Thursday 28 June 2007

Metal Slug: a retrospective

So, does the name Metal Slug ring a bell? No? Come on! It's the best run-and-gun series ever! The first game even had a Saturn port, although it needed the 4mb ram cart, making it a not so common game in your average Saturn collection. Anyway, most people played it in the arcades or using MAME, so I think it's safe to assume everyone knows what I'm talking about. What most people don't know is the amount of sequels that came out.


Metal Slug 2 is your average sequel, including new weapons, enemies, levels, etc, etc... A good game, though. Metal Slug X is, in my opinion, a lame remix/rip-off version of MS 2, something we didn't need since we all wanted a true sequel. Then it came, Metal Slug 3, introducing A LOT of new features but also increasing the already high difficulty of the series, making it a bloody hard game to beat. Many fans call it the best MS ever. I just call it the "Metal Slug from hell"...


These are the games most gamers know about or played. I too also thought for a long time that the series ended after this original trilogy. How I was wrong...
Some time ago I found out that there were more Metal Slugs out there, not just one, or two, but another whole trilogy!

Metal Slug 4 is by far the worst MS ever. The development company changed from the experienced guys who created the series to some fucking n00bs that didn't know how to make a decent MS. Most of the backgrounds were taken from previous games, nothing special was added and the overall experience is BAD! Avoid this game, unless you're like me and want to be able to proudly say "I've completed every MS game!".


Then came Metal Slug 5 to redeem the MS name. It has a more mech oriented theme and General Morden, the main antagonist of the whole series, is nowhere to be seen. This may seem bad, but the overall quality of the game makes up for this.


Finally, Metal Slug 6, is not only a return to the origins but also the first game not to run on the MVS arcade hardware, using Atomiswave instead. This means better graphics (more noticeably the backgrounds, since the characters look fairly equal), with zoom effects and other treats. This was, at least for me, the hardest game to find, but fortunately it was included in Metal slug Anthology, a collection that includes all of the mentioned games and is available for the PS2, PSP and Wii. If you are a fan of Metal Slug make sure you have this game, for it is one of the best compilations you'll ever find, along with other personal favourites of mine like Sonic Mega Collection Plus or Sonic Gems Collection (I intend to write something about these titles in the future).


So, why am I posting this all of a sudden? Well, those who regularly read my comments may remember me talking about a new imported game for the Saturn that was somewhat late, thus making me occupy my time with something else... That something else is what made me write this post as some sort of an "introduction" to what I'm about to post next. Be sure to come back tomorrow...

(uh, the suspense... xD)

8 comments:

fatherkrishna said...

Wow I'm intrigued! What could this new post be??? *FK checks his monitor every 5 minutes in anticipation...* I am going to look out for the Metal Slug Anthology for PS2, as I've read everything about this game but I've never played it!

Great stuff! Another top post! :)

Unknown said...

hey- hows the wii version play..? wonder if my son would like it on 2 player...???

fatherkrishna said...

I wondered about the Wii version, but then thought I could pick up the PS2 version cheaper!

NebachadnezzaR said...

deitrix, there are videos on the net showing the many control methods you can use on the Wii.

And all Metal Slugs are great multiplayer titles :)

Gentrickz said...

A1 here. I'm new here, maybe a couple of months. Deitrix got me to start. Anyways, great review. I wonder if I can find this for my Saturn..

fatherkrishna said...

Welcome a1 machinist! Always great to see new comments from another Saturn junkie!

NebachadnezzaR said...

Hi everyone. I know I promised to post today my much anticipated article but that's not going to happen.

Although I've already written half of it, I had some problems at home that left me in no disposition to finish it today.

I'm sorry to let you down guys, but right now I'm really pissed off and I just want to...I don't even know what I want to do right now...

Since I'm already talking shit it's better if I just stop here. I'm really sorry, I promise that tomorrow I'm gonna make it happen.

Til then...

fatherkrishna said...

Hey Nebacha!

Don't worry about the post! The anticipation can be given time to build!!!

I just hope everything gets better for you soon man and whatever problems you have are sorted out soon...