Metal Slug

When the arcade game division at Irem Corporation (R-Type) dissolved in 1994, various artists, programmers, and developers that had worked on seminal arcade titles like In the Hunt and Gunforce 2 were offered the chance to run their own subsidiary under SNK's umbrella. Under SNK's new ownership, the Nazca Corporation was formed to not only port existing SNK titles to upcoming 32-bit platforms, they were also tasked with creating two new games; the first being one of the most solid arcade golf titles ever made in the form of Neo Turf Masters, and the other being a run-n-gun shooter in the vein of Gunforce 2. While Neo Turf Masters would have a pretty quick turnaround, the development of Metal Slug was upended in the final six months due to a botched location test. 

The original plan for Metal Slug was to have the titular tank be the main character with no human controlled avatars. During the location test, players praised the graphics but found the game to be slow and somewhat repetitive. In six short and grueling months, the team at Nazca added two new player characters in the form of series stalwarts Marco and Tarma, and changed the layout of every stage to better fit the faster, more nimble human characters. 

While the team begrudgingly changed their vision of the game to fit fan and SNK executive expectations, what they ended up creating was a masterpiece title that would go down in history as one of, if not the best run-n-gun game ever conceived. Since its release in arcades in April 1996, Metal Slug has created fans the world over - and for good reason. Let's dig in. 

Metal Slug presents the player with 6 stages of soldier shooting mayhem as Marco and Tarma, from the Peringuine Force, thwart General Morden and his Rebel Army from achieving their aspirations of world domination. This simple set up provides a great backdrop of a futuristic, war torn landscape to set the stage for action. 

Our titular heroes have a simple control set up with three action buttons, A for shoot, B for jump, and C to throw a grenade. Similar to other arcade style run-n-gun games, Marco and Tarma can shoot horizontally, vertically up, and vertically down from jumping. While they cannot shoot diagonally, some weapons can spread to diagonal directions when changing horizontal and vertical positions, like the Heavy Machine Gun. The heroes' standard weapon has unlimited ammo, but all sub-weapons have ammo limitations. Grabbing another weapon power-up of the same type, or an ammo crate will increase your equipped sub-weapon ammo stash. Our heroes have multiple weapon types at their disposal throughout the adventure like the Heavy Machine Gun, Rocket Launcher, Shotgun, and Flame Shot. Each type of weapon has very different properties, so smart use of the right weapon in a given situation can help you stay alive. 

Players also have an arsenal of grenades at their disposal. Each player gets 10 grenades per life, and each time you die your grenades are replenished. Like ammo crates scattered around the game world, there are also bomb crates that increase the number of grenades you have to use per life. Be warned, though: even if you have a stockpile of grenades, once you die you are reset to the default number of 10. Grenades do massive damage to enemy tanks and vehicles, so use your grenades only when you are faced with an enemy foe that cannot be taken down easily with one of your standard weapons.  

If all the weapons and grenades weren't enough, Marco and Tarma also have access to the SV-001 tank - the Metal Slug - during each mission in the game. This all-purpose tank can roll over cars and other vehicles, shoot in any direction with its unlimited ammo Vulcan cannons, shoot devastating bombs (that pull from your character's grenade ammo allotment) and can even jump and do moderate platforming. The Metal Slug tank also provides a bit of breathing room for the player as it has a health bar that can sustain 3 hits before you have to jump out to avoid the explosion. Gas tanks are hidden around each level, and these pickups can refill the health meter of your Metal Slug. Players can also press A+B together to jump out of the Slug and send it careening into enemies, kamikaze style, for an explosive hit. This risky attack only works on ground-based enemies, so use it wisely as you lose your tank in the process. 

Weapon drops don't happen randomly during the game, or even by gunning down foes. Instead, Marco and Tarma will come across various POWs who have been captured by the Rebel Army during their adventure. When you free a POW, they will give you an item that boosts your score or a weapon power-up as a reward. The more POWs you collect through each stage, the higher your score will be at the end of the stage. If you use a continue, though, you will loose all POWs you've collected.

Being an arcade game created to munch your quarters, Metal Slug is a very difficult game indeed. While arguably the most balanced of the entire series, a 1cc (one credit) run will really test your player reflexes despite prior familiarity with twitch-based action games. Despite its overt difficulty, Metal Slug is an exceedingly fair game and there is always a way around the chaos. Where the game falters is the massive difficulty spike in the final two stages which lends a bit of frustration considering the careful balance of the rest of the game. That said, it's not a deal breaker, and experienced players can still make it through in one credit. Just be prepared to practice this section of the game a fair bit more than the first few stages if you're out to master it.

Metal Slug is a tight, responsive, and massively fun game to play - but it's also one of the most charming 2D video games ever created. The master designers at Nazca injected humor and expression into every frame of animation making many of its contemporaries feel expressionless by comparison. The overt humor in the game really helps to pad the difficulty, and players are often drawn back into the game because they just want to see what's next. Each level is intricately detailed, and has its own personality. No two levels look the same, and in a military style shooter this could have easily been the case. From a war-torn town, to snowcapped mountains, Metal Slug covers the gamut of interesting locals to shoot your way through. This is one jaw droppingly beautiful game, and no fan of pixel art graphics should miss playing this masterpiece just to see the artistry on hand. Despite being 25 years old, Metal Slug still holds up today as one of the most detailed and beautiful pieces of interactive 2D art ever created. 

Sound design is also a high point, with a bombastic, war movie style soundtrack that fits the theme of the game perfectly. Sound effects are carefully crafted to sound just realistic enough, but also have a comedic tone to them that fits the game's overall humorous presentation. Metal Slug does not have a ton of voice overs, but what is there is quality - especially the announcer's enthusiasm when you pick up a new weapon or the hilarious enemy soldier screams when you "rise from the dead."

Metal Slug hit a home run right out of the gate, and as such has gone down in history as one of the most successful, and recognizable arcade games of the 1990's. Outside of the fighting game community, Metal Slug is probably the most recognizable SNK property in the general gaming population. Fast, fun, beautiful, hilarious, and satisfying, Metal Slug is classic arcade gaming at its best with a simple learning curve and challenging but fair gameplay that the hardcore will enjoy for hours. 

Thankfully, Metal Slug was ported to multiple platforms in the 90's, and is available in multiple compilations, mini systems, and digitally in today's market. If you would like an original AES release to grace your growing collection, you may want to look into a conversion or bootleg...that is, unless you have $10,000+ to spend on it regardless of region. The last known US/Euro AES version sold for a breathtaking $75,000. The last Japanese version I'm aware of sold for just over $14,000. For an AES purchase, you must have an inside connection to the high-end Neo-Geo collecting community to source one, as you won't find legitimate copies of this game on the open market - aside from the Neo-Store. 

There are a few Japanese markets, like Suruga-Ya, that will sell a Japanese version from time to time, but the English version is illusive to all but the most ardent, rich, shelf collectors. With an estimated 500 known copies in the world, this is one of the rarest video games produced for the home market on any console - ever. There are a few other ultra-rare Neo games, and while some are very good, none of the pedigree and popularity of Metal Slug. Owning this game in the modern retro-game market is to modern-day collectors as the AES hardware was to them as a kid in the 90's. 

On the other hand, because the game was a smash hit in the arcade there are tens of thousands MVS cartridges that can be had for less than $200. If you want a physical release with no compromises, that's the way to go. The Neo CD release is also quite solid, and can be had for around the same price as the MVS release. The best bang for your buck for an original port is the Sega Saturn release that uses the system's 1mb ram expansion cart and adds a few new features. Despite loading times, the Saturn port is an accurate recreation of the Neo original. It's still quite costly at $100-$150 or so. That said, the cheapest way to play this gem in the modern market is the Arcade Archives release for $8. 

Bottom line - Metal Slug is an experience worth its literal weight in gold.