Metal Slug is one of the NeoGeo’s flagship franchises, and one of the few arcade games I have lasting memories with. Released in 1996, it served as a showpiece and a second wind for SNK’s aging yet venerable hardware. So for the first game to spend a meaningful amount of time on my shiny new NeoGeo mini, I figured it’s a good idea to start with a familiar, time-honored sure thing. And what a game it is.
It’s almost as if Metal Slug was created from the directive: “Make a new game that keeps the NeoGeo competitive that’s not a one-on-one fighter.” And so they made a run-and-gun platformer full of bullets, mayhem, and non sequiturs. Part of the joy of Metal Slug, a simple game really no different from Contra, is seeing just what you’ll run into next. You’ll be shooting down enemy commandos, hearing them cry out in agony as their bodies break apart in pixelated detail, only for them to leave behind a teddy bear item for twinkly bonus points. The graphics are beautiful, with hyper-detailed sprites of unparalleled fluidity. Just as much effort went into the background and unimportant details as into the foreground action. A soundtrack that merges military dirges with jazzy popovers wraps the package together. The sights and sounds seem like they’d step all over each other and cloud the actual gameplay, yet it all elevates the experience into something so engrossing you forget such a game is possible. The arcade was always a place where you could play games that home consoles couldn’t replicate, and Metal Slug did just that, despite still being an ‘old-fashioned’ 2D sprite-based game. It was precisely this ingenuity that kept NeoGeo hardware competitive even throughout the 3D era, and the timelessness of arcades allowed the sprite-based spectacles it offered to command the public’s attention.
I finished the game on Easy, a welcome option in this home AES version of the MVS arcade game. Let’s not forget that arcade games by their nature are designed for their players’ quarters, and vertical difficulty spikes with sky-high skill ceilings are to be expected. That said, ‘Easy’ is still far from it and offered a worthy challenge. Metal Slug is the first in a long series of identical-playing games (of which I’ve dabbled in through the years) so it’s nice to see how everything began. Just one playable character, enemies of just the terrestrial variety, and more grounded locales. But they nailed the gameplay right off the bat. The enemies flying around you and bullet hell can be overwhelming, but every death still feels fair. I played the home release as it was meant to be played, with 5 credits per run and the memory card saving my stage progression. Even with these limits the game wasn’t as impossible as I thought to finish, the repetition and replay value no less helped. Had I been in an actual arcade, $10 in quarters probably would’ve seen me to the finale. I’d also replay some stages for the practice, being slowly able to clear the opening stages on one credit. I can see it being a matter of time before a fabled one-credit clear is in reach!
Just two minor nitpicks about the NeoGeo (mini) hardware. First, despite being an arcade platform where high scores reign supreme, it’s odd that the memory card only saved progression and not scores. As much as you want to play these arcade games for score, it’s hard when the leaderboards reset each time. Entering your name for a fake first place every play session is tiresome. Perhaps I’ll throw in some scores on the blog for posterity from time to time.
Second, the NeoGeo hardware is renowned for its 8-way digital joystick, using microswitches to confirm each lever position with a satisfying click. All SNK joysticks, controllers, even the NeoGeo Pocket used these. But the official NeoGeo mini controller does not use this, instead repurposing a standard analog stick out of more-or-less laziness. While this may be helpful in some games going forward that benefit from all-around motion, it makes games that rely on precise inputs feel smeary. (I’m already dreading the fighting games.) And yet third-party manufacturer 8BitDo received an official license to make their own NeoGeo mini controller, and are using the microswitches SNK didn’t! 8BitDo’s is also wireless, uses the original button layout (SNK rearranged their buttons also), and retails for the same price!
Therefore it is no surprise my 8BitDo controller has been shipped and is on its way!
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