It’s Silverhead vs. Motorhead on this shoot-’em-up battle set in a steampunk-ish nineteenth century. Who will come out on high? Lemmy inform you about The Legend of Metal Empire.
Initially launched for the Sega Genesis in 1992, Metal Empire would go on to hit the Sport Boy Advance in 2004 and Nintendo 3DS in 2014. One other decade, one other Nintendo launch. The Swap model comes with some visible enhancements that give the sport a contemporary really feel whereas fortunately retaining the appeal of its 16-bit origins.
The story, in case you want one, is that the Motorhead Empire has conquered the planet, they usually now police it with gargantuan airships, trains, and flying fortresses. As a member of the Silverhead Republic, it’s as much as you and your alternative of one in every of two aircrafts to filter Motorhead’s expertise and free your individuals.
Why relaxation the hopes of a republic on one ship? I don’t know. Perhaps as a result of the entire ammunition on the planet is outwardly aboard that ship. It’s not necessary. What is necessary is that you choose the precise craft for the precise degree. This being a shmup, you’ll face a barrage of “bullets” that come at you from all instructions in myriad patterns. Are you higher served by the Etupirka’s velocity and smaller profile on the danger of much less armor, or by the Zeppelin’s skill to soak up hits whereas sacrificing velocity and maneuverability? Expert gamers will be capable to get by with both. I, alternatively, would usually get midway by the sport’s campaign-mode ranges earlier than realizing I stood a greater likelihood with the opposite ship. Rely on loads of restarts/replays as you construct your abilities and work your means by.
Regardless of which ship you’re taking, attacking is a three-button affair; you’ve acquired your commonplace assault and your limited-use full-screen assaults.
The fascinating twist is that your ahead and rear assaults are set to totally different buttons. You don’t simply flip round to fireside the opposite means, you flip between the A and Y buttons. And also you’ll do that so much. The bigger enemies have a behavior of shifting to the alternative finish of the display, forcing you to dodge bullets as you do the identical to maintain up the assault. This have to navigate all the display—versus continually firing in a single course—actually offers The Legend of Metal Empire a singular really feel and pumped-up vitality.
After all, there are many power-ups to be obtained. As you’d anticipate, they supply extra highly effective assaults, a wider space of fireplace, and so forth. A few of these power-ups are so important that I’d often give up mid-level if I misplaced them. There’s no level in going through among the bosses in case your ship isn’t decked out. Mixed with the just-hold-down-the-attack-button method to fight, there’s by no means a scarcity of explosive motion occurring on the display. Whether or not you’re preventing a boss or its preliminary minions, the motion is intense.
Fortunately, it performs effectively and appears good in each docked and handheld modes. That is largely as a result of combination of 16-bit sprites with trendy HD backgrounds and informational body structure. The Legend of Metal Empire is enjoyable to take a look at all through, however particularly when a brand new boss first reveals itself.
The audio, nevertheless, is a head-scratcher. Somebody was asleep on the mixing board, as sure sound components fully drown out others for no good motive. Slightly extra subtlety within the balancing would’ve been appreciated. Additionally, there’s an audio impact within the title display that’s so annoying I assumed the sport had glitched and frozen at launch. Had I been sporting headphones, I’d’ve ripped them off and thrown them to the ground.
That apart, The Legend of Metal Empire gives a excessive vitality, extremely entertaining adrenaline shot of arcade gaming. A number of problem ranges enable gamers of all talent ranges to hop into their chosen plane and have enjoyable, though even the best setting gives sufficient problem to make the victories rewarding.
The sport is just not lengthy in any respect, however attempting the next problem after every completion gives incentive for a number of playthroughs. I’d wish to see the sport priced about $5 cheaper, however rating chasers will get loads of bang for his or her buck.