Metal Storm

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

Sub-Page#

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 US version of Metal Storm has an unfinished version of the neat little intro sequence that was added to the later-released Japanese version. It can be re-enabled using the Game Genie codes SNKEPULO and OOKEZLVP. It's missing the "TAMTEX" logo (the division of Irem that developed the game), a few screens of Japanese text, and the tiles for an exploding planet animation.

'...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
	In the year 3521 A.D. mankind has expanded into outer space. The planet of Pluto has been converted into the mobile fortress Gigadeth thanks to the advancement of science.
	The fortress was even equipped with a star destroyer cannon. Until one day all communications with the fortress suddenly ceased.
	The worst-case scenario has happened. Mercury Base 3 has been completely wiped out alongside the planet. Taking the situation seriously the Space Federation has decided to activate the self-destruct mechanism.
	But it was no effect. The star destroyer cannon's next target is the Earth.
	With their last hope, the self- destruct mechanism, rendered inoperative, mankind's only chance now lies by directly activating the mechanism from within the core of Gigadeth.
	The unit chosen in response to the ever-changing situation within Gigadeth was the Federation's cutting-edge heavy mobile infantry: The Storm Gunner

Title Screen#

US	Japan	Retro-Bit

The year on the copyrights text was updated to reflect the later release of the Japanese version, which now credits the developer Tamtex as well. The subtitle, Juuryoku Soukou or "Gravity Armor", was added to the Japanese version after the original title of Metal Storm was considered too vague for the Japanese market as pixel artist Kiyoshi Utata explains in a series of posts on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

Development initially proceeded with the title of Metal Storm, but the head of the development department of a certain Japanese company came and said that it didn't quite convey the content of the game and told us to change it. Even though Mr. M-ta (the game's planner) was opposed to the change, it was true that the title didn't quite convey the use of gravity reversal as a selling point.

— Pixel artist Kiyoshi Utata

The development manager was in the right, but the planner strongly opposed to changing the title. I don't know if it was him or somebody else came up with it, but the term "Juuryoku Soukou" came out from nowhere and that was settled. I felt frustrated after going through the trouble of creating a logo and title screen. It gave the title screen a sort-of tacked-on feeling.

— Pixel artist Kiyoshi Utata

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 adds an additional name not the USA version: Hiroshi Futami (Producer).