RGR Game #017: Metal Storm

M-308 Gunner loves the Power Glove. It's so bad.
(Many thanks to Kari as always for this awesomeness!)

Don't forget your metal umbrella!

He should've looked up.

Happy New Year, and welcome to game #017: Metal Storm. This underrated little gem for the NES follows an unknown soldier on a mission to save Earth from a malfunctioning space battle station using a gravity-controlling suit of combat armor called the M-308 Storm Gunner. As a kid, I remember being blown away by the quality of the animation and the fluidity of the controls. Of course, being able to reverse gravity with a button press was pretty sweet too.

The story, according to the US manual for the game, is set in the year 2501, where mankind is at the mercy of Pluto's battle station Cyberg, which was originally built to protect humanity from hostile alien invasion. The station's powerful laser cannon ("LaserGun", according to the manual) has begun destroying entire planets in our solar system, most recently Neptune. Normally, it would be simple enough to activate Cyberg's self-destruct mechanism, but said mechanism has mysteriously jammed, and the station has selected Earth as its next target. So humanity's last hope lies with the M-308 Gunner and pilot as it fights through Cyberg's defenses, reaches the core, and activates the self-destruct mechanism manually.

The Japanese version differs in two ways: the year is 3521, and the battle station was actually constructed from Pluto itself (and was christened "Gigadeath" by its creators). If you want to nitpick, Gigadeath has become self-aware, and has decided the human race must be destroyed. Otherwise, though, the story is essentially the same, with the M-308 Gunner headed there to manually activate the self-destruct mechanism and all that.

Oh, what a feeling?

I've got this burning sensation...

This guy has no respect
for personal space.

That's a bit overdramatic.

As I mentioned before, the big draw of Metal Storm is its gravity control system, which allows the pilot to reverse gravity at the touch of a button. Specifically, pressing Up+A reverses gravity, and then Down+A reverts it to normal. This allows for some spectacular jumps, and also very creative level design. Stage one acts as a practice stage to let you get the hang of the controls, and the gravity. There are relatively few enemies, and they move slowly, though the walkers can be tricky if you forget that your gravity control affects them as well. Anything that isn't bolted down or already flying will rise or fall with you.

First Boss: Gorgoth

Gorgoth continues the gravity training exercises by having a single weak point in the form of a glowing purple dome that can appear in one of three places, only one of which is accessible from the floor. It periodically launches three purple rings at roughly 30-degree angles (I think), making them easy to avoid. It's entirely possible to destroy Gorgoth without reversing gravity, but it's not nearly as fun as standing on the ceiling to fire at the dome when it's protruding from one of the sides.

Cleans in hard-to-reach places!

Huh? I was there a frame ago...

Ooh, which path should I choose?

I sense danger.

You know what? I'm going for it.

Heh, no problem.

Ah, stage two. This is where things start getting interesting. The entire stage isn't very tall, but the whole thing loops vertically, giving the sensation of infinite depth. There are a few spike-lined platforms that you can only land on from above or below, depending on which side the spikes line. One section of the stage features gravity-controlled doors that you have to manipulate to progress, but the doors can kill you when they're in motion.

I should mention that the entire game features a neat little graphical trick that creates the illusion of multiple background layers. Each stage has a far background that is made of a simple tiled pattern, and that pattern is automatically redrawn every frame to make it look like a separate scrolling layer. It's really very impressive, especially when you consider the graphics hardware in the NES doesn't support multiple background layers at all.

Second Boss: Energizers

The Energizers are an array of five laser cannons, each of which fires a powerful beam at random. Their room, like the stage before it, loops vertically, making it difficult at first to understand how many cannons there actually are. Once one is destroyed, though, it becomes simple. The cannons fire quickly, but must open their armor shells to expose their cannon barrels before firing, giving you a chance to jump out of the way.

Jeez! A little more warning
next time, okay?

Looks like it doesn't keep going.

The background's much
awesomer in motion.

I'm a sniper-sniper.

Stage three is a supply line of some sort, with a track running through its entirety that is used by carts that appear every so often and make jumps a little trickier. There are more spikes in this stage than in the previous stage, so careful mastery of gravity is a must.

Third Boss: Gultzen

Gultzen's heavy armor protects it from all harm as it moves from panel to panel, trying to crush you. And if that weren't bad enough, slow-moving lasers make maneuvering difficult, giving you small windows in which to cross from one quadrant of the room to another. The only time Gultzen can be damaged is when it connects to a panel and opens its armor to look for you. So the battle turns into a chase, with Gultzen forcing you to quickly and carefully move through the room, taking potshots whenever you get a chance. One mistimed move spells doom, since the pods revolving around Gultzen are just as deadly as Gultzen itself.

This is more dangerous than it looks.

Well, it was.

Hey, watch it with those things!

Ow. Seriously.

Stage four... I hate stage four. The M-308 Gunner is forced to ride a series of cargo elevators to reach the inner core area of Cyberg, and the elevators' path is riddled with security drones and other threats. Some, like the green orbs above, do nothing but get in the way, but there are plenty of mounted guns and attack ships to make the trip a nightmare. With movement restricted by the relatively small elevator frame, survival is elusive.

Sub-Boss: The Galons

Compared to the stage before them, the Galons are refreshingly easy to deal with. The four machines cling to the walls of the elevator frame, circling you several times before stopping to fire one shot each, and then circling again in the opposite direction. They're easy to jump over, and fairly weak. I've read that this isn't the case in the game's expert mode, where they move so fast that they're essentially impossible to avoid.

The real trouble begins in stage 4-2, where a whole new slew of enemies appears to make things as difficult as possible. Ships appear that form entire walls, and must be destroyed in order to break down those walls. The elevator starts moving diagonally, with lots of green orbs to dance around. Everything just gets tougher. And when the going gets tough... apparently, I run out of lives. Good thing there are infinite continues.

The one on the left was flickering.

And now they all are.

You weren't so tough.

ACK! HELP!

What? It's a hard level.

Maybe tomorrow.

So I think I'll leave it at that for now while I take a little breather. Keep your eyes peeled for the next episode, coming very soon.

After all, Earth still needs saving, and there's not much time left!