Metal Slug used one of the most arcane black arts of pixel techniques: subpixel animation. Instead of moving whole pixels every frame, inbetween movements are implied by moving the colors of pixels that stay in the same position. It's insanely hard to pull off successfully but it lets you imply fluid animation even at Neo Geo's low screen resolution
One of the most noticable objects that uses subpixel animation is the Metal Slug tank itself, which allows it to look like it's subtly shaking from the engine, even when you're not moving it. (Also makes it look even more alive!)
@@thrillhouse_vanhouten donkey kong country, castlevania I guess? But don't worry, metal slug's sub pixel animation is godlike. Just take a look on this website 2dwillneverdie.com/tutorial/give-your-sprites-depth-with-sub-pixel-animation/ The elephant's animation is amazing, btw.
Metal Slug is really a classic game. Doesn't take themselves seriously, no boring cut scenes, complicated story, fun for beginners, have co-op players mode, and of course all that insanely detailed funny, strange, and cute animation that exceed players expectations. Just like pizza, something that so humble but insanely delicious 😋
@@Icantpickaname12 there's nothing perfect in this world. Let's hope that's not becoming a trend, anyway who came with brilliant idea "oh let's slap long, boring and unskipable cutscenes, everybody will love it" I hated it.. personally, deeply, passionately hate it
@@taufanadikurniawan7170 i know nothing is ever perfect, but I'm just saying that maybe they should've put more work into those MSA cutscenes, the character portraits don't even move let alone any facial expression that relate to the text your reading. like this- marco: i am so sad *default portrait* MS-Alice: good bye *dies* *default portrait but then turns gray and fades* marco: NOOOOOO *default portrait* Only thing i really liked was the music, because metal slug has some good music anyways.
Fun fact, this series originally was supposedly literally just about the titular tank, Metal Slug as the character, no named human protagonists. But the developers decided telling a story of just about a machine, that was possibly sentient, was difficult to tell at the time.
That's pretty much explained why they add the story later but with a remodeled story in MSA _"Instead of just a sentient machine, it's a sentient waifu tank AI"_
@@majorblitz3846 I preferred it as just a machine. Wally did super good. Why are people so insecure that they feel the need to inject the human shape into everything? We're hungry for non-human protagonists! We're ready you don't have to keep changing yourselves! We've been around our own species for millions of years, give me the game about the giant invincible invisible skeleton. I can handle it.
And of course the technology to generate 2D graphics (pixel art or whatnot) was way less demanding and affordable than the ones to create 3D specially when it was starting. Basically they were creating technology, techniques and processes. That is why your comparison makes no sense.
Toack No, it still bears noting because it was that exact point in time that many leaders in the industry insisted on burning the old to make way for the new. See Sony higher-ups’ hostility towards sprite-based games at the time. The hard work and craft of pixel artists is well worth vindicating.
My Favourite little detail is when the Rebel Soldier with the Rifle reloads between shots, all the motion and how the rifle reacts, you even see the bullet casing beeing ejected.
I agree, that's really a neat - though unecessary, as you said - detail indeed. Also, on top of that, I've noticed that the reload animation occurs depending on the pistol you're using and the number of bullets you shot. For example, playing with either Fio, Eri or Nadia will trigger the reload after six shots, because obviously those gals use revolvers; as for Marco, Tarma and the others, that animation is triggered after 12 shots or so (I don't remember precisely), naturally because of their semi-auto guns and related magazine capacity. These games get more interesting the more you analyze them.
@@NeonLeV95 Wtf I did not know that. Damn this series has been around for almost 25 years (woop woop) and to think that there's still new things to see and learn about this game is incredible. Talk about attention to detail (massive respect for NAZCA and SNK for this amazing gem of a series.)
For a series that is clearly an overwhelming treasure chest for animation study you covered a lot of ground here! Great job, pal. It makes me miss our break time sessions on the cabinet.
The team that did the King of Fighters games for Neo Geo were brilliant pixel artists as well. Actually, that platform had a LOT of excellent pixel artists and animators.
Metal slug to me is still peak 2d sprite animation, its ridiculous how good this looked back then and is still (in my opinion) the best looking sprites that have yet to be dethroned.
Metal Slug has the best sprite art you will ever see. SNK kept churning out incredible sprite work until the art form became a dead art. With the reintroduction of pixel graphics, I hope we get another Metal Slug someday.
Yeah, it's codenamed Code J. Its a 3D side scroller in the vein of the original Metal Slugs just with RPG elements. They replicated the original animations in 3D pretty well.
I dont think we gonna ever have a better pixel game when it comes to animation. Its far and beyond anything weve seen. At least for the first 3 games ! Its beyond impressive
It just goes to show how much care and effort went into the art and animation of these games. It's unsurprising how they still hold up so well even after 20+ years later, especially when compared to many 3D games during the time.
Metal Slug might be an Old game, but the dedication and everything the developers made for that game is no joke. Even the arts itself is too much, plus animated. It even has some secrets. This game will forever be in my heart.
Metal Slug is just a joy from start to finish, everything is so smooth and cartoony and we love it for that. Glad to see you like how the 001 reacts and moves as well
I love it how both Metal Slug and Cuphead are both run and gun games is also one of the best looking and animated 2d sprite based games I ever seen! Studying both these games is a great way to learn animation!
The zombie vomit beam is one of my favorite bits of animation in the series too. I think it might have directly inspired the Brimstone weapon in Binding of Isaac - it's a nearly identical beam of projectile vomit blood that shoots across the screen and blasts through pretty much everything in your way.
I remember seeing a metal slug cabinet in an arcade once. I was completely entranced by the preview gameplay. It was absolutely gorgeous. This game definitely sparked my love for sprite work and animation.
This is why I love metal slug while all it’s contemporaries continue to age and look worse trying to look cutting edge metal slug is ageless and looks spectacular
I think the first games where animation really drew me in as a kid was Prince of Persia, and the Earthworm Jim then Cool Spot (7up) and BattleToads. Very exaggerated animation... Another was where Sonic would animate if you just stood there, he'd start making "I'm bored" or "let's go" animations, and he'd animate like he was losing his balance when near an edge.
Fun fact about the slug: In MS1-5, the tank uses a average amount of animation frames, but there’s a copy of almost every single frame for a ton of different angles, to at least 90 degrees!
I'm going to choose something that's a bit different. While I love all of the animations in Metal Slug, there are three in particular that are just wow next level good. The first killer animation is when enemies jump out of a body of water. The splash of the water looks so good. The second is explosions underwater. Like when you blow up a sub, and it actually implodes. Finally, I love watching the tank roll over cars. The way they give way to the immense weight finally going flat as their windows explode...chefs kiss.
I dont think there are many action 2D scrollers that can really go next to Metal slug series. They stand out so much for a reason. The main series that is. One of my favorite arcade games hands down.
This is hands down my favorite artstyle of any arcade game, is so realistic yet cartoony, pretty much anything you can think that is in this game is full of details and beautiful animation, my favorites are the amount of details in the spaceships you can pilot in the final mission of MS3, the trolleys carrying missiles during the Crablops fight in MS7 when you shoot them and the attacks and movements of the Slug Gunner & Black Hound in MS5.
@@TheRealBatabii Yeah, they ruined it by putting in their more recognizable character who is the mascot for their fighting games which is what SNK is mostly known for. What idiots.
This game really appeals to me as a kid and I sometimes still play it because of the nostalgia. Besides its replayability, the design and animation were amazing, I'm always mesmerized with the bosses' design. I really love the Metal Slug too just like what you said it somehow makes you think that it's alive and how almost every part of it moves in every frame. This will be one of the best classic games, I wish that they would still release titles with the similar design.
"Metal Slugs feel alive and full of character." But you know what. I like to think that the metal slug IS a character. Frankly, it has more personality than the playable heroes themselves. I adore it to bits. I want a plush of this thing and hug it and see all his parts pop out as if reacting to being squeezed.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy oh yes you did. I just think that saying that it is a character has the same value as saying that's its full of character, as you stated in your video.
@@விஷ்ணு_கார்த்திக் Well, until you play MS3 onward when Mission 2 is starting to get fucking hard. And then, in MS3, there is a beginner trap in Mission 1.
@@zhaoyun255 True, but for those of us who could 1cc these games on hardest, easy really is easy. it gets to more difficult territory after mvs difficutly. Mainly because of the faster and more bullets, but also because enemies become bullet sponges, which I can't stand. Running out of bullets on hardest difficulty and killing bosses with only a pistol sucks azz.
i agree but it's a coin op game, meaning that with a few coins per day you must need months to complete it. Lets say a 50p coin per day * 180 days = $90. Basically you rent it. And don't forget you rent something more expensive and powerful than your pc back then
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy It's always a blast of epic proportions whenever someone returns to this series. Personally, I had modded the game on to a PS1 Classic. I need to get those games for the Switch.
One of my favorite memories from Metal Slug X was fighting a battleship that was literally dropping tanks on me. Each tank would lurch over the edge, fire once, and then fall to the ground and explode, because the enemy is so desperate to stop me they're throwing all their weapons at me as fast as they can in any way they can, and dropping a tank on my head is as good as anything. That wonderfully represents the fantastic over-the-top opulence of the Metal Slug series and I love it.
I would LOVE a crossover game between Metal Slug and Cuphead, I mean, both are basically the same genre of videogame and also are mainly popular thanks to their beautiful and incredible art style, a videogame crossover where you constantly change between hyper detailed pixelart and old goofy boneless cartoons would be amazing to see.
God damn I haven't even played a MS game, but just from visuals alone, it's genuinely top 5 favourite game aesthetics, the backgrounds are so high quality and faithfully textured, the material of the landscape represented brilliantly with pixels, the sub pixelling on practically everything is obscenely godlike, the actual animations themselves are silky smooth and full of character, fuck dude Imma be real, in regards to really small sprites, i genuinely can't think of another game that tops this
I'll never forget finding a Metal Slug arcade cabinet in the wild as a boy. The fluid animation and sound effects really left an impression on me. I hadn't been exposed to that level of 2D polish before. I've been a fan of the series ever since.
i remember playing a metal slug mod for cortex command when i was a kid and being blown away pixels could look detailed, that was my first introduction to the games' look and it'll stick
thank you for making this video, i always appreciate when someone makes a video about this game series, since even if metal slug is such an iconic series not that much people talk about it
In games, I personally don't like too much bobbing in running animations. I like that in this game, their body and head are completely still, vertically, so when you move side to side it's very easy to keep track of. Even if the legs flailing in the air look really silly
God, I love Metal Slug. It's been a connection between myself and others that could only be experienced through an arcade machine. "Just pop in a quarter and play with me, bro!"
First I seen a video Metal Slug: The Complete History - SGR by Daniel Ibbertson, which is a sight to see a complete review of the series. So it is quite a joy to see this video talking about the sprite animations done in the game, you hit the nail man. The way the game was before after looking it now, really was way ahead of it's time on how much sprite animation and detail it have going on the game. Great video man.
my friend i always wanted a video on metal slug animation but there was none until you came thank you as a student of grapich design this is like a chapter frome the bibile to me
In terms of graphics from early arcade games from late 1980s through early 2000s, SNK definitely has a lot more heart and soul with its game franchises. One of the biggest one being the king of fighters series. So many Easter eggs, so much going on with the character dialogues especially facing your rival(kyo kusanagi vs. Iori yagami, Terry bogard vs geese Howard, etc) SO much detail with the stages! Weather it's the climate changing, people passing by, and ofcourse seeing our beloved characters from other snk games in the background watching the beatdowns take place was a nostalgic and iconic treat, SNK Never disappointed me till China took over and are now whoring out our iconic characters to company's like Namco. Never in my years of playing old school arcade games have I ever seen so much going on in one game franchise. Its the little things that make snk stand far away from capcom. Street fighter is amazing. But sadly doesn't hold a candle to SNKs nostalgia. Also snk has an ENORMOUS list of fighting games where capcom had only Street fighter, darkstalkers, the early marvel fighting games, besides marvel vs capcom and the almighty capcom vs snk. Which capcom had the animation rights to CVS 1 and 2. So there went all our Easter eggs. And we looked at our KOF fighters with a somewhat less pixleated animation. Then snk made CVS chaos which had fucking violent ken in it besides shin akuma and our Easter eggs were retrieved being that snk has the animation rights to that one. I'm an old school retro game junkie. Snk is a religion besides being one of the GOATS of the arcade era. RIP old snk. Them damn mongorions a take over my a shitysnk. Lol
The amount of love the artists/animators put into this series is just straight up sickening. It's just a complete eye-gasm. You mentioned the 3D iteration, and while I didn't play it myself, it just looked so generic and devoid of..well..anything. There's just so much soul that goes into *good* pixel art and it's almost as much problem solving as anything else when you have 1 pixel that can make or break a pose - it's the limitations that force you to get good right? The metal slug vehicle character treatment reminds me of the early Pixar short "Luxo Jnr" (I'm sure you know it of course) and how they really conveyed that playful, goofy behaviour beautifully while still staying believable to it's physical form (more or less). It's so cool that so many games are coming out that are continuing the artform with some pretty striking presentation, but I can't think of any that have matched Metal Slug for just gratuitous stubborness to be the absolute benchmark 😉👍
Thank you! I fuckin' love Metal Slug and you hit the nail on the head. One of the the things that sets the series apart is just how alive and energetic everything feels!
Metal Slug has to be my favorite gamming franchise ever. And most of the charm relies on how well animated it is, the Nazca team really knew what they were doing.
Excellent video! The design of the MS Tank 001 was brilliant in terms of making it cute but cool. Its body which consists of the treads and base make up roughly 1/2 of the character making it chibi when you consider the Turret . The Turret acts like a head with the hydraulics acting like neck muscles. There is also its side "arms" that get blown off as you take damage that sort of flail around in the direction you move in. So you can imagine it as a chibi character that belches out tank rounds and has flailing machine gun arms. Its absurd and I love it
The trick used on the boss animations was used in Super Fire Pro Wrestling X Premium as well it helped give the game un precedented animations at a relatively low resource cost
Metal Slug was the first videogame ive ever played in my whole life, and grant me the devotion i have for videogames in general. It surely let a great influence on good detailed animation sprites. And im proud to say it was my first game, i hold very dearly this franchise and i wish to someday replicate that feeling i have with my own creations.
I always wait till the end to hear the end "loveyoubye". There could be a whole series on the animation in this series. I love hi bit pixel art so much, I hope to have it my games one day. Thanks for sharing your favorite bits of Metal Slug Dan!
Only discovered this video after 2 years, but thank you. For years I would think about it this especially on metal slug 3, on the second mission with the zombies. Thank you
The fact I got a PSP to play 3d games and spent most of it on metal slug collection as a graphics minded kid says a lot for me, I don't think I had seen such a beautifully animated sprite game I didn't even feel like I was underusing my PSP at all
I don't care WHO you are. You've had to at least seen a metal slug explosion once in your life.
Nnamdi Ekwueme True. Never played Metal Slug, but I saw few of its explosions in Sonic For Hire.
i played all metal slugs games since the 90s except the strategy ones .
To me, I like seeing mummies get blasted into dust by a shotgun. Look so cheesy! Best 2D animated game series ever!
True. Especially in thousands of Flash animations and games.
@@osamaroum "Strategy" ones
All those secondary animations with those big machines are on another level. They realy knew what they were doing.
It adds so much, too!
That's called SNK for you
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy you should do one on Rayman!
Metal Slug used one of the most arcane black arts of pixel techniques: subpixel animation. Instead of moving whole pixels every frame, inbetween movements are implied by moving the colors of pixels that stay in the same position. It's insanely hard to pull off successfully but it lets you imply fluid animation even at Neo Geo's low screen resolution
Thanks for that!
I've honestly never considered that, and I'm now very glad I am aware of this, thank you
One of the most noticable objects that uses subpixel animation is the Metal Slug tank itself, which allows it to look like it's subtly shaking from the engine, even when you're not moving it. (Also makes it look even more alive!)
Could you suggest some other good examples of subpixel animation?
@@thrillhouse_vanhouten donkey kong country, castlevania I guess? But don't worry, metal slug's sub pixel animation is godlike. Just take a look on this website 2dwillneverdie.com/tutorial/give-your-sprites-depth-with-sub-pixel-animation/ The elephant's animation is amazing, btw.
Metal Slug is really a classic game.
Doesn't take themselves seriously, no boring cut scenes, complicated story, fun for beginners, have co-op players mode, and of course all that insanely detailed funny, strange, and cute animation that exceed players expectations.
Just like pizza, something that so humble but insanely delicious 😋
Then came metal slug attack, i have never seen such boring cutscenes.
@@Icantpickaname12 there's nothing perfect in this world. Let's hope that's not becoming a trend, anyway who came with brilliant idea "oh let's slap long, boring and unskipable cutscenes, everybody will love it"
I hated it.. personally, deeply, passionately hate it
@@taufanadikurniawan7170 i know nothing is ever perfect, but I'm just saying that maybe they should've put more work into those MSA cutscenes, the character portraits don't even move let alone any facial expression that relate to the text your reading.
like this-
marco: i am so sad *default portrait*
MS-Alice: good bye *dies* *default portrait but then turns gray and fades*
marco: NOOOOOO *default portrait*
Only thing i really liked was the music, because metal slug has some good music anyways.
@@Icantpickaname12 *DeviantArt:* "Hahaha, time to redraw them all..."
Pizza is humble?
Fun fact, this series originally was supposedly literally just about the titular tank, Metal Slug as the character, no named human protagonists. But the developers decided telling a story of just about a machine, that was possibly sentient, was difficult to tell at the time.
That's pretty much explained why they add the story later but with a remodeled story in MSA
_"Instead of just a sentient machine, it's a sentient waifu tank AI"_
that explains the animations of the metal slug, nice
With the next Metal Slug game being announced, I wonder what they're going to do for the story?
Honestly it would be amazing and, possibly for the time, ground breaking. I always felt like the tank was the true protagonist and is so iconic
@@majorblitz3846 I preferred it as just a machine. Wally did super good. Why are people so insecure that they feel the need to inject the human shape into everything? We're hungry for non-human protagonists! We're ready you don't have to keep changing yourselves! We've been around our own species for millions of years, give me the game about the giant invincible invisible skeleton. I can handle it.
The last generation of pixel art (before pixel art had a revival) holds up a lot better today than the first generation of polygonal graphics.
Likewise; the last generation of practical movie special effects holds up better than first generation CG
These graphics are timeless because they are built on strong fundamental art and animation principles. Same goes for the old 2D Disney movies.
And of course the technology to generate 2D graphics (pixel art or whatnot) was way less demanding and affordable than the ones to create 3D specially when it was starting. Basically they were creating technology, techniques and processes. That is why your comparison makes no sense.
@@cannonfodder4000 shit dude most cg these days looks *worse* than last gen practical.
Toack No, it still bears noting because it was that exact point in time that many leaders in the industry insisted on burning the old to make way for the new. See Sony higher-ups’ hostility towards sprite-based games at the time.
The hard work and craft of pixel artists is well worth vindicating.
Metal Slug explosions were a work of ART.
Pavro w0t the entire game is!! Some of the best sprite work in the business!!
yea seeing the frame by frame effects all at once makes you appreciate the work they do
There's a reason every damn flash animation ever stole them for effects. MS explosions are the best.
"Were"? They are still case studies for aspiring animators!!
Im sorry but they were not a work of art...
They ARE a work of art
My favorite little detail of metal slug is the reloading animation even though it is not necessary since you have basically endless bullets.
There’s this animation where one of them pulls out a canteen and takes a chug out of it, I think it was Marco
@Derago 2. Ralf and Clark are from king of fighters. The white hair blue vest is trevor from metal slug 4
My Favourite little detail is when the Rebel Soldier with the Rifle reloads between shots, all the motion and how the rifle reacts, you even see the bullet casing beeing ejected.
I agree, that's really a neat - though unecessary, as you said - detail indeed. Also, on top of that, I've noticed that the reload animation occurs depending on the pistol you're using and the number of bullets you shot.
For example, playing with either Fio, Eri or Nadia will trigger the reload after six shots, because obviously those gals use revolvers; as for Marco, Tarma and the others, that animation is triggered after 12 shots or so (I don't remember precisely), naturally because of their semi-auto guns and related magazine capacity.
These games get more interesting the more you analyze them.
@@NeonLeV95 Wtf I did not know that. Damn this series has been around for almost 25 years (woop woop) and to think that there's still new things to see and learn about this game is incredible. Talk about attention to detail (massive respect for NAZCA and SNK for this amazing gem of a series.)
Metal Slug will always be one the best and most expressive sprite animation ever
this game was perfect from the start, one of its kind, playing MS1 in sunday morning is one of the best experience a gamer could have
man i never realized just how spicy metal slugs animations were
how can you not notice????
Metal slug 3 when female character get hit by acid from snail i always pause frame by frame to look the detail :P
@@born2war1 especially when it's fio
we're perverts
also fio best girl
Honestly that was the most impressive aspect of the game IMO. Watching those aliens melt and explode is very impressive.
For a series that is clearly an overwhelming treasure chest for animation study you covered a lot of ground here! Great job, pal. It makes me miss our break time sessions on the cabinet.
There's so much to study, it was a tough call!
Ahh yeah man, those were the best. It'd have been cool to play it all day.
The team that did the King of Fighters games for Neo Geo were brilliant pixel artists as well. Actually, that platform had a LOT of excellent pixel artists and animators.
Metal slug to me is still peak 2d sprite animation, its ridiculous how good this looked back then and is still (in my opinion) the best looking sprites that have yet to be dethroned.
Street Fighter III wan't's to know your location. (But, Metal Slug is top tier too)
@@PersTG well kof 13 say hello.
@@sgnitzlennahv you aren't wrong...
Rainworld is a potential contender
Metal Slug has the best sprite art you will ever see. SNK kept churning out incredible sprite work until the art form became a dead art. With the reintroduction of pixel graphics, I hope we get another Metal Slug someday.
Hopefully one day!
KoF XIII has amazing sprites too!
Well, we are. It's just not the kind we're expecting lol. The 3D animations so far are pretty good though.
Another Metal Slug?? 🤔
Yeah, it's codenamed Code J. Its a 3D side scroller in the vein of the original Metal Slugs just with RPG elements. They replicated the original animations in 3D pretty well.
I dont think we gonna ever have a better pixel game when it comes to animation. Its far and beyond anything weve seen. At least for the first 3 games ! Its beyond impressive
It just goes to show how much care and effort went into the art and animation of these games. It's unsurprising how they still hold up so well even after 20+ years later, especially when compared to many 3D games during the time.
Metal Slug might be an Old game, but the dedication and everything the developers made for that game is no joke. Even the arts itself is too much, plus animated. It even has some secrets. This game will forever be in my heart.
Metal Slug should go on forever. I'd keep playing no matter how many came out.
This series has some of the best pixel art animation I have ever seen.
0:21 I've listen to that part over 20 times and it still sounds like you are saying Metal Flug. Great video, I hope Metal Slug comes back.
Probably just bad audio post production
Metal Slug is just a joy from start to finish, everything is so smooth and cartoony and we love it for that. Glad to see you like how the 001 reacts and moves as well
I love it how both Metal Slug and Cuphead are both run and gun games is also one of the best looking and animated 2d sprite based games I ever seen! Studying both these games is a great way to learn animation!
The zombie vomit beam is one of my favorite bits of animation in the series too. I think it might have directly inspired the Brimstone weapon in Binding of Isaac - it's a nearly identical beam of projectile vomit blood that shoots across the screen and blasts through pretty much everything in your way.
SNK has the best sprite and animation back in the day.
Even today, probably
Their pixel animations are so high quality, they themselves cant even match what they did with the 2D animations with their 3D KOF games.
Don't forget when that Rambo dude gets eaten by an Orca. The physics involved in those bones lol
He name is allen o'neil
In metal slug anthology they shared their secret to the detailed animations.
I think they said it took a lot of ANGER, SADNESS, EFFORT AND GUTS.
I remember seeing a metal slug cabinet in an arcade once. I was completely entranced by the preview gameplay. It was absolutely gorgeous. This game definitely sparked my love for sprite work and animation.
This is why I love metal slug while all it’s contemporaries continue to age and look worse trying to look cutting edge metal slug is ageless and looks spectacular
I love it when a machine opens up with 10 more massive guns and missiles than could ever fit on it
I think the first games where animation really drew me in as a kid was Prince of Persia, and the Earthworm Jim then Cool Spot (7up) and BattleToads. Very exaggerated animation... Another was where Sonic would animate if you just stood there, he'd start making "I'm bored" or "let's go" animations, and he'd animate like he was losing his balance when near an edge.
I’ve gotten into metal slug recently. It is now one of my favorite game series ever.
Keep in mind this was in the span of a couple months.
Fun fact about the slug: In MS1-5, the tank uses a average amount of animation frames, but there’s a copy of almost every single frame for a ton of different angles, to at least 90 degrees!
I'm going to choose something that's a bit different. While I love all of the animations in Metal Slug, there are three in particular that are just wow next level good. The first killer animation is when enemies jump out of a body of water. The splash of the water looks so good. The second is explosions underwater. Like when you blow up a sub, and it actually implodes. Finally, I love watching the tank roll over cars. The way they give way to the immense weight finally going flat as their windows explode...chefs kiss.
I dont think there are many action 2D scrollers that can really go next to Metal slug series. They stand out so much for a reason. The main series that is. One of my favorite arcade games hands down.
Akio and Susumu should be given lifetime achievement awards for making memorable 2D sprites and backgrounds pushed to the Neo Geo hardware's limits
SNK really knew quality. Look at today. The games they made vs the games they were competing against.....Metal Slug has still held up!!!
Mission 1 Start
OHHhh BIG
Heavy Machine Gun
Rocket Launcher
FlameThrower
Laser Gun
Mission Completed
This is hands down my favorite artstyle of any arcade game, is so realistic yet cartoony, pretty much anything you can think that is in this game is full of details and beautiful animation, my favorites are the amount of details in the spaceships you can pilot in the final mission of MS3, the trolleys carrying missiles during the Crablops fight in MS7 when you shoot them and the attacks and movements of the Slug Gunner & Black Hound in MS5.
[frees prisoner] THANK YOU!
I hope Marco is in the next Smash Bros character pack DLC
honestly I think the the metal slug itself would work as a character.
@@bikeybill that'd be a final smash. Marco (or any other playable Metal Slug character) has enough weapons.
@@TheRealBatabii Yeah, they ruined it by putting in their more recognizable character who is the mascot for their fighting games which is what SNK is mostly known for. What idiots.
@@brycebitetti1402 whining fools begone
@chronic - Haven't you already used that insult elsewhere in the comments?
That giant crab had excellent animation.
One of the best!
That Dominion Tank Police inspiration in the tanks are my favorite thing. Great old anime.
This game really appeals to me as a kid and I sometimes still play it because of the nostalgia. Besides its replayability, the design and animation were amazing, I'm always mesmerized with the bosses' design. I really love the Metal Slug too just like what you said it somehow makes you think that it's alive and how almost every part of it moves in every frame. This will be one of the best classic games, I wish that they would still release titles with the similar design.
I remember my friends watching me play metal slug for the first time, and now it makes sense why they described the Metal Slug tank as cute.
"Metal Slugs feel alive and full of character."
But you know what. I like to think that the metal slug IS a character. Frankly, it has more personality than the playable heroes themselves. I adore it to bits. I want a plush of this thing and hug it and see all his parts pop out as if reacting to being squeezed.
Yep, me too! I think I do call it a character later on in the video, actually. If I recall.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy oh yes you did. I just think that saying that it is a character has the same value as saying that's its full of character, as you stated in your video.
That reload animation is on par with all those snappy john wick reloads you see online. Master-class work these guys did.
When the Metal slug fires it recoils its entire turret.
>Relieve daily stress
>Makes a game with an insane difficulty even on easy mode
funny, that is the opposite for some if not many people
By default, in any MS game Its not hard until you get to Mission 3.
@@விஷ்ணு_கார்த்திக் Well, until you play MS3 onward when Mission 2 is starting to get fucking hard. And then, in MS3, there is a beginner trap in Mission 1.
@@zhaoyun255 True, but for those of us who could 1cc these games on hardest, easy really is easy. it gets to more difficult territory after mvs difficutly. Mainly because of the faster and more bullets, but also because enemies become bullet sponges, which I can't stand. Running out of bullets on hardest difficulty and killing bosses with only a pistol sucks azz.
i agree but it's a coin op game, meaning that with a few coins per day you must need months to complete it. Lets say a 50p coin per day * 180 days = $90. Basically you rent it. And don't forget you rent something more expensive and powerful than your pc back then
The metal slug series are an absolute work of art.
I forgot how beautiful the animation of Metal Slug is.
I really appreciate the game now than back then when i was a kid
I am such a big fan of Metal Slug. I actually beat Metal Slug X in August. Great video! =)
Thanks!
Yeah I've been playing the collection on PS4 for research and forgot how much I loved it!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy It's always a blast of epic proportions whenever someone returns to this series. Personally, I had modded the game on to a PS1 Classic. I need to get those games for the Switch.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy isn't there an input delay on that port?
Sssssort of.
It's not too detrimental, though.
One of my favorite memories from Metal Slug X was fighting a battleship that was literally dropping tanks on me. Each tank would lurch over the edge, fire once, and then fall to the ground and explode, because the enemy is so desperate to stop me they're throwing all their weapons at me as fast as they can in any way they can, and dropping a tank on my head is as good as anything.
That wonderfully represents the fantastic over-the-top opulence of the Metal Slug series and I love it.
I would LOVE a crossover game between Metal Slug and Cuphead, I mean, both are basically the same genre of videogame and also are mainly popular thanks to their beautiful and incredible art style, a videogame crossover where you constantly change between hyper detailed pixelart and old goofy boneless cartoons would be amazing to see.
God damn
I haven't even played a MS game, but just from visuals alone, it's genuinely top 5 favourite game aesthetics, the backgrounds are so high quality and faithfully textured, the material of the landscape represented brilliantly with pixels, the sub pixelling on practically everything is obscenely godlike, the actual animations themselves are silky smooth and full of character, fuck dude
Imma be real, in regards to really small sprites, i genuinely can't think of another game that tops this
Youre missing out not playing this. The gameplay is as smoothe as its graphics.
missed your videos! good to have you back, loving the video so far.
These games were so ahead of their time. The art and animation holds up better than the vast majority of games from that era. Just timeless.
I'll never forget finding a Metal Slug arcade cabinet in the wild as a boy. The fluid animation and sound effects really left an impression on me. I hadn't been exposed to that level of 2D polish before. I've been a fan of the series ever since.
This reminds me of mighty goose I loved that game
i remember playing a metal slug mod for cortex command when i was a kid and being blown away pixels could look detailed, that was my first introduction to the games' look and it'll stick
thank you for making this video, i always appreciate when someone makes a video about this game series, since even if metal slug is such an iconic series not that much people talk about it
Thank you for taking the time to watch it!
you're welcome, you make high quality content
I legit still play MS3 on my phone up until this day. I adore this game since first playing it at a local arcade.
In games, I personally don't like too much bobbing in running animations. I like that in this game, their body and head are completely still, vertically, so when you move side to side it's very easy to keep track of.
Even if the legs flailing in the air look really silly
Metal Slug animation is simply above everything pixel related game.. (With KING OF FIGHTERS an exception but then again its a different type of game)
i liked and subscribed specifically for the animation calling me out for eating and having no plans to do so. well done!
God, I love Metal Slug. It's been a connection between myself and others that could only be experienced through an arcade machine. "Just pop in a quarter and play with me, bro!"
The background art was out of this world for a arcade game hands down my All time favorite video game ever
First I seen a video Metal Slug: The Complete History - SGR by
Daniel Ibbertson, which is a sight to see a complete review of the series. So it is quite a joy to see this video talking about the sprite animations done in the game, you hit the nail man. The way the game was before after looking it now, really was way ahead of it's time on how much sprite animation and detail it have going on the game. Great video man.
Thanks.
In the Mobile ver of MS they take explosion off the charts
The spider one is called Dragon Nosuke
my friend i always wanted a video on metal slug animation but there was none until you came thank you as a student of grapich design this is like a chapter frome the bibile to me
10:00 - Okay, but I found Marco surprisingly good-looking in that game... and the voice he had? Pure honey to my ears.
In terms of graphics from early arcade games from late 1980s through early 2000s, SNK definitely has a lot more heart and soul with its game franchises. One of the biggest one being the king of fighters series. So many Easter eggs, so much going on with the character dialogues especially facing your rival(kyo kusanagi vs. Iori yagami, Terry bogard vs geese Howard, etc) SO much detail with the stages! Weather it's the climate changing, people passing by, and ofcourse seeing our beloved characters from other snk games in the background watching the beatdowns take place was a nostalgic and iconic treat, SNK Never disappointed me till China took over and are now whoring out our iconic characters to company's like Namco. Never in my years of playing old school arcade games have I ever seen so much going on in one game franchise. Its the little things that make snk stand far away from capcom. Street fighter is amazing. But sadly doesn't hold a candle to SNKs nostalgia. Also snk has an ENORMOUS list of fighting games where capcom had only Street fighter, darkstalkers, the early marvel fighting games, besides marvel vs capcom and the almighty capcom vs snk. Which capcom had the animation rights to CVS 1 and 2. So there went all our Easter eggs. And we looked at our KOF fighters with a somewhat less pixleated animation. Then snk made CVS chaos which had fucking violent ken in it besides shin akuma and our Easter eggs were retrieved being that snk has the animation rights to that one. I'm an old school retro game junkie. Snk is a religion besides being one of the GOATS of the arcade era. RIP old snk. Them damn mongorions a take over my a shitysnk. Lol
This is half of the reason why Irem is my favourite game company. Yes, Irem. I don't mean SNK.
The other half is their weird sense of dark humor.
Funny thing is that this game is still ahead of its time until now XD
FYI, I once heard that the game gets it's name from the slug-like movements of the metal slug tanks!
I think metal slug is another name for bullets. Not too sure, though.
Yeah I always thought Slug like a shotgun slug
Metal Slug, and other SNK games, are what I call the pillar of pixel animation.
Now I hope someone makes a video about Metal Slug's soundtrack, they are gold
The details, background everything is timeless & cool.
The amount of love the artists/animators put into this series is just straight up sickening. It's just a complete eye-gasm. You mentioned the 3D iteration, and while I didn't play it myself, it just looked so generic and devoid of..well..anything. There's just so much soul that goes into *good* pixel art and it's almost as much problem solving as anything else when you have 1 pixel that can make or break a pose - it's the limitations that force you to get good right? The metal slug vehicle character treatment reminds me of the early Pixar short "Luxo Jnr" (I'm sure you know it of course) and how they really conveyed that playful, goofy behaviour beautifully while still staying believable to it's physical form (more or less). It's so cool that so many games are coming out that are continuing the artform with some pretty striking presentation, but I can't think of any that have matched Metal Slug for just gratuitous stubborness to be the absolute benchmark 😉👍
Thank you! I fuckin' love Metal Slug and you hit the nail on the head. One of the the things that sets the series apart is just how alive and energetic everything feels!
6:42 my eyes, it burns! that uneven scaling with shifting compressed uneven scanlines!!
I could listen to you point things out in Metal Slug animations out all day. Hope to see more Metal Slug-centric vids in the future!
It's a miracle the games even run on a Neo Geo.
Heck, I heard in an interview that the machine caught fire during the first game's location test.
One of my favorite videogame series, animation-wise! Can't wait to sit down and watch this. :)
Metal Slug has to be my favorite gamming franchise ever. And most of the charm relies on how well animated it is, the Nazca team really knew what they were doing.
Metal Slug is SUCH a good video game franchise
Excellent video!
The design of the MS Tank 001 was brilliant in terms of making it cute but cool. Its body which consists of the treads and base make up roughly 1/2 of the character making it chibi when you consider the Turret . The Turret acts like a head with the hydraulics acting like neck muscles. There is also its side "arms" that get blown off as you take damage that sort of flail around in the direction you move in. So you can imagine it as a chibi character that belches out tank rounds and has flailing machine gun arms.
Its absurd and I love it
It's sooooo great, such an expressive vehicle!
The trick used on the boss animations was used in Super Fire Pro Wrestling X Premium as well it helped give the game un precedented animations at a relatively low resource cost
The way mordens machines change and new things pop out was always so badass
Metal Slug was the first videogame ive ever played in my whole life, and grant me the devotion i have for videogames in general. It surely let a great influence on good detailed animation sprites. And im proud to say it was my first game, i hold very dearly this franchise and i wish to someday replicate that feeling i have with my own creations.
This game never gets old. I love it so much.
The animation is very very ahead of it's time consider how old this game was
This popped up in my youtube recommendations out ot the blue and, boi, I'm so satisfied.
Awesome video.
Awesome, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I always wait till the end to hear the end "loveyoubye". There could be a whole series on the animation in this series. I love hi bit pixel art so much, I hope to have it my games one day. Thanks for sharing your favorite bits of Metal Slug Dan!
Thanks Gero!
Only discovered this video after 2 years, but thank you. For years I would think about it this especially on metal slug 3, on the second mission with the zombies. Thank you
Snk are the kings of sprite animation no 🧢
It's about time I see a video about Metal Slug on TH-cam
I'm on Metal Slug playing spree this month, and it was pure nostalgia on my part
The fact I got a PSP to play 3d games and spent most of it on metal slug collection as a graphics minded kid says a lot for me, I don't think I had seen such a beautifully animated sprite game I didn't even feel like I was underusing my PSP at all
I'm looking forward to seeing more from the channel. Subscribed.