Metal Warriors

About

Metal Warriors is a 1995 SNES game that mashes up shooting and platforming with a sci-fi war narrative. You play as Stone, a soldier in a rebel group fighting against an oppressive military force in the year 2102. The gameplay switches between running and gunning in levels filled with enemies and hazards, and managing split-screen co-op missions where you and a friend take on objectives like capturing bases or rescuing allies. The controls use a seven-button layout that can feel cramped but lets you swap between shooting, jumping, and using special moves mid-action. The game stands out for its solid co-op play and varied mission design, though it’s often remembered more for its multiplayer than its single-player campaign. Community retro reviews note the split-screen mode holds up well, with tight physics and shared objectives that encourage teamwork. While the story leans into 90s military sci-fi tropes, the mix of action-platforming and co-op combat gives it a niche charm among SNES shooters. It never became a classic but has a small following that appreciates its straightforward approach to local multiplayer.

Storyline

Metal Warriors takes place in the year 2102, where the United Earth Government is under siege from the Dark Axis military force led by the dictator Venkar Amon, who has waged a war against them for three years on Earth, however the titular freedom-fighting group equipped with robotic combat suits are the few remaining people defending the planet. Assuming the role of lieutenant Stone,[4] players control him through a variety of missions that initially are set in space and completing objectives such as rescuing agent Marissa from Axis 5 and capturing both an enemy supply ship and a heavily guarded asteroid base in order to obtain vital resources for the group, with the latter proving to be successful enough to promote Stone from lieutenant to captain of his crew.[11] However their recent success quickly attracts the attention of the Axis army, who engage in attacking the group's main ship with threatening enemy fire that Stone and his crew must defend with the stolen Prometheus units.[11] After the recent event, the group is tasked with disabling an anti-spacecraft cannon located in Alaska to ensure safe landing for air operations that would eventually lead to the removal of Axis forces on Earth. After stealing the experimental flying Drache machine from a jungle facility on Chile, fighting through the bombed-out Dorado city, capturing subterranean mining Axis installations and obtaining a command key from an enemy communication tower, the group finally reaches the Axis command center where a super weapon is rumored to be in construction, with Stone and his crew leading the final assault.[11][12][13][14] Once Stone reaches the depths of the center, he confronts Venkar Amon and defeats his super weapon in a battle between fully mobile flying armored suits, however Amon tries to escape with a hijacked Nitro suit but he dies incinerated alongside the base. Stone safely escapes from the explosion but his Nitro suit is wrecked after landing on the ground, marking an end for both Dark Axis and the war.