The Neo Geo console was all about bringing that arcade experience to the home market- and it did so in spades. One of their best series was Metal Slug, a through and through arcade shooter with big sounds, big action and chaos at all times. How does this series stack up when playing at home?
The first of five games in the series comes blasting like a grenade- it’s wall to wall explosions, gunfire and just plain fire everywhere you look. The frenetic nature of this series is part of its appeal. The game isn’t overly long; 6 missions with a boss fight at the end of each, usually against a much larger tank or plane that just unloads shells on you from every direction. Your character can equip about 4-5 different weapons as you find them on the battlefield, along with throwing bombs. If you’ve played Contra, the idea is very similar. There’s minimal platforming and you are trying to also rescue hostages as you go. The game is much more forgiving though than a Contra, on say your aim or hitting targets and that veers the game into more fun territory than challenging. The only section that doesn’t work well is the above one, when you’re trying to fire off a giant boat in the final level. You’re being hit from all angles and it’s hard to respond considering the lackluster controls. The sound is off the charts while the music is barely heard through the Wilhelm screams of death and explosions happening all around you like in a cliched action movie. Metal Slug is a perfect hour of mayhem and gunfire- it’s fun to play, easy to learn and satisfying when you complete a level. Can’t wait to play the rest!
Metal Slug 2 is bigger and badder in just about every way, except the graphics and the soundtrack, which is largely untouched. This time around, you get the option of selecting from your solider in the first game along with another male and two females. They all have the same combat abilities- there’s also all the same guns from the first one along with the powerful laser gun. The game leans more heavily into humor- there are babies somersaulting over the ground, enemy soldiers sunbathing outside, and you can actually get turned into a mummy (with your army gear still on). The game is also much harder- with tons more enemies filling the battlefield. There’s also a bit more platforming involved, so all around, the game pushes it’s envelope a bit more while staying true to exactly what people love about this unrelenting bomb and explosion fest. It’s a ton of harmless video game fun. I should mention, along with the first game, there isn’t an ounce of blood shown in this game, to further keep any confusion of real-life assault at arm’s length.
We take a hard right turn in Metal Slug 3- they dabbled in monsters and aliens in 2- but it’s fully on in this sequel. There are a lot more vehicles to ride, including animals such as ostriches and camels, a diving sequence, a flying sequence (two actually) and only 5 levels. You aren’t told that final level is ungodly long. I will say, the music really stuck out as being almost movie quality; sounded fantastic and had a real dramatic impact pairing very well with each level. But, that final level- it stretched on and on and on and the enemies you had to deal with could hit anything on the board with one attack. It was pretty unfair honestly and left a bad taste in my mouth, especially considering this was an arcade game first. This game would require you to break open every piggy bank you could find to fuel your need to finish it- I had the same need but getting through this final level gave me a migraine. A solid game but that last mission needed a different design to it to keep the fun in the game.
The fourth installment in the series felt like a back-to-basics type game- gone are the aliens and the elongated final level that becomes a flying shooter that crushes your soul. Still an emphasis on vehicles and humor (I love when you eat too much food and you’re gigantically overweight) but one thing that seems to be better is the graphics. Much sharper overall and a seems to have better animation in the individual characters, not just yours but the enemies. Some really fun and some really tough boss battles this time around- I think this one tops 3 but not the first two for me.
Metal Slug 5 is more of the same great gaming experience- the graphics are on par, the controls identical, it’s only the setting and enemies that are switched up and you know what- it is refreshing. You’re almost battling a cult this time around, so the enemy variety is different even though they pretty much behave like every other evil soldier you’ve murdered this entire series. I really dug the boss fights this time around- there were some fun ones. And the vehicles you travel in- there’s this bizarre robot shell with these extended limbs that move around the screen- pretty unique and fun. And this game has probably the best final boss so far- this other worldly demon with a skull in his chest that is more reminiscent of a Castlevania boss than a shooter. This was another great game, and I really enjoyed my time with it!
Unless I’m missing something, this is an update (or an exact copy) of Metal Slug 2- easy to tell as that second stage was the beginning of this series delving into enemies other than just soldiers- you are in an Egyptian tomb and mummies are everywhere. I am not aware of why this was re-released under a different name- the game is still very good, in fact, my favorite of the series but I can’t tell enough about this one’s differences to rate it any differently.
Overall, Metal Slug is a series born from the arcade style of play, but it translates just as fun at home and is a series not to be missed- play it all at least once through and have a fantastic fun time doing so!
bobombblast 