Metal Slug (1996 video game)
| Metal Slug: Super Vehicle SV-001 | |
|---|---|
| Metal Slug Title Screen | |
| Developer(s) | Nazca |
| Publisher(s) | SNK |
| Platform(s) | Neo-Geo, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Neo-Geo CD |
| Release | May 24 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, 2 player Co-op |
Metal Slug: Super Vehicle SV-001 (Japanese: メタルスラッグ) is an scrolling shooter video game for the Neo-Geo console/arcade platform created by SNK. It was released in 1996 for the MVS arcade platform. The game is widely known for its sense of humor, extremely fluid hand-drawn animation, and fast paced two-player action. It is the first title in the Metal Slug series.
Story
The storyline of the Metal Slug series is deeper than the content of the games might lead one to believe.
The Metal Slug storyline stretches from the beginning of the era of modern-day terrorism. Metal Slug is set in near-future of 2028. There are two militant factions that struggle over for power: the Rebellion and the Regular Army. The Regular Army is a well-equipped, modern-day force run by various nations around the world. The Rebellion, however, is comprised of various small yet organized militant groups, ranging from terrorists to splinter groups of military forces driven by a hunger for power.
The Regular Army is a very formidable force. However, it lacks efficiency due to the widespread corruption within the senior-level chain of command. Other officials often deny the reports and recommendations given to them by intelligence officers. This often leads into intelligence failures that result in dramatic consequences.
Vice Admiral Donald Morden of the Regular Army Marine Corps is one of the main characters that sparks the events of Metal Slug. He has a reputation of being a tough, efficient, and caring officer of the Regular Army, and is held in highly regarded by his troops. He was also a caring father to his son. However, Morden immediately defects over to the Rebellion when his son is killed in the Central Park bombing caused by an intelligence failure on the part of the Regular Army.
In 2026, a year after the failed attempted assasaination of the President of the United States launched by the Rebellion under General Morden's command, the Rebellion launched a massive attack against the Regular Army forces around the world. Although the Regular Army intelligence agency had many indications that such an attack was imminent, Regular Army officials again ignored the warnings. With the Regular Army forces surprised, the Rebellion nearly annihilated them with their superior numbers and emergent technologies. Template:Spoiler The Regular Army planned a massive counter-attack against the rebellion. Advanced tanks, designated "Super Vehicle-001" were designed to aid the Regular Army commandos. These tanks were mass-produced but kept in caches until the Regular Army had amassed enough to begin a counter-attack. However, the tanks were seized by the Rebels in 2028 because of another intelligence-failure by the Regular Army.
Seeing the Regular Army plunge into a general panic and crumble, 1st Lieutenant Marco Rossi of the Regular Army Peregrine Falcons special-forces unit quickly unites remaining Regular Army units and begins a commando operation to reclaim the tanks. Fighting alongside him is Second Lieutenant Tarma Roving from the same Peregrine Falcons unit.
After various campaigns, the Regular Army defeats the Rebellion forces and reestablishes stability. General Morden, is apprehended near the end of the conflict and is jailed in a maximum security military prison complex while awaiting trial for his war crimes.
The soldiers of the Peregrine Falcons squad were declared heroes by the Regular Army officials, with the lieutenants Marco and Tarma being credited with many awards. However, not everyone treated the P.F. squad as such because Regular Army officials had been discredited by their failure to prevent the Rebellion attack.
Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to that of the game Contra, in which the player has to constantly shoot at respawning enemies in order to reach the end of a level. At the end of each level, the player must confront a boss who is often considerably larger than regular enemies and takes multiple shots to defeat. On the way through the level, the player finds several weapons upgrades (such as the heavy machine gun and rocket launcher), hand grenades, as well as several "slug" vehicles that can be used not only as weapons but as added defense.
Unlike Contra, the protagonists can perform melee attacks by using a knife and/or kicking. The player does not die for simply coming into contact or colliding with enemies. Correspondingly, many of the enemy troops have melee attacks. Much of the game's scenery is destructible. Sometimes this reveals extra items or powerups, othertimes it simply results in collateral damage.
During the course of a level, the player encounters many scruffy-looking POWs. If these are freed, the player can receive score bonuses (in the form of random items ranging from fruit to sealed envelopes), weapons, or grenades. Bonuses for freeing prisoners are received at the end of the level; at this point the game indicates the name and rank of each of persons freed. If the player dies before the end of the level, the tally of freed prisoners is deleted.
There are a total of six levels, with themes ranging from lush forests, garrisoned cities, snowy mountain valleys, canyons, and military bases.
Enemies
The vast majority of enemies encountered in Metal Slug are enemy soldiers who are given weaponry that fits their specific role. This ranges from grenadiers, riot gear, anti-armor, and knife-wielding. There also a host of mechanized enemies: tanks, mobile artillery, airplanes, troop carriers, tacticals, and helicopters. Much of the game's humor comes from how the enemies portray themselves. The player encounters them at many times of leisure: sunbathing, roasting food over a fire, or just conversing amongst themselves.
Vehicles
SV-001: The title's namesake, this is the main vehicle found throughout the game. It can only be used by one player at a time. The "Metal Slug" features a 360 degree Vulcan cannon and a main cannon. Grenades can be launched out of the vehicle by 'ducking' with the tank and pressing the grenade/bomb button. The vehicle can also be used as a one-time Kamikaze weapon; this is useful when the tank is very low on strength. The main cannon uses ammo separate from grenades and is much more powerful. The Vehicle can sustain about three direct hits before destruction; health is restored by finding gas canisters. When vehicle health is completely reduced, the player has only seconds to vacate the vehicle before it explodes. This tank has been compared to Leona Ozaki's tank, "Bonaparte", from the anime series Dominion: Tank Police and is very similar in design.
Fixed machine guns: At several points throughout the game, the player can utilize fixed machine gun turrets. Unlike the tank, these only have a 180 degree firing arc.
Weapons
Similar to Contra, all weapons are picked up in the forms of letterized icons. Found weapons and all ammunition are dropped when the player dies, although grenades return to their starting point at 10.
- Pistol: The basic ranged weapon the the player is equipped at the beginning. Not the most powerful weapon, but the Murder .50AE pistol has unlimited ammunition with decent projectile velocity as well as range. Each shot from this weapon deals 1 damage point.
- Heavy Machine Gun [H]: The HV-01 machine gun has a higher firing speed than the pistol, but deals equal damage per bullet. It is the most common power-up in the game (or any Metal Slug game). The Heavy Machine Gun begins with 200 rounds of ammunition, and additonal crates add 150 rounds to the player's stock. A Heavy Machine Gun crate also appears when the player continues after dying.
- Rocket Launcher [R]: Oddly, the RK-02 rocket launcher does not deal a great amount of damage against enemies. Each shot from this weapon deals 3 damage points, but a large explosion radius lends the weapon well to anti-personnel purposes. Rockets also have a simple homing feature. Players already carrying the Rocket Launcher receive only 15 rounds from additional Rocket crates.
- Flameshot [F]: The FS-03 flamethrower weapon has a more limited reach than the ballistic weapons, but also can immolate multiple targets simultaneously. Although it does far less damage than the shotgun against against small and armored enemies, such as tanks, the fireball has a range longer than a shotgun blast. Each icon gives the player 30 uses of flameshot.
- Shotgun [S]: The SG-04 shotgun is one of the slowest firing weapons of the game, and has a short range. However, the amount of damage that this weapon deals is unrivaled. The package comes with 30 shells, but additional crates add only 15 rounds to the players inventory. Each shot from this weapon does 20 damage points.
- Stielhandgranate: This weapon is based on the grenade used by the German military from the end of World War I to the end of World War II. The word can be translated into English as "Stiel - Stick, hand - hand, granate (sometimes spelled as "grenate", "grenade", or "granade") - grenade, thus making it "stick hand-grenade". The weapon detonates on contact with an enemy, but can be bounced of walls and solid ground once before exploding. Each grenade deals 15 damage points, and additional damage results from splash damage.
- 12.6mm Vulcan: This is the anti-aircraft gun on the Slug Tank, which can be fired at any angle. Each shot deals 1 damage point, although its high firing speed quickly compounds this damage.
- 127mm low-pressure gun: The main gun for the Slug Tank has a short range, but deals 20 points of damage and the explosion radius similar to the stielhandgranate.
Screenshot gallery
Platforms
Originally, Metal Slug was available on Neo-Geo MVS arcade system and AES home entertainment system.
Later on, a Neo-Geo CD version of the game was introduced to help along with Neo-Geo's lagging sales, but it never caught on due to the lack of attention that the NGCD received in the public.
Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation versions were also ported and distributed. The Saturn version was available in two different versions, 1.002 and 1.005, the latter with minor bug fixes, and are no longer in production. The PlayStation version is currently being distributed by SNK Playmore as a re-release version. The original version of it can be found in auctions as a collector's item, as well as the discontinued Saturn version.
In 2005, SNK Playmore announced that Metal Slug would be ported to Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. Some have argued that SNK Playmore should be porting it for the Nintendo DS, but others shot back saying that there is no true need for split-screen and touch pad for this game. However even if the second screen was ignored - Metal Slug would surely work better on the DS as it would allow a smoother game with more things happening on the screen. Also instead of SNK Playmore releasing Metal Slug 1, 2, X and 3 as seperate games on the GBA these could be done as a compliation (or 2) for the DS. Rumors of a "Complete Metal Slug" collection for the PSP have also sprung up.
External links
- Metal Slug Database
- Metal Slug Poland
- Metal Slug review at Neo-Geo.com
- Any Metal Slug for any platform reviewed
- Metal Slug 1 Review (English)
- Metal Slug at MobyGames
- Metal Slug at The Killer List of Video Games