A remake of Metroid II for the 3DS was an unexpected delight when it was announced in 2017. The last 2D Metroid game, Metroid Fusion, had come out 15 years prior. This would also be the first 2D entry with 3D graphics and the first title to come on a system with more than 4 buttons since Super Metroid 23 years prior.
In this remake, the structure of the game is the same: progress to an area, kill the metroids that are there, move to the next area. The metroids become more difficult as the game progresses with the game culminating with a fight against the Queen Metroid.
Samus Returns adds many more items and powers that were not available in the original Metroid II. Super missiles, power bombs, etc but also a set of “Aeion” abilities that use a special gauge that recharges by collecting drops from enemies. These abilities allow Samus to scan the area for breakable blocks, put up a defensive shield, supercharge her arm cannon, or slow down time. All of these additions also necessitate many changes to the map, which just retains its high-level structure.
The game has also added a counter attack move. Most enemies have special attacks that can be countered, which will put them in a vulnerable state where one shot from Samus’ cannon will kill them. The metroids and other bosses can be countered as well, though it just makes them more vulnerable and not able to be instantly killed. This ability is really fun, especially during bosses, but the regular enemies have had their health increased substantially to compensate for and incentivize this move, which leads to a stand-still-and-wait-to-counter playstyle that slows down the game substantially.
Enemies have been made more complex,the metroids have been made more interesting to fight, including having moves that can be countered, and two new bosses have also been added to the game, to flesh out the experience. The big boss fights, Diggernaut, Metroid Queen, and Ridley, are incredibly fun as are the metroid fights the first few times you fight each variant. The metroids do become a bit stale after you’ve fought them a few times (I’m looking at you alpha and gamma metroids).
Overall, it’s a very fun game and mechanically the best entry in the series. I’d easily play it over the original. The things that I would like to see different would be more fast-paced action, less repetition in the enemies, and a more exploratory playstyle, most of which already seems like is going to be addressed in the upcoming Metroid Dread that’s being made by the same team. I’m really interested to see how AM2R: Another Metroid II Remake, a fan game, reinterprets Metroid II before I head off into playing the Prime series.
