It lacked a predetermined story path, but the player was instead given the choice of which missions to follow in whatever order while being able to visit any place in the game world.

The object is to become a well-known and respected hunter by defeating the monsters with bounties on their heads, which can be done in any order the player pleases.

The player uses a BS-Controller (BS-Con), a personal computer system, to track data about things such as towns, tanks, bounties and experience points.

Special weapons are both powerful and can hit multiple enemies, but can be heavy and tend to run out of ammunition very quickly.

The game is set an unknown number of years after the fall of modern human civilization due to actions of Noah.

Although the previous civilization has been ruined, the environment is not as desolate as many post-apocalyptic settings, with plentiful trees and water.

The game was released in Japan on May 24, 1991 for the Nintendo Famicom home console and was published by Data East.

[10] A Super Famicom remake of the game, titled Metal Max Returns (メタルマックス リターンズ), was released on September 29, 1995.

[11][12] It features improved graphics and sound, new bounties and items, new and revised areas, references to Metal Max 2 and decreased difficulty.