Metal Storm (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
212A playthrough of Irem's 1991 platforming shooter for the NES, Metal Storm.
This video shows me playing through both loops of the game for the "true" ending and credit roll. The second loop, the expert mode, begins at 19:34.
Metal Storm is perhaps one of the best NES games that never got its due, and despite its quality still today languishes in obscurity. Though it was published by the much celebrated Irem, was featured on the cover of Nintendo Power, and received positive reviews, it only got a limited print run with virtually no advertising, and was almost immediately forgotten upon release.
What a damn shame that is, because Metal Storm is one of the NES's best kept secrets. It's awesome.
You take control of the M-308, a giant mech that can control gravity, in order to destroy a laser defense system that's threatening to destroy Earth. What does that all mean for gameplay? Well, it means you'll be blowing a lot of stuff up. And robots. Lots of robots.
It's a platformer and a shooter, but its central gameplay mechanic - the gravity flip - is what really separates Metal Storm from its peers. And like games like Bionic Commando, a single inventive twist on the standard platformer formula is really what gives the game its identity.
At any time you can reverse gravity. You can freely walk on both the ceilings and the floors, and can use it to get across large pits, to find alternate routes, or to dodge incoming enemy fire, all with a simple press of Up+A. The gravity shift does, of course, also impact the enemies and obstacles in each area, so you have to be careful to not drop an enemy straight onto your own head, or to accidentally change the flow of a stream of fireballs right into your jumping path. This type of freedom might sound like a way of making the game too easy, but worry not. The level designs take full advantage of this mechanic, and they do a good job of making you consider your approach to different areas. There aren't many "safe" spots, and there's no avoiding of obstacles just by staying at the top of the screen. Danger is everywhere, no matter the route you take.
The difficulty level can be a bit deceptive at first. The game's first loop does a nice job of acclimating you to the controls and the mechanics without overwhelming you, but remember - this is an Irem game. Irem was not known for making easy games, and this one is no exception. By the time you get to stage two of the expert mode, you will be throwing controllers and screaming the worst four-letter words you can muster. It's usually quite fair in its challenge, but it becomes very demanding and forgives little in the second loop. Bullets, lasers, and solid objects will be flying at you from all directions nonstop, and the stressful pace makes for an extremely intense experience. I absolutely loved it for how hard it pushed me. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say its comparable to Ninja Gaiden in what it expects from you, and it is every bit as satisfying as NG was to conquer. If you don't have patience and don't want to practice again and again, this isn't the game for you. Unlimited continues do help ease the frustration a bit, though.
Supporting the gameplay is one of the more technically impressive presentations I've seen on the NES. Each stage features a fair amount of parallax scrolling, the sprites are generally quite large by NES standards, and sprite flicker and slowdown aren't generally major issues. The animation of your mech really takes the cake, though - the details in its movement are impressive, and when you die you're treated to one of the coolest explosion effects I've ever seen on the system. Remember the way Batman dissolved into a ball of fire shaped like a bat? The M-308's death animation is even cooler than that. Finally, though I can't say I was a big fan of the music, it's not bad. It's just not as notable as any other aspect of the game.
If you like hard NES action games, you can't go wrong with this one. Metal Storm sits right up there with the best well-known action classics on the machine. I highly recommend it.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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