Levels themselves are mixes of shooting and platforming, with many encounters designed around gimmick weapons like the drop shot, or flanking the player with enemies while you shoot a door open. One level may have you scaling a mountain or train while the next will be underwater or a shmup homage. Metal Slug also benefits from a breadth of gameplay concepts compared to its contemporaries. So while the gameplay was simple, the Metal Slug team had the luxury of spending time on art and code that would be extraneous in today’s game development climate. It’s emblematic of a kitchen sink-era of game design: as the platform holder and publisher, SNK controlled its own budgets and deadlines. The experience of consuming Metal Slug unfolds across many playthroughs. Each entry is stuffed to the bursting point with detail across their brief campaigns, and it’s too much to take in at once. You can throw grenades at a baby to make it fly around harmlessly. Signs in Arabic translate to silly non-sequiturs. As with any arcade game, Metal Slug rewards player knowledge and experimentation with extra points and powerups to tackle each challenge. I don’t have to tell you how good Metal Slug looks. What’s the point in clearing each game on the first go? I want to savour each moment, get a little further on a limited number of credits, master each challenge, and be rewarded with more detail.
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As I return to these games as an adult, spending quite a bit of money for the arcade hardware that grants the ability to insert credits for free at the push of a button, I play conservatively to “get my money’s worth”. But Metal Slug’s visuals stretch beyond simple eye candy to a tangible reward that encourage exploration and offers replayability.Īs a kid I would pump endless quarters into beating each Metal Slug. Returning to these games years on has confirmed that yes, they are still extremely enjoyable run and guns with beautiful graphics.
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Some of my earliest gaming memories were playing the original title in the arcade, and after arcades disappeared it was never hard to find a cabinet with one of the Slug games at any movie theater or bowling alley. Lately I’ve had the financial opportunity to collect Neo Geo MVS games, including the Metal Slug series.