in some ways a victim to arcade shooter culture at the time, housing a handful of frustrating segments where it feels like the devs just haphazardly threw in a million enemies and said “yeah, that’ll get us a few more quarters.” normally i’m not one to say “just slap some screenclear bombs into it” but this is a case where i feel they could’ve helped the gameflow. spawning in after death in the later levels is like being fed to the crocodiles, some bombs def could’ve assisted in giving the player a way to gain their bearings.
despite this, i’d be lying if i said this ruined the game. normally i wouldn’t be so lenient but goddamn man aesthetically and tonally this shit owns. couldn’t help but get pumped up smiling my ass off when transitioning into the black spacey abyss of stage 2 as the stage’s title ‘CRY FOR THE MOON’ slides into view and the most unhinged otherworldly tune fades into the scene. the highs really do outway the lows in this one, frequently thinking “this is so raw” in my head, specifically when you get your super mega laser™ charged all the way up and shoot that shit out to blast everything on screen to pieces. my only gripe with it though is that it’s your only method of attack outside of regular shooting and it gets completely depleted when you die. at least it led to greater things (dariusburst uses a similar gimmick to a more convenient affect).
the profundity of the imagery and mechanical creativity in each stage is truly a sight to behold, heavily entice anyone who’s even just a bit into shmups to try the game out simply for this aspect alone. at least listen to the soundtrack if you don’t plan on playing it. from a gameplay standpoint i don’t think i’ll ever be revisiting metal black anytime soon, but sometimes style over substance can work in this genre. have to respect this on behalf of it being made in a few months with a dev team of only a handful of people.