ascend". There is no shorcuts to go between areas like Super or even the original one. It's not required for main game and you can negate this a little bit with a teleport room you find in the end of the game but I got full completion in this game so I can say this, it's really not fun when you want to "complete" with going all the way to back.

But while I didn't find it a great metroidvania, I find it a great Adventure so I still left with lots of enjoyment. Also it's good balance of power and difficulty made it more rememberable as a result. Maybe it's not that great when it comes to exploration as much as Super. But when it comes to Surprise, That's what you will find tons of here with lots of engaging moments.

Pushed on by beating Sonic 1 SMS Remake, I was itching to try another 2D game on the Retroid Pocket and discovered this famous fan remake of Metroid II had gotten an Android port at some point. I've actually played this one a couple times, but I'd never beaten it. I even got to the final boss but gave up after dying since I hadn't saved in a while and couldn't be bothered redoing all of that.

I was more cautious this time around, making sure to go back and save after any particularly challenging scrapes against the many Metroids you're meant to hunt down and kill. This remake sticks with the more linear structure of the original Metroid II, but adds in abilities and powers from later games and massively expands on the temples to make them feel more unique. It's a very impressive fan game, one that's since been held alongside the main titles in how effectively it pulls off the Metroid style mechanically and tonally.

Still, while I enjoyed myself a good bit, I don't really plan on giving this a revisit. I found it quite challenging, even on the easiest difficulty, and the overall linearity means there isn't anything out of the ordinary I can try to keep things interesting (I'm certainly not skilled or knowledgeable enough to pull off any sequence breaks). That's fine, though. Sometimes you only fancy playing through a game once, whether that's only once in a while or once in general, and this is a good time if you're into Metroid no matter what.

AM2R feels like the classic Metroid formula perfected. From the controls to the physics, the level design, and the powerups. It all feels so sharp to control and so good to play. The Hydro Station area might be my favorite area in any Metroid game. From the music to its non-linearity, the many upgrades you can collect, and the fun updated fight against Arachnus. It feels like peak Metroid. The lore entrees make SR388 feel just like Tallon IV, with its own story to tell and secrets to unfold. AM2R really makes SR388 make sense. The moment-to-moment gameplay is excellent, and there is rarely a dull moment.

The visuals of AM2R are a treat for the eyes. The detailed backgrounds, the impressive spritework, and the subtle details like the green trail of the morph ball and its turning animation, all contribute to the game's visual appeal. However, the sprite rotation and the stock explosion effects can be a bit jarring, giving the game a 'game maker' feel.

The game has issues that mainly deal with Metroid 2 as its base. The Metroid fights are repetitious while also being annoying. The hitboxes feel too small and are good at hiding their weak spots. But they don't deal that much damage, so it amounts to these fights feeling like they should be over halfway through. The weird backtracking with finding the researchers feels clunky, and I wish it was just the next cave down. By the end, the level design sometimes gets too complex for its own good, but that doesn't diminish how cool the concepts this game introduces are.

AM2R is also one of the more accessible Metroid games. While ZM is easier, I only died 4 times in AM2R, and 2 of those were me accidentally entering a boss with half health. In ZM, I died more, primarily due to not collecting the Varia suit until near the end of the game. Despite being easy on normal, the bosses all feel very fun to fight and sufficiently challenging. The weapon tester robot feels too much like a Tohou game, but all of the non-Metroid fights in this game are welcome inclusions. Plus, most of the expansions can be found without backtracking later. I got 89% of the items, which is much higher than any other Metroid game I have played. The 11% I didn't get mainly were shinespark puzzles; my lord, this game loves its shinespark puzzles. After you get it, almost every expansion requires it, and I wish some of the other upgrades were used more. It would have been nice if this game had introduced some new powerups so that it felt different gameplay-wise to Zero Mission. However, that is most of the appeal of AM2R; it plays just like Zero Mission except even better. And at that, it succeeded.

Overall, AM2R is a fantastic remake of Metroid 2, and I highly recommend playing it if you haven't already. It is so polished and a blast to play.