Today we are going to rapidly flip between two games with one central gimmick. And that might lead to some repressed melancholy!
You probably have not heard of Hannah’s Day. What we have here is a title that was released on Steam in July of 2024, and then migrated over to the Switch & Xbox X/S a little under a year later. Hannah’s Day is the virgin console effort of Watt Games, and it is an impressive premiere. We have nine levels featuring a unique and exceptional art style where Hannah is challenged to manipulate gravity and perspective to truck through the horrors of daily life. She will hypothetically be blocked by obstacles like rush hour traffic, rainy streets, or the stairs. And on the subject of stairs, the gimmick is that Hannah will never stop skateboarding, but she compensates for being wheel-based by being able to manipulate gravity in two fun ways. Hannah can “tilt” the world around her like a monkey in a ball, so she can unravel puzzles and create bridges by sliding the objects around her into more advantageous places. And, when that doesn’t solve every problem, Hannah can flip her own gravity 180 degrees so she can catapult into the sky or scoot along the ceiling.
So, naturally, Hannah reminds me of the last time this was the most important move in a videogame: nearly 35 years ago, when the people behind Deadly Towers and Sqoon gave us Metal Storm.
Metal Storm is a very different game from Hannah’s Day. Hannah is a young redhead that wants to see her band succeed. M-308 Gunner is the star of Metal Storm, and they are a robot from 2501 AD that is attempting to destroy a laser gun that is aimed at Earth (which, admittedly, is where Hannah also lives). M-308 Gunner also has a very different solution to problems: this may shock you, but M-308 Gunner has a gun. M-308 has two options for every problem: they either shoot it in the face, or dodge around it. And dodging is assisted in this case not only by the typically powerful NES jump, but Hannah’s same ability to flip gravity from floor to ceiling. And it is not just M-308 Gunner! While our robo buddy cannot directly flip their opponents around, reversing gravity will impact a number of platforms and traps, so a dangerous torrent of fire blasts will go from blocking your way forward to harmlessly scorching the ceiling. And, when all else fails, you can always blast the hell out of your many, many opponents with a variety of powerups. You can even start shouryūkening up and down with fiery vengeance. M-308 Gunner’s Day is going to end with a laser exploding, or they’ll die trying!
And… well… They probably will die. A lot.
Metal Storm is a difficult game. We are basically dealing with a perfect storm of late-NES difficulty modifiers. The sprites are large, so there is less screen real estate for you to see incoming attacks. M-308 Gunner is a M-308 Gunner, not a M-308 Tank, so they can only absorb a limited number of hits before obliteration. Lives are similarly constrained, and checkpoints are sparse. Bosses have recognizable patterns, but you are unlikely to survive their opening volleys or eventual “form changes” to identify those patterns. And the most likely reason that Earth is soon to be demolished is the final stage, which is nothing more than a boss rush. The absolute final challenge is even just a Bionic Commando-esque “shoot here to win” final target that ends the game. So you can turn off the game after the boss rush starts, and know that you have missed absolutely nothing. But if you decide to soldier on? Congratulations! You have conquered one of the most twitch-heavy titles of the NES.
To flip back to Hannah’s Day, the difficulty in that title is arguably nonexistent. If there are issues, you restart from a checkpoint that is likely inches from your failure, and there is never a lasting penalty for accidentally gravity flipping into the void. But it is not a completely frictionless experience: puzzles that must be solved to progress are your primary obstacle. While they are not deadly, there are a few that may hold you up if you cannot identify how your gravity powers may help in this situation. And you can die! There are stages and areas where you must carefully negotiate moving platforms or narrow walkways (skateways?). The penultimate stage even contains a faux timer/chase with deadly black goop continually encroaching on our heroine. And that noxious slime pops up in other stages, too, just in more avoidable situations. See, this is a relaxed game, but every time Hannah gets a call from her parents, her life becomes quantifiably worse and more dangerous. You can avoid these pitfalls, but the running narrative of Hannah’s Day reminds you that her life is not all sunshine and helping dogs skate down stairs.
And I would much rather die fighting a space laser than be in Hannah’s position again.
Hannah’s Day is about… Actually, you know what? I can say this without reservation: it is the same plot as The Blues Brothers. Hannah is on a mission from God to get the band back together. Her friends and bandmates have drifted apart in their separate lives, and it is Hannah’s undertaking to bring everyone back together through grit, determination, and manipulating the primal forces of the universe. And why is this so important? Well, because Hannah dreams of being a music starlet! Which is, annoyingly enough, the exact opposite of what her parents want. Hannah seems to be at that late teenage/early 20’s spot where it is time to go to college and/or get a job that will be the literal rest of her life. And her parents are concerned she is never going to move out of the basement if she keeps chasing those spurious musical dreams. You can’t just skateboard and play music all day, Hannah! Listen to your parents!
But you know what, Hannah? I get it. I get it all too well. Thinking back on it, I am downright mad that I had to live through my 20’s. Everyone expected me to have a “forever job” picked out, like, seven seconds after I graduated high school. I was not legally old enough to rent a car, but I was expected to go into forever debt to earn a major for a career that had existed through 0.000001% of the existence of humanity (I’m talking about my greatest skill: I make computers go faster). And, here in my 40’s, I can say that it all worked out (and I even managed to be part of the apparently last crop of students that wasn’t guaranteed to be crushed by student debt for my entire life). But at the time? Back when I was Hannah’s age, it felt like there was an omnipresent, crushing weight on my shoulders because I had failed to start my career path properly at 19. Hell, even after college, it felt like I was wasting my education because I did not immediately get hired by… I don’t know… Microsoft or something. Yeah, mom, I am a whole year older than Mark Zuckerberg, and I failed to invent Facebook in my (your, sorry mom) basement. Sorry! I get it! I’m a failure! Never mind that I will actually have that big boy job together by the time I’m 27, and I’ll do real, successful adult stuff by 29. Even retrospectively knowing that, I look back and realize I spent approximately ten entire years of my life feeling like I was passively wasting my life. Holy crap I was also in a band! Like Hannah! Godammit!
So now I’m dwelling on one of the worst periods in my life, and it is all thanks to a game with simple puzzles and no violence. That gameplay description is supposed to mean cozy, dammit! Being reminded that my own brain and society at large tortured me for a decade is not cozy! That is downright distressing! The black ooze is gathering!
When I want to relax, I play a “cozy” game that has a difficulty level that has been legendary for generations, and the failure state is the annihilation of the planet.
When I want to flip to the cruelty of modern society, I play a game that has a difficulty level best described as “gentle”, and the worst that can happen is that a girl in overalls goes home sad.
The gravity of gaming is weird, y’all.
FGC #705 Metal Storm
- System: This was only ever released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, but it did get a Limited Run reissue in 2019. Given that was literally Limited Run, I doubt it is still available anywhere.
- Number of players: Just our favorite gunner bot. The plot makes it ambiguous if you are the robot, or remotely controlling the robot. Mega Man would not be pleased.
- Just Walk Away: I really mean what I said in the article, quit this game the minute you see a boss you already fought. The final boss rush featuring all the bosses you already defeated adds literally nothing to the experience other than an excuse for you to quit. Give up! Do it! Do it, now!
A Sign of the Times: It was 1991, and Irem clearly figured out how to push the NES to its limits. This also means it is about 90% flickering sprites by volume. They are cheating! It’s a fun game, but Irem had to break the damn system to make it.- Secret Confession: I cannot tell any of the powerups apart. There is one that allows you to transform into a fireball as you bounce between ceiling and floor, and that one is unique enough to be noticed. Past that? I have no real concept of how my gun changes and which icons cause which changes. Do I need to know? No. But it does make it difficult to discern a favorite/optimal weapon.
- An End: M-308 Gunner is apparently granted immortality for saving an entire planet. Nice? I guess? I wasn’t aware of the lifespan of robots before this, so good to hear they got an upgrade.
- Did you know? A flashing red alert/warning effect heralds every boss encounter. That’s just like in the later Mega Man X games! That seems… weird? Did Capcom steal this effect a few years after Metal Storm? Or is it just a robot-based coincidence?
- Would I play again: I would like to see this one pop up on the Nintendo Switch (2) virtual console or alike. It is a great game with a cool gimmick… and half the time I cannot remember its name. I would like it to exist in a location or format where I am reminded it survives and is available. And, no, my gaming shelf of NES cartridges does not count!
FGC #705 Hannah’s Day
- System: Steam was the original source, and then we got Nintendo Switch and Xbox X|S. Technically, this also means Switch 2 is available. Regardless, my playthrough was on the Switch (1).
- Number of players: Ain’t nobody else but Hannah.
Story Time: So the whole deal is that Hannah has giant music dreams, and she is trying to get her friends in on the adventure, and it takes all day to get everyone on the same page. But! Her most talented pal and final bandmate, Stella, is miserable because she did not get accepted to her preferred college, so she stamps on Hannah’s dreams, and provides custom insults for everyone else involved. This sends Hannah spiraling into depression for a level, and then… everything is fine! With absolutely no explanation, complete one stage where Hannah is alone, and suddenly everyone is onboard now, and they all carpool to the big concert. Maybe there should have been, like, the tiniest explanation for why Stella changed her mind? I mean, other than that she likely remembered Hannah has gravity powers, and could presumably tear the Earth asunder if she got too upset.- Help the Helpless: You are encouraged to perform “side quests” throughout different stages. On one hand, these quests are usually toddler-level puzzles, and even later stages provide challenges that barely rival “put the square in the square hole”. On the other hand, it emphasizes that Hannah is a friend to man and nature, so it does decent work for our protagonist’s characterization. Even when Hannah is at her lowest, she finds the time to water the plants.
- Create-a-Character: Baseline Hannah cannot be swapped or changed in any way, but you can cycle through some unique outfits at any time. This does not impact gameplay or “stats” in any way, but it does remind you that Hannah has a kickin’ wardrobe.
- Did you know? Hannah’s trip through the mall level includes an in-mall supermarket. This is a rare occurrence in the United States, but I have personally seen it in multiple locations in Europe. This tracks with Watt Studios apparently being European (there is not a lot of info on Watt Studios out there, but Hannah’s Day’s credits feature some deeply Eastern European names). Somebody let them know that Publix demands its own freestanding location in America.
- Would I play again: There are collectibles around, and I apparently missed a few sidequests. I could play through Hannah’s Day again for the game-ier goals of finding every blue coin, but it probably isn’t going to happen. Hannah’s Day is a fun experience that can probably last a whole weekend, but it isn’t much more than that. I’ll always have good memories of it, though!
What’s next? Random ROB has chosen… Final Fantasy 8 Remastered! Whatever.
