Submission #2184: ECCO's NES Metal Max in 27:55.50

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.

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.

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