This review contains spoilers
For what this was, an NES game, it was one of the most impressive little titles I've seen to date. The visuals, animations, and audio were so good! It managed to really feel like a cozy little few episodes of an anime.
That being said, the coziness quickly wears when the villains of the story make themselves known as it gives way to something straight out of The Thing.
Fantastic game with an interesting story, I plan on making a video about this in the future.
That being said, the coziness quickly wears when the villains of the story make themselves known as it gives way to something straight out of The Thing.
Fantastic game with an interesting story, I plan on making a video about this in the future.
Wow, just wow.
It's a shame that this game's legacy is that it was a huge flop and more or less jumpstarted the HAL-Nintendo partnership, because in my opinion, those are the LEAST interesting things about this game, and the Game deserves to be celebrated outside of those factors. As someone whose first console was the NES, I was obsessed with any game that had cutscenes. I've always been fascinated by 8 bit games that push the limits of the console in order to enhance the storytelling, as it leads to both the designers and the player having to use their imagination. Metal Slader Glory destroyes those limits.
Everything from the massive sprites, multiple colour pallets, fluid animation, and even the intricate/dynamic sprite layering, it's all INSANE. I found myself stopping the game and just watching the little details of the characters faces, like how Elina would get upset when you'd talk to Catty, and smoothly shift back to a smile when you talk to her. Or how the characters would react in the foreground to things in the background.
"But the story is predictable, and the antiquated adventure game design is clunky/boring!" - Some jerk off
Look, I don't know how you ended up here if you can't cope with old adventure game tropes or 80s sci-fi anime plots. If you know about this game, you must be VAGUELY interested in one of those things, otherwise, what the fuck were you expecting from such a niche game? And even then, this is by far one of the most polished adventure games from that era, especially out of the Famicom ones.
It's a great game, and I'm glad I finally finished it. Shout-outs to Her-Saki and FandChill, their translation patch was a much needed upgrade, the updated font and more energetic translation made the game that much better.
It's a shame that this game's legacy is that it was a huge flop and more or less jumpstarted the HAL-Nintendo partnership, because in my opinion, those are the LEAST interesting things about this game, and the Game deserves to be celebrated outside of those factors. As someone whose first console was the NES, I was obsessed with any game that had cutscenes. I've always been fascinated by 8 bit games that push the limits of the console in order to enhance the storytelling, as it leads to both the designers and the player having to use their imagination. Metal Slader Glory destroyes those limits.
Everything from the massive sprites, multiple colour pallets, fluid animation, and even the intricate/dynamic sprite layering, it's all INSANE. I found myself stopping the game and just watching the little details of the characters faces, like how Elina would get upset when you'd talk to Catty, and smoothly shift back to a smile when you talk to her. Or how the characters would react in the foreground to things in the background.
"But the story is predictable, and the antiquated adventure game design is clunky/boring!" - Some jerk off
Look, I don't know how you ended up here if you can't cope with old adventure game tropes or 80s sci-fi anime plots. If you know about this game, you must be VAGUELY interested in one of those things, otherwise, what the fuck were you expecting from such a niche game? And even then, this is by far one of the most polished adventure games from that era, especially out of the Famicom ones.
It's a great game, and I'm glad I finally finished it. Shout-outs to Her-Saki and FandChill, their translation patch was a much needed upgrade, the updated font and more energetic translation made the game that much better.
If there was any game out there that I could recommend that I can guarantee no-one in my social circles has played, it would be this one. And I'm going to explain in the next few paragraphs why this game is one of my absolute favourites.
The game begins with Tadashi, a young man who buys a giant worker mech for his business with his girlfriend, Elina. Soon, they discover the mech is actually a 'Metal Slader' , a war mech used years ago in a great space battle. Tadashi, along with his girlfriend and his young sister, Azusa, take it to a moon colony to investigate further. After finding someone who knows about Sladers, they discover the pilot of the mech was Tadashi's late father, and has left a message warning of an oncoming threat, a threat that some of the colony are aware of and are apprehensive to explain. Tadashi soon takes the mech and goes to find what became of his father, what his father's final message means, the lurking intrigue of what the colony is hiding, and what's hiding deep within the unknown…
Being an adventure game/visual novel, gameplay takes a backseat to the story, as most of what you do in this game is talk to people and explore the many areas around you. Gameplay isn't too extensive, using menus and some point and click elements to interact with the environment. Combat does happen sometimes, but it's very rare and it's even rarer to actually fail this game. I counted twice in my playthrough where a wrong choice results in death, and even then you get taken right back to an earlier conversation.
The main draw of the game and what interests me is the many interesting characters, and the interactions between the main three protagonists. Besides a few harem comedy tropes hiding in Tadashi's interactions in the colony's living space, the conversations between him and Elina are genuinely well written and absorbing, showing their history with one another and acting as genuine as a real life couple. Other characters like Azusa are fun too, even if she's a bit of a stereotypical naive young, innocent sibling that you saw (and still see) in many anime today. Children Are Innocent is in full effect here.
What also makes this game really speak to me is its graphics, with truly beautiful sprite work in both character design and locations. The lighting in some of the traveling scenes are particularly beautiful, selling the effect of deep space travel better than most live action Sci-Fi shows and movies. Character sprites are also vibrant and large, rivaling what you'd see on NEC PC games at the time. With the game releasing so late into the Famicom's life, it's no surprise that the game is as pretty as it is, but words really do not do it justice, it looks as good as any game released on the SNES.
I feel anymore gushing about this game would drag this review on far too long, so I'll just close by saying this is a gem of a game that should absolutely be played, even if gameplay does take a backseat to dialogue and story, but it's a great story regardless so it'll absolutely draw you into its many twists and thrills. The game only saw a limited release and even fewer people bought it when the SNES, Mega Drive and PC Engine CD all crowding the market, so copies are super rare. But if you can find a chance to play it, it is absolutely worth your time.
The game begins with Tadashi, a young man who buys a giant worker mech for his business with his girlfriend, Elina. Soon, they discover the mech is actually a 'Metal Slader' , a war mech used years ago in a great space battle. Tadashi, along with his girlfriend and his young sister, Azusa, take it to a moon colony to investigate further. After finding someone who knows about Sladers, they discover the pilot of the mech was Tadashi's late father, and has left a message warning of an oncoming threat, a threat that some of the colony are aware of and are apprehensive to explain. Tadashi soon takes the mech and goes to find what became of his father, what his father's final message means, the lurking intrigue of what the colony is hiding, and what's hiding deep within the unknown…
Being an adventure game/visual novel, gameplay takes a backseat to the story, as most of what you do in this game is talk to people and explore the many areas around you. Gameplay isn't too extensive, using menus and some point and click elements to interact with the environment. Combat does happen sometimes, but it's very rare and it's even rarer to actually fail this game. I counted twice in my playthrough where a wrong choice results in death, and even then you get taken right back to an earlier conversation.
The main draw of the game and what interests me is the many interesting characters, and the interactions between the main three protagonists. Besides a few harem comedy tropes hiding in Tadashi's interactions in the colony's living space, the conversations between him and Elina are genuinely well written and absorbing, showing their history with one another and acting as genuine as a real life couple. Other characters like Azusa are fun too, even if she's a bit of a stereotypical naive young, innocent sibling that you saw (and still see) in many anime today. Children Are Innocent is in full effect here.
What also makes this game really speak to me is its graphics, with truly beautiful sprite work in both character design and locations. The lighting in some of the traveling scenes are particularly beautiful, selling the effect of deep space travel better than most live action Sci-Fi shows and movies. Character sprites are also vibrant and large, rivaling what you'd see on NEC PC games at the time. With the game releasing so late into the Famicom's life, it's no surprise that the game is as pretty as it is, but words really do not do it justice, it looks as good as any game released on the SNES.
I feel anymore gushing about this game would drag this review on far too long, so I'll just close by saying this is a gem of a game that should absolutely be played, even if gameplay does take a backseat to dialogue and story, but it's a great story regardless so it'll absolutely draw you into its many twists and thrills. The game only saw a limited release and even fewer people bought it when the SNES, Mega Drive and PC Engine CD all crowding the market, so copies are super rare. But if you can find a chance to play it, it is absolutely worth your time.
I remember first discovering this game back in 2017 and not being able to play it due to the language barrier. I literally couldn't figure out how to advance past the first part of the game. I eventually did play a fan translation of it but then stopped due to getting stuck around the halfway point. I tried it one more time and I'm glad I did.
Metal Slader Glory is a very ambitious game with some of the most impressive visuals I've seen. I can't really think of any visual novel adventure games that do animation and art so great. Even my favorite one Idol Hakkenden is far from what this game accomplishes. While I'm not a tech expert and can't really say if this "Impressive" for the console, it did certainly amaze me.
The story itself is quite enjoyable and while I'm not too big on the main characters as I swear a lot of the dialogue can feel like Tadashi gets attracted to girl, damn Elina sure do be jealous. It can feel a bit repetitive. Though I will say it does surprise me what turns they take with the story.
I don't really wanna spoil too much of the game though here but if you like this kind of stuff, it's really worth your time. I do feel like there are spots it could be improved but it was still a great experience. It's a shame this game never made profit and cause HAL to go bankrupt. After this game the only notable stuff HAL made was Hyperzone and Card Master: Rimusaria no Fuuin until making their hit series Hoshi no Kirby. So it wasn't doom and gloom for HAL forever.
Metal Slader Glory is a very ambitious game with some of the most impressive visuals I've seen. I can't really think of any visual novel adventure games that do animation and art so great. Even my favorite one Idol Hakkenden is far from what this game accomplishes. While I'm not a tech expert and can't really say if this "Impressive" for the console, it did certainly amaze me.
The story itself is quite enjoyable and while I'm not too big on the main characters as I swear a lot of the dialogue can feel like Tadashi gets attracted to girl, damn Elina sure do be jealous. It can feel a bit repetitive. Though I will say it does surprise me what turns they take with the story.
I don't really wanna spoil too much of the game though here but if you like this kind of stuff, it's really worth your time. I do feel like there are spots it could be improved but it was still a great experience. It's a shame this game never made profit and cause HAL to go bankrupt. After this game the only notable stuff HAL made was Hyperzone and Card Master: Rimusaria no Fuuin until making their hit series Hoshi no Kirby. So it wasn't doom and gloom for HAL forever.
This is the BEST Famicom game ever made.
Launched in '91, this passion project from 'HAL Laboratories' , which had the personal involvement of none other than 'Satorou Iwata', is a technical wonder. Never seen animation quality is displayed through your Famicom, which looks more like a PC98-game if you ask me. It's truly mind boggling.
The storytelling is top-notch, with lots of twists and turns, detailed but not overly worked on, so it's stay enjoyable throughout the gameplay, which is quite short (5 or so hours), although expectedly so. The sound department is the most lacking, surely one of it's caveats, unfortunately.
All and all, this game is a sight to see and a must play for adventure game, Famicom or good-game enjoyers -- You won't be disappointed!
Launched in '91, this passion project from 'HAL Laboratories' , which had the personal involvement of none other than 'Satorou Iwata', is a technical wonder. Never seen animation quality is displayed through your Famicom, which looks more like a PC98-game if you ask me. It's truly mind boggling.
The storytelling is top-notch, with lots of twists and turns, detailed but not overly worked on, so it's stay enjoyable throughout the gameplay, which is quite short (5 or so hours), although expectedly so. The sound department is the most lacking, surely one of it's caveats, unfortunately.
All and all, this game is a sight to see and a must play for adventure game, Famicom or good-game enjoyers -- You won't be disappointed!
This blew my goddamn mind, how is this on the same console that Mario Bros released on.
Even the story, although nothing all that remarkable still had me truly invested in a way I wouldn't have expected of a game from this era.
Even the story, although nothing all that remarkable still had me truly invested in a way I wouldn't have expected of a game from this era.
easily one of the best-looking 8-bit games i've played. its use of color within a limited palette is just stunning, constantly. even the composition of the images, also palette-limited, benefits from the eye of an experienced manga-ka. and the animation! sparse as it is, it really makes this feel like some obscure japanese pc game - not a famicom vn.
the game's story is fairly conventional '80s sci-fi anime mecha fluff punctuated by goofy "flirting" (or just straight perving) and the latter is borderline cringe most of the time (you and your girlfriend seem to be dead-set on brutally negging each other, with your little sister's presence making it weird), but it's all fairly innocent. in the end, we're lucky to have this little gem playable in english, and it makes me wish there was more like it.
the game's story is fairly conventional '80s sci-fi anime mecha fluff punctuated by goofy "flirting" (or just straight perving) and the latter is borderline cringe most of the time (you and your girlfriend seem to be dead-set on brutally negging each other, with your little sister's presence making it weird), but it's all fairly innocent. in the end, we're lucky to have this little gem playable in english, and it makes me wish there was more like it.
Worth it
An amazing conversational adventure with a futuristic setting.
Darn impressive for the NES, considering the amount of backgrounds and animations it has. The plot started simple enough but slowly became more and more interesting until it hooked me completely.
One thing I absolutely loved was how quickly the game managed to turn from cozy to straight-up creepy in the blink of an eye. I haven't been caught off guard this bad since I read Higurashi many, many years ago.
It's slightly outdated now; the dialog moves really slowly, and you are required to select the same choices multiple times in order for the game to progress, but if you are a fan of video games, you owe yourself playing it. Just grab something to eat and enjoy the ride.
Darn impressive for the NES, considering the amount of backgrounds and animations it has. The plot started simple enough but slowly became more and more interesting until it hooked me completely.
One thing I absolutely loved was how quickly the game managed to turn from cozy to straight-up creepy in the blink of an eye. I haven't been caught off guard this bad since I read Higurashi many, many years ago.
It's slightly outdated now; the dialog moves really slowly, and you are required to select the same choices multiple times in order for the game to progress, but if you are a fan of video games, you owe yourself playing it. Just grab something to eat and enjoy the ride.
Very interesting and visually insane Famicom Visual Novel, I quite enjoyed it and oh boy them aesthetics, quite a fun time and the first NES game I beat legit lol
I was curious on trying the game out for years being this rare & niche game that was only released in Japan but thanks to some translators I managed to try it out. Metal Slader Glory pushed the Famicom to its absolute limit with its visuals & animation. I was impressed to see what the system can do & that's thanks to HAL Laboratory (the Kirby devs), Satoru Iwata with his programming skills & Yoshimiru Hoshi the creator of the game with his artwork.
It's a visual novel game which I do enjoy from time to time. The story is like your standard mecha show but with elements of a horror flick. The main characters are pretty average with some pervy moments with the main female lead always commenting how the male lead is a perv for just talking to any other women. The male lead is also a bit pervy too. Interacting with things can be tedious as you have to repeat a lot of the same actions for the story to progress & they was one part of the game I got stuck on as well as while visually impressive a lot of the rooms looked very familiar. I admit I had to look up a guide for that part. I glad I got to experience it though I don't think its a must play. They was also a director's cut version for the Super Famicom however that does not currently have an English translation.
It's a visual novel game which I do enjoy from time to time. The story is like your standard mecha show but with elements of a horror flick. The main characters are pretty average with some pervy moments with the main female lead always commenting how the male lead is a perv for just talking to any other women. The male lead is also a bit pervy too. Interacting with things can be tedious as you have to repeat a lot of the same actions for the story to progress & they was one part of the game I got stuck on as well as while visually impressive a lot of the rooms looked very familiar. I admit I had to look up a guide for that part. I glad I got to experience it though I don't think its a must play. They was also a director's cut version for the Super Famicom however that does not currently have an English translation.
tried it for an hour to check it out, not leaving a score of any kind as to not be unfair, im not and will never be into VN's. art on this was pretty good, how emotive the characters are is impressive, i dig that its a mecha story too (mecha chads unite) and the environmental art was great aswell.
metal slader glory is, as many say, really impressive. the art is outstanding, and not just outstanding for the famicom. it's got more story than any other famicom game I've ever played. it always introduces its methods of interaction naturally, and unlike many adventure games released later, it's rarely tedious.
on to the bad, it's occasionally tedious. why do I have to click on an option three times to continue the plot? why is there exactly one pixel hunt nonsense section? why do i need to click the aforementioned hunted pixel three times? furthermore, the protagonist is just way too horny, and though it is nice that the female sidekick is also way too horny, and only to people that ARENT the protagonist, it's still just... too much. and (as far as I know, though I guess I avoided the ogleing options) there is no romance to be found in this game, so why include it?
I haven't mentioned anything about the plot here, but there are quite a few fun surprises-- this game isn't exactly what meets the eye. overall it's sick I like it
on to the bad, it's occasionally tedious. why do I have to click on an option three times to continue the plot? why is there exactly one pixel hunt nonsense section? why do i need to click the aforementioned hunted pixel three times? furthermore, the protagonist is just way too horny, and though it is nice that the female sidekick is also way too horny, and only to people that ARENT the protagonist, it's still just... too much. and (as far as I know, though I guess I avoided the ogleing options) there is no romance to be found in this game, so why include it?
I haven't mentioned anything about the plot here, but there are quite a few fun surprises-- this game isn't exactly what meets the eye. overall it's sick I like it
tremendous work of art
i dare you to show me something more technically impressive than this on 8-bit hardware - between the incredible spectacle, the meticulously detailed animation, and even the amount of interactivity i was blown away at every turn
graphics aside, the story here is solid and definitely worth a blind playthrough. reminds me pretty heavily of a certain critically acclaimed 80s sci-fi film except with waaaaay better pacing, plot, and characters
genuinely a really special experience
graphics aside, the story here is solid and definitely worth a blind playthrough. reminds me pretty heavily of a certain critically acclaimed 80s sci-fi film except with waaaaay better pacing, plot, and characters
genuinely a really special experience
Holy shit this doesn't look like an NES game.