Metal Slug: Super Vehicle - 001

The Good
The Metal Slug games helped to re-invent platform gaming as the genre was dying a slow death. The first game proved to be a success that several sequels were made. I really had fun with the first game that I didn't notice that there was actually some sort of story to it.

General Morden launches an attack against the Regular Army and succeeded due to their massive firepower, and the cities that they were supposed to protect were destroyed. A group named “Resistance” was formed by surviving members of the Regular Army and attempted to launch an counter-attack using tanks that were constructed earlier, but this counter-attack also failed. 1st Lieutenant Marco Rossi of the Regular Army Peregrine Falcons, along with the help of 2nd Lieutenant Tarma Roving of the same unit, vows to engage the Rebellion and neutralize its leader, General Morden, while reclaiming the Metal Slug tanks to aid them in battles. If the tanks were unable to be recaptured, then they would have to destroyed to prevent them from being used by the Rebellion.

The gameplay involves Marco running through six stages and destroying soldiers and tanks using a variety of weapons, and defeating bosses at the end of each stage. The weapons can be obtained by freeing POWs. The game keeps track of how many POWs you rescued and this tracking system is used to give you bonus points at the end of each stage.

Metal Slug is aptly named due to the number of SV-001s that you can hop into. Not only is riding around in a vehicle a neat feature of the game, but doing so provides extra firepower which is more effective against bosses. It also can be used for backup; it can be damaged three times before it explodes, and Marco must get out immediately or he'll get caught in the explosion.

While you are running through a stage, it is worth admiring the breathtaking graphics. In stage one, you work your way through the forest and move on to where you see a sinking ship in the distance. From there, you go through fortified cities, mountains, canyons, and military bases. Sound-wise, Metal Slug is packed with an excellent soundtrack. There is an option in the “Art Gallery” where you can listen to each piece again while viewing concept art.

The enemies in the game provide a lot of humor, in the way that most of them portray themselves. They can be doing things like talking among themselves, playing their Game Boys and having a campfire out in the open. One of the highlights is catching them off-guard by hurling a grenade at them while they are doing these things.

The game is challenging as it uses the one-hit-and-you're-dead approach, meaning that you lose a life if one of the soldiers manages to knife you. Furthermore, just when you think it is easy to destroy that soldier launching a grenade at you, tanks start to appear only seconds later to make things worse. The default number of lives you are given is three, but if that is too much for you to handle, you can change how many lives you get through the options menu. Losing a life also means that you'll also lose any POWs you rescued.

Metal Slug was successfully ported to the Neo-Geo CD and the Saturn. However, it is the PlayStation version that stands out. Not only does it have “Combat School” and the art gallery, but it also features “Another Story” which can only be unlocked by completing the game. This is a series of mini-games which are worth having a go at, and although the instructions are in Japanese it wouldn't take that much time to figure out what to do. For instance, the first of the mini-games involve you turning several POWs into cry-babies so that their captors would investigate the commotion and get beaten up by another POW that got away earlier, releasing the other ones in the process.

The Bad
During each stage the CD needs to access some data at least twice, meaning that the action will stop and whatever music is playing in the background will restart from the beginning.


The Bottom Line
Metal Slug was made at the time when platform games were fading out while first-person shooters were on the rise. The aim is to run through each stage, destroying everything that moves and defeating a gigantic boss at the very end. You can use a variety of weapons you get from rescued POWs to help make it easier. What makes this game great is the breathtaking graphics, intense action, and excellent sound; and if you are into playing platform games, then give this game a try. I find the PlayStation version superior to both the Neo-Geo and Saturn versions, due to the amount of extras it has.