Super Metal Crusher

1

4 /5

With a name like Super Metal Crusher you know this game can't miss. After all, even if the gameplay is terrible and you want to put it down seconds into the first level, at least it has an amazing title. Unfortunately like Snakes on a Plane and Surf Nazis Must Die, Super Metal Crusher is better as a name than anything else. This PC Engine may have a surprising amount of depth, but in order to get to it you have to put up with a lot of annoying gameplay decisions.

Despite what the pictures look like, Super Metal Crusher is not a one-on-one fighting game. Well, I suppose it is in one sense, but you're going to be extremely disappointed if you go in expecting this to be some sort of fighting game. You see, you don't actually control the fight. That's right, all of the battles are nothing more than a cinema that you are privy to. Your job isn't to do the fighting for your crazy robot, instead it's to customize the little guy, change his attributes and generally get him ready for the battles.

But let's back up a little bit. At its core Super Metal Crusher is a game about battling robots, sort of like an extreme version of Battle Bots. You choose what looks like a massive mech, customize him and then throw him into a cage match against another robot. Your goal is to destroy all of the other robots in the circuit and be the last mech standing. To do that you will have to tweak, upgrade and customize your character for each battle, with every fight getting more and more challenging.

If you're the kind of guy who enjoys playing Football Manager video games, then Super Metal Crusher may be a nice change of pace, however everybody expecting some fast-paced action will definitely be disappointed by this HuCard. Even the massive mechs look like short, fat tubs when you actually witness the battle. The whole ordeal is really depressing, especially when you think about all of those other games that actually let you control the battles.

There is some good news, though. If you have a friend that is into this sort of thing you can bring them aboard and have them customize their own mechs. The game even has an option for two-on-one and two-on-two fights, many of which are way more interesting (and unintentionally hilarious) than the standard one-one-one. Unfortunately like the single player mode, the multiplayer mode is short lived. You're better off just spending your time playing any one of the other games that puts you in control of the action.

Super Metal Crusher started out with such a promising name, but this is yet another disappointing PC Engine game. Fans of not actually doing anything will get a kick out of Super Metal Crusher's lack of interactivity, while everybody else will be scratching their heads trying to figure out how this is supposed to be fun. I personally didn't find this game to be all that exciting, but then again I'm not one of those people who enjoy watching grass grow.