Metal Storm

Metal Storm
Also known as: Juuryoku Soukou Metal Storm (JP) Developer: Tamtex Publisher: Irem Platform: NES Released in JP: April 24, 1992 Released in US: February 1991 This game has unused graphics. This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences. This game has a prerelease article

Metal Storm is an NES game by Irem where you basically play as Captain Viridian's mecha ancestor.

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Prerelease Info

Unused Graphics

Animated Backgrounds

The game uses bank switching to create the illusion of parallax scrolling.

Two small tiles that could scroll vertically or horizontally.

A large, seemingly incomplete tile. Judging by its positioning, it may have been an early version of the background used in the Stage 2 boss fight, being overwritten by the final version, which uses 16 frames instead of 32.

Two variations of the same background element: one scrolling downwards, the other upwards.

Level Select

The Game Genie code YASNUKZA enables a level and powerup select. Press Up and Down to select a level, or Left and Right to select a powerup (the five sets of letters will change depending on what powerup you select). The powerups, from left to right, are None, Shield, Gravity Fireball, Armor, and Power Beam. Press Start to enter the selected level, or hold A and press Start to start with the Armor in addition to whatever powerup you selected.

Regional Differences

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Dummied-out Intro

The Japanese version of Metal Storm contained a neat little intro sequence (including opening credits), which was disabled in the US version. However, the code was left mostly intact, and can be re-enabled using the Game Genie codes SNKEPULO and OOKEZLVP. The only things removed were a "TAMTEX" logo (the division of Irem that developed the game), a few screens of Japanese text, and the tiles for an exploding planet animation, which suggests that Irem originally planned to keep the intro. Why it was ultimately disabled is anyone's guess.

...But what does it mean? This game has text or audio that needs to be translated. If you are fluent with this language, please read our translation guidelines and then submit a translation!

In-game Screenshot	Translation

Title Screen

US	Japan	Retro-Bit

The Tamtex copyright is missing from the US title screen, leaving only the Irem copyright.

Although the Japanese title screen has a copyright year of 1991, the tileset contains the numbers "190", which suggests that its release was heavily delayed.

Graphical/Palette Changes

• The player character mech is white/pink in the Japanese version, and pink/red in the US version. Additionally, every single stage, as well as the first boss, received a palette change in the US version for unknown reasons.
• The Japanese version uses a slightly thinner font for things such as the level intro and the score tally screens.
• The graphic that leads into a boss battle reads "WARNING!" in the Japanese version, and "RED ALERT!" in the US version.
• The graphic for the spiked floors in Stage 2-2 was slightly modified between regions.

Difficulty Changes

• In the Japanese version, Stages 6-1 and 6-2 have electric barriers on the top and bottom ends of the screen that cause damage on contact (but can still be fallen through with invincibility frames). In the US version, these barriers were removed, but the enemy/object placements in the level were modified to be more challenging as a result.

Text Changes

• The text on a level's intro screen that shows how many lives the player has left was changed from "PLAYER LEFT X" to "REMAINING M-308 GUNNERS X".
• In the Japanese version, the final boss has on-screen dialogue throughout the fight. This was removed elsewhere.
• The epilogue, while always in English, has completely different dialogue between the Japanese and US versions.
• The text on the screen leading into the second loop was changed from "TRY EXPERT GAME" to the more grammatically correct "TRY A GAME FOR EXPERTS". The Japanese version also uses the larger font for it (as seen for the "Ready" and "Game Over" text), whilst the US version uses the standard, smaller font.
• The credits list in the Japanese version has one name that was very strangely removed in the USA version: Hiroshi Futami (Producer).