Development blog and archive for the Fan Made Metroid 2 Remake.
Today is a very special day. A day where several events that changed the course of my life happened. Not all of them at the same time, or in the same year, but around August 8. Let 's see… 40 Years Ago - Metroid was released Happy Birthday Samus!!! When Metroid was released, I was a 6 year old kid that loved to play Wonder Boy, Bubble Bobble, and occasionally Out Run. Visiting the Arcade was pure…
Happy 38th birthday, Metroid ! Happy 8th birthday, AM2R ! It's anniversary day, and this year was truly special. Since the last blog post, two of the projects I worked on were released. No Rest for the Wicked is an isometric souls-like with beautifully crafted environments, rewarding exploration and lots of verticality. Being able to finally share what I've been working on at Moon Studios is super…
It is time. It's the big anniversary party! Happy 37th birthday, Metroid ! Happy 7th birthday, AM2R ! Happy 2nd birthday, Skippy ! To celebrate, I just released another huge update for Skippy the Bot. New mechanics, a new environment and the challenge of 10 brand new levels await you. 30 memorable, hand crafted levels in total New mechanics and set pieces Performance optimizations and various…
Today is a special day. Metroid , a game franchise from which I learned a lot about game design, was released 36 years ago. AM2R , my personal 10 year project from which I also learned a lot, was released 6 years ago. Skippy the Bot , the most popular of my little games on Itch, is now 1 year old. I'm still working full time as a game designer, and there's a lot I'd like to show you. Don't worry,…
Today is Metroid's 35th Anniversary! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMUS! It also happens to be the 5th anniversary of AM2R being released. To celebrate, let me share a (non copyright infringing) story in this universe with you: PLAY IT HERE AM2R is 5 years old as of right now. Seeing people recommend AM2R as a way to experience Metroid 2 in anticipation for Dread is really humbling. I'm very grateful for all of…
A new story...
After many years, I finally invested again in portable gaming. I bought a new 3DS XL, just in time to play Samus Returns. I don't have any means to record 3DS footage, so I took notes instead. Every time something interesting happened, I paused the game and wrote down my thoughts. This might look a bit random and unpolished, but they're pretty much my honest reactions to key moments in the game.…
Looks like I had to announce it earlier than anticipated. :-) Some time ago, the CEO of Moon Studios (creators of Ori and the Blind Forest) reached out with an offer. They needed a level designer for their upcoming sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and I was a potential candidate for the job. I gladly accepted the offer. Ori is one of the many games I was able to enjoy lately. One can see the…
Wow... a whole year passed since the release of AM2R, and 31 years since the release of the original Metroid. Time flies by, and a lot happens in the meantime. AM2R was very well received. People from all over the world played and enjoyed it. Even with the inevitable legal issues, I keep hearing people calling it a real Metroid game. And that's amazing. So, what's been going on this year? Everyone…
After a lot of careful deliberation and internal squabbling, we are excited to finally announce Another Sonic 2 Remake! The blue blur has returned for his second adventure again! Sonic 2 was special to many people, and we have a soft spot for the second part of a bangin’ series. We are using all of our development and production experience to craft a rad remake of an awesome game. Now, our…
Here's an album I compiled, with music that ended up in AM2R, and some tracks that didn't make it into the game. I remastered every track, and some songs sound a lot better with minor changes. These tracks were going to be a part of the 1.2 update, but now you can enjoy them. SoundCloud MP3 - MediaFire - Mega FLAC - MediaFire - Mega Also, it includes a bonus track from Falcool, the awesome…
Nintendo of America, Inc. has filed a takedown request under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). I received the request on my personal email, so I'm complying with their requests. There will be no more AM2R updates, and no more releases under any platform. Thank you for the support during all these years.
As you may know already, AM2R received DMCA notices in all the download hosts, and some parts of this blog. So far, no C&D letter was received. This project began a long time ago, while I was actually trying to learn the programming side of Game Maker. Instead of moving on with something else, when I learned a better way of doing something, I reiterated and improved the old code. Eventually, I…
I know we'll make it in time. See you then. EDIT : Project AM2R now has its own Twitter Account . Stay up to date with the latest news, anticipating the release. Countdown Clock
As always, every time a new boss is added to the game, it ends up being too difficult for the average player after some playtesting. The Queen was no exception, even if she's not completely finished. So, I'm taking some extra time to balance her, including how the attack types are distributed, and how the player can replenish resources during the fight. Besides that, there was an overall revision…
Music production is, for the most part, done. There's just a couple songs left to polish, likely to be finihsed during the week. Now the production is being focused on the Metroid Queen. It's proving to be a very interesting process. I was able to make a nice looking animation cycle for its legs, using the knowledge I gained while developing the other Metroids. It doesn't look as static and…
This year's April project was a lot of fun. It took a couple months worth of lunch breaks to write the script. At first, it was going to be a complete text adventure, with room structure, inventory and events. But it was going to be pretty complex to produce, way too much time for a side project. Anyways, as for the progress of these couple weeks: Music production continues. Creating the right…
After some headaches with the screen resize code, I was able to successfully build AMTA as an HTML5 app. I also fixed some typos and grammar issues, and added a way to speed up the text. This makes replaying the game much easier and faster. The next feature should be to make the entire script read from a text file, allowing easy customization and expansion of the story, for people who enjoy…
I started the last stretch of music production. Music is something I usually leave behind priority wise, compared to other duties. The later parts of the game have the coolest songs in the original, it'll be a nice challenge to remake those songs and keep the tense atmosphere. Also, I received help from a very talented composer for the original Area 5 song. Composing over Skype was a pretty…
Here are the screenshots I promised. Right before the main facility of area 5, Moheeks are pretty deadly underwater. The water effects were redone, the blue tint is a lot less intrusive than before. The upper part of area 5 isn't flooded. So it looks and plays like a traditional area. The caves right before the final area. This is the first normal metroid you encounter in the game. Please bear in…
Right now I'm enjoying my yearly week of summer vacations. Unlike on my daily routine, I'm able to get some rest, and sleep like an actual human being. The downside, is that I have limited internet connectivity where I'm staying. After enjoying the beach with my family, I get some time to spend on the project. And without internet (and cat videos), I was able to finally sit down and learn proper…
I was supposed to write this post a couple days ago, but preparations for the holidays took a bit more work than expected. So, I wish you had a great celebration last night, and I hope 2016 will be a year with awesome Metroid game releases. I'm pretty sure AM2R will be one of them. Have a great new year with your loved ones. Happy holidays!
A couple weeks ago, the testing phase began for Area 5. During the process, a lot already changed. Many rooms were improved with extra tile work, access to certain areas and the overall flow of the entire place was revised. There was a fair amount of new bugs, caused by the new mechanics developed for the area, and they're being fixed as soon as they are discovered. Every time I introduce a boss…
AM2R is currently split into multiple projects. Besides the main game, there are features that are being developed in reduced versions of the engine, for faster compiling. One of those had a lot of steady progress lately, and it's very close to be fully implemented in the game: Localization support . Translating Confrontation to multiple languages was quite a challenge, and the results were mostly…
While playing AM2R on the go sounds really cool in paper, I left the whole Android port for later. It's very likely that this port will work with bluetooth controllers only at first. Touch controls are a science that requires a lot of research and experimentation. Right now I prefer to spend the few hours of free time I have on completing the game. Progress was pretty steady this month. Area 5 is…