The Island of Forgotten Games: Metal Storm

This column was originally published August 21, 2008 on Destructoid.com.



There are those games that defined a generation. Mention Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy or Metal Gear Solid and any gamer worth his salt will know what you're talking about. There are also the titles that are so horrendous, so three week old carton of milk bad, that any gamer will cringe at the mere mention of a title like Shaq-Fu, Bebe's Kids, or Deadly Towers.

But what about the games that are neither? What about the titles that may have been good games, even great ones, but due to unseen circumstances never caught on like they should have, resulting in full bargain bins around the country? This is the column for them: The Island of Forgotten Games.

Metal Storm. Quite possibly one of the best games Irem has ever made. What if you took the action gameplay of Contra, mixed with the shooter hell of Irem's R-Type series, then threw some anti-gravity boots into the blender? Metal Storm would be what came out. I think I'll leave it up to the back of the box description to summarize this particular gem:

"Battle Station Cyberg's massive computer that keeps throughout the solar system is no longer user friendly. It's gone wildly out of control. The LaserGun it operates has already destroyed Neptune. Earth is its next target.

As a high-tech hot shot, you must enter Cyberg's core and activate the system's self-destruct mechanism. Mankind is relying on your know-how and toughness to see this thing through. But time is running out...

Oh yes, one more thing. The powers of your "Gravity Flip" Suit are essential for a successful outcome to this mission. The Suit empowers you to proceed both upside down and rightside up as you dash to put this computer permanently "On the blink."'

And yes, that pretty much describes the awesomeness that is in store for the player.

As the description entails, the big part of this game that makes it fresh and stand out from the crowd of NES action games is the gravity mechanic. Considering this is the NES we're talking about, this must have been a programming miracle. The gravity-flipping mechanic is so unique, it's still impressive almost 20 years later.

Plus, this game is hard, I mean REALLY hard. Considering this was made by the same team that made the original R-Type, that should be no surprise, but then factor in that with the gravity mechanic, this game just became doubly hard, forcing you to make split second decisions about your movement either upside or rightside up. If you make the wrong choice, you're toast. The first one or two levels are balanced enough to get the hang of the gravity switching, but it gets hard fast. Only the committed should bother with Metal Storm.

Graphically and sonically, the game is actually really nice still, opting for a complex Japanese mech look for the game. Most of the mech designs actually reminded me a lot of anime like Macross and Robotech. And the bosses in this game are huge walking, rotating jumbles of pipes and gyros, and most of these bosses also force you to use your gravity powers to the best of your advantage.Special mention must be made of the explosion effects in the game, which are very nicely animated and still stand out today.

Why didn't it catch on?:

I have my own theories, the biggest of which being that Super Mario Bros. 3 came out only a few months earlier than Metal Storm, basically stealing any and all hype on the NES for the next few months. Metal Storm probably just got lost in the post-SMB 3 hype like many of the underrated classics of the NES (which will be discussed in future columns.)

Second of all, the gravity mechanic, while very cool, is hard to communicate through descriptions and screen-shots of the game, it's one of those ideas which needs to be seen to be understood. By not seeing the major selling-point of the game, most consumers wrote it off as another standard action game that the NES was pumping out its entire lifetime.

Metal Storm was a game that was definitely ahead of it's time to the point that many of it's time didn't get it, and unfortunately is not seen as one of the all-time classics of the NES era because of it. Used copies of the game regularly go for five to ten dollars on used game sites, so do yourself a favor and pick up a copy so Metal Storm will be unknown no longer!

-Zach McCue