I gave a few column-inches to Metroid: Confrontation back in my second Fangame roundup article, but it has since gotten a couple of minor updates, and now a major one, so it gets another few words written about it.

For those who haven’t been keeping up, Metroid: Confrontation is part demo, part side-project for a much larger and more ambitious fangame known as Project AM2R – an attempt to completely remake/reimagine the much-maligned gameboy-only Metroid 2. Confrontation, rather than just being a regular demo, is a small (yet still a good hour+ long, at least) standalone adventure featuring a variety of environments, and a series of challenging boss fights against familiar villains from the series, as you can see in the (slightly spoilery) trailer below.

In this latest update, Confrontation has added a bunch of impressive new features that will apparently be making their full debut in AM2R later on. Among smaller updates like an achievement system, the game has now added a Hard mode that (much like the recent Super Meat Boy) reworks the levels to provide a challenge for even the most hardcore of players, throwing deadly traps and ruthless enemies at you right from the start. It adds a large degree of replay value and variety to what is, effectively, a large demo. Impressive stuff, and it’s so polished that it could easily pass for an official Nintendo release, if it weren’t free and on PC. It’s well worth a download, if you like platform games in the slightest.