#IndieXmas: METAGAL (NS)

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of METAGAL by developer Retro Revolution from publisher Ratalaika Games through Xinthus' #IndieXmas.  The game was given without promise or expectation of a positive review, only that the game be played and that experience be shared through social media channels.  All of the words in this article unless otherwise noted are my own from my own experience playing the game.

I enjoyed METAGAL.  There were also times when I hated it, and it usually went in that order.

METAGAL is very aware that they are pulling a lot of the core aspects of their game from the Mega Man series, although there are some notable differences/additions to the formula created back in 1987.  You play as a woman/cyborg/robot who is tasked with fighting through stages of robots in order to save your fellow robot/cyborg who was captured and turned against you/the world.  During the opening cut scene, you become equipped with an arm cannon a la Mega Man and Samus.  Your playable character, Meta, even gains new abilities after defeating enemy bosses.  But, there are a number of mechanics that separate METAGAL from the games that it is paying homage to, but we will get to those in a bit.

Stupid Camping Robot In Front of a Gear!

The biggest change in the Mega Man formula is two-fold.  First, you have unlimited lives, which makes sense in the world of video games today after games like Super Meat Boy helped to popularize dying as infrequently as possible and completing the level as fast as you can; you know, speedrunning.  While there are checkpoints that function as checkpoints do, you are also able to pick up gears that serve a dual function.  First, they allow you to restart upon dying at a pre-determined location semi-close to where you died.  Second, they can be used to heal a portion of your life, which then forces you to debate if healing Meta for 20% health is worth it to make it to the next checkpoint, or do you die and use a gear to respawn closer than the previous checkpoint.  I actually do like this mechanic.

Throughout all eight levels in METAGAL, they all seemed to follow a similar progression in how I felt about them.  The start of the level is usually pretty fun as you figure out what the gimmick is going to be.  In the flame stage, there are cataracts of lava that will instantly kill you, along with cannons that blast out torrents of fire that will also instantly kill you.  In [another example].  By the first checkpoint, I will have probably died a handful of times, obviously depending on the stage, but typically it is between that first and second checkpoint that I start losing that sense of fun.  By the time I reach the boss at the end of the stage, I hate the entirety of the level.  In the penultimate stage before the final boss fight, there is a section that specifically feels like it was designed around second and third playthroughs as it plays like a learn-as-you-die approach.  Take a look at one of my many failed attempts before going into a description of what you have to do to actually clear the area.

Seriously though, fuck this section.

In this area, you have to use the Flame Dash across a gap, switch sub-weapons to the Spring Mine to launch yourself up to a ladder, then switch back to the Flame Dash before jumping up to a platform and hopefully, by then your sub-weapon meter is full again so that you can use the Flame Dash over the gap collecting the sub-weapon refill so that you can switch to use the Spring Mine again (but the area is confined so if you miss your first attempt you might have a second attempt before the flame engine-thing blasts you to death.  And after that Spring Mine jump, you still have to do the sub-weapon switch a handful more times before you reach an area that allows you to use the gear respawning you past all of that nonsense.

I guess I failed. . .but did I really!?

The inclusion of a rating based on your time, the number of times you died, the number of enemies killed, and [other] all are tallied to give you a final rating from D to F; it's probably A to F, or even S for a perfect run, but I never did better than a D in any of the eight levels.  And here is where I will possibly get ridiculed: I never felt compelled to do better in any of the stages.  By the time I was finished with each stage, I was so frustrated with short sections that were agonizingly difficult for me that I had no wish to go back and try the stage all over again, even with increased sub-weapons to be more equipped to shorten my time and increase my attack power.  The other thing that I do not like about rating the stages in this game is that it makes the game feel less cohesive, and more like random levels you are playing just to beat the high score.  I recognize that that could be a motivator for some people, but I happen to not be one of them.

Gal.04 Warp was fun because of her protective shield which also doubled
as her projectile arm-cannons.

The one thing that could actually motivate me is that after beating the game for the first time, thankfully regardless of the scores you get in each stage, you are able to play the game all over again, but this time you can choose to play as one of the other characters.  I tried out them all, and was rather impressed that each starting stage, while essentially telling the same story, was specifically adapted to the strengths and abilities of that new character.  For Gal.04 Warp, there was a section where you had to warp yourself through a wall replacing where an enemy was, and for Gal.01 Shield, you had to use the sub-weapon power to give yourself a speed boost and ability to perform a super high jump.  I did not progress very far though because that would have taken too long overall and frankly there are a lot of sections in nearly every stage that gives me anxiety just thinking about.

Watching the fall of the enemy castle, in true Castlevania
fashion.

And that is what METAGAL really boiled down to for me.  Each stage started out fun but turned into an anxious ridden level that I agonized over until I was through.  I did enjoy that I used the sub-weapons I earned from boss fights in a way and frequency that I have not done in a Mega Man game, but the frustration I felt by the end of the level clouded over the fun I had by figuring out what to do to proceed.  I was only a little disheartened by my D, E, and F grades, but that never stopped me from plowing my way through until I took out the final boss.  There was the typical reunion with the other cyborg-GALs and the promise of a sequel in true Mega Man fashion; although the game was released three years ago and I have found nothing about a new METAGAL game.



~JWfW/JDub/Cooking Crack/Jaconian
We Play the Game with Skilfull Hands