Game Review #232: METAGAL (Nintendo Switch)

Reviewer: FrankieW

Developer: RetroRevolution

Publisher: Ratalaika

Category: Arcade, Action, Platformer

Release Date: 03.29.2019

Price (at time of review): $4.99

Buy METAGAL from the Nintendo Switch eShop here.

Jump N’ Shoot… Girl?

METAGAL is the story of the cyborg girl Meta in her quest to rescue her creator and her sisters from the leader of an evil army, the aptly named General Creeper. He was able to kidnap Meta’s sisters and turn them all into battle cyborgs in order to take advantage of their power so he can take over the world! Meta finds a capsule left for her by her creator that she is able to use to unlock her latent abilities as a super android and turn into the titular METAGAL! Now packed with power, she sets off in order to save her sisters and her creator. And yes, the girls have nano armor skin, which is why you get thighs and skin a-plenty, why else would it be like that!?

A Familiar experience

Metagal is a powerful lass, capable of dashing quickly, shooting with her arm cannon and jumping. She's also blue and capable of a big blast of charged up energy. Can you figure out who she has a little resemblance to? If you guessed a certain Blue Bomber, you'd be right! But if you guessed Mega Man X in specific, you hit the nail on the head. This game features many of the same gameplay themes and options as the Mega Man X series, and speaking as someone who has good ole X tattooed on my body, they actually did a great job putting their own spin on the formula.

There is a great engine underneath that FEELS good, which is something I often have a problem with when it comes to this kinda stuff. Upon defeating some bosses, Metagal will be able to absorb their signature ability and use it herself (surprise surprise!), but man, these powers are very useful! Sometimes in Mega Man style games you get some real duds for powers, but I found myself using a lot of these powers often, especially the shield one!

Underwater, On Top of Lava and climbing buildings!

Metagal has you visiting a wide variety of locales in your quest to take down General Creeper and save your sisters and creator, all dressed up in a pretty 16-bit aesthetic that is very pleasing to the eyes. The music is catchy and the sound effects are crisp. Colors and effects pop off the screen while the backgrounds just look great. Each level has a unique gimmick for you to figure out and get past, and it has the levels all feeling unique and memorable.

Time to Power-Up!

METAGAL has 8 levels, and maybe it's my years of playing Mega Man games but it wasn’t SUPER tough. However, it was certainly a fun run through the game, and they extend that playtime by offering the ability to unlock multiple other characters to play as throughout the game for even more fun! For 5 bucks, METAGAL offers a TON of content, from a team that clearly had a ton of love for games of a similar genre and more than cut out their space among them as a unique little homage to the 16 bit era run and gun. I can’t recommend this game enough! It's a bite sized blast that you will find yourself sitting down running through for days and days to come.