Metal Stoker

The Good
Open up this game into a futuristic setting. It really shows with those vibrant textures, strobe-like lights, and computer-styled interfaces with generous amounts of shadows and 3-D angles for polish. There's so much careful attention to detail in every level. Each level also plays fast-paced tunes, letting you know that you're in constant combat.

Gameplay is difficult as expected in typical arcade-style video game titles, yet the controls are so easy to utilize. You can play in the fashion of a multi-directional and a scrolling shooter (using the strafing lock) as you please. Some levels will be mazes, while a few others have an open-world feel. You have a nice selection of five weapons which you can power up in between levels if you have the stock. It's fun to experiment to see which weapon types work best in different situations.

The Bad
Even with such flawless gameplay and mechanics, what the game doesn't do is let you know what your next target to destroy is, to avoid aimlessly wandering around. Other desired elements would be a health meter for bosses and a password system to continue from a point. Leaving the little inconveniences behind, this is quite the solid game that has no frustration to put you through and nothing remotely unfair. The only issue is that its quite short and no variation for every new game.

The Bottom Line
This game sports sci-fi vibes of difficult shooters from Super Famicom and Sega Megadrive, but this title sadly never made it to either of those systems, it just stood alone below those two. If you've played a hundred shooters your arcade days, this one just might surprise you greatly. You would never guess the game's goodness from its title and cover, so don't judge, just pick it up and play it. A fun and packed shooter for any gamer.