Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force

Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force combines two genres that rarely mixed in 1994: level-based brawling action and one-on-one fighting games. The player controls a battle suit in a cyberpunk city, smashing through crowds of enemies using combinations of punches, kicks, and special attacks input with joystick motions, exactly like in arcade fighting games. Each level culminates in a duel against a rival mech with its own set of moves, and it's these duels that gave the game its reputation as a title demanding real skill from the player, not just mashing a button.

On the Sharp X68000, the game benefited from what the platform did best: large, richly animated characters and smooth movement without slowdown even when several robots swarm the screen at once. The visual style blends heavy machinery with a neon cityscape, and the FM-synthesized soundtrack goes for brisk, almost rock-inspired tracks that keep pace with the fights. The environments change quickly enough to keep things fresh, and the game's length is deliberately short, since the focus isn't on progression but on mastering the fighting system and repeated attempts at a better performance. Besides the main campaign, the game also offers a two-player duel mode where you can pick from the mechs encountered in the story, bringing it closer to classic fighting games and significantly extending its lifespan. It's this mode in particular that made it a favorite for get-togethers among X68000 owners.

Its success with Japanese players led to Mad Stalker being ported to other platforms including the PC Engine, FM Towns, and PlayStation, which was unusual for a game originally released for a home computer. Still, the X68000 version remains the reference edition for fans, since it was built directly for this hardware. Today it plays like a charmingly distinctive hybrid: direct enough to finish in a couple of evenings, yet deep enough to reward players who learn its timing and moves. For fans of mechs and beat 'em ups, it's a small but honest classic.