page_title: Metal Warriors
section_title: Development and release
hierarchical_section_title: Metal Warriors / Development and release
caption_attribution_description: English: A Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES or Super NES) video game console, shown with standard controller. Українська: Гральна консоль Super Nintendo Entertainment System, зі стандартним контролером.
context_page_description: Metal Warriors is a side-scrolling action-platform run and gun video game developed by LucasArts and published by Konami exclusively for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in April 1995. It is often confused by many to be a direct sequel to Cybernator, which was created by NCS Corporation and released earlier in 1992 on the console. Set in the year 2102 where dictator Venkar Amon has waged a war against the United Earth Government for three years, players assume the role of lieutenant Stone from the titular freedom-fighting group taking control of several mecha suits in a last-ditch effort to overthrow the Dark Axis military force on Earth. Its gameplay mainly consists of action and shooting mixed with mission-based exploration using a main seven-button configuration.
  Metal Warriors was created by most of the same team who previously worked on Zombies Ate My Neighbors at LucasArts, including designer Mike Ebert and programmer Dean Sharpe, and uses an improved version of the same game engine that was previously implemented in the latter.
context_section_description: Metal Warriors was developed by most of the same team headed by Mike Ebert and Dean Sharpe who previously worked on Zombies Ate My Neighbors at the American studio LucasArts. Ebert had been a fan of mecha anime series like Gundam and Armored Trooper Votoms, whose fascination with said genre would eventually lead him to form the anime-focused magazine Animag: The Magazine of Japanese Animation before venturing into the video game industry and influenced his decision to create a mecha-themed game project. LucasArts' Kelly Flock immediately greenlighted work on the project after development process of Zombies Ate My Neighbors went smoothly without major issues and the positive critical reception it garnered, with Ebert himself claiming to be surprised at the company's deicision.
  Metal Warriors shares the same game engine written by former Sega of America technical director Toshiyasu Morita as with Zombies Ate My Neighbors, albeit modified and improved upon its previous iteration, which allowed its creation process to go fast and smoothly. Artist Harrison Fong, who previously worked on Dark Horse Comics' limited series Mecha, was responsible for designing many of the mechs and cutscenes in the game, while Sharpe and Tony Hsieh were also responsible for the programming work in the project as well, in addition to composers David Warhol and Eric Swanson co-writing the soundtrack, among other people collaborating in its development. It was also influenced by several games such as Blaster Master, Super Mario World and most notably Cybernator. Ebert has explained in recent years that the team had originally desired to implement a split-screen two-player co-op mode in Zombies Ate My Neighbors but it was not possible due to the engine not being fast enough at the time, however they were able to do so on the project.
  The game originally went and was previewed by Nintendo Power in their July 1994 issue under the title Battledroids, which proved to be difficult to obtain due to being an official terminology from George Lucas' Star Wars. It was initially intended to be published by Nintendo, who requested the team several features to be implemented before release but Ebert stated that due to the arrival of the PlayStation and the subsequent decrease in the 16-bit market for Super Nintendo titles led to the former terminating all upcoming Christmas releases under their brand, including the game and some of its requested features were later scrapped, however there were rumors of Nintendo dropping the deal due to similarities with the aforementioned Cybernator. Its development was quickly rushed to completion and publishing duties were instead handled by Konami, who requested the game to be renamed as Metal Warriors and produced an estimated run of 50,000 copies in total, although Sharpe has stated the team was happy in getting the game on store shelves regardless of the events.
  Metal Warriors was first showcased to the public during Winter CES in 1995, before being released exclusively in North America on April of the same year. It is often confused for a direct sequel to Cybernator by many people, as it bears some similarities to that game and both were published by Konami in the west. Sharpe has since stated that a version for the Sega Genesis would not have been possible without his involvement due to several programming tricks used in order to run the game on the Super NES, before the idea was ultimately scrapped after Nintendo picked up the project for release. Shortly after Metal Warriors was published in stores, both Sharpe and Ebert would depart from LucasArts because of internal issues that occurred within the company with Flock's departure to form their own studio, Big Ape Productions. A Game Boy Advance conversion was in development by animator Leonard Robel at LucasArts without the original team but it was never released due to internal conflicts.
caption: Metal Warriors was developed exclusively for the Super NES by most of the original Zombies Ate My Neighbors team and both titles share the same game engine.
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