The Retro Metroid Game You Forgot About Gets A Second Chance On Nintendo 3DS

Released on the original Game Boy in 1991, Metroid II: The Return of Samus was a sequel to the original NES classic from 1986. While it received generally favorable reviews at the time and went on to ship 1.7 Million copies, it's often forgotten about when compared to both its predecessor and its followup, Super Metroid, which is one of our favorite Super Nintendo games ever.

Despite building on the first game in many ways, Metroid II is often considered to be the weakest title in the series. This is largely due to the limitations of the Game Boy, as trying to explore a massive sprawling world on the system's tiny screen is something of a hard task, and its limited music capabilities make the soundtrack mildly annoying to listen to.

Still, the game has a dedicated fanbase. In particular, a fan project called Project AM2R: Another Metroid 2 Remake gained a lot of traction online over the last decade, as one programmer remade the game with all new art, assets, and gameplay elements. It was completed and released online in 2016 to overwhelmingly positive reviews, especially due to Nintendo having not made a game in the franchise for some time.

However, Nintendo was quick to issue the game's developer with a cease-and-desist notice, ensuring that the project could not be updated any further. Fans of Metroid were especially vexed by this, due to the aforementioned lack of new Metroid titles, as well as their lack of any explanation regarding their decision to halt the project.

It appears we now have our answer.

During their E3 Treehouse event, Nintendo unveiled Metroid: Samus Returns, a full-fledged remake of Metroid II for the Nintendo 3DS!

The game has been updated with 3D graphics, a remixed soundtrack, new special abilities, and even the ability for Samus to perform melee hits on enemies. It also allows players to pin the map to the lower screen of the 3DS, meaning they can always keep track of where they might need to go next.

Metroid: Samus Returns launches on Nintendo 3DS on September 15, 2017.

What do you think?

Check out other retro games making a comeback, like Sonic and Pokémon!