Metal Goose
Let Loose the Goose!
Mighty Goose is a Run-and-Gun retraux action game based on old-timey arcade classics, with gameplay, weapons and vehicles inspired directly by the Metal Slug and Contra series, but with a catch that the player is... a cyborg goose.
Yes, really.
An intergalactic criminal called the Void King is on the run, with his minions seizing control of various planets, and it's up to the galaxy's best Bounty Hunter, Mighty Goose, to stop him. Players will take control of Goose and his arsenal of weapons to kick ass across numerous levels while dealing with the Void King's legion of minions, hijacking enemy vehicles for himself and gain assistance from allies opposing the Void King. Unlike the old games that inspired it, though, Mighty Goose averts having the player protagonist being a One-Hit-Point Wonder by allowing four hits before requiring a respawn.
The game was developed by Blastmode and MP2 Games, published by Playism, and released in 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.
This Goose is ready to Cook!
- Acrophobic Bird: A semi-justified example with the titular character, because instead of wings, Mighty Goose has robotic appendages installed in both his arms and legs, which are likely too heavy for him to fly with.
- Airborne Mooks: Robots on jet packs or hover-pods and giant flying insects are enemies that attack Goose from above. They tend to show up a lot in outdoor areas, especially places where the ceiling isn't visible onscreen.
- Arm Cannon: Mighty Goose's default weapon is a gun attached to his left arm, which can be equipped with all sorts of weaponry and power-ups.
- Assist Character: The game has several characters that assist you, referred to in-game as "Companions".
- Right from the first level, Goose can obtain backup from Regular Duck, who attacks by farting egg-bombs, which he somehow seems to have an unlimited supply of.
- Colonel Vark, a Pig Man supporting character who can perform a Wrench Whack when enemies are close enough. His wrench can perform some surprisingly heavy damage despite being, well, a wrench.
- The underground mines have numerous rabbit miners who can help Goose attack giant insect enemies, though they aren't nearly as competent.
- Beneath the Earth: The mines level set under the desert has Mighty Goose investigating a distress signal from the rabbit miners. And then it turns out there's an infestation of giant insects.
- Beware My Stinger Tail: The Convoy King has a tail cannon.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: The desert levels and mines halfway through are populated by gigantic insects. The mines even have insect eggs which spawn insect enemies upon being shot.
- Camera Abuse:
- Occasionally when Goose is starting to get overwhelmed by enemies, the gameplay screen will visibly turn red and the lens will start cracking near the edges (though it fixes itself once Goose kills everyone).
- The fifth stage starts on a barren alien world, with a random mole in the middle of the screen. Then Mighty Goose's spaceship lands within the area, causing the mole to hit the camera.
- Chain Lightning: The Lightning Gun power-up Goose collects rather late in the game has this ability, firing orbs of electric energy with a trail of lightning across the screen. When fired consecutively, the gun discharges a lightning bolt that goes from one orb to another, frying enemies along the way.
- Chase Fight: The penultimate battle between Mighty Goose and Raven, which has Goose's mono-wheel tank fighting Raven's jet fighter which drops bombs from above as both vehicles moves along at full speed. Raven, being a Flunky Boss, also has several robots on similar monowheel tanks backing him up.
- Cool Plane: Shows up in one stage where Goose pilots an armored, mechanized single-person jet and uses it to kick ass all the way.
- Creepy Centipedes: The boss of the mines is a gigantic centipede who is so huge, Goose spends the entirety of the battle fighting its head.
- Creepy Crows: Raven is one of Mighty Goose's major nemeses and a Recurring Boss opposing Goose.
- Crew of One: Goose can sometimes capture enemy tanks to ride in battle. In a manner reminiscent to Metal Slug (one of this game's major inspirations), the tank is a small one-seater armed to the teeth with a vulcan gun and cannons, which Goose can use to kick ass until it gets damaged beyond repair.
- Cyborg: The titular character himself is a cyborg goose whose body is armed to the teeth with weaponized appendages.
- Dash Attack: Goose has a charging tackle that allows him to zip along the screen in a straight line to avoid attacks.
- Death Throws: Foot soldiers fall off the screen when gunned down.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Mechanical enemies go boom upon defeat.
- Heroic Mime: Don't expect Goose to say a single word during gameplay, save for squawking or honking. Which seems odd since various NPCs do have the ability to speak and can communicate with Goose despite also being animals.
- Hover Bike: Robots on hover-bikes elevated by a single propeller will sometimes drop from the skies to attack Goose.
- Instantly Defeathered Bird: Taken to the extreme with Mighty Goose himself - losing a life turns him into an oven roaster in a second!
- Invulnerable Civilians: The rabbit miners in the underground stage can't be harmed or killed in any way. They do appear to keel over after getting chomped by giant insects, but their bodies quickly get up after a few seconds.
- Jet Pack:
- In platforming areas where Mighty Goose's partners - Regular Duck or Colonel Vark - can't catch up with him, they will quickly fly up behind him using shoulder-mounted twin jetpacks after Goose loses them offscreen.
- Also, enemies with jetpacks are a recurring airborne mook variety.
- Limit Break: Achieving one literally coats Mighty Goose in flames as his onscreen avatar gains Glowing Eyes of energy. In this mode, he can inflict multiple damage as he fires away, until his power meter depletes.
- Macross Missile Massacre: Goose's missile launcher can spam large amount of batteries all over the place, throughout the screen. What's even better is their additional ability to target the nearest enemies.
- Mecha-Mooks: Most of the game's low-tier enemies appear to be robotic or mechanical, and at no point is it revealed whether they're alive or not.
- Mission Control: Chonk, the rabbit-man lieutenant who provides intel for Mighty Goose between stages and contacts him occasionally during gameplay.
- Molotov Cocktail: The most basic enemies in the game throw explosive bottles.
- Mook Maker:
- Robot dispensers, square-shaped facilities which constantly dispense robots until they're destroyed. The game has a habit of putting them side-by-side, facing Goose so he'll be preoccupied by enemy mooks coming from both left and right.
- There are giant blue insect pods which release swarms and swarms of the smallest insectoid enemy, that keep spawning enemies until Goose destroys them.
- One-Wheeled Wonder: The enemy forces have multiple one-wheel tanks piloted by enemy robots in various areas. Though Mighty Goose can sometimes hijack a one-wheeled tank for himself to kick ass.
- Post-Defeat Explosion Chain: Defeated bosses blow up repeatedly.
- Power Floats: Necromancer enemies can hover above the ground with their internal energy. Especially so for the Void Necromancer boss.
- Puppeteer Parasite: After the Void King is beaten, it appears that he was being controlled by a multiple-eyed shadowy parasite all along, which leaves him and enters an unknown portal.
- Red Baron: Mighty Goose. Everyone calls him that, and nothing else.
- Rocket Jump: It's not just rockets or grenades, but Goose can remain in mid-air by shooting towards the ground. It's especially useful in areas where he needs to perform a higher jump with the absence of platforms.
- Shield-Bearing Mook: Sometimes, the game will throw a few robot soldiers armed with riot shields, usually seen leading lesser, unshielded robots so they can take cover from behind the shields. These enemies still go down easily with the help of explosives, though.
- Short-Range Shotgun: The shotgun granted to Mighty Goose is functionally similar to Metal Slug's; covers half the screen with a massive blast vaporizing everyone on the wrong side, but lacks range compared to other firearms.
- Spider Tank: Occasionally shows up, depicted as a massive turret on four spider-like legs.
- Three-Point Landing: How Goose lands into the area at the beginning of several stages that don't have a spaceship/aircraft dropping him off.
