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It seems like it was only yesterday we where scratching our heads trying to figure out the correct moment to switch sides on our Famicom Disk System "Metroid" copy, released in Japan on 6th August 1986. We gladly suffer trough the loading times in exchange for better music thanks to the extra hardware on the FDS unit; of course because the passwords in the western cartridge versions were also a nightmare, we'll take save slots any day. Three decades have passed by, with Samus Aran always a big part of pushing new Nintendo hardware and delighting fans worldwide while saving the galaxy over and over. But while we wait for Federation Force to deploy soon, perhaps we should take a look elsewhere to scratch our Metroid hunting itch.

Project AM2R (which stands for "Another Metroid 2 Remake") has been a labour of love for many years, with steady updates and playable demos and even a switch in game engine half way through development. The end result has finally been released over on the project page, with version 1.0 available for free right now.

You can check out a few minutes of early gameplay in this video clip below. Hint: if you're a fan of both Metroid II: Return of Samus and Metroid Zero Mission, prepare to be very, very happy indeed.

A dream of many fans has finally been accomplished: the old Game Boy classic has been injected with the best features of Super Nintendo's Super Metroid and both Game Boy Advance titles, making this 2016 remake something very special indeed.

The true test will come soon, with something much scarier than having a real Metroid latched on to you: Nintendo's legal department. Will the big N embrace this tremendous effort from a fan and maybe even help it get converted and sold on the eShop (we are sure people would gladly pay money for this), or will there be a Cease & Desist letter being typed up as we speak?

Whatever the future of AM2R holds, at least for now you can blissfully play it on your Windows PC and enjoy the fantastic remixed soundtrack just by simply downloading the game; the audio files are easily accessible from the game's parent folder. What an excellent way to celebrate the big 30.