Nintendo takes down Metroid 2 remake

Shock! A fan remake of 1991 Game Boy outing Metroid 2 has been forced offline by rights holder Nintendo.

Project AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake) arrived at the weekend after some six years of development. The release was designed to tie in with Metroid’s 30th anniversary, which oddly passed without fanfare from Nintendo itself. Virtually every facet of the game had been updated.

However, Nintendo issued the website hosting the game with a cease and desist order, unsurprisingly calling time on the venture.

Nintendo’s broad library of characters, products, and brands are enjoyed by people around the world, and we appreciate the passion of our fans,” Nintendo told Kotaku. But just as Nintendo respects the intellectual property rights of others, we must also protect our own characters, trademarks and other content.

The unapproved use of Nintendo’s intellectual property can weaken our ability to protect and preserve it, or to possibly use it for new projects.”

The maker himself has said that while the game has been taken down for now, he’s not bitter about the development.

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,” he said. "Eventually, I learned to program in C#. Now I’m making a living as a professional programmer thanks to what I learned developing a fan game. Technically speaking, I’m satisfied.

Please, don’t hate Nintendo for all of this. It’s their legal obligation to protect their IP. Instead of sending hate mail, get the original M2 from the eShop. Show them that 2D adventure platformers are still a thing people want.”