Games

Released in Japan in 1995.

It can save mankind, but beware... this machine has a mind of its own! Welcome to the all-terrain attack vehicle of the future. It's what you need in a world gone to the dogs! You can beat 'em into the ground, or blast 'em underground, or fight 'em alone!

Metal Morph is a side-scrolling platformer. As the Metal Morph, you can jump, duck and shoot, as well as transform into an invulnerable liquid blob of metal. While as a blob, you can also travel through pipes to get to areas you couldn't normally. Power ups such as triple shots and homing missiles make battle easier for you. The game also has sections where you fly your spaceship to track down your stolen pods. In flight mode, you can move the ship up, down, left and right while shooting enemies and dodging their incoming shots. Power ups such as speed up (which makes the ship travel faster to its destination) and shields (which prevent instant death) can also be found.

A follow-up to the Metal Max games, Metal Saga is set in the same post-apocalyptic world as its predecessors - a world populated by bounty hunters, rangers, bandits, and mutant monsters. You take the role of a bounty hunter who has to travel the world, looking for "wanted" people. Accompanied by a soldier, a mechanic, and a cyborg dog, the hero must survive a journey west that will ultimately take him to remote places and lead him to battles against evil. Metal Saga has a less linear story line that one would normally expect from a Japanese RPG - a story line that develops according to the missions you decide to take, which in their turn lead to new events and finally to different endings. The combat system features traditional party management and turn-based battles, with the addition of Metal Max's trademark tank combat. When you acquire tanks for your characters, you can use them in battles. Tanks get damaged and broken, but you will be able to customize them by finding parts scattered across the world and assembling them to build new models. Based on the model of tank many different kinds of weapons, cannons, and accessories can be equipped to it, making for hundreds of different options. Tanks can even be given a custom paint job that is saved to the memory card.

In 2028, General Donald Morden launches an all-out, global attack against the Regular Army. With superior numbers and equipment, the Rebellion overwhelms the unsuspecting Regular Army troops easily. The attacks could have been countered effectively, or even prevented, should the high-ranking officials have listened to the Regular Army's intelligence community, which had been warning about all sorts of indications that the Rebellion could attack at any moment in decisive force. Unfortunately, the same officials decide to save their own skins and announce that it was the intelligence failure that led to such catastrophe, which the personnel serving in the intelligence community did not appreciate whatsoever. Meanwhile, Regular Army is pushed to near annihilation, with cities that it was suppose to be protecting in ruins. General Morden makes an announcement that all of the major cities around the world will be under his control within 170 hours, also adding that any resistance would be futile. The announcement certainly did not discourage a band of Regular Army soldiers attempt to salvage whatever they had left. Shortly after, a group named "Resistants" are formed by surviving members of the Regular Army and its researchers, who began to covertly convert the Metal Slug tank prototypes into combat-ready status in a hidden factory, hoping to launch a counter-offensive to regain what they had lost to the Rebellion. Morden just as quickly learns of this fact and attacks the plant, crushing the Resistants and capturing the tanks, putting an end to the counterattack even before it could begin. The vehicles are then scattered to prevent any ragtag Regular Army troops reclaiming them and using them to launch attacks. Seeing the Regular Army panic and crumble, 1st Lieutenant Marco Rossi of the Regular Army Peregrine Falcons special forces unit quickly unites remaining Regular Army units and begins a commando operation to reclaim the tanks. Fighting alongside him is Second Lieutenant Tarma Roving from the same unit. Their main objectives were to engage the Rebellion and neutralize its leader, General Morden, while reclaiming the Metal Slug tanks to aid them in battles. If the tanks could not be recaptured, then they would have to destroy them to prevent them from being used by the Rebellion. The player has to constantly shoot at a continual stream of enemies in order to reach the end of a level. At the end of each level, the player might confront a boss who is often considerably larger than regular enemies and takes many shots to defeat. On the way through the level, the player finds weapons upgrades and "Metal Slug" tanks that can be used not only as weapons but also as added defense. The protagonists can perform melee attacks by using a knife and/or kicking. The player does not die for simply coming into contact with most enemies. Correspondingly, many of the enemy troops have melee attacks. Much of the game's scenery is destructible. Sometimes this reveals extra items or powerups, most of the time it simply results in collateral damage. During the course of a level, the player encounters prisoners of war. If they are freed, the player can receive bonuses in the form of random items or weapons. The player receives a score bonus for freeing POWs at the end of the level; at this point the game shows the name and rank for each of the prisoners freed. If the player dies before the end of the level, the tally of freed POWs is restarted. There are a total of six levels, with themes ranging from forests, garrisoned cities, snowy mountain valleys, canyons, and military bases.

Metal Slug: 1st Mission is an Action game, developed by Ukiyotei and published by SNK, which was released in Japan in 1999.

As Marco, Eri, Tarma, or Fio, you must defeat the evil General Morden and his henchman. To do this, you must defeat various enemies that get in your way. Throughout the game, you can collect new weapons including the Heavy Machine Gun, Shot Gun, Rocket Launcher, Flame Shot, Laser Shot, Flame Bottles, and Armor Piercer. Also scattered throughout the game, you can ride in four different vehicles (aka: Slugs) such as the Metal Slug, Slug Flyer, Camel Slug, and SlugNoid. By using these vehicles, you can cause awesome destruction against Morden's evil army. Other items such as energy, extra ammunition, and food (eat too much and your player will gain weight) are also found throughout the game.

Metal Slug: 2nd Mission is an Action game, developed by Ukiyotei and published by SNK, which was released in Japan in 2000.