Metal Mech: Man & Machine (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Jaleco’s 1991 NES game, Metal Mech: Man & Machine. Metal Mech is one of those funny games that nobody seems to know, but oddly enough, it’s a pretty common-to-find cart that goes for dirt cheap. Is it the needlessly redundant title? The thoroughly generic, albeit cool, box art? The bad word of mouth it gets online? Who knows? Metal Mech, in my mind, is the very definition of a “hidden gem“ title. The game play is pretty unique - it’s often compared to Blaster Master - and I can’t argue the similarities there. To write it off as a mere copycat, though, would be to ignore all of the really neat things the game does. You start in control of a “mech“ (the OCP ED-209, of all things) piloted by a guy running around in a red race-driver outfit, dropped in a near-future destroyed cityscape. You pilot the mech around, stomping on and shooting things, and if there is something that can’t be reached in the bulkhead machine, Mr. Race Car Driver can hop out and explore on foot. Of course, he’s not a bullet-sponge like his mech is, so you have to be much more careful with him. The general purpose of each stage is to find the key and the exit, but in each stage there are tons of power-ups hidden in destructible objects littered throughout. Many of them are health pickups, but there are several upgrades and special weapons that can be found with enough thorough searching, and they’re pretty necessary in the later stages. Metal Mech is a fairly difficult game, but once you nail down its sometimes awkward and occasionally goofy control scheme, it’s fairly smooth sailing. The levels are HUGE (I made maps as I played with item locations) and loaded with secrets, and they all have some really good graphic touches. The color pallette is super mundane and dark, but it helps to sell the post-apocalyptic setting quite well, and the environments are loaded with neat little details. It’s a bit grainy looking, but I think that’s mainly because of the dark colors and how small some of the details tend to be. The animation is can be rough though - would it have really killed them to give the main character a third frame in his running animation? It’s not a huge deal, but for how much everything is constantly moving, you’ll definitely notice the relative lack of fluidity in the sprites’ animation cycles, even for an NES game. The sound design, on the other hand, is a complete mess. The music is often pretty good, but you won’t hear it over the annoying, distracting, loud, and totally not-helpful sound effects. There is an option to turn off the music, but not the sound effects, which is exactly the opposite of what I wanted. What the hell? The sound effects themselves tend to dominate the available sound channels, so if you are shooting a lot, you probably won’t hear much more than a drum beat. The controls are also usually pretty good, provided you’ve memorized the button combinations and have a feel for the way the characters handle. Something they do get a bit too squirrely for their own good, and I’m guessing this has something to do with how complex the level designs tend to be. I have died in this game because the controls didn’t react how I expected them to. It hasn’t happened too too often, mind you, but it can be an annoyance. The only time they seem to actively get in the way is during the weird final stage, but even then, you’ll get used to them and compensate - I can’t imagine anyone getting that far without an iron-will to finish. Anyways, in spite of its flaws, I really enjoyed Metal Mech. For as generic as the player character is, and for the utter lack of any in-game story, it is a well put together action/adventure game with a fun Terminator theme plastered on top, and it’s hard to not appreciate all of the little touches that make it more than the logical sum of its parts. I’d absolutely recommend it. The cart can be bought for next-to-nothing, and if you can get into it, there’s a lot explore and to appreciate here. One last thing - don’t expect a great ending. This one’s “finale“ is one of the least satisfying, most puzzling endings I’ve seen in quite awhile. I still have no idea what the animation is supposed to mean. Is the dragon dancing to Peanut Butter Jelly Time? ___ No cheats were used during the recording of this video. NintendoComplete () punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games! Visit for the latest updates!