Metal Max Returns (1995)

Metal Max Returns, for SNES

Rating: 9.0/10; Masterpiece

Highly recommended for any jrpg fan

Think about Dragon Quest 2 or 3. Now imagine the characters can ride mounts, like horses, that make them significantly more powerful in battle but cannot be taken everywhere. Now change the setting to a Mad Max style post apocalyptic future. That is Metal Max in a nutshell.

The core game is basically a Dragon Quest clone. It looks, sounds and feels the same with most gameplay elements being the same; from the sub menu with selections for talk, search etc, limited inventory and the progression mechanics. Battle has the heroes on the right side of the screen like a Final Fantasy though. One of the first things noticeable is the extensive user friendliness; customizable controls, a database with world map, item descriptions and shop lists, and the ability to change the order of buttons in the database and on tanks. The options for button bindings are extensive, even allowing combinations of 2 buttons and assigning buttons for specific sub menus and items. This is a level of UI customization not often found in console games. Recovery is generous with no such thing as game over. Instead you will be rescued by your dad at no penalty other than he won't help your companions or vehicles, so it might be a bit of trouble getting back to them. Pretty fair in my opinion. Reviving the dead is free and recovering status and health is cheap, though there are no revival item or spell equivalents (there is an item that can revive out of combat but it is well hidden and you can only have 1 at a time). If anyone dies it means a trip to the first town. There is a system of mosquitoes and repellent items for staying at the cheap rooms at the inn, which seems kind of pointless, especially given there are places that offer free sleep. The entire game oozes personality with typical Dragon Quest npcs combined with the fascinating setting; ruined paved roads, decaying sky scrapers, collapsed subways, military equipment and vehicles all over the place and lots of bizarre cybernetic/bio weapon enemies.

The basic on foot combat is typical Dragon Quest, though the weapons used are a mix of modern/futuristic melee and firearms. Each weapon has unique attack graphics and often come with special effects; for example the flamethrower can set enemies on fire for damage over time while the SMG with attached grenade launcher sprays multiple opponents and then shoots a separate grenade with completely different damage parameters. Some weapons do better against high defense and energy weapons have a chance of reflecting back to hit you! So there are some tactical options to consider rather than always going for the strongest attack power. Armor is a bit different in that some descriptions mention being heat or cold resistant but it is not clear whether or not they help against being set on fire or even if there are different types of damage. Accessories come in only 1 type; a protection item that can nullify the damage from an attack but often breaks afterwards. However, there are multiple items that occupy the separate tool inventory and can be worn during combat as a free action to provide special defense, like gas masks and ear plugs. Most tools are healing and status recovery items, which with the limited inventory put a hard limit on how much the party can fight before having to make a pit stop. I have to say that it was an interesting change of pace to have to rely exclusively on healing items instead of white magic like I usually do in jrpgs. Despite these cool tools and being able to swap equipment in battle at no penalty, it was disappointing that the characters have no special moves or techniques. Fight, defend and use tool are your only options; a bit more variety would have made the combat on foot a little more interesting.

This is more than made up for by the extensive vehicle combat and modding system. The entire premise of the game is tank combat and how fighting from foot is discouraged. Enemies come in roughly 3 types: normal enemies that are easy to defeat, anti tank enemies that are easy to kill but can deal decent damage to vehicles (massive damage to characters on foot) and vehicle/armored enemies that are both hard to kill and deal lots of damage to the point that you DON'T want to fight them on foot. Many enemies also use status effects that can vary in effectiveness based on whether the characters are in a vehicle or not. There are several different vehicles to find throughout the game, each with unique graphics and traits. The most important stat for vehicles is the weight limit, which is determined by the engine. Everything about vehicles takes up weight, from the amount of armor (hit points), basic stats, the number and power of weapons and spare ammo, and there is a fairly comprehensive system of upgrading and downgrading to get the balance you want. There is a very real trade off between attack power, versatility and survivability and it is up to you how exactly to balance these out. Tanks can still operate without armor but their weapons, parts and chassis will be damaged and rendered inoperable. Only when the chassis is broken is the character forced to fight on foot. Vehicles have 3 types of weapons: auxiliary guns with infinite ammo, which correspond to the standard Fight command, and main cannon and special weapons that are very powerful (some hit multiple targets) and come with limited ammo. These limited types function more like techniques. On top of this, cannons can fire special shells which are the closest thing to black magic, including status effects and element damage, though it is not clear whether there are elemental weaknesses to exploit. Tanks also have their own tool inventory for extra armor packs (ie healing potions) and a variety of gadgets that offer protections and useful buffs, kind of like white magic. And then there are programs that can be used for special effects, even from the towed vehicle.

The game's main weakness is with the story. There is an overarching plot about how and why the world came to ruin, but this is only hinted at here and there and is only fully realized near the end of the game. Most of the story is about the main character who just wants to go killing monsters and make money. And that's just the setup; he does not have any character development during the game and does not change into a hero who wants to save the world. There is no development for the other party members and no dialogue between them. Though there are some interesting npcs (such as the dad who has a lot of personality), the towns mostly remain static regardless and they often have problems to be solved which are not part of the game. Certainly would have been nice to see each town’s problem resolved in the ending. Overall the game feels more like an open world sandbox MMO with no other players, a main quest that is not unlocked until the end and just going around killing stuff for the sake of xp and loot. And yes the game is actually open world after the beginning bit though there is more or less a linear progression of difficulty.

Despite the problems with the story and characterization (which seem like more deliberate decision rather than incompetence or laziness on the part of the developers), the excellent world building and mechanics make this a truly wonderful game to play. It is a very innovative game which obviously has a lot of passion and soul poured into it, elevating it far above a simple clone. Especially impressive that it is a remake of a NES game.

Pro

• Some enemies can have parts destroyed which disable attacks
• Excellent setting and atmosphere
• Towns on the world map have unique graphics that show layout of buildings
• Wonderful UI and keybinding customization
• Excellent combat system with the dynamics between fighting on foot vs in vehicles
• Extensive modding system for vehicles
• Each vehicle is unique in both graphics and mechanics
• Minimal penalty for losing in battle. Entire vehicle rental system to help get your vehicles back

Con

• Less focus on plot
• No character development or inter party dialogue
• Most towns have problems that could have been resolved as part of the main plot or a sidequest, but you are not able to do anything to help
• Limited inventory, but is separate for equipment, tools, vehicle weapons and vehicle tools
• Finding buried treasure and certain bounty targets can be tedious
• Weird system of weekly targets to get extra gold from certain enemies but only if you return before your next level up. It is very difficult to take advantage of this and is thus more of a waste of time and attention for new players
• Price of the one tank you can buy seems to increase with time (or your funds)