Jikai Shounen Met Mag

Famicom Disk System

Famicom Disk System

Jikai Shounen Mettomag ("Magnetic Children Mettomag") is a puzzle game developed by Thinking Rabbit for the Famicom Disk System. The game was produced by Square under their "DOG" label, which was created to help publish smaller games from minor studios. The game allowed the player to select th...

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Developer
Thinking Rabbit

Released on
1987

Size
1 Player

Version
Famicom Disk System

Requirements
Nintendo Famicom Disk System

Downloads
Puzzle

Publisher
Disk Original Group

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

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Description

Jikai Shounen Mettomag (“Magnetic Children Mettomag”) is a puzzle game developed by Thinking Rabbit for the Famicom Disk System. The game was produced by Square under their “DOG” label, which was created to help publish smaller games from minor studios.

The game allowed the player to select their character’s gender, which was still a novel feature in video games at the time. There is no difference in how the two genders play; it is entirely a superficial decision.

The player must go around each stage and collect every sphere in order to progress. Each sphere can change the polarity of the character from red to blue and vice versa. Each stage is littered with blue and red arrows. Being the same color as these arrows will magnetize the player character, which has different effects depending on the direction the arrow is pointing.

Jikai Shounen Met Mag

Overview & History

Released in 1989 exclusively in Japan for the Famicom Disk System by Sunsoft, Jikai Shounen Met Mag (Time Stranger Met Mag) is a deeply obscure and imaginative side-scrolling platformer. Capitalizing on the floppy-disk medium's rewriteable nature and audio capabilities, the game blends a quirky sci-fi aesthetic with time-travel mechanics. Players assume the role of Met Mag, a futuristic boy equipped with a specialized helmet and a magnetic yo-yo weapon, tasked with traversing various historical and dystopian epochs to rescue his mentor from the clutches of the chronos-pirate Gorma. While it never received a Western localization or subsequent re-releases on modern digital storefronts, it remains a cult-classic collector's item for its vibrant pixel art, distinct pulse-code modulation sound design, and unconventional physics engine that relies heavily on magnetic repulsion and attraction.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Unlike standard linear platformers of the late 80s, Jikai Shounen Met Mag incorporates distinct environmental puzzles driven by magnetic polarity. Stages are split across different centuries, ranging from prehistoric jungles to cybernetic future cities. Met Mag’s primary offensive and defensive tool is his magnetically charged yo-yo, which can be thrown horizontally or diagonally. By holding the attack button, players can latch onto specific metallic nodes to swing across bottomless pits, activate temporal bridges, or pull metallic enemies out of hiding. Met Mag can also toggle his helmet's polarity to repel or attract floating debris, creating makeshift platforms in mid-air. Health is represented by a battery gauge; taking damage or colliding with temporal anomalies drains the charge, forcing players to scavenge for energy cells hidden within destructible crates and time-rifts. Boss encounters at the end of each era require timing yo-yo strikes against shifting armor plates while dodging bullet-hell projectile patterns, demanding sharp reflexes and spatial awareness.