Metal Black

[VenomMacbeth]

That's right, another thread dedicated to a Taito shooter.  Get the hell over it.

So Metal Black has risen very close to the top of my list of favorite shooters, and it's actually probably my favorite Taito game all together.  There's just a melting pot of great ideas in this game.  The gameplay mechanics are unlike any other shooter I've played, with the ever-slowing rapid fire shot, the power up system where you have to balance damage & range, and the BEAM DUELS!  Seriously, G Darius could take some queues from Metal Black in this department, even though it does nothing for your score.

The graphics put me off at first, as they aren't particularly colorful...but they're perfect for what they are & there are some excellent scaling & scrolling effects thrown in for good measure.  I'll never get tired of defeating a boss & seeing it erupt into that flowing continental pyre. 

Boss fights.  Taito gets it.  The final level & boss in this game knocked my socks off.  And that ending?  Even if you get snuffed out by the last boss, you get the satisfaction of knowing that thousands of other guys just like you are gonna go kick his ass.  And that's the bad ending!  Definitely made my defeat a little sweeter.  One more thought on the final boss...I've had little luck finding too much info on the game, and nobody seems to know exactly what that boss is supposed to be.  I have a theory...I think the overall shape of its body is very fish-like, but it's obviously primordial.  Could this creature be a malformed version of King/Queen/Iron/Whatever Fossil, flagship boss of the Darius series?  Some food for nerdy thought...
 
And then there's the music.  It's not your typical ZUNTATA weirdness.  Every song is perfectly composed for its context & is really enjoyable to listen to outside the game.  It's also not your typical 90s-shooter-space-rock-pop either.  There's lots of jazz & orchestral elements thrown in, with Taito's hallmark instrumentation.  The dung beetle boss theme reminds me a lot of Cadash for some reason.  Actually, both the sound effects & instruments/samples strongly resemble those in Darius II, but the compositions are lightyears ahead of those in that game.  Also, as with most ZUNTATA OSTs, you get the added bonus of knowing that they could play this stuff on real instruments if I'm not mistaken. 

Speaking of the music, I've noticed that some of the songs on the Saturn port sound crystal-clear, while others sound like they're put through some kind of low-fi filter.  Kind of disappointing when I put the music on my phone, but you know I jammed out to it anyway.  So what gives?  Did VING just not have the budget to port the music over perfectly?

On a final note, the difficulty of this game is spot on.  I can't 1CC it, but I can make it to the final boss on the default 4 continues, and I'm very proud of that.  It's great because you don't lose your powerups when you die, although this can also be a bad thing if you're wanting to power your weapons down to level 3 for max damage.

So yeah.  I love this game a whole bunch, it gives me warm fuzzies & makes me feel like I don't completely suck at video games.  Anyone have thoughts on Metal Black?  It seems most people find it to be mediocre...

[esteban]

Sadly, I have never played this game.

Now I feel like an idiot who is just ignorant.

It sounds intriguing.

[WoodyXP]

I enjoy the game.. though I must say those first person intermission levels drive me nuts after awhile.

[VenomMacbeth]

I enjoy the game.. though I must say those first person intermission levels drive me nuts after awhile.

I agree.  I'm not going for a high score, but I try to get as many points as possible early on so I can get the extra lives & it's really frustrating when a good chunk of that score relies heavily on the chance that those alien bastards will fly into your reticle.  The scaling effects are nice, but I'm not actually sure what's going on in the second bonus round.  Are you supposed to be in a wormhole or something?

[WoodyXP]

Are you supposed to be in a wormhole or something?

I have no idea.  Seems like you're trippin' balls and trying to shoot down aliens at the same time.  Crazy stuff.

[esteban]

Are you supposed to be in a wormhole or something?

I have no idea.  Seems like you're trippin' balls and trying to shoot down aliens at the same time.  Crazy stuff.

ASIDE: your avatar. That's the pawn shop goofball. I just noticed it. Also, where have you been?

[EvilEvoIX]

Game looks good.  I am not particularly good at shooters but i will give this one a shot.

[VenomMacbeth]

Are you supposed to be in a wormhole or something?

I have no idea.  Seems like you're trippin' balls and trying to shoot down aliens at the same time.  Crazy stuff.

Hahah well, if the "good" ending is any indication, maybe it's supposed to be the inside of the womb?  *sigh* this whacky Taito chaps...

While I'm thinking about it, has anyone played this game on the Taito Legends 2 compilation enough to know how it compares to the Saturn & OG arcade versions?

[MrBroadway]

This game turns a lot of people off by starting off super slow and rapidly ramping up its difficulty. I get that, but I still love this game dearly. I've been wanting a Saturn copy for quite some time, but usually settle for the TL2 disc on the PS2 instead. (I did have a burned copy floating around somewhere before.)

Despite my love, I topped out a few years ago at level 3 boss (maybe breaking through to level 4?) with a score of 300k+, which took a lot of careful flying through stages 1 & 2. Man, now thinking about it, I definitely have to revisit it soon.

While I'm thinking about it, has anyone played this game on the Taito Legends 2 compilation enough to know how it compares to the Saturn & OG arcade versions?

Last time I checked, they're all identical. Arcade was 1991, so Saturn more than was able to recreate it perfectly.

[VenomMacbeth]

This game turns a lot of people off by starting off super slow and rapidly ramping up its difficulty. I get that, but I still love this game dearly. I've been wanting a Saturn copy for quite some time, but usually settle for the TL2 disc on the PS2 instead. (I did have a burned copy floating around somewhere before.)

Despite my love, I topped out a few years ago at level 3 boss (maybe breaking through to level 4?) with a score of 300k

Jesus, what difficulty are you playing on?  I only ever play easy & my high score is currently 270k-something.  The furthest I've ever gotten is the big Amazo boss for level 4.  Honestly the level 3 boss is the most difficult in the game, other than the final. 

Now that I think about it, I had accidentally set the difficulty set on very hard once & I scored lower than I would normally, and not because I played worse.  Upping the difficulty just seems to make the bullets move faster.

In regards to the saturn version, I got the "best of" edition with the red border part.  I only payed $40, but I'm kind of wishing I'd spent the $60 to get the original version with the full cover art...but that's a very minor nitpick.

[Necromancer]

Get the hell over it.

It is not OBEY, therefor I'm over it.

[WoodyXP]

ASIDE: your avatar. That's the pawn shop goofball. I just noticed it. Also, where have you been?

Yeah, that's Les from Hardcore Pawn.  I love that show.  I just moved to San Antonio, been a little busy.

[esteban]

ASIDE: your avatar. That's the pawn shop goofball. I just noticed it. Also, where have you been?

Yeah, that's Les from Hardcore Pawn.  I love that show.  I just moved to San Antonio, been a little busy.

Gotcha.

[MrBroadway]

Jesus, what difficulty are you playing on?  I only ever play easy & my high score is currently 270k-something.  The furthest I've ever gotten is the big Amazo boss for level 4.  Honestly the level 3 boss is the most difficult in the game, other than the final.

I play normal, not easy. You have to hit those level 2 ships perfectly each time. It's a lot of memorization, but a perfect level 1 should net you 80k. I can't remember if that means milking the boss or quickly killing it. I'd have to play again to find out.

[VenomMacbeth]

Jesus, what difficulty are you playing on?  I only ever play easy & my high score is currently 270k-something.  The furthest I've ever gotten is the big Amazo boss for level 4.  Honestly the level 3 boss is the most difficult in the game, other than the final.

I play normal, not easy. You have to hit those level 2 ships perfectly each time. It's a lot of memorization, but a perfect level 1 should net you 80k. I can't remember if that means milking the boss or quickly killing it. I'd have to play again to find out.

I'll have to see if being on normal changes anything.  I never end out with that much just on level 1 alone, even with milking the boss & collecting as many "newalones" as possible, and I have the level perfectly memorized. The bonus round usually gets me to 80k or close to it, and I have level 2 memorized but I still have some difficulty dodging some enemies, like the fish guys at the end of the level that go across the screen.  Between that & getting too brave trying to blow up the big rockets, I almost always lose at least one life by the end of it.