Metal Slug 3

By Spencer . September 27, 2005 . 3:19am

Purchase at Play-Asia

 

Purchase at Lik-Sang

 

Who knows how SNK came up with the concept for Metal Slug? It feels like a parody of Contra, but the game doesn’t rely on its comic value alone. To say Metal Slug 3 is a deep game would be an overstatement. However, even with stale gameplay mechanics and Super Nintendo quality graphics Metal Slug 3 feels both fun and cutting edge.

 

The premise for the Metal Slug games has always been very simple. There is some evil force that is invading the Earth that you must stop. Hey, the story isn’t going to win any awards, so it doesn’t need to be the game’s forte. You start the game by picking one of four soldiers (two in two player mode) who have identical stats. Each of the players start with a machine gun, high damage bombs and an instant kill knife weapon for close range combat. You move your character in the standard left to right side scrolling style to blast what seems to be like an endless swarm of enemies. You’d better shoot fast because one tiny touch of an enemy or projectile will lead into your death. Thankfully, you have infinite continues so you can trek through the game at your leisure. Power ups come in flavors of a heavy machine gun, a thundercloud gun pod, homing missiles, shot gun, lasers and even a flame thrower. The real fun are the vehicles in the game, such as submarines, tanks, copters, and even a camel. The vehicles provide more powerful attacks and with air vehicles the option to fly. Each vehicles also has a "metal slug" attack, which is a bomb attack that can be used when the vehicles is about to explode. Besides weapons and enemies there are hostages that can be saved by touching them. At times these hostages provide essential power ups and at the very least extra points.

 

OK so the game isn’t going to win any awards for original gameplay, but Metal Slug 3 has a lot going for it. First of all the Metal Slug series has always been renowned for its humor. In one level zombies are the primary enemy and they attack by vomiting on you. In the same level lies a monkey wearing a diaper who can be your ally. The game has a Saturday morning cartoon feel to it. Besides the presentation the game features multiple paths in each level. For instance in the first level you have the option to fight on the shore of a beach or underwater against giant squids. These paths provide plenty of replay value, which other games of this genre don’t contain. Each level is packed with secrets. For instance on the first level of you shoot directly underneath you at the starting point fish (which provide points) start flying out of nowhere. Secrets like this are all over the game and it will take a true master to find them all. Add two player support to this and you’ve got a pretty good game. Though, we do wish for four player support with the multitap.

 

The graphics aren’t half bad. Sure you’re seeing spites in a Playstation 2 game. Sadly, they do come out blocky at times since the PS2 isn’t designed to handle 2D graphics. On the plus side the sprites are very well animated. All the characters and most of the enemies have a number of facial expressions and a lot of frames of movement, which is excellent. The backgrounds have a hand drawn feel to them, which makes them feel like they have been given a lot of TLC by the graphic designers.

 

Control-wise the game is very responsive. The controls are also very easy to learn for anyone that has played even a tiny bit of video games. However, the sound is a mixed bag. The music sounds like MIDI music from an early Super Nintendo game and it gets awfully repetitive. The sound effects aren’t much better there are muffled screams from the enemies and standard blaster effects that sound like they are from the first Metal Slug game. It’s time for a sound overhaul.

 

Challenge wise the game is also teetering. Most gamers will blow through this game taking advantage of the infinite continues, which is fun but this gives a deft blow to the longevity of the game. Even with multiple paths the game doesn’t hold much ground. First you have to remember this game was designed as an arcade game, which by nature isn’t a long game and should be an easy game to jump in. Because of this the challenge of Metal Slug 3 isn’t to beat the game, but to beat the game using the least number of continues. Old school gamers are familiar to this challenge, but younger gamers may not dig it and get tired of the game when they reach the end. The game also features a stage select mode and two mini games. One game you play as one of three enemy troops in an alien space ship. This game is neat first because you can control an enemy and second because each of the three troops are different. The other mini game is a race to collect the most food power ups as you can. Neither of these games are deep, but are fun for arcade style play.

 

Also be warned, if you’re a Neo Geo owner (yeah the few of you out there) there really isn’t anything new from your version of the game except two mini games so it probably isn’t worth your hard earned cash to buy the game for a second time (especially after buying that pricey cart!)

 

Import Friendly?

Move, jump and shoot… hmm.. not to hard to understand. You won’t be missing out on any story either and the voices are all in English. On this level this game is super import friendly.

 

US Bound?

Update: Metal Slug 3 has been rejected by Sony’s concept and design board, which means it is not going to have a US Playstation 2 release. However, an Xbox version is due out in May of 2004.

 

+ Pros: Hilarious two player shooting, loads of secret, well done sprites

 

- Cons: Ho-Hum music and sound effects, short game length

 

Overall: Metal Slug 3 is a great two player game that provides a healthy break from any other game. However, Metal Slug 3 is an arcade game by design and lacks depth. Challenge comes in the form of finding inane secrets, getting the highest score and not dying. For a new game, it suffers old-school syndrome.

 

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