Arcade Appreciation - Metamorphic Force

Metamorphic Force chronicles the story of four brave men who inherited an ancient power that allows them to unleash the furry within. Choose whichever guy who stokes your coals and get ready for six stages of hack & bash action. Forgive me, but this is going to be a bit of a weird belt-scroller to describe. The impression I get is that Konami just wanted to make another X-men but couldn't secure the license. Seriously, put both games together and you'll notice dozens of similarities. Everything from the late 80s comic book character-designs to how everyone walks or punches feels like the X-sequel that never got a chance to grace the arcades. I probably shouldn't use the word sequel though, because there isn't nearly enough here to warrant the usage of the word. Strictly speaking, there's less content here than in the previous game. The cast also suffers from unrealized potential. There's personality in everyone's basic attacks, but super moves are just the Nightcrawler-esque "flies around the screen destroying everything". Still, there's some fun moments, like the guy with the log who uses his bear form to sit on opponents. *

I should probably explain the central mechanic. At first, each of the playable characters start off as humans, relying on their fists or weapons to battle anthropomorphic aggressors. After a short time, they'll stumble over the first of many gold statues. By grabbing this power-up, their forms will be altered, becoming more beast than man. Bestial warriors benefit from enhanced strength and agility, but in truth, it's not something that significantly affects how to play the game. To put it another way, the human form in Metamorphic Force is roughly equivalent to the ghost form in Avenging Spirit. Sorry, let me put it another 'nother way: if you're not covered in fur, then you're probably close to dying. Both the health meter and power meter replenish or deplete at roughly the same rate. Also, a fellow with puppy dog eyes appears frequently, and he almost always has a golden statue in his sack. 

Bear in mind that there isn't some enormous power gap between the human and beast forms. Even without claws, the heroes can waste their opponents in as little as three hits. This is a clever move on Konami's part, as it ensures that bad circumstances can still be recovered from. However, I can't imagine anyone aside from maniacs ever skipping out on the beast form, simply because that's what makes the combat sing. Instead of raw power, a lot of the beasts' strengths come from having enhanced range, as well as a greater degree of mobility in both their ground and air attacks. The hit feedback and animations are also extremely good. There's less impact than genre titans like Final Fight, and that's fine. Instead of focusing on singular hits, the developer opted for short strings and quick flurries. It's designed to emulate the ferocity of a wild animal as it ravages its prey.

While Metamorphic Force does suffer a little from having less-developed characters than its predecessors, I appreciate the refinements it brings to the core game design. Controlling someone and attacking whatever opposes them feels uniquely unnatural. Yes, this is a positive opinion. What I mean is that certain aspects of the combat are very loose, almost as if Konami wanted a beatemup where attacks have a statistically higher probability of landing than any other beatemup out there. If your proximity to an enemy is anything approaching reasonable, then the next press of that attack button is going to do some damage. Grappling is also very simple. You don't even have to push the d-pad / stick towards the manimal you want to grab. The simple act of throwing creates a generous hitbox, so you don't have to worry about a nearby enemy getting a hit in after you just sent his buddy on a one-way trip. 

Even with all of their advantages, I still must advise players to never underestimate the opposition. The lowliest (and greenest) lizardmen don't do much besides laugh at misfortune, but they are deadly with weapons. A few guys with spears will erase a life meter. The difficulty never reaches the absurdist heights of Turtles in Time Arcade, but with every passing stage, enemies increase in number as resources dwindle. Survival eventually comes down to managing large crowds and neutralizing threats with immediacy. As for the bosses... You can probably get away with underestimating a few of them. 

A topic that often comes up in beatemup discussion is the presence of "adds" during boss battles. A lot of these guys (or gals), impressive looking as they tend to be, are at least aware that one-on-one fights are never in their favor. How does the saying go? Never fight alone? That's not a saying. Whatever. The point is that unless the boss is an incredible talent, then they should never fight the player on equal terms. Bring a couple of friends to distract, annoy, and eventually destroy. The guys (and gal) of Metamorphic Force aren't anywhere near skilled enough to compete with the player who can just walk up and grab them. They're not inept. The 4th boss has a grab range that'd make Street Fighter 2 era Zangief jealous. Boss #5 has an ass that kills in three hits. They are outmatched though. This rift creates a difficulty imbalance that's noticeable, but not a huge deal otherwise. Newcomers are still going to see a lot of their virtual coins get eaten.

If my "originally an X-men sequel" theory has any basis in reality, then it's a miracle that Metamorphic Force was #1 finished and #2 damn good. Stomping on multiple beast-folk while listening to banger tunes is a lovely way to spend multiple afternoons. The long-term depth might be a little lacking, but there's still enough of a difference between all four characters to warrant multiple playthroughs. The ease in which one move flows to the next, allowing players to solve several problems at once; this serves as proof that simple yet satisfying combat still goes a long way. Plus, it's not like I can complain about cheap bosses eating all the credits, right?

*Gross. I must've used "there" a gazillion times in that first paragraph.

Stomping in this game rules.