Metamorphic Force (Arcade) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
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- čas přidán 12. 04. 2019
- A playthrough of Konami's 1993 arcade beat 'em up game, Metamorphic Force.
Played through as Claude on the machine's default difficulty level.
Though Konami's early 90s arcade presence was largely dominated by its well-known licensed-based beat 'em ups, they also produced a fair number of games based on original IPs. Many of these, like Lethal Enforcers and Sunset Riders, are still well known today thanks to Konami's own in-house produced ports for the SNES and the Sega Genesis. Others, however, were left in the arcades, and lacking the popularity and support of their more popular, more accessible contemporaries, have been relegated to relative obscurity.
Metamorphic Force is one such game. Dammit, Konami! Why was this never ported to the 16 or 32-bit machines?
While it doesn't have the star power of any Saturday morning cartoons backing it, make no mistake - Metamporphic Force was one of the finest beat 'em ups that the company ever created.
It plays a great deal like Turtles in Time or X-Men (with a heavy shot of Sega's Altered Beast thrown in for good measure), but - here comes the bombshell - it absolutely flattens those other games in just about every respect. The experience that was gained from the years creating those fan favorites is clear in every aspect of MF's production, and unhindered by the constraints of a pre-existing property, it's clear that the development team went all out in making this.
The fighting feels as good as it ever has in a 2D, belt-scrolling brawler. You get a wide range of attacks - all the standard punches, kicks, jump attacks, and life-bar draining special techniques are here, but once you've powered up, you fight in "beast mode." Beast mode transforms your character into his unique animal form, complete with a whole new set of attacks and throws. The game system has a fair amount of depth, but the simplicity of the two-button layout makes it all easy to digest.
The challenge level is also typically stiff, but it feels much fairer than earlier beat 'em ups thanks to the smooth, responsive controls and the enemies' tendency to clearly telegraph moves. You won't find yourself being bashed into a corner again and again thanks to a merciless AI. As long as you know handle your moveset, pretty much anything can be overcome with practice.
The real attraction, as it tended to be in Konami's coin op games, is the graphics and sound. The game runs on the same kit as Mystic Warriors did, but for as awesome as that game was, this puts the hardware to much better use. Be ready to pick up your jaw the first time you play this one. The sprite work is a absolutely gorgeous, and there is an insane number of animation frames for just out anything going in on-screen. The sheer level of detail is mind-blowing, and there are some fairly amazing special effects being pulled of in some of the background graphics. Despite how low of a resolution the game runs at, this is one of those games that, between its overall style and level of quality, can legitimately be called "art." The sound design is right up there too.
The PCM-sample based music sounds good enough at times that you might find yourself wondering if the game isn't actually just streaming a prerecorded audio track. Those screaming guitars are unbelievably cool sounding, and they carry through the din of constant thwacks, booms, and rumbles nicely. The voice acting isn't half-bad either, nor is the surprisingly decent English translation - there are a few awkward lines here and there, but nobody yells "welcome to die."
If you have fond memories of old Konami classics but haven't tried this one before, do yourself a favor and give it a go. Just don't be surprised if you suddenly find it taking its place on your list of favorites.
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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It's Metamorphin' time.
Its a show qoute?
KKkkkkkkkk 😁🤣
If you loved Turtles in Time and X-Men, just wait until you try this one. It may not have a big-name license attached to it, but Metamorphic Force is one of the finest beat 'em ups Konami ever produced.
Mario 64 plis
NintendoComplete Have you ever played The Combatribes in the arcade? It's better than this.
May I ask if this was recorded on Mame or some other emulator?
Glad you're going through Konami's whole arcade catalog at this rate. Another of their original arcade IPs from the same year I love is Monster Maulers, which is probably one of the least remembered.
Like Mystic Warriors: Wrath of the Ninjas, I believe Konami's aim for Metamorphic Force was to show their Western consumers that they can make an awesome game without a license, in this case, a beat-'em-up that is presented like it could have been an action cartoon of the early-to-mid-1990s. I sure wish I could have played MF in the arcades back in the day, but I didn't even know about the game until the late 2000s. I think a console port on the Sega CD would truly have made this game shine, with a Super NES port at a close second.
@@wilykat Comparing apples to oranges huh? I loved Combatribes but its sluggish controls were a pain and its final boss ridiculously difficult. MF is way more playable, especially the japanese version which features an actual life bar instead or the ever draining HP counter.
Wow that ending was perfect.
Damn this looks better than 99.9% of sprite based graphics in the last 25 years
Yep, it's definitely a favorite!
Lots of arcade games from the 90s have beautiful pixel art.
I want to say that its because the pixel art was drawn first, scanned, then traced using pixels. There was the technology to do that back then.
Nah,in the past they play,love and have pasion to work with videogames and now are too lazy and want easy money with all that shiet dlc’s and incomplete games
That's a way to make sure the villain doesn't return - beat the crap out of his soul leaving his body
Golden axe, altered beast, mutant fighter, tmnt, final fight... todo en uno
i wish they would bring these type of game back out either as reissues or a whole game. I love side-scrolling/smash'em up game like this and X-men.
They are called beat 'em ups.
Check out Jitsu Squad
You can I have it . I was buy the super console X3 plus you can find it in eBay or in Amazon
This is one of those arcades I had the luck to play when they were new and it really etched into my mind. The music is incredible, especially the second and third stage.
The danger notification above the character says "Dead SOON!" and I am absolutely here for it
This game is still gorgeous and a fine game to this day. The developer should release this game on all platforms, expand the aspect ratio and make it four players. Even if this game only gets released on Johnny Turbo's Arcade series it will have justice though.
Altered Beast +Golden Axe vibe
Dat Soundtrack!
Thank you for this! I have been looking for this game for years!
Love this game!! Played the living day lights out of this...underrated gem in my opinion....same engine as Konami's X-Men, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ect...final boss is awesome and the ending sequence is epic!!
In the tiny middle of no where village I grew up in, was this local shop. It was tiny and down the middle of no where. I used to go there every weekend as they had this arcade cabinet! No idea why, it was just there! So many good memories and only 20p a credit! Good times ❤️
When I was a child I played this videogame in a recreational machine that was in a bar in my neighborhood .... Thank you for uploading the video, I returned to childhood for a moment.
this game is spectacular great job dude
I wish this was still at my local arcade! Thank you for uploading
We need this style of gaming back
That's a pretty good game there!
And that Skeleton Boss... He's got that same laugh that Metalhead used in the GI Joe arcade game!
Love when those sound bytes "cameo" from one Konami game to another!
* The human form of Dracula in Castlevania Chronicles for the PSX and Faust, the final boss from the arcade game Vendetta, also shared the same laugh.
* In the Japan-only game Escape Kids, when pushing the jump button, your character made the "Yahoo" yell from Sunset Riders (when inserting a coin)
* The Main Event (wrestling) and The Final Round (boxing) arcade games had the same referee voices for the counts.
* In the arcade game Rock'n Rage, you could hear Gordon's evil laugh (the main villain from The Adventures of Bayou Billy) just before starting a boss fight.
The list goes on... :)
Wow; Konami really got their money’s worth with that Ninja Turtles game engine, huh?
And the X-Men Arcade Engine too...they probably had too, since they had to play for the X-Men/Ninja Turtles/Simpsons licenses. This is their own IP, and they can keep the revenue themselves.
I think the turtles game came out in 1990, didn’t it?
@@GaryPhelpsII Actually 1989...they had a sequel to it too....I was just trying to say that all those licensed games by Konami used the same gameplay engine for the most part.
Yeah, sorry; we may just not have gotten it in my town until the next year.
@@GaryPhelpsII 1989
Is it me or the character movements looks good for 2d arcade game.
So 2D games automatically looked bad? lol
89%of comments are this is altered beast plus some X...
I think this is one of the most epic games ever made, for quality and music, the ending is a mix of feels and nostalgy!
Lol this is some power metal stuff xD love the colorful sprites and it looks like the controls are very responsive.
Quite the references here, Ban looks like Salamander from Martial Champion and Ivan looks like Cormano from Sunset Riders.
The ice level also has Easter Island heads in the background. Konami made a Famicom (NES) puzzle game in 1990 called Moai-Kun, in which you play as an sentient Easter Island head with feet. Easter Island heads also appear in the Parodius and Twinbee games a lot.
Claude (in human form) could easily pass as a member of the Belmont clan as well
@@Loader2K1 The Moai were also hidden easter eggs in Metal Gear Solid 2
@@MagmaDashE: You must have damn good eyesight, because I never saw them in that game.
@@Loader2K1 They were well hidden all around Big Shell, in lockers and under desks.
i.imgur.com/awAtuSB.png
All those people saying it's like golden axe and altered beast have actually never played heroes of the round and other capcon beat em ups....
I see some shades of Golden Axe in here too when you beat up the wandering Treasure troll for healing and power up items. I prefer to use Max the werepanther though to play through.
And the first boss is Mongor from Thundercats.
I was sold on the stomping. Greatness
Did the first boss really say: "Ga ha ha ha ha... I won't let ANYONE step in THIS AREA!"?
Yeah, the dialogue's a little bland.
Still, nothing beats "Welcome to DIE!" xD
It's like Altered Beast meets Power Rangers :D
LOL, that's actually a pretty good description. Although I'm pretty sure they were being influenced by Ninja Turtles and X-Men at the time.
In an absolutely amazing way!
Altered Beast meets Super Sentai.
Who are you to wake me???....FIRE!!!
Gonna definitely check the vault for this one! I'm onboard!
God, this looks amazing. Everything about _Metamorphic Force_ just screams quality! *METAMORPHIC FORCE!!* Yeah, baby, just hear that on the title screen, and the beautiful 90s arcade graphics and you're all set to go, we got some Animorphs stuff happening, and some crazy bosses and combat; Yep, this is yet another true-blue Konami classic, for sure.
Golden Axe + Altered Beast = This game
Konami's version of Altered Beast...never played this tho...
The most epic Konami beat em up game. The music is awesome
Defenatly a fusion of X-men and Altered Beast
And golden axe
Que te pires
and golden axe with that mouse man with that bag .
True, that wolf's special attack is even the same as Nightcrawler's in Konami's X-Men arcade.
@@zimtak6418 - All four of them can do a "Nightcrawler".
We need a new Konami Arcade Archives series.
Why has Konami never released this on current consoles is beyond me. A side scrolling beat em up where you become anthro beast's battling evil. Who wouldn't want that?
Konami also didn't port _The Simpsons_ to the consoles either! 😠
@@edwardgaines6561: You mean Konami. Capcom has NEVER had the license to The Simpsons, although a beat-'em-up or one-on-one fighting game using The Simpsons license probably would have been phenomenal.
Edward Gaines Actually the Simpsons was ported to home consoles in 2011 on X-box 360 and PS3 by Konami. I should know as I bought it seconds after I heard it was available.
@@Loader2K1 I fixed it.
@@boru25 Doesn't count.
Roads of Altered Rage
Thank god this was back in ‘0X and mankind has safely moved on with our existence
I remember when transforming into an animal was more something fantastic and mystic, this game makes it feel like something out-power and like something that can be used for save the world against dastardly foes, but keeping the good taste and not making lots of sexual innuendos and melodramatic junk, that is the difference between the 90s and plain 2019 year, retro wins again.
And of course that this is a jewel, it is a game from Konami, say that it is amazing is be captain obvious, hmpf.
Great job Alex, I hope this game and other Konami classics will be ported to new generations if the future 50th anniversary collections are successful.
Yes, this game is exactly like Furry Force
In my humble opinion, along with Konami's Violent Storm, which was also released in arcades in 1993, Metamorphic Force feels very much like a action cartoon of the early-to-mid-1990s made into a beat-'em-up in Konami's glory days, some content withstanding.
wish this game had a remake a la double dragon neon style...that would be so epic
So freaking awesome!
Awesome game, awesome soundtrack.
For years I thought I imagined this game, because I only saw it once. This game is rad as hell.
I first played this in the early 2000s when MAME was getting big, and man, it instantly became one of my favorites ever, especially since the X-Men arcade game was (and still is) another long time favorite. This is still a go to party game title for me, too, made all the more awesome thanks to the Raspberry Pi.
Defenatly a fusion of Altered Beast, Golden Axe and Cadillac's Dinosaur.
Another great game by Konami. I enjoyed it when it was in the arcade, but sadly it never was ported to a home console.
Wow love the animation
Looks like that skeletal gladiator in the final stage is where Rare got Spinal's creepy laugh from.
😂😂😂 sorry going back in time here Alien vs Predator was one of my arcade favorites
You've Done It!
Can't believe I never heard of this game, its presentation is absolutely incredible! This is going straight onto my emulator right fucking now.
also the plot is basically
4 furries save the world from the evil scaleies
More like the plot and setup of your usual weekday or Saturday-morning action cartoon of the early-to-mid-'90s. =)
UwU
Furry Force?
@@Loader2K1 all the missed money
@@Nbjk01: LOL, _Metamorphic Force_ probably would have made an awesome cartoon if it were hypothetically adapted into one.
I always thought this game animation was awesome for 1993!
This game has really good sprites
Never played this and I have played a lot of beat em ups.
This by far is the best. I will have to try it myself. Altered Beast on steroids.
Altered Beast but actually good (AB hasn't aged so well).
For US and EU versions, the health is the countdown while the Japan version has no countdown in health.
It was the same with Crime Fighters. Japan got a big nice health bar and the rest of the world the draining HP counter :(
Gotta grab those quarters somehow. XD
JohnshiBRPG And that's why the Japanese version is my favorite version.
@@MagmaDashE Yep, plus the Japanese version of Crime Fighters had other improvements.
@@MagmaDashE - That's why Konami's N.A. offices can go f themselves for taking the worst thing about Guantlet in their beat'em ups!
You can easily tell this is from the same team that made the classic X-Men arcade. Sadly this game wasn't in either of the two arcades in my area so I didn't even know it existed till now. I'm sure I would have loved playing it back in the day considering how much I loved playing Konami's other beat 'em ups. I wonder how much money this arcade made. It looks like it deserved to make at least 80% what the X-Men arcade made, but something tells me it made less than 50% because it wasn't based on any popular franchise.
This game was like a mix of X-Men Arcade and Golden Axe, and it's so good. Japanese version is the best version though.
best ending i ever saw in a videogame so far!
czcams.com/video/ya8bxzw38h0/video.html so i did that
@@hei38cuhc No
This an xmen 6 player are my my favorite Konami beat em ups
Descobri esse jogo hoje, muito bom. 🇧🇷
Favorite game
I would have watched it. and bought the Action figures if this would have been an 90s cartoon
Didn't know about this game but great graphics
Wonder how many people believed that this was a sequel of Altered Beast.
I so need to play this game! If this game doesn’t get an Xbox One transfer or an Acrade1up, I’m gonna die with regrets, knowing that I never got the chance to play it. 😭
Konami, look what they've become today...
They are Yakuza infected.
Yet another awesome beat ‘em up game that I never knew about it! Damn, Konami and Capcom have got to release more beat ‘em games like these consoles!
YEAH!! AMAZING!!!!
altered beast + golden axe +konami's TMNT turtles in time game engine .
I wonder will this game get Switch release. If it was to happen first day buy for me...
It should get a Switch Release... I hope whoever the developers are they should also do a new Goldeb Axe game with local co op but with Modern Day graphics and 3rd person view...
They should totally do that!
We already got Sunset Riders. Who knows?
So it's basically like Altered Beast except it doesn't suck
DAMN! This music slaps
* Insert Coin * Insert Coin * Insert Coin
you ate all of my money already evil machine i have no more coins to insert
amazing, fook, i loved it i have just played it... Why so short?! i do want more! What hapened to you konami...?
I never knew about this game growing up.
I wanna travel back in time and give the younger me a hack of this for sega genesis with the name changed to altered beast 2 metamorphic force
30:56 Ooh, Nasty.
I just realized shouldn't the 2nd bonus stage be right before the final level/after the coliseum? At the final levels entrance you can see both that, and the bonus level have the same background and floor.
Same team behind the Xmen game, I presume? Its so similar, aesthetic-wise.
A foreshadow to Bloody Roar (which unfortunately and abruptly came to a halt)
Don't forget that Metamorphic Force is like the old Tiger Sharks cartoon from 1987.
@@psychopathyoutubeemployees280 Ohyes I remember that series. It’s good that the 90s would still make room for other shows/cartoons from past decades which doesn’t ever happen now.
Is this a Cardillac Dinosaurs with furries?
Y'all hear that power metal?
love the "dead soon" the game mocking the players
Too bad this game never made it to consoles. It could've had more success and even be considered a hidden gem nowadays like ninja warriors or sonic blast man. Good video, as always.
Edit: also, that soundtrack is amazing!
Same here. I would have liked a console port on the Genesis/Mega Drive, the Super NES, and/or the Sega-CD/Mega CD.
The only Konami arcade hits of that era to ever be ported to consoles were Sunset Riders, Turtles In Time and Lethal Enforcers. No Vendetta, Violent Storm, Mystic Warriors, Monster Maulers, Martial Champion or Dragoon Might. :(
@@MagmaDashE : Yeah. It sucks that they weren't ported to the home hardware at the time.
They should definitely make a remake or remaster, even an anime or ova would be cool!
@@mayorlionheart8051: I can't say that I disagree with your opinion, because I would like those ideas to happen as well. I for one would love the same people behind Castlevania: The Series to be behind a hypothetical anime OVA adaptation of Metamorphic Force.
I don't think this is very controversial, but this is Altered Beast except everything is much much better executed
Nailed it! That's Konami at their finest hour. In that era they could simply take an arcade hit from the competition and make it better. Crime Fighters was their answer to Double Dragon, Violent Storm was a shameless but awesome clone of Final Fight, and they even turned their own Contra into the western themed Sunset Riders.
was this based off some cartoon that was never made or something? because its awesome
also got the double meaning of that trucker guy
Metamorphic Force was an original game from Konami. Back in the late '80s/early '90s, Konami knew that catering to a North American audience was where the money was at, and they did it gloriously.
@@Loader2K1 Then Konami started catering to the weeboo crowd.
@@NintendoPsycho: I wouldn't say catering to the weeaboo crowd as much as their best games were canceled or outright denied releases in certain regions for several years.
@@Loader2K1 metal gear solid is pretty weebooish to me.
@@NintendoPsycho: If you say so.
The first boss just had to be a goat.
Is this being played on the switch?
Hey Nintendo.. could you let me know where you procured the rom for this by chance? My go to site for arcade roms got nuked by Nintendo so went bye bye and I REALLY, REALLY need to add this to my list to play. I just need a website name that's all - thanks!
Just Google the game name with "mame rom". Pretty easy to find.
@@NintendoComplete ok will do thanks.
Why the F is there no modern port of this gem?
Gitar metamorphiforce1998🤘🏼 one money in the end arcades ....
The EVIL KING, Ruler of the EMPIRE OF HORROR
He sounds like a really nice guy. I wonder if we can be friends with him.
According to Konami Amusement Sounds '93...Autumn, an official compilation soundtrack by Konami that features the OSTs to this game, Martial Champion, and Premier Soccer ( vgmdb.net/album/4391 ), the official name of the main bad guy is Death Shadow.
Is this on switch? This looks fun
Nope, it's not even on a console as it was never officially ported to one.
How do you play this gem?
The mame emulator
Looks like a cross between Altered-Beast and X-Men The Arcade-Game.
That's exactly what it feels like, but better than either
True enough. It looks better than both combined.
@Nuclear-Skull87: Metamorphic Force runs on the same engine as Konami's arcade adaptation of X-Men. In fact, Max, the dude with the mullet that transforms into what I assume is a cougar, has recycled attack animation from Dazzler.
Interesting. I am somehow not surprised though.
@@NintendoComplete What do you mean? Nothings beats the epic "WELCOME TO DIE" quote from engrish-spewing Magneto! :D
3:36 Omae wa mou... shinderu.
Yeah that scream is thoroughly amazing
@@NintendoComplete Not just the scream, the way he swelled up and exploded was pure Hokuto Shinken.
@@RenegadeKamui Oh yeah, I didn't miss the death by boils haha
Nani?!
Caprios (stage 1 boss) is screaming about what a useless moron, that is constantly negative, his stepmother is!