Metal Storm is a 2D side scrolling platformer that uses a unique mechanic of reversing gravity.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Unlimited continues and passwords
There is no save state for the game but there are passwords the user can utilize in order to get back to the last stage they progressed to. On top of this the game has unlimited continues, so when the player dies (of which this game is a one hit kill game) they are able to start back a the beginning of the stage as many times as they want. Which quite frankly will happen a lot.
Pro Great control
For a classic platformer the controls for this game are spot on, as they need to be since the game is tough. Platforming is responsive and switching gravity works great being that it is necessary for the whole game.
Pro Reverse gravity mechanic
One of if not the first game to utilize reverse gravity in a platformer. The reverse gravity mechanic is used in the game in order to solve puzzles in certain places in certain stages. By reversing the gravity the player is able to walk on the ceiling of stages and platforms, which is necessary in order to progress in the game. Later games like Megaman 5 also used a mechanic like this, but Metal Storm was released a year earlier.
Pro Faux parallax scrolling
The game features a unique mechanic for a NES game in that it fakes parallax scrolling. The NES was not capable of this technique, but what the developers did was fake it by redrawing the background every frame the character moves in order to make it look as though the background is moving.
Cons
Con Brutal difficulty
This game is tough, extremely tough. Touching an enemy kills you, touching moving doors kills you, falling off the stage kills you, every bullet in the game kills you. Everything pretty much can kill you. It will take much practice to progress in this game, though luckily there are unlimited continues.
Con Enemies can re-spawn within seconds
Often in the game, when killing an enemy, i the player takes a few steps back the enemy they just killed will re-spawn back to the stage, which can be very frustrating as there are often times that back tracking is helpful.
Con Western release lacked story
Only the Japanese release had the story for the game, the western release lacked this story making the Japanese version the more polished title.