Trivia / Another Metroid 2 Remake

• Approval of God: Sort of. Sakamoto was aware of the existence of this game while Nintendo was developing Metroid: Samus Returns thanks to a really long development cycle. "We heard about it first after we had already started development," Sakamoto told Jason. "We know it exists, the fact that a fan is out there and really likes the series this much." Goes in reverse too. Milton Guasti had nothing but praise for Samus Returns when it was announced.
• Artist Disillusionment: Guasti has grown frustrated with fans who boycott Metroid: Samus Returns, as them doing so goes completely against what the intention of AM2R is: to show the passion of Metroid fans and to support the franchise as a whole. Boycotting an official Metroid game has the exact opposite effect, and he never wanted that.
• Doing It for the Art: This thing spent TEN YEARS in development, and during this time developer Milton Guasti refused to accept donations to work on it.
• In Memoriam: At the end of the credits, "In memory of Satoru Iwata".
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Or .zip files in this case. Nintendo shut down all three official download mirrors less than two days after the release, meaning that the only way to find the game now is through e-mail or other direct file sharing.
• Permanent Placeholder: The FAQ stated they don't plan on keeping "AM2R" for the final version, but come the final version and it is still the same name.
• Outdated by Canon: Due to the original Metroid II being monochrome, fans disagreed prior to Samus Returns as to whether the "dangerous liquid" keeping Samus from progressing until all the Metroids in the area are dead is magma or some type of poison/acid. AM2R went with the former, but Metroid: Samus Returns depicts the liquid as toxic and purple.
• Promoted Fanboy: Milton Guasti is also a fan of Ori and the Blind Forest, an indie Metroidvania title by Moon Studios. About a year later since AM2R's release, the CEO of Moon Studios reached for Guasti as a potential candidate for a level designer for its sequel, and some time later, he was eventually given the position for the job.
• Screwed by the Lawyers: The finished game had been out for little more than a day before Metroid Database, one of the websites that hosted it, was hit by a DMCA takedown notice by Nintendo, and about a day later, most of the other download links were taken down. It was implied by Reggie Fils-Aime that AM2R only got the axe in order to protect the profits that Metroid: Samus Returns would have brought in. However, on a brighter note, at this point the beast is already loose, and it's very likely that Nintendo will be unable to completely erase it from the Internet now.
• Streisand Effect: Because it was widely anticipated that Nintendo would issue a DMCA notice, many fans made sure to download the game as soon as it came out and then Keep Circulating the Tapes once the download links were taken down. The game being suddenly removed from the nominees at the Video Game Awards, which is sponsored by Nintendo, only helped amplify this.
• Urban Legend of Zelda: The locked warp pipe in the Distribution Center sparked a rumor that the other end of it was hidden behind some wall at the end of the game and that taking the baby Metroid to a certain place would enable the player to access a secret level.
• What Could Have Been: AM2R was planned to have additional content and updates before Guasti received a personal DMCA notice. Many of these were unofficially implemented by the 1.4 fan patch.
  • The cancelled 1.2 update would have included improvements to the soundtrack and improved language support.
  • A forum thread revealed several potential additions to flesh out the story and integrate it into the rest of the Metroid universe, including:
    • A New Game Plus mode allowing the Metroids to be killed in any order of the player's choosing, making the game more similar to the exploration-based Metroid titles.
    • Additional weapons and beam combinations, likely based on those of the Prime games.
    • Several additional log entries about Metroid biology and how they don't move past the larval stage off-planet due to their bodies relegating energy towards adaptation rather than growth.
    • The reveal that the strange crystals blocking the exit of the Metroid nest are actually petrified X Parasites brought in to feed infant Metroids, and with their predators dead, they begin to revitalize.

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