personaly i thought this run was pretty good. i never knew about this game and i think this could be a real interesting game to do some runs on. unfortunatly though this run had 1 problem some people will point out as an act of unspeakable horror. missed shots. now personaly im not a fanatic about this so they did'nt bother me much. IMO they make the movie seem a lot more real as if its really being played on a console but most people dont like this. i like the run the way it is and since its the 1st submitted run of this game i'm gonna vote yes cuz this was rather fun to watch. again though cuz of the missed shots people prolly wont agree with me. EDIT - forgot to ask. with the boss that looks like 3 giant junk blocks, why do you take so long to kill them? is there some stratagy for them that i'm unaware of? such as them being invincible for certian periods of time?

I'm guessing the missed shots are because pressing the fire button automatically shoots lots of shots in auto-fire. Although it's probably still possible to avoid the missed shots by letting go of the button sooner. Also, it looks like the junk blocks have a little door on them that close when they're shot, making them invincible until they open again. I have a question about those things that shoot rapid-fire laser beams across the screen you have to wait for -- I think a few times you were able to shoot and destroy those things while they were still firing lasers, but other times you wait until they stop firing and then shoot and destroy them (maybe the reason you bother to kill them instead of walking past is to avoid lag, but I don't see any reason not to kill them earlier if they're still shooting.) (Clarification: I'm talking mainly about the ones that shoot vertically, but maybe this applies to the horizontal ones too.)

This run was OK. However, it could be faster by using kamikaze attacks on the bosses (with the armor). This kills some of them instantly. Also, it's possible to put in the password for difficult mode in the beginning. It adds a lot more enemies and could be more interesting. I don't know if it would be better or not since it's so tough I've never made it through... So I think this is an entertaining and promising run, but needs another time through to get a yes from me.

Agreed with Axeman. Why do you give up the gravity fireball for shield? I think it should last you to the end. Also, I was hoping for pretty close to 100% kills. And be careful of hitting walls as you progress- sometimes this can be avoided by jumping early in order to fall faster once you reach the ledge. And, as stated, there are many missed shots(personally I am quite a stickler for this). But I'm glad your efforts helped everyone on earth to sleep tonight.

I did a run of this a long time ago, but it generated no interest, so I didn't submit it. Firstly, you definately should've put in the hard mode password. Second, You should never give up the gravity fireball, ever, it's the most powerful item in the game. Here are a few observations: Stage 1-2: - 375 : You can get the gravity fireball without bumping the wall if you jump right. - 360 : Gravity fireball the crap out that big thing blocking the hall that you stop and shoot. If you use the firebounce, it dies really fast. Stage 2-1: - 390 : When you jump up between the second set of green things, you hesitate a little and move backwards, if you do it right, you never need to stop moving to the right. Stage 3-2: - 361 : Fire bounce off the spikes at the top then back down to slip between the platforms without bumping them. Stage 3 Boss: - You can Fire bounce continuously inside the boss and kill him much faster. Stage 4-1: - Don't get rid of the Gravity Fireball and waste less shots. Stage 4 Boss: - This is *much* faster if you Fire bounce the boss. Stage 5-1: - Using the Gravity fireball to just flip through the lasers will save a lot of time. Stage 5-2: - Again, the Gravity Fireball will make this much faster. Stage 5 Boss: - See notes for previous 2 stages. You can just bounce back and forth over the spikes and do this really fast. Stage 6-1: - 392 : You pause for a moment here. No idea why. Stage 7: - Gravity Fireball.... Note, this is all a *lot* harder with the code, which makes for a far more interesting movie. -Cheez

Thanks for the critiques and advice. I recently found out that the Japanese version of the game (Juuryoku Soukou Metal Storm), which I originally assumed was identical in gameplay to the American version, has a much more challenging layout for Stage 6. Laser beams at the top and bottom of the screen reduce the character's movement significantly, and the enemy layout is different in some parts. IMO, the Japanese version's color palette is less appealing, but since it has more challenge, I will retry on that version, on Expert Mode.

Cheez's run is in the buried Metal Storm thread in the NES forums. If the link is broken, it is on my computer(which I'll be on in a couple weeks).

Sadly the link will be broken. I don't even have the run myself anymore, I lost it in a crash. It was a good run, hardly optimized though, since I learned stuff towards the end that I could've applied to the beginning. I'd love to get that back though. -Cheez