Biomechanical Toy

When you tell me that there’s a long-forgotten run ‘n gun shooter from the mid-1990s that shares the “explosive rhythm, ultra-expressive pixel art style and unique ally-rescue mechanics” of Metal Slug, you have my attention. But despite being called the “cousin” to SNK’s long-running shoot ‘em up, I would argue that Biomechanical Toy stands on its own as a great ‘90s era action game. Now, thanks to QuByte Interactive, this once-forgotten gem will be coming to pretty much every consoles later this month. Get your trigger fingers ready, because this is my early review of Biomechanical Toy.

I don’t blame you if you’ve never heard of Biomechanical Toy. First released in arcades in 1995, this Zeus Software shooter came out at a time when everybody’s attention was firmly directed at fighting games. It also avoided coming to home consoles like the PlayStation and Saturn, something that ultimately limited its reach. But just because it failed to find the same success as Contra or even Midnight Resistance, I’m going to make the argument that it’s worth your time to get to know this run ‘n gunner, even if you’re three decades late to the party.

There’s a story here that’s presented in broken and misspelled English. We learn that the famous criminal Scrubby has escape captivity and is on the hunt for a magic pendulum that is being guarded by a cuckoo clock named Relik. As it turns out, this is the same magic pendulum that brings toys to life, obviously, so when Scrubby breaks into the toy room and kidnaps the sacred item, the cuckoo clock enlists Inguz, his best soldier, to fight through six levels and get it back.

The story is only here to give a tiny action figure a reason to run ‘n gun his way through a bunch of small, toy-sized stages. We start out in a cartoony Wild West setting, which is quickly followed by Chess Valley, Dragon’s Tower, a toy train set and a haunted forest that is straight out of Ghouls ‘N Ghosts. The levels aren’t necessarily long, but also not bite-sized (despite their small stature). Most are long enough to include check points, something you’ll appreciate as the difficult spikes in the final few stages.

Biomechanical Toy plays by the typical run ‘n gun rules. It’s being sold as a shooter inspired by Metal Slug, but that’s not the comparison I would make. Sure, it’s cartoony and occasionally over-the-top, but there are no vehicles and, most importantly, you can shoot diagonally. The game also shines a light on its platformer roots, allowing Inguz to kill enemies by literally jumping on their heads. In fact, there are hard to reach areas throughout the game that require you to jump on the enemies to even get to them. This adds a fun new level to both the combat and the exploration.

You can rescue captives similar to Metal Slug, but unlike that game, these toys choose to fight alongside our hero for a minute or two. There also isn’t much firepower, especially compared to other run ‘n gun shooters. You start with a standard pistol, but you can pick up ammo that is more powerful and shoots like machine gun. While normally the standard pistol only shoots one bullet at a time, this port has an automatic button that saves you from mashing the controller.

A lot of the reason this game works so well is because of the bright, colorful and occasionally trippy graphics. From a hero that looks like he’s aping Steven Seagal’s style to artwork that would have been right at home on MTV’s Liquid Television, there’s no mistaking Biomechanical Toy for anything other than a ‘90s game. It’s the kind of game that looks like it would have been at home on the Saturn. There were some cool and memorable choices made about the level designs and especially the bosses.

Speaking of which, every level comes with its own unique boss fight. You’ll go from battling a killer chess piece to taking down a fire-breathing dragon. One of the more visually interesting bosses comes after surviving a killer train ride. It’s a computer virus that floats around the room and uses an interesting dot pixel style that feels otherworldly. The boss fights aren’t necessarily long nor that challenging, but the designs are fun and zany in all the right ways.

When it comes down to the negatives, most of the problems can be attributed to its coin-op roots. As an arcade game, this was designed to suck as many tokens out of your pocket as possible. What this translates to is aggressive enemies that won’t let up and tricky platforming sections that are sometimes more frustrating than fun. I’m also not a big fan of the time limit. This is a game full of hidden secrets and bonus areas to explore, yet the time limit penalizes you for straying off of the set path. This is one of those contradictions that reminds you that this is, through and through, an arcade game.

It's also worth keeping in mind that this game is around a half hour long. Perfect when you’re standing in front of an arcade cabinet, but maybe a little light on content when playing it at home. It’s also frustratingly devoid of extras. Sure, you can fiddle around with the cheat menu and even adjust the way the picture is presented, but that’s about it. No history about the game, no details on the developer and no extra versions to play. Plain and simple this is a no-frills arcade port that will run you around ten dollars.

When it comes right down to it, I think Biomechanical Toy is fun and I’m glad that it is getting a console release. I dig the cartoony graphics and am a big fan of bouncing on the enemies. It’s not one of my favorite run ‘n gun shooters and I’m not sure how often I’ll come back to play it, but there’s a lot here to like here, especially if you’ve never played it before. This would have been a great addition in a Zeus collection, but on its own? You may want to wait for a sale.