Metal Jacket

• Title — Metal Jacket • Developer — Solan (Pony Canyon, Team Tornado, Bandit) • Publisher — Solan (Pony Canyon) • Released — 22 September 1995 • Platforms — PlayStation • Genre — First-person shooter, mech simulator • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Designer — Koichi Hatakeyama • Programmer — Koichi Hatakeyama, Katsuki Maruyama • Composer — Seiji Toda, Hideya Nagata, Negi Poo • Producer — Koichi Hatakeyama • Director — Koichi Hatakeyama, Masayoshi Kanagawa

• Illustration — Gameplay screenshot Metal Jacket is a mech combat simulation game featuring six different kinds of terrain. Using the Link Cable, multiplayer versus matches against each other or against the computer is also possible.

It's the year 2042, and giant robots called Metal Jackets have taken the place of standard military vehicles like tanks and troop transports. After years of civil war, Metal Jacket pilots have gained celebrity status, and the field of battle has turned into a showcase for them to strut their stuff.

Metal Jacket was among the earliest titles announced for Sony's then-upcoming PlayStation. It was originally targeted for a December 1994 release and was later reported to be coming in March 1995, later delayed again for July 1995. Still previews of the game were generally well-received. There were only two dedicated programmers for the game which partly meant that the focus had shifted from graphics to gameplay. Staff reported that about 60% of the game was complete as of April 1995. The game was also designed to be the first to support the PlayStation Link Cable. However, the state of the game led to the delay in the cable's release. Electronic Arts picked up the game for a North American release, but the release there was eventually cancelled.