Metal Hawk/Gameplay

Controls

 * Joystick: Use the analogue joystick to make Metal Hawk fly around the areas, fire shots at the air-based enemies and drop missiles on the ground and sea-based enemies; if it is hit by any air-based enemy or anti-aircraft missile, it will be sent spiralling into the ground, but can still fire shots and drop missiles until its death. Some players may think it is possible to regain control of Metal Hawk, like in Sky Kid and Sky Kid Deluxe - but it is not.
 * Lever: Use the lever to make Metal Hawk ascend and descend in altitude; its controls are "reversed" like those of any real helicopter, meaning that pushing it up will cause it to descend in altitude and pushing down will cause it to ascend in altitude. If you use MAME to play this game (which you almost certainly will do unless you are a native inhabitant of the "Land of the Rising Sun"), you may wish to set the "AD Stick Y2 Reverse" option in the game's "Analogue Controls" menu to "Off" as a result of this - as it will make playing the game, and selecting the right initials, somewhat easier.

Metal Hawk (メタルホーク)
The protagonist of the game. Sent on a mission to raid enemy territory and destroy military targets, it must score a certain amount of points in each area within a preset time limit, in order to move on to the next area; it must also avoid contact with every air-based enemy and anti-aircraft missile, fired by the ground- and sea-based enemies, because if it does not, it will be sent spiralling into the ground (but can still fire shots and drop missiles until its death). When resurrected, that timer is not reset - but if it is under 40 seconds, it is reset back to that value.

Air-based enemies

 * [[File:MH Heli Red.gif]] [[File:MH Heli Green.gif]] Heli (ヘリ) - These palette-swaps of Metal Hawk attack by flying towards it, and come in two colours: red and green; 10 points.
 * [[File:MH Jet 1.gif]] [[File:MH Jet 2.gif]] Jets (ジェットス) - These small aeroplanes also attack by flying towards Metal Hawk and come in two different types; 10 points.
 * [[File:MH Impulse.gif]] Impulse (インパルス) - These giant aeroplanes, which are somewhat rare, also attack by flying towards Metal Hawk; 40 points.

Ground- and sea-based enemies
Battleship (戦艦) - These heavy war boats will also attack by firing anti-aircraft missiles at Metal Hawk, and come in two different sizes: "mini" (which are worth 10 points) and "large" (which are worth 20 points); the two Kanji characters of their Japanese naming are read as senkan.
 * [[File:MH Cannon 1.gif]] [[File:MH Cannon 2.gif]] [[File:MH Cannon 3.gif]] [[File:MH Cannon 4.gif]] [[File:MH Cannon 5.gif]] [[File:MH Cannon 6.gif]] [[File:MH Cannon 7.gif]] Cannon (大砲) - These automatic heavy guns will attack by firing anti-aircraft missiles at Metal Hawk and come in seven different types; all seven of them are worth 10 points. The two Kanji characters are read as taihō.
 * [[File:MH Jeep.gif]] Jeep (ジープ) - These small, sturdy motor vehicles will again attack by firing anti-aircraft missiles at Metal Hawk, and are worth 20 points.
 * [[File:MH Tank.gif]] Tank (タンク) - These tracked, armoured fighting vehicles will attack by firing anti-aircraft missiles at Metal Hawk, and are worth 30 points.
 * [[File:MH Truck.gif]] Truck (トラック) - These vehicles are the only ground-based enemies in the game that cannot attack Metal Hawk, and are worth 10 points.