Battle Clash

Battle Clash is a light gun shooter game which requires the Super Scope, a light gun peripheral for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, to be played. The plot takes place in a futuristic post-apocalyptic Earth, where battles are fought with mechs called Standing Tanks (STs) and the winner takes control of the world. A young man named Mike Anderson participates in the Battle Game to face the ruthless champion Anubis and avenge his father's death.

The player acts as the gunner of the ST Falcon piloted by Anderson, and the main objective of the game is to take on Anubis and his subordinate chiefs in a series of nine one-on-one fights. The player can attack enemies using rapid fire by holding down the fire button, energy bolts, bombs, and a variety of limited-use special items. Energy bolts are charged when the player is not firing and are fired once a power meter fills, but is limited to a single shot. The player can counter enemy fire by intercepting their projectiles. Some enemy attacks can only be deflected by shooting energy bolts.

Battle Clash was created by Team Battle Clash, a group within Intelligent Systems that developed games for the Super Scope light gun, made up of Nintendo R&D1 staff responsible for light gun shooters such as Duck Hunt and Hogan's Alley. It is one of six titles that requires the Super Scope. It was co-directed by Makoto Kano and Masao Yamamoto, both of whom formed Team Battle Clash, and produced by Gunpei Yokoi. Kouichi Abe, Osamu Yamauchi, Tadashi Inui, Toru Narihiro, and Toshihiro Nishii acted as co-programmers.

Naotaka Onishi and Toshitaka Muramatsu were responsible for the graphical design. Muramatsu had previously worked on Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Fire Emblem Gaiden for the Famicom, as well as Super Scope 6. The soundtrack was scored by Yuka Tsujiyoko, best known for her work in the Fire Emblem and Paper Mario series. Nintendo first published the game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in October 1992, followed by a European release between January and February 1993, and later in Japan as Space Bazooka on June 21, 1993.

Battle Clash received average reception from critics and retrospective commentators. 8 out of 30 score in a public poll taken by Family Computer Magazine. Nintendo Power's three reviewers found the game fun, highlighting the enemy mechs and sound effects, but noted its lack of depth. Super Pro's Mark Wynne considered it a decent attempt at a Super Scope game.

He felt that the "tongue-in-cheek" plot translated well into the large enemy sprites, but said its sound department was weak. Chris Buxton of Total! commented favorably on the game's visuals, but criticized its forgettable soundtrack, very simple gameplay, and low difficulty. Electronic Games' Marc Camron praised the game for its graphical presentation, smooth gameplay, lack of slowdown, and variety of modes, but found the audio to be unremarkable and faulted its easy difficulty.

A sequel to Battle Clash titled Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge was developed by the same team at Intelligent Systems, and published by Nintendo in North America in December 1993 and in Europe in May 1994. The game was only released in Western regions, as the Super Scope proved to be less popular in Japan. Gunpei Yokoi and Team Battle Clash would later go on to work on Tetris Attack, being the last Super NES title created by the group. The ST Falcon was later included as a Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.