Metal Black (c) 1991 Taito.
Earth is under attack from an alien race from the 'Nemesis' region of space, and human civilisation now stands on the brink of collapse. The invaders have utilised energy molecules - known to earth scientists as 'Newalones' - to create powerful beam weapons with which to attack Earth. In response, Earth's scientists have developed the 'Black Fly' project; a powerful space craft that utilises the same Newalone molecule technology of the alien agressors.
Metal Black is a very playable sideways scrolling shoot-em-up which manages to feel different to other games in the genre, due to the fact that it lacks a a player-definable weapon power-up system. Instead of collecting items that provide extra speed, different weapons etc. players must collect the clusters of 'Newalone' molecules that float around each level. These molecule clusters will gradually increase the player ship's firepower.
As long as the Metal Black ship has sufficient firepower, players can activate the 'Beam Weapon', which generates a powerful energy beam that destroys everything it comes into contact with. The Beam Weapon will only last for a few seconds and its use will reduce the ship's energy levels. Once the Beam weapon de-activates, Metal Black will have vastly reduced firepower for its forward-firing laser cannon. Players must once again collect the Newalone molecule clusters to build up the ship's firepower.

>>> TECHNICAL DETAILS
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Taito F2 Expanded hardware
Prom Stickers : D12
Main CPU : 68000 (@ 12 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)
Sound Chips : YM2610 (@ 8 Mhz)
Screen orientation : Horizontal
Video resolution : 320 x 224 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.00 Hz
Palette colors : 8192
Players : 2
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 3

>>> TRIVIA
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Released in September 1991.
Metal Black was originally planned to be 'Darius III', but somewhere in the middle of development, the programmers decided that it had to be a different, unrelated game.
This was Taito's first game to show the title of the tune which plays for each stage at the start of each one.
Moriyama Yoshihiro (See Staff section for more info) is the chief of G.rev (makers of 'Border Down' in 2003).
The game forbids the initials 'SEX' on the high score table. If you try, it gets changed it to '***'.
Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Metal Black - PCCB-00079) on 21/01/1992.
Zuntata Records released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Zuntata History L'ab-normal 1st - ZTTL-0038) on 01/04/1999.

>>> TRICKS AND TIPS
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* Levels Select : Boot machine with service switch pressed.
Message appears : SERVICE SWITCH ERROR, press 1p Start(x3), service switch, 1p Start.
Message appears : SELECT BY DOWN SW, select level with joy Down/Up and push Start button.

>>> GAME SERIES
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1. Gun & Frontier (1991)
2. Metal Black (1991)

>>> DESIGNERS / PROGRAMMERS / STAFF
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Producers : Senba Takatsuna, Hori Takamasa
Game designers : Senba Takatsuna, Hori Takamasa, Kuroki Naoya, Ohno Tomohiro, Seguchi Takashi, Mizobe Kumi, Watanabe Yasuhisa, Jun Sawaki, Katsuhisa Ishikawa
Art directors : Senba Takatsuna, Ohno Wepokichi
Programmers : Tarabar, Kuroki Naoya, Seguchi Takashi
Hardware engineers : Jun Sawaki, Takeda Tomio
Decorator : Kumi Mizobe
Sound (Zuntata) : Yasuhisa Watanabe (Yack.), Ishikawa Babio
Bit pattern : Moriyama Yoshihiro, Tanaka Kuniaki, Nakahara Yoshikatsu, Tsuneoka Masatoshi, Vap-Awave
Cast : Ho Lee Chan, Zuntata, John Neianik 8th, Sakou Menme

>>> GAME PORTS TO OTHER SYSTEMS
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* Consoles :
Sega Saturn (1996)
Sony PlayStation 2 (2005, 'Taito Memories Vol. 1')
Microsoft XBOX (2006, 'Taito Legends 2')
Sony PlayStation 2 (2006, 'Taito Legends 2')
Note : The PlayStation 2 version of 'Taito Legends 2' has a bug that breaks the control system - in the original, you could press the super button and hold it down for a directed blast.. The XBOX version does not suffer from the aforementioned bug, and plays as you would expect.
* Computers :
PC [CD-ROM] (2006, 'Taito Legends 2')

>>> OTHER GAME RESOURCES
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Game's rom.