Metro-Cross/Gameplay

Controls

 * Joystick: Use the 8-way joystick to direct the Runner through each of the game's thirty-two rounds. Pushing it to the right shall increase the Runner's speed, while pushing it back to the left shall decrease his speed, and pushing it either up or down adjusts his 2.5-dimensional position on the ground.
 * Jump Button: Use this button to make the Runner jump into the air, allowing him to leap over enemies and obstacles. Hold it down while the Runner is approaching a Springboard to launch off it, but try not to propel him onto a Pitfall or a Cracker, as it costs him time if stunned by either one of them.
 * 1 or 2 Player Buttons: Push these buttons to begin a one or two player game.

Runner
This man, who wears a white crash helmet with a blue stripe down it, a pair of black sunglasses, an orange jumpsuit with a white collar and cuffs and a pair of red boots with yellow laces, is the protagonist of the game. He is given a preset time limit to make it to the goal at the end of each of the game's thirty-two rounds, and the player must adjust his running speed and 2.5-dimensional position on the ground by using the eight-directional joystick. If he kicks one of the Aluminum Cans that are sitting on the ground in some of the rounds he shall receive extra points (from 100 to 5000 as he kicks the same can continuously), but if he jumps on one of them, it shall temporarily stop the timer. If he jumps on one of the Special Cans, it shall temporarily stop the timer as well, but if he kicks one of them he will receive a temporary increase in speed. Contact with any enemies or obstacles will temporarily stun the Runner (unless he is in mid-jump), but he shall always get back on his feet and continue onward, and if he runs out of time before he manages to make it to the round's goal, he will be electrified as the text "YOUR TIME IS UP" appears, and the game shall end, so you should not let that happen. The Runner also reappeared as the Namco Stars' catcher under the game's Katakana name "Metorokurosu" (メトロクロス), in Super World Stadium '99.