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Game objectives

  • Emulator used: FCEU0.98.25
  • Aims for fastest time
  • Manipulates luck

Game and Story

Nintendo's Family Computer is generally perceived as being frail in 1991.Until this year many classic RPG games had became famous at that platform.We have Dragon Quest1--4,a world of sword and witchcraft;we have Final Fansty 1--3,in which we experience a story Beyond the illusion of the Millennium.We have Destiny of Emperor,we have Fire Emblem,but we rarely have a game of Realism.
In 1991 when Metal Max was first released by DATA EAST,it immediately attracted people's attention. The game is set in a futuristic environment, where the surviving humans cluster in villages and ruins and "hunters" fight the monsters and outlaws outside.No Princes,no Princesses;no Warriors,no Magicians.In this game we just play as a normal person to uncover the secrets of this shattered world.
A terrible war break out in the future.They call it "the Havoc".No one knows how it happens,only a few persons survive in this war.They must use the weapon of their ancestors--the tank to fight the mechanical variants monsters.Several of the outlaws are particularly dangerous and become the Wanted for human hunters.When you have found a tank,you can be a hunter to beat the Wanted.Then you will win both wealth and reputation.Behind all the evil forces is the supercriminal--a supercomputer named Noah.Noah was created by human scientists to protect the living environment for people.However, after the human beings have made big destructions to the natural,Noah makes a final decision:the only way to save the natural is to exterminate human beings!So Noah becoms the final BOSS in this game.

About this run

A Unique feature in Metal Max is the high degree of freedom.Unlike DQ or FF you do not hanve to fight BOSSes and complete the missions one after another.In the medium term of this game you can go to almost any places you want to.You can challenge the powerful BOSS in advance or buy some advanced weapons to fight the preceding Wanted.That's a reason why this game can be completed in half an hour.
The Route for this run is generally as follows:Find the first tank--Beat the big two ordnances--Find the women companion(who was especially useful in the fight with the Defense Robot)--Destroy the Halo Building--Rent new tanks and beat the big rogue "WaLu"--Go through the river--Go to a new town to buy some special shells--Beat three Armored Turtle to make high levels--Beat the Defense Robot--Defeat Noah
Some special shells have very useful effect.One of them can beat the Armored Turtle easily in only one turn(even the best tank and the best cannon can hardly harm the Armored Turtle).Another kind of shell I bought in the movie is for the BOSSes.It can press them to be mess and escape in the battle.And in this way even the final BOSS Noah can be cleared up in only one turn!
The most difficult part in this run is the fight with the big two blue ordnances.In the early term of this game,I mean,before the blue ordnances,I can't find a place to buy some useful special shells.The only way to save some time is to use the Hidden money to buy a more powerful primary guns and make the protagonist to level three.I have tried several different ways to fight the ordnances.Considering the time of finding money and buying weapon,the time of upgrading and the time of every turn in the fight with the ordnances,I think the final plan I used in the movie is the fastest.
Another difficult point is fighting with the Defense Robot,because in this battle I had to get off from the tank.The women companion is especially powerful in close fighting,but the protagonist is useless in this battle.What's more,if the protagonist is alive when the women was upgrading by beating the Armored Turtle,the protagonist also get upgraded.To save the the protagonist's level up I make him to death in the battle with WaLu.But at the last part I had to revive the Protagonist and talk with his father to retire from the game.Otherwise the game would not go to an end. I tried several different plans at this point,and the way I used in the movie is the fstest.
In the ending of this game,the villages I have visited,the tanks(8 in all) I have found and the Wanted(11 in all) I have beated will be shown.Because this is a movie aimed for speed I only get one tank and all the Wanted are at large.After the staff the protagonist will talk with his father again,just like the beginning of this game.If this movie can be published I have to remind the encoder to just push one of the directions buttons to go though this part.Then it's the very last end of this game--a big Chinese character "完", which means "the end".Next I plan to do a more perfect movie of this game: all tanks are found and all Wanted are beated,but I don't know if such a movie will win acceptance by this site.
Metal Max only has a Japanese version,so I have no choice.Several years later it was transplanted to SNES who named "Metal Max Returns".The sequel "Metal Max 2" was released also on SNES which got better response than Matal Max 1 in Japan.The only game in this series which had an English version is "Metal Saga: Sajin no Kusari" on PS2.
At last I hope you can enjoy the music in this game,like "the Wanted",the music in bar and the "tank march" on the main Map.They are all very famous and pleasant to listen to.
 

Suggested Screenshot: frame 94770

I cancel this movie because I find a big improvment using an amazing BUG.The new movie is 5minutes 11seconds faster!

TASVideoAgent
They/Them
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Joined: 8/3/2004
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #2184: ECCO's NES Metal Max in 27:55.50
Joined: 1/22/2008
Posts: 319
Location: Brasil
im the first =)
Run..Run...Run.....
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 757
I'm sorry but... well I was bored by a 1/3 of the way through the movie, and even fast forwarding did nothing to help. It was extremely slow, clunky and unentertaining for an RPG... and with your mention of a SNES version, I wonder why you wouldn't have TAS'd that instead? The fact that at almost no point did I even have a clue of what was going on, and the fights were boring to watch as a result of having no clue of what was going on didn't help matters any. I can't comment on technical quality but entertainment wise I felt this was a bomb. I hold no ill for you going for something not terribly known to N.A. audiences, as I think that's always a good thing, but for me, this wasn't the best choice in the world. Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin Just another random gamer ---- <OmnipotentEntity> How do you people get bored in the span of 10 seconds? Worst ADD ever.
Former player
Joined: 2/10/2007
Posts: 60
Location: China
OK, I have to say something about the SNES version.It has big difference from the NES one.Because there's no Chinese version of "Metal Max Returns", I'm not so familiar with this game.But as far as I know the BOSS fight will be different for the special shells doesn't take effect any more and the process will be changed because the SNES game has a underground passage.In general, a speedrun of SNES will be a completely different one.What's more the NES game is the origin of the whole series.That's a special significance. As a TAS of a RPG game I can't expect this movie to have a big entertainment.The normal completed time is 20 hours or more but I managed to make it in 30 minutes.And the world map of this game is broad so a lot of time is spent on processing on the map.I can't make change at this point.But thers's really some interesting point in this movie,like how to get the women companion,how to destroy the Halo Building and how to deliberately force the protagonist to death to save time.
Just Run
Joined: 10/3/2005
Posts: 1332
I couldn't sit through the entire thing. This movie seems mainly about traversing plot points, with very little strategic powering-up to beat ridiculously hard enemies, as one would expect from an RPG TAS. But then, I didn't see the whole thing, and didn't slow down to translate much of the Japanese, so I could be wrong.
Former player
Joined: 2/10/2007
Posts: 60
Location: China
No,you are right. The main world map of this game is very broad.It is said that the prototype of this map is Tokyo.But I havn't been to Tokyo so I don't know if it is true.Most of the time is spent on traversing.The most difficult BOSS is the two big blue ordnances.After that I can use some special shells to defeat the BOSS easily.Strictly speaking they were not defeated,they were disordered and run away.But the result of the battle is they were defeated.Maybe it's a BUG of the game. I have TASed this game twice.This movie is the later one.On technical quality it can hardly be better.As to the entertainment I can do nothing more.The whole story is very interesting if you can read Japanese. By the way I have another problem.I tried the SNES version of this game named"Metal Max Raturns".But I can't make it to avoid the normal enemies all the way.It is seems that after about somesteps I have to run into a battle.But it is not absolutly like Final Fantasy 1.Is there an kind of RPG game in which the enemy encountering mode is just between DQ1 and FF1.And is there a topic about this kind of discussing.Thank you.
Just Run
Joined: 3/7/2006
Posts: 720
Location: UK
Well, from experience Pokemon (I know that isn't pure classic RPG), the Suikoden series, the Megaman Battle Network series. There are plenty of others, but there are probably an equal amount of 'get battles every N steps' games too.
Voted NO for NO reason
Former player
Joined: 2/10/2007
Posts: 60
Location: China
As to the game "MMR",I'm not sure if it belongs to the 'get battles every N steps' games.Because the 'N' is not determinate.Sometimes more than 10 steps,but sometimes just one or two steps.I wonder if this kind of getting battles can be controled.
Just Run
Joined: 3/7/2006
Posts: 720
Location: UK
Usually it can be manipulated, yes. If there are any random events in the battle (very likely unless the game is Armed Dragon Fantasy Villgust) it will jog the random seed to another value. Ending the battle on different frames tends to give different 'N steps' left before the next battle occurs. Final Fantasy VI works like this I think (it also has a complex thing where different tiles subtract different amounts from the remaining step counter, though)
Voted NO for NO reason
Former player
Joined: 2/10/2007
Posts: 60
Location: China
Oh in MMR ending the battle on different frames does afect affect the"N",it can be changed from 10 to 50 or more.It's amazing.But I'm not sure if I can make it to avoid enemies all the way.Sometimes I have to go more than 100 steps on the main map.That's a real headache -_-
Just Run
Joined: 3/7/2006
Posts: 720
Location: UK
Yeah, that's just something you'll have to deal with. :) Does entering a location without encounters (if such exist) reset the counter, or does it freeze it ready to count down again once you leave? That could be your key right there. For example, on some games the step counter still lowers when you're in towns, but once it reaches 0 it generates a new N to count down from; this means you can walk into a town for a couple of steps then walk out again and finish your main map journey with no encounters. Just a thought.
Voted NO for NO reason
Skilled player (1636)
Joined: 11/15/2004
Posts: 2202
Location: Killjoy
Unfortunately, being in Japanese and relatively unknown makes it less interesting. Its too hard to tell whats going on, even with the well-written submission text. I thought that the one character being dead was sort of interesting, but other than that... its an RPG with a bunch of squiggles.
Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.