Metal Max (video game)
Open-ended post-apocalyptic RPG with customizable tanks.
Metal Max, a role-playing game for the Famicom, was created by Crea-Tech and Data East, with Data East handling publication. It launched the Metal Max series. Players explore a post-apocalyptic future where humanity shelters in underground settlements and ruins, while monster hunters battle creatures and bandits outside. The game later received a sequel, Metal Max 2, a Super Famicom remake titled Metal Max Returns, and a 2006 Nintendo DS direct sequel, Metal Saga: Season of Steel.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Crea-Tech
- Data East
- Kuusoukagaku (SNES)
- Publisher
- Data East
- Designer
- Hiroshi Miyaoka
- Producer
- Shoji Masuda
- Composer
- Satoshi Kadokura
- Genre
- Role-playing video game
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- Family Computer; Super Famicom
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Metal Max stands out as an early RPG that lets players roam freely without a set storyline. Instead of following a forced path, you choose which missions to take on and in what order, and you can explore every corner of the game world. The ending is flexible: your actions can change it, you can finish the game whenever you want, and you can keep playing even after the credits roll. The core gameplay follows classic RPG patterns: you travel between towns, face random battles along the way, and upgrade your gear and tanks. Your main goal is to become a famous hunter by taking down monsters with bounties, and you can tackle these targets in any sequence. While the game hides a surprisingly deep story, you have to actively look for it since it’s never forced on you. A huge part of the experience is tank customization. You can buy or find tank parts, and both the parts and the tank itself can be modified. A device called the BS-Controller, a personal computer, helps you track information like towns, tanks, bounties, and experience points. Combat is turn-based, and there are many items, weapons, and upgrades, most with unusual or unique effects. Each playable character belongs to a class, such as mechanic or soldier, and they fight in turn-based battles either on foot or inside tanks. You can build tanks from scratch, customize them with various modifications, remodel and improve each part, boost their defense, fix damaged components, and increase their shell capacity. The vehicle system is a standout feature. Every character can ride a vehicle, and you can collect eight different ones. A vehicle shields its driver from physical damage and can be armed with weapons. Each vehicle has its own unique chassis. The maximum power of the engine determines how much weight the vehicle can carry. All parts except plate armor have weight, so if the vehicle is overloaded or the engine breaks, it cannot move. Every vehicle also needs a C-Unit, a fire control system that affects weapon hit rates. Both the engine and the C-Unit are essential; if either is broken or removed, the vehicle becomes immobile.
Setting
The game is set an unknown number of years after the fall of modern human civilization due to actions of Noah. The survivors clustered into villages or began to live among the ruins, and those who fought the monsters and robots outside became known as monster hunters. These men and women salvage tanks and tank parts in order to defeat monsters and outlaws and collect bounties on them. Although the previous civilization has been ruined, the environment is not as desolate as many post-apocalyptic settings, with plentiful trees and water. The Hunter is the main character, a young man who dreams of becoming a monster hunter; his name is revealed to be Rebanna in the sequel Metal Saga: Season of Steel. The Mechanic is a young man who wants to travel the world and become a great tank mechanic. The Soldier is a rough woman who hopes to best her rival, Red Wolf. Hunter's Dad is a gruff tank mechanic who disowns his son over his wild and impractical ambitions. Dr. Minchi is a doctor who resurrects characters by electric shock. Red Wolf is a mysterious hunter who drives a bright red tank. Noah is a supercomputer that was made by scientists in the hope that it can work out a solution to saving the earth's environment; by analyzing more and more data and recalculating every possibility, it awoke and brought about the apocalypse upon the conclusion that destroying humanity is the only way of saving the earth. Vehicles include Mosquito, the first tank that the hunter finds; Buggy, found at the derrick factory in the world's south-east corner; Van, which can recover character's HP while moving in the world; Tiger, a WW2-vintage tank buried somewhere in the beach cave; LAV, a 6x6 wheeled APC found in Sol town; Abrams, a tank sold in the port of a slum; Red Wolf, character Red Wolf's tank; and White Muu, a Next-Generation MBT Prototype locked inside the Ghost Base.
Release
Data East published Metal Max for the Famicom in Japan on May 24, 1991. A Super Famicom remake, Metal Max Returns, followed on September 29, 1995, with upgraded visuals and audio, extra bounties and items, revised areas, nods to Metal Max 2, and a lower difficulty. It also introduced features later seen in Metal Saga for the PlayStation 2. A Game Boy Advance port of Returns, Metal Max Returns Kai, was planned by Now Production for 2003 but never hit store shelves. The original Famicom version returned on the Wii Virtual Console on April 27, 2010, and on the 3DS Virtual Console on January 1, 2013. Returns itself was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console on November 15, 2011. In Japan, Metal Max moved 150,000 copies. Metal Max Returns sold over 170,000 units at 12,800 yen each (roughly US$165). Neither version saw an official Western release, but a full fan translation of Returns arrived from Aeon Genesis in 2007, and the original Metal Max received its own fan translation in 2018.
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