I have two people to thank today.

First up, community member Haxan for writing a community blog about -- and thereby introducing me to -- a fan made remake of the underrated Metroid II: Return of Samus for the original Game Boy (seen in the video above). I never knew it existed and now I do.

Secondly, I’d like to thank the mysterious DoctorM64 for actually creating said remake and changing my life forever! Okay, that may be a little dramatic, but, I’m telling you, this game is turning out nice!

Hit the jump for more details on this epic looking update of the black and white greenish and gray classic. But, please, heed my warning and get a towel ready. You’re going to need it.

[Via Haxan’s cblog]

Most fan remakes of classic games look a little sloppy (sorry, they do!), but this updated Metroid II oozes hard work and polish. It looks just like Super Metroid with, dare I say it, even better graphics and smoother animation.

You don’t even have to take my word for it. Try it out yourself by checking out DoctorM64’s tech demo of the opening portion of the game. Trust me, you will not be disappointed. I would accuse myself of hyping it up, but I have been playing it over and over again for the last few hours so … yeah … I kind of like it.

True, a lot of the level layout may be different, but the core mechanics and weapon upgrades are still there. In fact, I may go so far as to say Doctor’s level design is even better than the original. He seems to have the whole Nintendo collect-an-item-and-use-its-powers-immediately thing down better than the big-N itself.

Oh, and don't worry, the final game is promised to be mapped to a regular controller. Admittedly, the keyboard makes shooting missiles and firing in different directions a tad awkward.

Even better, you really need to check out the creator’s blog about the whole game design process. Not only is it endlessly fascinating, it really makes you appreciate the hard work and painstaking details that go into making even the most basic of games. Who knew the seemingly simple concept of Samus’s morph ball bouncing once it hit the ground would take days upon days to perfect?

The game is not finished yet, but the early beta is very impressive. Since Metroid II is one of my favorite games in the series, I can’t wait until everything is complete and ready to go.

So, again, thank you Haxan and thank you DoctorM64. I tip my hat to both of you for making my day.

What do you think? Would you actually pay top dollar for this game like I would? And ... did that really just say "Prince of Persia sucks?" Huh?