Metal Black

released on Sep 01, 1991
by Taito

A shoot 'em up released by Taito. It is both "Project Gun Frontier 2" and "Darius III"; the game was developed by the Gun Frontier team, and ties to the original Darius development still exist. Players control the Black Fly on their mission to defeat the forces of Nemesis in hopes of saving the human race. Players collected many small power-ups to build their weapon's power. Players could then unleash a large beam attack that would drain their power level back to zero. Bosses could also collect these power-ups and use similar beam attacks. When a player's beam collided with a bosses, it would culminate in a spectacular reaction before the more powerful attack would push the weaker down.


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Me, pressing the fire button on my laser-cannon at the glowing heart of a transparent dolphin-alien-skeleton while it feeds me power-up orbs over the backdrop of the history of the universe:

"...Is God speaking to me?"

I played 1 level of this and almost had a seizure

Cry for the moon...

Entering the infinite void of what's beyond the thermosphere of our planet, we gaze upon her majesty. That moment we take in the supposed sanctuary of our mother goddess is where our unknowable enemy launches their sneaky surprise attack at the start of the round, we don't even notice there's two moons until it's too late. The imposter of our beautiful rock in the sky slowly approaches from the background as warning sirens blare through your speakers. I hope you're prepared fellow pilot, because it's only downhill from here when it comes to questioning what lies in front of your eyes.

The mechanics of your ship are shoddy and experimental at best, just as rough and rugged as the scenery you'll be digesting in your next trip through your shmup smorgasbord. The unknowable enemy will not make things easy with their positioning and method of approach, and your ship may be ill-equipped to deal with their lunacy and onslaught of Space Mambos. Persevere through it all and your Black Fly getting inevitably crushed and sandwiched between the ceiling and floor by a funny rascal, and you may just find yourself in a fight against a phantom phallus utilizing your own kind's history and imagery of what may be your childhood pet cat to drag you deeper into it's method of madness.

Once all is said and done, you will be led to wonder, were you dreaming or was it reality? Perhaps it's time to wake up...you were born to be free....

Wake up.

Metal Black's surrealist imagery, bleak and lonely atmosphere, as well as its eclectic soundtrack from Yasuhisa Watanabe, unleashed a newfound appreciation for the shoot 'em up genre and developer Taito. There's nothing quite like Taito's shoot 'em ups and this isn't even the one I'd consider their best. It's honestly one of those games that continues to stay in the back of my mind and I get this constant urge that I should write an essay on what it manages to convey. Video games don't have to be filled with hour long cutscenes or be dialogue-heavy to provoke that level of thought.

Amazing visual style for a game made in 1991 and a bizarre ending.