Kikou Keisatsu Metal Jack [機甲警察メタルジャック] Game Sample - SFC

Metal Jack is Metal Whack. "Kikou Keisatsu Metal Jack" is an early Super Famicom action side scroller developed by good ol' Atlus (and Super Sonic) and released around mid 1992. It is based on the 1991 animated tv show of the same name released by Sunrise, Studio Deen, TV Tokyo and I&S BBDO. The series was intended to be longer, but due to a lack of public interest, it was cut short, with the two video games based on it (the other is for Game Boy) being released after the show already concluded. This was also the reason that this game in particular, which was originally slated for a U.S. release (under the title of "Metal Jack: Armored Police"), was cancelled at the last minute. The English prototype of the game was eventually found and dumped on the Internet (changing the names of characters and settings but otherwise being the same). You can read more about Kikou Keisatsu Metal Jack at:
I guess describing the game as bare-bones would be putting it nicely. The game has three characters you can choose from (Ken Kanzuki, Ryo Aguri and Go Goda) who vary in their strength, reach, and "special ability", as they plod through six short and uninspired levels with a boss battle at the end of each one. In these battles, the player accesses their enhanced Jack Suits that can charge up their power to do a full-screen attack. The problems with the game are numerous, though the game is fairly straight-forward like many older games once you figure out a system of what to do and when. Let's start with the characters: Ken is a balanced character in terms of attack, speed and reach, Ryo is weak but agile, and Go is slow but strong... this is nothing you haven't seen before. However, they are anything but equal in terms of utility: Ken can get a power-up to shoot a long distance bullet which is quite useful if you want to play it safe, but Ryo uses an energy sword with laughably short range and Go doesn't even have access to a sub ability. HOWEVER, Go more than makes up for this with his absurd level of strength and flying body press which is easily the safest attack to land in the game outside Ken's limited gunfire. That brings us to the next issue: regardless of difficulty, power-ups are fairly scarce. You can farm health pick-ups easily enough if need-be, but sub-weapon energy must be preserved for when you really need it as it's unlikely you'll get much throughout the normal course of the game. While only two characters get sub abilities anyway, they are needed to get any good use out of Ryo (his base attacks are weak, his jumping attack is the least reliable and his basic ground combo is a joke). The stages themselves are much harder than the bosses you reach at the end, who have very simple patterns and most can be beaten with little movement with a few charge attacks. Why? Well... Atlus thought it would be a good idea to throw in some platforming for this game. Nevermind that the controls are a bit sluggish and unresponsive, but some of the platforming sections require leaps of faith and have insta-kill pits. Throw in a speedy and cheaply placed enemy here and there and it's a recipe for frustration (but not for our man Go). It's not frustrating but rewarding in a "Ninja Gaiden" or "Battletoads" sort of way either, as those games were at least highly polished in nearly every other regard, but I suppose one could forgive Atlus for making a mediocre game based on an obscure anime. It's certainly not one of their better works though (if you want some examples of their better games on this system, check out BlaZeon, Super Valis IV, Power instinct and of course Shin Megami / Majin Tensei). The "ending" is also trash, but congrats on finishing this game anyway. If I had to say anything positive about the game, I'd say the audio / visuals are inoffensive and one or two tunes are slightly catchy. Is that enough to over-compensate for the rest of the package? Not even remotely. There are much better SNES/SFC games to be played. This is a video of the game in action. Enjoy. ADDITION - Like Us On Facebook:   / thegamingsanctuary   Follow Us On Twitter:   / gs_vyse_and_bel   Visit Us At: