Metroid is 30 years old as of August 6, and in the absence of any official Nintendo celebratory release (unless Federation Force turns out to be excellent), this Metroid 2 fan remake is worth a look.

The game, titled Project AM2R and now available as a free download (on Windows systems at least), takes Samus Aran's Game Boy adventure and updates it with Game Boy Advance-worthy assets.

The remake is modeled after Metroid: Zero Mission, the GBA remake of the original Metroid. It features:

  • Metroid Zero Mission style gameplay
  • Map system
  • Updated enemy AI
  • Minibosses
  • New areas
  • Challenging Metroid
  • Stackable beam system
  • Completely redrawn enemy and Metroid sprites
  • Log system with non-intrusive narrative
  • High quality soundtrack

Project AM2R is in no way licensed or endorsed by Nintendo, and there's every possibility that their lawyers will send the developers a cease-and-desist, especially since the original game is still available for purchase on the 3DS' Virtual Console.

EDIT: In fact, Nintendo is already sending out cease-and-desist notifications to some sites hosting the file:

Friends: Nintendo has hit us (meaning, our website host) with a DMCA takedown notice. We can no longer host the AM2R file. Sorry!

— Metroid Database (@MetroidDatabase) August 7, 2016

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With this in mind, it might be better to grab this sooner rather than later.