Metaloid: Origin

Metaloid: Origin is a side-scrolling action-platformer set in a futuristic sci-fi world. Players control one of three unique characters, each with their own abilities, as they battle through levels inspired by classic 16-bit era games. The gameplay draws heavy inspiration from the Mega Man X series, featuring tight platforming and shooter mechanics, but distinguishes itself with a different approach to game structure and weapon upgrades. Despite some issues with visuals interfering with gameplay, it offers a challenging experience for fans of the genre.

Metaloid: Origin: A Retro Homage Caught Between Ambition and Execution

As a professional game journalist and historian, I have spent decades chronicling the ebbs and flows of the industry, from the monolithic AAA blockbusters to the passionate, scrappy indies that often wear their hearts on their sleeves. Metaloid: Origin, a 2019 2D action-platformer from the two-person team RetroRevolution, is a title that demands to be understood not as a standalone product, but as a artifact of its time—a loving, if deeply flawed, love letter to a bygone era of gaming.

Development History & Context

Studio & Vision
RetroRevolution is a micro-indie studio comprised of Thai artist/designer Tharathon Wattanavikrai and Italian programmer Alberto Dolci. Their previous title, 2016’s METAGAL, was an unabashed homage to the classic Mega Man series, but was met with a mixed reception on Steam, criticized for its level design and difficulty. Metaloid: Origin represents the team’s evolutionary step, a conscious pivot from the Mega Man classic series toward the more fluid and exploration-focused mechanics of the Mega Man X franchise and its successors.

The vision was clear: to create a “fast-paced gun’n run 2D platformer” that captured the essence of 16-bit classics while incorporating more modern sensibilities, such as extensive character upgrades and a heavier emphasis on exploration. Developed in GameMaker Studio, the project was a grassroots effort, with the developers openly admitting on forums that they were learning as they went. English is not the first language for either developer, a fact that would later become critically relevant. The game was published across a bewildering array of partners—RetroRevolution on Steam, 7 Raven Studios on Switch, Totalconsole LLC on Xbox One, and Eastasiasoft on PS4—suggesting a piecemeal approach to bringing the game to market on different platforms.

Technological Constraints & Landscape
Released in March 2019, Metaloid: Origin entered a crowded indie marketplace. The “retro revival” was in full swing, with titles like Shovel Knight having already set a high bar for quality and innovation within nostalgic frameworks. The constraints of a two-person team are evident throughout the game; from the fluctuating audio mixing to the occasionally repetitive asset use, this is a game built with passion but limited resources. It exists in a space where its ambition—to emulate the likes of Mega Man X4 or X5—often outstripped its execution.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

Plot & Characters
The narrative setup is pure sci-fi boilerplate. The planet Utopa, home to a race of biomechanical beings called Metaloids, is exploited by the nefarious Lucian Corporation under the guise of a technological partnership. When rumors of a rogue robot army surface, the warrior clan leader Nicolas dispatches his elite trio of warriors, the “Predators,” to investigate.

Players choose one of three Predators for their entire playthrough:
* Erika: A fire-wielding, leotard-clad “gamer chick” whose dialogue is littered with anachronistic video game references.
* Zeta: A male character with anime-style hair who commands electricity.
* Neva: A “wrench wench” type equipped with a jetpack and a rapid-fire weapon.

The story is delivered through brief, poorly translated dialogue sequences before bosses and at the game’s conclusion. The plot serves as a barebones framework to move the player from one level to the next, but it is consistently undermined by its own presentation.

Thematic Analysis & Flaws
Thematically, the game attempts to touch on corporate exploitation and the defense of one’s homeland, but these ideas are lost in a sea of typographical errors, awkward phrasing, and tonal inconsistency. Erika’s quips about her brainwashed friend not “logging on” and her desire for “high-level equipment” clash violently with the ostensibly serious stakes. The writing lacks the self-aware charm of better indie comedies and instead feels unintentionally jarring. The lore surrounding the Metaloids themselves is frustratingly ambiguous—are they cyborgs, robots, or a fully organic species with mechanical traits? The game never provides a clear answer, leaving its own world-building feeling half-baked.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Core Loop & Combat
At its core, Metaloid: Origin is a competent, often enjoyable, run-and-gun platformer. The controls are tight and responsive, with a satisfying dash mechanic (or glide, in Neva’s case) that is essential for navigation and combat. The influence of Mega Man X is undeniable: the feel of the movement, the screen-clearing special attacks, and even the sound effects feel deliberately crafted to evoke that specific nostalgia.

The game diverges from its inspiration with its structure. Instead of a non-linear set of eight stages, players tackle nine lengthy levels in a fixed order. This allows for a carefully curated difficulty curve but sacrifices the strategic weapon-acquisition loop of a traditional Mega Man.

Progression & Economy
The game’s most significant innovation is its Soulrium-based economy. Soulrium gems are collected from enemies and hidden throughout the expansive levels. This currency is used for two primary functions:
1. Purchasing Upgrades: From the pause menu, players can spend Soulrium to buy new weapons and abilities, such as a three-way shot or a powerful flamethrower.
2. Continuing After Death: Deducting a chunk of Soulrium allows players to retry from the same screen.

This creates a compelling risk-reward dynamic. Do you spend your hard-earned Soulrium on powering up, or do you hoard it as insurance against difficult sections? Five large Soulrium caches are hidden in each level, rewarding thorough exploration and making the hunt for secrets genuinely rewarding.

Level Design & Variety
The level design is where RetroRevolution showed the most growth from METAGAL. Stages are long, dense, and surprisingly varied. The opening “Meta Forest” acts as a tutorial with box-pushing puzzles, while later levels introduce vehicle segments (a desert unicycle chase), minecart rides, water sections, and a full-on shoot-’em-up sequence. While some critics found the stages overly long and repetitive in their internal mechanics, they are packed with ideas and hidden pathways that encourage exploration in a way that feels more akin to a light Metroidvania than a pure Mega Man title.

The boss fights are a highlight—challenging, pattern-based encounters that demand observation and quick reflexes. They are squarely in the tradition of Capcom’s best, though perhaps lacking some of the memorable character design.

World-Building, Art & Sound

Visuals & Atmosphere
The game employs a bright, 16-bit Retraux style. The pixel art is clean, colorful, and effectively channels the look of a late-generation Sega Genesis or SNES title. The character designs, particularly for the female protagonists, lean heavily into anime tropes and “Stripperiffic” outfits that feel a bit out of place and dated. The enemy designs are functional but often lack the personality of the classics it emulates.

Each level has a distinct visual identity, from lush forests and toxic swamps to volcanic mines and icy bases. The art successfully creates a cohesive sci-fi world, even if it doesn’t break new ground.

Sound Design
The soundtrack, composed by Muhammad Kamil Sudrajat (who also worked on METAGAL), is a high-energy, rock-heavy score that perfectly fits the action. It’s a genuinely good soundtrack that aims for and often achieves the adrenaline-pumping heights of the Mega Man X series.

However, the sound design is one of the game’s weakest technical aspects. As noted in deep-dive reviews, audio levels are inconsistent. Sound effects can be ear-shatteringly loud one moment and barely audible the next, often drowning out the music. This lack of polish is a clear indicator of the team’s limited resources and experience.

Reception & Legacy

Critical Reception
Metaloid: Origin garnered a modest 66% average critic score on MobyGames based on six reviews. Reception was mixed but leaned slightly positive. Critics universally acknowledged its clear inspiration and solid core gameplay while pointing out its significant flaws.

• Positive (eShopper Reviews – 83%): Praised its Mega Man X feel and rewarding exploration.
• Mixed (cublikefoot – 70%): Appreciated the aesthetic and gameplay but noted issues.
• Negative (Sequential Planet – 50%): Criticized its lack of identity, calling it a collection of borrowed ideas with minimal innovation.

The common threads in reviews were praise for the responsive controls, enjoyable boss fights, and the Soulrium system, countered by criticism of the poor writing, uneven audio, and a feeling of being overly derivative.

Commercial Performance & Legacy
Tellingly, the game failed to find a large audience. With only 33 user reviews on Steam six years after its release, it underperformed compared to the team’s previous title, METAGAL. RetroRevolution has indicated that due to this, a potential sequel would likely be for METAGAL rather than Metaloid.

Its legacy is that of a fascinating, flawed artifact. It stands as a testament to the passion of indie developers and their deep understanding of the games they love. It successfully captured the feel of its inspirations but stumbled in forging its own identity and achieving technical polish. It is a game for a very specific niche: die-hard Mega Man completists who have exhausted Inti Creates’ output and are hungry for another fix, warts and all.

Conclusion

Final Verdict
Metaloid: Origin is a game of endearing ambition and frustrating shortcomings. It is a mechanically sound, often enjoyable love letter to the Mega Man X series that is hamstrung by its lack of narrative coherence, technical polish, and a unique voice. RetroRevolution demonstrated a significant improvement in level design and gameplay systems over their previous work, proving they had the chops to understand and replicate the mechanics that make the classics tick.

However, a great homage needs more than just competent mechanics; it needs heart, polish, and a point of view. Metaloid: Origin often feels like a cover band that has perfectly learned the notes but hasn’t yet found its own style. It is a worthwhile curiosity for the deeply initiated, but it remains trapped in the shadow of the giants it so clearly reveres. In the vast pantheon of retro-inspired indie platformers, Metaloid: Origin is a earnest B-side—a compelling glimpse into a developer’s journey, but not the masterpiece they are undoubtedly capable of creating.