Metal Max Series

[Anonymous No.8463935]

I just beat Metal Max on Famicom, great game overall.
In a way it reminded a lot of Pokémon in the way there is no "serious story" (at least until the end) and you're just going on an adventure around the world hunting monsters, finding new things to put in your team and customizing them, etc

Is Returns worth it? Apparently it has decreased difficulty and I already didn't find the original game very difficult... the only challenge is how you're always hurting for money until the end game

Shame MM2 has never been translated on SNES/GBA; there is the DS remake but apparently that also has decreased difficulty and it looks worse. Thoughts on that remake anyway?

[Anonymous No.8463936]

This looks wild, I assume you're playing a translation?

[Anonymous No.8463942]

>>8463936
yeah, the original game on Famicom was translated into english, as well as its super famicom remake; there was also MM2 on SFC but only its DS remake has been translated.

turned based jRPG with tanks and other vehicules that you can upgrade, until you find better tanks, going around a post apocalyptic world hunting monsters and wanted bad guys until you eventually find out why the world is in an apocalyptic state

if you're going to play it, the only protip I have is that: you can tow a 4th vehicule including damaged vehicule which can't drive anymore, as long as you have another vehicule in driving shape. I wasted a lot of time at one point because I wasn't aware of that, going back&forth on foot to repair/retrieve broken vehicules

[Anonymous No.8464057]

>>8463942
Nice, thanks anon. I might check that out.

[Anonymous No.8464153]

>>8463935
I would not bother with Returns. I do suggest nagging people about translating MM2 for the SFC though, since the DS remake is just a reskin of MM3 (which is not great).

Play Metal Saga in the meanwhile.

[Anonymous No.8464168]

>>8464153
>I would not bother with Returns.

Why not? Too easy? Does it have any worthwhile new content?

[Anonymous No.8464264]

I remember playing a bit of this and filling up my inventory way too fast and losing interest because I have to hoard everything

[Anonymous No.8464308]

>>8464264
Each character and each vehicule has its own inventory so it gets better once you have a full team.
I barely used most inventory items (except the passive ones, the mine detector, the teleporting and map items) so I don't think it's a problem; though some throwing items were very useful against certain bosses; I didn't even realize there were items to refill vehicule's armor (HP) until the late game

[Anonymous No.8464605]

>>8464153
Didn't MM2R have several improvements over MM3?
My main problem was that you could put everybody in the same tank and have tanks with 5 machine guns.
Metal Saga needs a remake that fixes the SP system and finishes Rose's route.

[Anonymous No.8466529]

Bumping because I have always wanted to get into this series.

[Anonymous No.8466585]

[Anonymous No.8466625]

>>8463935
what´s the difference between the nes and the snes version? I played the ps2 version so far and I want to start properly

[Anonymous No.8466740]

>>8466625
I don't really know and it's not easy finding information about the series online. It's said that the SNES version has some minor changes and that it's easier

[Anonymous No.8466753]

>>8466740
Yeah this series is pretty obscure, I was thinking since 2 and 3 are translated to play it now , but I was confused when I found 2 version for the same game , MM2 it´s the same but the only translated version so far is the ds one and I doubt the snes one is gonna be translated since gideon zhi claimed it

[Anonymous No.8466772]

>>8466740
Metal Maniax has a lot of information.

[Anonymous No.8466778]

>>8466625
There's a lot of minor changes. The later tanks are changed, the dungeons are changed, smoke screens got removed and so on.
You need pass cards in a few spots so you can't just breeze through on repeated plays.
Ultimately it's worth playing both but you may want to check out the other games in the series first since the overall plot (or lack thereof) is still the same.

[Anonymous No.8466793]

>>8463942
Shit, turns out it tells you about towing tanks right at the start of the game and I didn't realize/had forgotten

[Anonymous No.8466918]

>>8466625
The remake has more bounties but puts more progression gates on the worldmap, maybe for the better, but it is still axing one of the big features of the original. It also has late SNES era graphics simply plastered over an NES game, which feels off and hollow in a sense to me. It's an absolutely mindblowing NES/Famicom game mind you, but to feel that you gotta actually play the original.

[Anonymous No.8466927]

>>8466793
Towing is extremely useful since the towed tank doesn't have to be mobile. You can use it for spare parts and to lug around heavy equipment.
Returns also has the option to intercept enemy missiles with the towed tank's main cannon.

[Anonymous No.8467032]

Only played Metal Saga on PS2 and remember being pretty frustrated with the absurdity and the difficulty. I should try again someday.

[Anonymous No.8467039]

Well I started playing the remake, reached Pobre Obre

Pros
>you get the map from the start of the game
you only get to see where you've been at but this is a huge plus
>you get a list of items you've had and descriptions for them
again a big plus, with these two things you basically don't need a guide at all
>more items to find in the world
>more bounties
>some serious balance changes like reducing the amount of max ammo the main tank cannons have, thus making ressource management and other type of attacks more useful
>graphics convey the post apocalyptic feel more

Cons
>the musics didn't always translate well to SNES

also it's easier to make money whether that's a pro or a con I can't tell yet

[Anonymous No.8467040]

>>8467032
The problem with Metal Saga is the way SP works. They increased the price tenfold compared to the MM games, so you are constantly bleeding money from enemy attacks, and you get slowed down by the shields so enemies will always act first if you are fully armored.
It's more effective to skip shields altogether and rely on the C-unit's defense to avoid damage.
Beyond that you have to realize that Metal Saga has a rather open world so you can easily reach areas with enemies that far outclass you.

[Anonymous No.8467545]

Well I don't think the remake has decreased difficulty like every site seems to claim; I already got my party wiped out twice so far + several other party members death.

anyone knows what you have to do to retrieve the other characterss when the party is wiped out? I always just hit reset

[Anonymous No.8467583]

>>8467545
They're just right outside Dr. Mince's house. The big thing is getting your tanks back and hoping they don't have mushrooms by the time you do.

[Anonymous No.8467601]

>>8467545
>>8467583
Also some big tips (spoilering them in case you want to figure them out on your own)

Keep multiple protectors in your party's inventories. Switching out protection when it breaks is essential to surviving on foot.

Early game, best tank is the van due to it having loads of attachments to mod. Good choice for MC until you get the Abrams.

Buggy is a good choice for Soldier to give her protection of a tank while still letting her attack with weapons since the buggy lets you attack with on-foot weapons. There's a good chance she'll hit harder as herself than with aux guns anyway, but the buggy's SP will keep her from eating shit, and a good SE gun will give her some good utility against larger enemies.

Really fun game. Beat the SNES version on Sunday, and genuinely had a good time. Liked how I explored enough to end up in the last area of the game early and got absolutely bodied as a result. One thing to watch out for in the SNES patch is a weird freeze near the end after you beat the final boss. Screen will turn white and the text box will not update. Screen will just stay frozen there for like a minute or two. If you wait and hit A, you should be able to continue on. The game isn't actually frozen, it just looks like it is.

[Anonymous No.8467632]

>>8467601
>the buggy lets you attack with on-foot weapons.

Wait, how?

[Anonymous No.8467640]

>>8467632
If you press L or R in a tank, it brings up the character menu. You can choose the normal attack command there.

[Anonymous No.8467665]

>>8467640
Holy shit nice, this command wasn't in the original right?

[Anonymous No.8467875]

>>8466753
>I doubt the snes one is gonna be translated since gideon zhi claimed it
No one should honor that asshole's dibs. He has been working on some of those projects over a decade. Games like Star Ocean Blue Sphere has multiple patches (French. Spanish, and Italian), but no one dares to do it in English because they are bound to a work ethic that only made any sense in the pre-2010 days of rom hacks.

[Anonymous No.8468069]

>>8466778
>>8466918
I see thanks I was playing the snes version and that feels so weird I don´t like the graphics compared to the nes version that feels like a badly redone recolor

>>8467875
I agree I will never forget how he acted when he release smt: if patch people should ignore it because so many projects have like 4-5 years and he isn´t doing nothing . I can understand with psx-saturn projects because they took a lot of time but the snes one? nope and I was waiting for mm2 snes but alas guess I will play the ds version

[Anonymous No.8470094]

>spent most of the bounty on Mammoth repairing damages dealt by Mammoth

at least Beatle was a piece of cake

[Anonymous No.8470102]

>>8467640
>>8467632
About this, it looks like you deal less damage that way than if you were detanked, but I'm not completely sure. I kept dealing 7-8 dlmg to Beatle with Lucy's Sonic Boom but detanked it was around 12dmg

[Anonymous No.8470103]

>>8470094
I just rented some Shermans for that fight and bought the Abrams with the bounty.

[Anonymous No.8470159]

>>8470103
ah, smart thinking. Abrams is the blue tank in port slum? That was the last tank I got in the NES version and I paid 100k for it haha

[Anonymous No.8470671]

Turns out there is at least one new dungeon in Returns

[Anonymous No.8470676]

>>8470671
and it's HUGE

[Anonymous No.8470834]

>>8463935
I retook MMR yesterday. Last time I played was like a year ago and got stuck. I couldn't get to Jizo's Passageway. Seems I had to talk to an oldman at Rocco's bar.

Now I'm lost as fuck. There was amore inventory managment stuff to this game than I remembered

[Anonymous No.8470841]

>>8470834
> I couldn't get to Jizo's Passageway. Seems I had to talk to an oldman at Rocco's bar.

is that the place that can be hidden by the tide? I thought it was random whether or not it showed but I'm not sure

My party just got wiped out by this bounty in the new dungeon for the second time just because he paralyzes the entire team in one shot... thankfully I don't lose progress but damn, not sure what to do with this guy

[Anonymous No.8471814]

i have the roms of the famicom and super famicom one, just started playing MMR and it seems absolutely wild and pretty fun. is the famicom original really better? why? i dont mind the graphics at all

[Anonymous No.8471830]

>>8471814
The original has Famicom soul, but playing MMR now and as much as I love the NES more than anything, it's hard not to say MMR is superior is most ways. With that said, if you have the time it's better to play the original first and the remake second, there are enough new things and changes to warrant doing that. Original game took me about 25-30 hours to beat I think,

[Anonymous No.8472572]

[Anonymous No.8472692]

Always felt it odd, but understandable, that the Japanese would make post nuke games somewhat lighthearted. Are there any other examples of this besides Metal Max?

[Anonymous No.8472707]

>>8470102
TNT Paranoia and the Laser Bazooka remain the same dmg.

[Anonymous No.8473623]

>>8472572
>that goddamn Centipede on the cover

progression blocker for me in the NES version, at that point I had to stop and grind for money for new parts

[Anonymous No.8473727]

I think I've cleared the new dungeon of MMR
>>8470671 >>8470676

The following is all spoilers:
>dungeon is made of a huge underground area and a building of about 36 floors
>first time you can get to the underground area is south of Freeza but it connects to both Sol and Hell Gate
>meaning you can get to Hell Gate early on if you have the guts
>you can only get to these two places by foot but by abusing the Dog System you can then bring your tanks along too
so I went to Hell Gate West and bought a Bazooka for Lucy
>this new dungeon is NOT optional, and there *is* something on the top floor

The last 12 something floors are divided into two areas: west and east. There are about 10 floors on the east I could not get access to because you can only get there by elevator and I was unable to turn on the elevator on the east side; if anyone finds out a way let me know but I'm not even sure it can be done

as for this guy >>8470841 a few protips
>you can meet him at random in some of the floors but he'll tend to flee very easily
>there is one spot where he's always met and doesn't flee
>he has only one attack but it can paralyze the entire team in one shot
>however, it looks like damage scales. So if you deal dmg and either he runs away or get wiped out, it looks like the damage is remembered for the next time; so eventually you'll get him
There is however one easy way to deal with him
>use the Grounding Tail and you'll have a high chance of being immune to his attack
>the Virus Bat, which is a rare encounter around the floors Zeppelin is met can drop the Grounding Tail
At first I thought the Grounding Tail was an ingredient to sell at the bar so I actually tossed TWO of them and only kept one. I absolutely hated myself after I realized what I had done. I grinded for 2 hours trying to get new ones but they never dropped again

with Zeppelin's bounty I was able to buy Abrams, meaning I got it before I even got Tiger. Between that and the Bazooka it's going to be easy now

[Anonymous No.8473981]

Jap METAL MAniaX wiki is excellent
https://metalmaniax.com/index.php?MM1%2F%B9%B6%CE%AC%2F%CE%A2%B5%BB
is hilarious

[Anonymous No.8474016]

Also, anyone find scans of the NES manual? The one on nintendo's jp site is doodoo.