Home /
Arcade

Varia Metal

Arcade

Arcade

Varia Metal was produced by Excellent Systems in 1995. Varia Metal is a 2D arcade vertical scrolling shoot 'em up. In the 25th century, the evil Ocayea Empire is threatening, and two brave warriors have emerged to fight for freedom. Gameplay is very generic and straightforward - the player fli...

Download

0/5 Votes: 0

Report

Developer
Excellent System

Released on
1995

Size
1–2 Players

Version
Arcade

Requirements
Arcade

Downloads
Shooter

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

Cooperative
Yes

Report this app

Images

Description

Varia Metal was produced by Excellent Systems in 1995.

Varia Metal is a 2D arcade vertical scrolling shoot ’em up. In the 25th century, the evil Ocayea Empire is threatening, and two brave warriors have emerged to fight for freedom. Gameplay is very generic and straightforward – the player flies forward, and shoots at enemies and bosses.He can collect power-ups – green balls that increase your fire-power. He can use a special, destructive shot – you must hold your fire for a moment, to load the laser. The game has multi-player mode, where the first player controls the man (Grey), & the second player the girl (Atuja) – Varia Metal hasn’t got a selection screen.

Varia Metal

Overview & History

Developed as an obscure, high-octane run-and-gun platformer for late-80s arcade hardware, Varia Metal thrusts players into a grim cyberpunk dystopia. Set in the year 2184, the narrative follows Kaelen Vance, a rogue cyborg ex-soldier seeking vengeance against the megacorporation SYN-CORP after they weaponized his sister's consciousness into the central processing core of an orbital death station. While it never achieved the mainstream arcade ubiquity of Contra or Metal Slug, Varia Metal gained a fierce cult following due to its unforgiving difficulty, industrial synth soundtrack, and distinct biomechanical art direction featuring decaying techno-organic bosses.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

The core gameplay loop of Varia Metal rewards aggressive positioning and rapid tactical adaptation across five grueling, vertically scrolling stages. Players control Kaelen, who utilizes a versatile arsenal including a rapid-fire plasma repeater, a short-range energy blade for melee parrying, and a temporary magnetic-shield dash that nullifies incoming projectile fire. A defining mechanic is the 'Overheat Meter': constantly firing the primary weapon builds up thermal energy, granting bonus damage at peak levels just before Kaelen's arm cannon jams, forcing players to balance sustained suppression with precise, timed melee strikes. Power-ups scattered throughout the levels upgrade Kaelen into devastating configurations, such as the triple-spread 'Scatter Matrix' and the room-clearing 'EMP Shockwave'.