Metal Storm -NES- 8.5

September 22, 2024

I first played Metal Storm four years ago, and enjoyed it very much. But I was only able to run through it with cheat codes at the time. So this weekend I fired it up again to finally beat the game legitimately.

Metal Storm was developed by Irem, and released for the NES in 1991. This futuristic action platformer has you playing as a robot that can flip gravity upside down. You fire your laser cannon to destroy enemy machines, and you must also toggle your ability to walk on the floor or walk on the ceiling to avoid danger. Many stages move in odd angles, forcing you to mess with the gravity in clever ways. This mechanics get the player to think outside the box, making Metal Storm feel like a puzzle to solve as much as it is a giant mech simulator.

There are some upgrades to help you along the way. The power beam upgrades your laser’s width. The shield force blocks and hurts certain enemies. The gravity fireball turns you into a projectile when you flip upside down. And the armor upgrade allows you to take one extra hit.

Metal Storm is a devilishly hard game. Without the minimal armor upgrade, you die in one slight brush from the enemies. This game requires fast hands to dodge the oncoming obstacles and projectiles. I love a good challenge, and Metal Storm pushed me to react quickly and be efficient with every single movement.

There are seven total stages, each with their own unique spin on gravity and side scrolling. These are not lengthy stages, but you will die many times learning to nail the perfect timing of jumps, gravity switches, and laser shots. Each of the first six stages ends in a boss fight, and the seventh stage has you repeat all the boss battles back to back. The final level is actually the easiest, because the game lets you pick up at the same boss you leave off at when you lose all your lives and press continue.

If you opt to play the game a second time in a row, you enable expert mode. But one playthrough was enough challenge for me right now! Metal Storm was a tough, but very fun game to conquer. The gravity controls and inventive level design gave this robot action game a distinctive playstyle, creating something truly innovative for its time. The graphics and the music were very solid, too. I rate Metal Storm an 8.5 out of ten.