Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force

Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force is a PS1 remake of Mad Stalker: Full Metal Forth. It adapts the system so it’s closer to Panzer Bandit, also released by Fill-In Cafe in the same year. With the revamped controls, the action is much, much smoother. Like Panzer Bandit, there’s an auto guard when the controls are left in neutral, and you can also deflect enemy attacks by hitting them at the same time. Dashing and boost jumping have been assigned their own separate buttons, too. A few other things have been added as well, like an “overdrive” power gauge that can be discharged for more powerful maneuvers. Enemies also regularly drop health restoratives, whereas the previous versions only provided them at certain points in the stages. The sprites here are all the same, but the backgrounds are now 3D, and look entirely different. Despite the visual makeover, however, the stages and bosses are all still pretty similar. The music has been rearranged, though, with some tracks taken from a Mad Stalker soundtrack album released alongside the X68k game in 1994.