I LOVE METAL SLUG! Well, everyone is, but I'm here as a 1cc player. Metal Slug, as beloved as it is, is also notorious for its difficulty, if you're a journalist... Er, I know with this video I can be considered as one, but using continues especially without limit is not a legit way to enjoy well-designed arcade games. It's a fine way to enjoy these games, but not a good way to properly look at why the game is great to play. Unlimited continues means you're free from consequence; it's infinite lives. And the major contributor for Metal Slug series' difficulty is:
NO, EXTENDS!
No secret 1up, no score extends, no i-frame bombs, you're brittle and by the 3rd miss, you're out! 23 minutes on default 2 extra lives!? That's insane! On the surface, yes. But the more you dissect it actually the lack of extends is kinda understandable. I'll explain the ugly beauty called the SV-001 Metal Slug later.
First, the controls as the human. Depending on which player side you get to play as Marco or Tarma. Doesn't seem like there is any statistical difference between the two. It's a run n gun. You can shoot, throw grenades, and jump. You can shoot horizontally, upwards, and downwards mid-air, but by default you can't shoot diagonally. You can also crouch. Decreases your mobility, but it shrinks your hitbox, which is super important.
Nazca Corporation consisted of Irem employees that quit, so thinking back about the old Irem games will help more than with other SNK games. Ergo, the weapons. There is the Heavy Machine Gun, the rapid fire weapon and the only one with diagonal shooting capability, Rocket Launcher, well, shoots rockets and it'll create AoE hitbox when it lands, Shotgun, the very destructive melee shot stronger than the grenades per shot, remember this, and Flame Shot. The later iterations made it a shotgun equivalent with more persistent hitbox duration, but in the 1st game, it's the piercing shot! It travels FAR! Take note of these because they're here not as a shot type, but as a piece of the puzzle on your side. Like R-Type!
There is also the grenade that has its own quirks. It's limited by ammo but you'll gather lots of them along the way, assuming you don't die which when the game resets your bomb count to 10. It doesn't explode when it touches ground, but after some time or when it touches an enemy, it will explode with VERY HIGH VERTICAL HITBOX! This is also an important part of the puzzle and one of the only ways to target diagonally! The game is very aware of this fact as you'll see this often in the stage design! Its bullet limit is only 2, but why mentioning this at all?
Metal Slug tank. I don't know the lineage of run n guns enough, but this beast is ultra developed and while future games shafts the tank's presence away slowly but surely, the titular tank is the main star of the game! You can shoot at 360 degrees, fire the cannon, jump (yes, a jumping tank), crouch!? And uh, don't do this, explode the tank into a kamikaze attack. No sane player would do this under super specific conditions like to spawn the next incoming Metal Slug to essentially recover its HP. That's fine, but how to do it? Press shoot and jump simultaneously... THAT'S RUN N GUN 101!!! It can get quite easy to destroy your tank with this move without intending to! They could've just assigned this on the far-away button, D, but nope! 3 buttons it is! There is no reason at all to not do that! All Neo Geo MVS cabinets have 4 buttons, right!? That's insanity! This is the worst aspect of the game! So if you need to jump, do NOT press the shoot button until you're in the air! Never, forget, that!
It has to be noted that the Metal Slug's offensive capabilities is superior to your human form! That includes the vulcan compared to Heavy Machine Gun! The cannon is less flexible than your grenade, but not only it's very powerful, it also has the very high vertical hitbox. Very useful for some encounters! Then there is the crouching bomb. You still can move quickly while crouching, but more importantly, while you throw the normal grenades, IT BYPASSES THE BULLET LIMIT! It makes some encounters hilariously quick!
The major reason for why there is no extends is because of one staple mechanic with the Metal Slug: vehicle exit I-FRAME. I-FRAMES! The benefit is two-fold. As you exit, you're impervious to attacks including explosions. Also it's the default rule for the slugs to not get hit while there is no pilot inside. The slug is very fat, so this is one of the most effective ways to conserve its HP! Whenever you can, keep the slug around because without it, there goes your semi-infinite i-frame source!
This is a very nuanced run n gun with R-Type precision! It's also a very fun, sane game. It's not easy, but when you can, 1cc-ing Metal Slug 1 is a must do!
Fun fact. Did you know that it's possible to end all of this game's stages with the tank intact? ALL STAGES!
This is the Nintendo Switch version.
#snk #metalslug #nintendoswitch