Reviews VideoGame / Metal Slug

Metal Slug 1

Of all the games of the saga, the one I know much better is the first one; I've forgotten how much money I've spent on the arcades attempting to end the game without continuing -never passing of the boss of the 5th stage; the 8-weeled thing-. It's a pity that was one of the very last arcade game I played, at least on an arcade machine given that when it appeared arcade saloons were becoming things of the past, at least here.

Anyway, this game is superb. Not only because of what's -a shoot'em up- and its hardness but also because of the richness of their graphics and their cartoonish, cutish, and even humoristic look. It's amusing -mostly when other is playing and you don't have to worry about dodging bullets- to examine the backgrounds looking for those small and fun details. Or, for the case, to destroy them as you can destroy parts of them.

Other strong point of the game, in my opinion, is how while most enemy vehicles have been modelled after WWII military hardware, mostly German one -in fact, infantry has been modeled after the Wehrmacht soldiers; just see their helmets-, we also get to see some modern stuff like the Apache-like helicopter, the wrecked submarine we see in the first stage, or especially your tank or the Harrier jet you control on the second game. Perhaps 'cause its Anachronism Stew, I find that quite funny.

The enemies (infantry) deserve mention for the things they do like running scared when you surprise them -for example, when they're talking while cooking- or they run out of ammo. Hell, I felt pity for those poor bastards -especially after seeing the sad one-player ending- and sometimes I left them escape.

As a side note, this should be in the Fridge section, but as commented above it seems Morden's army lacks weapons given its soldiers are often armed with just knives (and some even without that).

In all, I give it an 8 over 10. A classic game, as their sequels have shown.