Metal Slug

Video game series

the video game series
Metal Slug (メタルスラッグ) is a Japanese multimedia franchise and run and gun video game series originally created by Nazca Corporation before merging with SNK in 1996 after the completion of the first game in the series. Spin off games include a third person shooter to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the series and a tower defense game for the mobile platform. While originally created for Neo Geo arcade machines hardware (MVS) and the Neo Geo home game consoles (AES) hardware, the original games have also been ported to other consoles and mobile platforms throughout the years, with several later games created for various other platforms. The games focus on the Peregrine Falcon Squad, a small group of soldiers who fight against a rebel army, aliens, zombies, mummies and various other forces intent on world domination.

The gameplay consists of run and gun elements as well as, in later releases, shoot 'em up mechanics. The run and gun elements pit a player against many enemies with the aid of extremely powerful weapon pick ups. In most run and gun games, contact with an enemy leads to damage. In this series, however, contact results in the opportunity to perform a melee attack and the opportunity for the enemy to perform a melee attack of his own, if he has one. The player's melee attack is also much stronger than most shots. This leads to the player's ability to run in and use melee attacks to take down a number of enemies at once, as well as the ability to quickly defeat enemies that can take plenty of damage, such as the mummies in Metal Slug 2. The player starts with only a simple semi automatic handgun (Metal Slug 6 and 7 used a fully automatic handgun in place of the stock semi auto first used in every game including a spin off); as the game progresses, the player may pick up new weapons. The player can only use one weapon at a time. When a new weapon is found, it replaces the previous one. Similarly, when ammunition runs out, the player reverts to using the handgun, which has unlimited ammunition. A new system was implemented with Metal Slug 6 allowing players to carry and switch between the handgun and two other weapons. The player is also equipped with grenades which can be thrown at enemies to cause more damage, however, the number of grenades is limited and must be replenished periodically with ammunition found along the way. The SV 001 (SV being an abbreviation for "Super Vehicle") or 'Metal Slug' is the main vehicle of the Metal Slug franchise. It is a small, cartoonish silver gray tank propelled by caterpillar treads. The tank is armed with one cannon which shoots powerful bombs in limited numbers, and twin vulcan cannons which shoot unlimited tracer bullets. The vehicle can jump and crouch. Crouching opens a hatch on the top of the tank through which grenades already in the player's possession can be thrown. The grenades remain independent of the cannon's ammunition system. The vehicle's bombs can also be replenished with ammunition boxes found along the way. The vehicle can run over infantry and perform a suicide attack, with the driver jumping clear and the tank ramming into and exploding upon the target. The vehicle can take three direct hits before it is destroyed, at which point a warning will be given to eject before the vehicle explodes. The enemy chaser variant has a shield that must be destroyed before the vehicle can be destroyed. Over time, these specifications changed into any vehicle armed with a Vulcan cannon and a cannon variant suited to the role of the vehicle, and propelled suitably for that vehicle's environment. Some vehicles will only provide Vulcan cannons (which are more powerful than the handgun's bullets and are also unlimited), but neither special bombs (grenades must be used) nor armored protection to the player. In Metal Slug 6 (and the home version of Metal Slug X onwards), the playable character Tarma can lock the Vulcan cannons into one position and fire continuously. Metal Slug games typically have 6 levels. The exceptions are Metal Slug 3, Metal Slug 5 and Metal Slug 6, which have 5, and Metal Slug 7, which has 7. In the Western arcade and console versions, the game had the blood censored, showing sweat in its place. However, there is a code to disable this censor within the BIOS of the Neo Geo hardware both on the arcade and home ports respectively.

The first game's story involved the Peregrine Falcon (PF) Squad, a small but skilled team of soldiers serving under the Regular Army's special operations division, who fight against the army of General Donald Morden in order to prevent a massive coup d'état and the creation of a New World Order. Later games featured characters from the Sparrows Unit, which is under the control of the Regular Army's intelligence division. Beginning with Metal Slug 2, the PF Squad also battles an alien threat to Earth (the Mars People), as well as several other supernatural threats including yetis, zombies, ambulatory Venus flytraps, giant crabs, and mummies. These outlandish elements were removed from the fifth game to return to the feel of the original title. The fifth moved to the motif of modern guerrilla warfare, leaving only traces of the series' signature quirky humor and paranormal enemies, with the exception of the final boss. Metal Slug 6 returned to the plot of the first three installments, bringing back Morden's Rebel Army and the Mars People. Metal Slug 7 has less outlandish elements with the Mars People replaced by an alternative universe of Morden's Army with futuristic equipment and weapons.

The aspect of the Metal Slug series was to create a simple, but exciting side scrolling shoot em up game with an very easy control scheme (one joystick and three buttons). The same team that created Metal Slug for the Neo Geo previously created several games for Irem which have very similar graphics and gameplays, such as GunForce (1991), In the Hunt (1993) and Gunforce 2 (1994). Some of the stock sound effects and sprites from Irem and The King of Fighters titles were used in the Metal Slug games. The music was composed by Takushi Hiyamuta (who is credited as Hiya! ), a key member of the Nazca Corporation, which was acquired by SNK in 1996. The first 3 titles were developed by the Nazca team before SNK declared bankruptcy in October 2001, leading to the disbandment of the original team. Anticipating the collapse of SNK, the company Playmore was launched in August 2001, which became known as SNK Playmore in 2003, the year after Metal Slug 4 was released. Development on the series has since continued without the original staff, with Noise Factory handling 4, 5, 6, and 7.