pretty basic, tons of plotholes and bad writing choices, but i’m not gonna lie it was fun as hell. it’s definitely one you pick up as a joke, but i was surprised at the amount of times the game got me to laugh on its own terms, even if it didn’t outweigh laughing at the stilted animations or awkward dialogue. and don’t get me wrong, there is genuine merit in here too; great care is put into representing the game it’s adapting (even if it’s not always on the mark completely), there are some truly compelling characters that have mostly consistent arcs through their screentime, and there’s even a few difficult, thought-provoking choices that justify the choice of genre. it won’t blow you away, but if you played this as a kid, you must’ve had a good time.

as someone who genuinely likes modded FNF gameplay and has a sort of spectator-sport type interest in creepypasta, this project’s release, popularity, and cancellation feels like it was a Pandora’s Box that can never be closed, and that makes actually analyzing the game itself sort of difficult. what i know for sure is: it’s stuck with me since its first version, Triple Trouble’s chart is somehow still fun to replay, i’ll never get Endless out of my head, Starved is honestly the best horror Sonic content out there and Fight or Flight can still give me chills; and despite its shortcomings and the many questionable or outright bad people who worked on it, this thing has inspired incredible art and introduced thousands to creators they otherwise wouldn’t have ever considered. so idk i think it’s at least okay

for such an oddball game as Metroid 2, this remake absolutely succeeds at preserving the original’s charm while making it generally more fun and polished. what’s really admirable, though, is how AM2R still has an identity all its own. the graphical shaders, sprites, music, and all-around vibe find themselves rooted in the GBA Metroid titles but ultimately leaning towards something more like Terraria, an angle that you’d likely never get from an official Nintendo product. Metroid Prime-style logs are added, slotting the game into the existing lore of the series even better, there are tons of options from difficulty to aesthetic, endings have several unique pieces of art depending on your performance like the GBA games before them… in terms of flaws, yes, it does introduce some slightly irritating darkness sections and Metroid fights can become repetitive as in the Game Boy game, but it really is such a meticulously crafted fan work, and one that deserves to be celebrated.