Metal Law

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The story takes place somewhere in the future, at a city called Neo York (!) doomed by the reign of terror and turmoil and without you there is no hope for a prosperous future. You're a member of a Cyber Cop team called E.F.I.S.T. and wear an iron suit! This special ops team is the only capable to restore freedom once again! The game has 4 worlds to visit each divided into 4 sub-levels. The gameplay is of a classic action platform game where you jump around platforms, collect power-ups and shoot enemies.There are several power-ups to collect during your mission, in the form of yellow glowing crystals. These vary from extra health, extra lives and the ability to upgrade your gun up to four times for bigger projectiles that do more damage! Pressing up on the joystick, your hero will jump at a small height using his jet pack. By holding the fire button and pressing up at the same time, you can jump way higher, and be able to reach unreachable platforms (much like the Shinobi title). In terms off gameplay, Metal Law actually looks like a mix of Shinobi, Gods and Turrican. The controls are tight and slightly "awkward" in odd places, and between stages there is nothing new except of the backdrops and music! There is not even and end-boss to encounter. Jumping around the stages, collecting power ups and shooting enemies are all fun activities in this game, but last-ability is more important in these games, so Metal Law is not top notch, rather than another mediocre game of the genre.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
Visually the game looks good, offering some nice touches at the backdrops (mainly indoors) and having several nicely drawn sprites of various sizes. The scrolling is smoooth whilst the sprites move equally good during gameplay. But its tricky controls at times make Metal Law rather frustrating. The screens have up to 32 colors. The title screen is accompanied by a good theme composed by the great video gamess soundtrack legend Chris Hülsbeck. During gameplay there are several sampled sound effects and beautifully composed tunes (by Rudolph Stember) which add to the game's atmosphere.