Shatterhand was developed by Natsume, with programming by Kazuhiko Ishihara, art from Shunichi Taniguchi, Norihide Mizoguchi, and Sachiko Matsuura, and music by Iku Mizutani and Hiroyuki Iwatsuki, originally releasing in Japan in October 1991 under Angel (a Bandai label) as a licensed tie-in to the live-action tokusatsu series Super Rescue Solbrain. For the Western release that December, publisher Jaleco stripped out the show-specific branding and story, rewrote the backstory around an original cyborg hero, and retitled the game Shatterhand for its North American and European audiences the following year. Players control a powered-up hero with mechanical gauntlets, fighting through side-scrolling stages full of robotic enemies using melee punches and a small set of collectible sub-weapons, with periodic vehicle-based sections mixed in to break up the on-foot action. Its tight controls, decent length, and satisfying power-fantasy premise have made it a respected cult favorite among later NES retrospectives, even though it never reached the same profile as more famous action games from the same era.