[2] The year is 199X A.D. and The Evil King Death Shadow, ruler of the Empire of Horror, has arisen from the dead to rule the world once more.

The Greek goddess Athena has summoned the souls of four ancient guardians and bestowed their power upon four heroes to stop the evil once again.

The game's four main characters are able to morph into anthropomorphic "beasts" (referred to as Beast Mode) by collecting a Golden Statue power-up which drops from either a random chest that falls from the sky, or through an anthropomorphic rodent appearing at random times and supplying the player with either a Health Item, Score Item, or Gold Statue.

[citation needed] In addition, some sprites have been completely altered, such as the stained glass artwork seen during the elevator scene in the Final Stage.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Metamorphic Force on their September 15, 1993 issue as being the seventeenth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.