Shatterhand is an action game for the NES. Like in an RPG, the player defeats cyborgs for money and uses it on repairs and new attacks. After defeating the first stage, set in an oil refinery, the player gets to choose from five dystopian stages while listening to a bouncy music soundtrack. After defeating all five stages (factory, nuclear submarine, taiga base, gravitational lab, and flaming city ruins), there is a final stage set on a space shuttle. The game was released in Japan as Tokkyuu Shirei Solbrain on the Famicom, based on the Metal Hero Tokusatsu of the same title. Changing the plot and character sprites to match Solbrain's story, it is unknown whether Shatterhand was a modified version of Solbrain, or vice-versa. There is also a difference in levels, the nuclear submarine is replaced with an amusement park, the bosses are in different levels and the duration of the special armor is better, making the Japanese version slightly easier than the North American version. The American version also features slightly better graphics, such as at the level select screen in the North American one there is an animation on the hero to suggest the screen is flickering, and the mini robots that accompany the hero are more detailed.