Publisher City Connection has launched the "S-Tribute×TAITO" project, an lineup of contemporary ports of classic Sega Saturn games by Taito. Vertical space shoot-em-up Layer Section & Galactic Attack S-Tribute debuted in April, followed by Elevator Action Returns S-Tribute in November.

City Connection will bring Metal Black S-Tribute to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows through Steam, starting February 2nd. Taito's scrolling shoot-em-up was developed for the company's F1 System hardware in 1991. Initially intended to be the third installment in the Darius franchise, Metal Black pits the pilot of the CF-345 Black Fly space fighter against hostile cybernetic aliens, dubbed the Nemesis.

Metal Black S-Tribute is based on the Sega Saturn port, utilizing the Zebra Engine for emulation. The title's numerous features include a rewind function, speed slowdown mode, quick save and load, online ranking, unlimited credits option, and stage select.

Music for the game is by Yasuhisa Watanabe of Zuntata. In 1997, Taito published a twelve-track arrangement album titled "Metal Black: The First," currently available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music. Excerpts are streaming on the Zuntata YouTube channel.


From the product page:

Level up your beam by grabbing the power-ups floating on screen called NEWALONE (round molecules colored red, blue, and yellow). There are five levels (the highest being MAX) to power up your shots.

When the beam gauge is full, you can perform beam energy attacks. However, the beam gauge will decrease with each of these attacks, and once it is empty the beam energy attack cannot be used.

City Connection - S-Tribute×TAITO

Apple Music - Metal Black: The First

This is the first announcement for 2023

Puzzle Bobble 2X / BUST-A-MOVE 2 & Puzzle Bobble 3 / BUST-A-MOVE 3 S-Tributehttps://t.co/E8gyeAQLD0

Metal Black S-Tributehttps://t.co/SB9UGm0PIw

Steam store pages are now available!
Be sure to check it out and add it to your wishlist👍 pic.twitter.com/irZUjR7W2O

— CITY CONNECTION (@claricedisc) January 5, 2023