I'm going to be listing some Rad NES treasures over the next few months. First up, is Metal Storm. You can also post your Rad NES treasures here, be it Japanese or American .


Metal Storm

Released: ?
Publisher: IREM

My ROM of this is mostly messed up, so I can't get anything on the title screen but IREM. It's god everything for an irem game, Cute bubble-headed robots bopping along levels and destroying eachother.
Sounds pretty generic, except the catch is that at any time in a level you can reverse gravity and hop along the roof. Unfortunately, the potential puzzles aren't developed upon and it's more of a simple platformer. Weapon upgrades are dolled out usually in mid-boss fights or halfway through the stage.


Solstice

Submitted by: Wyrdwad
Released: 1990
Publisher: CSG Imagesoft
My favorite NES game, period. I like it even more than Mario or Zelda. It was one of the first to contain a huge interconnected world, a la Metroid or the GBA Castlevania titles, but it was a fully 3D world -- and this was back in 1990! Lots of unique rooms to explore, spanning a castle, a set of labyrinths, a castle courtyard, a gatehouse, and several other surrounding locations (and the map design was simply fantastic!), lots of hidden secrets, and for the NES, the graphics were absolutely amazing -- to say nothing of the music! Legendary British game composer Tim Follin not only composed the soundtrack, he also programmed unique sound routines just to play it, resulting in some of the least "bloopy"-sounding NES music I've ever heard (though if you emulate, beware: no emulator can QUITE get it to sound right, and some make it sound absolutely hideous!). Definitely an unsung gem of the NES.

Spawned a SNES sequel called Equinox, and a black-and-white Game Boy spin-off called Altered Space, both of which were also pretty fun, but neither of which quite managed to achieve the same level of immersion that Solstice did. Fantastic game, all around.

Shatterhand

Released: Dec, 1991
Developer: Natsume, Inc.
Published By: Jaleco USA, Inc.

I remember my first run in with Shatterhand when I was about seven. My mom picked it up at a yardsale but I was too pre-occupied with Zelda and Duck Hunt at the time. My brother absolutely loved the game, but I couldn't get past the first level!
Having some time to re-visit the game I've found Shatterhand is a very fun action/platformer game, that has a nifty system much like an RPG where you collect money from enemies to buy new upgrades and items. The main character is helped by the eight satellite robots that can be gained by collecting the various alpha/beta letters throughout the level. They function much like the summons in aria of sorrow and attack whenever Shatterhand does.
Overall, Shatterhand is a great game. It's soundtrack takes quite a hit though due to the NES's sound chip.

Updated with Shatterhand! A wonderful action/platformer.