Metal Combat: Falcon’s Revenge

Description

Metal Combat: Falcon’s Revenge is an advanced light-gun shooter that serves as the direct sequel to Battle Clash (1992), being developed by the same team within Nintendo R&D1. The game notably was released exclusively in Western territories (North America and Europe), omitting a Japanese release due to the relatively low popularity of the Super Scope peripheral in that region.

The gameplay contains intense, one-on-one futuristic duels between massive robotic machines known as Standing Tanks (STs). Taking place three years after the original game, you act as the gunner for pilot Mike Anderson in the ST Falcon, tasked with defending Earth against the returning Emperor Anubis and a new invading alien race. The experience is defined by its deep tactical combat; players must identify and target specific destructible weak points on enemy mechs, such as limbs, weapons, or armour plating, to effectively disable them and deal maximum damage. Unlike many linear shooters of the era, the game encourages a strategic rhythm of intercepting incoming projectiles with rapid fire while waiting for the energy meter to fill for devastating attacks.

The title introduces several significant improvements over its predecessor. A major addition is the three-level charging system for the main weapon, culminating in the ‘Treble Shot’ for massive impact. The game also features a second unlockable ST, the Tornado, which has greater speed and rapid energy beams over the Falcon’s heavy defence. Unusually for a Super Scope game title, there is support for multiplayer, which allows one player to use the Super Scope while a second player uses a standard SNES controller to pilot an enemy boss mech, effectively turning the game into a unique asymmetrical fighting experience. Metal Combat is the only SNES game to utilise the OBC-1 chip, which provides for advanced sprite manipulation, allowing the hardware to handle the game’s large, detailed, and highly animated mecha sprites with minimal slowdown or flickering. The technical framework is further supported by a battery backup system for saving rankings and progress, as well as a refined audiovisual presentation featuring music by Yuka Tsujiyoko, the celebrated composer of the Fire Emblem series.

At the time of its release, the game was hailed as a pinnacle for the Super Scope, with critics praising its deep strategy, impressive boss designs, and the novelty of its two-player mode. Reviewers in Nintendo Power and Electronic Gaming Monthly noted that it moved the “light gun” genre beyond simple target shooting into something more akin to a first-person fighting game. Today, it is regarded as a cult classic and perhaps the most sophisticated utilisation of Nintendo’s 16-bit light-gun technology, documenting the creative peak of Intelligent Systems’ experimentation with unconventional peripherals. The title was released in Australia in late 1994 after its classification date of 5 September 1994.