Bullet hell from Nintendo? Yes, thanks to DSiWare.
Metal Torrent is a vertical-scrolling bullet hell shoot-em-up for DSiWare. Reversing course from their latest relaxing release, Endless Ocean, the game was created by Arika, who are also known for their more challenging games such as the Street Fighter EX series and Tetris: The Grand Master.
Most shooters have a gimmick and Metal Torrent is no exception. In Metal Torrent, your ship is equipped with two types of guns, a wider-field blaster and a narrow-field one. This narrow one includes a circular protection field and has the ability to turn nearby enemy fire into cubes, which can be collected for points. Usage of the second gun’s cube conversion power is limited, though its energy meter recharges by collecting cubes. On easy mode, the protection field remains for a longer period of time.
The game is tailored towards high score competition. Players must find the right balance of use between their two weapons to rack up long chains of kills and big points. Metal Torrent includes an online leaderboard as well as a movie recording ability, which allows you to share movies with your friends. Achieve a top score and the world can see how you managed it. The game also keeps detailed stats such as your total number of kills and which types of enemies you’ve killed.
Metal Torrent has two modes, pattern and random. Pattern provides the traditional bullet hell patterned attacks, while random emits random spreads of bullets. Like most shoot-em-ups, the game includes a number of bosses, found at the end of each phase.
The graphics are pretty generic, and there’s nothing particularly notable about the title. Still, you don’t see many bullet hell shooters coming from Nintendo, and the online leaderboards and recordings give the game replay value for fans of arcade-style challenges. Check the video below for gameplay and an explanation of the game courtesy of Nintendo’s Dan Owsen.