After four games based on hypercoloured, huge, cartoonish background graphics, and scarce playability, Chris Kerry must have stopped and thought a bit about it, and the result was a much more somber and solid game, Metabolis. In true Speccy tradition, the background of the playing area this time is the usual black, and the use of colour is limited to the structures and the perimeters around the above mentioned playing area. Instead, he concentrated more on the gameplay, on the playability and on the collision detection - and the result was quite good. It's a[nother] flip-screen-maze-game-where-radioactive-stuff-created-mutants-and-you-must-find-the-items-to-solve-the-problem, it flows smoothly, and the graphics are nonetheless exquisite. It's a labyrinth of about 150 screens in which you can find your way because its areas are very [and beautifully] characterized. So, this time the graphics actually help to improve the playability. You are yourself a mutant, specifically you became a sort of bird, but, contrarily to the other humans, you retained your previous intelligence and conscience, so you're the only one that can make a change. By the way, your imperfect mutation caused you a heart condition, so you must be careful, because you can't sustain prolonged effort: so, like in Thanatos the following year, there's a beating heart in the lower right part of the screen, and you can check if it's beating too fast. While on the other side of the bottom of the screen a bird tells you how much energy you have left, by progressively showing his bones, going from the head to the paws. The energy is of course drained by various monsters eagerly following you in each screen, and it can be replenished by picking up drinks and food, but there are other fatal surprises waiting for you in this peculiar environment. The first thing to learn, if you want to last, is where to find your weapon, a boomerang [but it doesn't appear like that], then you'll have to found out how to return to your human shape, find a helping wizard, destroy everything, and blah blah. Overall, I think Metabolis is a real cutie. And a turning point, for our hero, Chris Kerry.
1985 Gremlin Graphics Software (UK)
by Chris Kerry
Metabolis is one those games that lives up to the Gremlin Graphics brand. It has all, the cute looking graphics, the maze map, good character movement ...and Atic Atac as inspiration. Yes, this is somewhat very similar to the one above, it even feels like you're playing a sequel, if only the theme was different. It has it merit, though, it's very playable, looks good and cute and its very easy to control your character, also very challenging, even a bit difficult specially in the beggining. All the fauna around you makes the game hard, just like Atic Atac, so if you like this sort of games, go play it.
Review by YOR on 05 Feb 2019 (Rating: 2)
In this game, you are a man that's been turned into a bird with heart problems, oh the world can be cruel at times. I have to say I was not impressed with this, the enemies are quickly attached to you with little chance of escaping them and you only have one life, so as you can imagine that did not last too long for me. It looks pretty and all much like most of Gremlin's games did anyway, but the gameplay is pretty boring and ineffective for me.
