A technically tighter Metal Max sequel, keeping the series's unique freedom. Obscure but rich, for offbeat RPG fans.
Your verdict
Category
RPG1 player12+
Description
Enriched remake of the first Metal Max with improved visuals and additional content. Published by Data East, released in Japan in 1995. Same post-apocalyptic universe with customizable tanks, enriched narrative and new zones and bosses. Metal Max Returns, remake of the first Metal Max for Super Famicom.
Metal Max Returns review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
The world is a postwar desert where wrecks serve as furniture: tank carcasses, abandoned petrol stations, towns rebuilt in sheet metal. The vehicles you repair and modify change appearance on screen, part by part, and that visible accumulation of makeshift fixes is by itself the real graphic identity of the game.
The score mixes dry rock with desert textures: filtered guitars, synthesised harmonica, metallic percussion, with road themes that circle for a long time without hurrying. The clashes with rival bounty hunters step up a level, but the music stays in a dusty western register rather than a science fiction one.
There is no chosen one and no prophecy: the world has already fallen, and you freely choose which bounties to hunt, which tanks to repair, when to stop. The story is content to set a stage and a list of target names, leaving you to decide what matters, which produces a rare freedom and a very particular melancholy.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"Pleasant"
Addictiveness
"Captivating"
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Reworking the first Metal Max with new areas, fresh bosses and a fleshed-out narrative lengthens a journey already built on the freedom to roam a ravaged world. Customizing tanks part by part, tracking down optional wanted bosses and combing unmarked expanses multiply the voluntary detours. This enriched remake extends the original's non-linear spirit, earning its reputation as a generous RPG to traverse at your own pace.
Complete: box, manual and disc/cart very clean. Lightly handled.
Q1 damagedQ6 completeQ10 new
Compare prices
Loading eBay listings…
Alert active — budget
$
An underrated gem
A generous remake of the very first installment, it modernizes an open-world bounty-hunting RPG where you track down criminals aboard tanks tinkered together as you please. Confined to Japan and never localized, it stayed a connoisseurs' secret. Its freedom of progression and post-apo western mood will delight fans of nonlinear RPGs.
Is Metal Max Returns still worth playing in 2026?
A SNES remake of the very first Metal Max, modernising the bounty-hunting tank RPG in its open post-apocalyptic world. The total freedom, absence of imposed progression and deep vehicle customisation make it an experience still singular in the JRPG landscape. The polished production and offbeat humour reinforce its character. A real gem for Japanese readers after free, mechanised adventure off the beaten path.
