Another Metroid 2 Remake

I can at last say that I have played some version of every mainline Metroid game. I completed AM2R and my predominant thought is: What a ride!

First things first. AM2R looks a lot like Metroid: Zero Mission. A lot like Zero Mission.

Ahh, that's the stuff.

I played Zero Mission when I was fourteen years old and I consider it foundational to my adolescence. A new game in the style of Zero Mission is something I've wanted for half of my life. Almost everything works exactly how I remember it. The bomb jump timing, the shinespark, the cues that there's a hidden upgrade nearby, all of it. Some interesting differences include the addition of the Charge Beam's suction effect from Metroid Prime and the fact that you start with a few dozen missiles. You'll need those missiles because they're the only way to take out the Metroids you'll spend much of the game hunting. These aren't your standard "freeze 'em and blast 'em" Metroids, either. (Something the Federation marines learn far too late.) You'll need to repeatedly nail their constantly moving weak spots, and your beam weapons are useless. In particular, the Ice Beam is shunted out of the spotlight it enjoys in many Metroid games. The technique of freezing enemies and using them as platforms is totally absent from AM2R. You'll get the Space Jump relatively early, so that will be your most useful movement option. (Though there's a bit of a control issue when Space Jumping through screen transitions. I often gave up and used the Spider Ball instead.) Indeed, the Ice Beam doesn't make an appearance until near the end of your adventure, though you will get to enjoy the traditional tactics for dealing with Metroid hatchlings in the final area.

One of the advantages of fan-made games like this one is that you're likely to see just the right amount of fanservice, since there's no conflict between the developers and the fans. Here's an obvious homage to Super Metroid's title screen:

Is "retroactive foreshadowing" a thing?

Fortunately, the devs resisted the urge to give us a log entry where Samus says "I hope I never have to see this again," or something equally stupid. Suffice it to say that I am a fan and I was serviced. That's not to say there are no log entries, but these are done with appropriate restraint. The closest we get to a fourth-wall breaking joke is a marine who's misinformed as to Samus' gender.

Here's everything we know about the Kriken Empire.

Unlike other 2D Metroid games, the map is very nearly a single continuous space, and gaps for elevator shafts are rare. Following the original game, Samus progresses down a single shaft that branches out into more open areas for Metroid-hunting. There are several large cave areas with buildings inside, which I found refreshing in a series that otherwise leans towards the claustrophobic. At last, however, she will reach the Genetics Lab, the origin of all Metroids and the home of their queen. You can download a Chozo-written log entry that won't finish translating until the very end of the game. This seemed kind of dumb to me: the Chozo-made Power Suit can't quickly read Chozo writing? Be that as it may, the final showdown against the queen ends the way we all knew it was going to.

Your Majesty.

Now that Samus has exterminated the Metroids and restored the natural ecological balance of planet SR388, the stage is set for the return of the X parasites, which evidently will be expanded upon in the upcoming Metroid Dread. My body is ready.

There's more stuff for me to unlock, but I'm going to savor that process rather than do it all in one go.