G-pinions

Welcome back to the wonderful world of creative headlines. Using the power of my mental creativity, combined with nimble typing, I have devised a title so deviously devilish, it could squeak by the most ardent idea squashers. Hoo hoo, how the impecunious mind works. From that simple sentence, a glorious segue to the world of Metal Slug 3 is produced. And the angels rejoice.

First, a question about the existence of this game. For those of you who have frequented arcades or Neo Geo archives, you will know that Metal Slug is SNK's answer to Konami's Contra. A little more over the top, a little more creative, but essentially, this game finds its roots entirely entrenched in the land of the Up Up Down Down code. In fact, placing these two games next to each other - the original Contra works just as well as Shattered Soldier for this example - you will find that, aside from prettier explosions and larger sprites, these games actually look remarkably alike. So, it is with some surprise that SNK opted to port this old arcade shooter to the technological wonder that is the Xbox. Even weird is that they decided to port MS3, instead of the more recent 4 and 5.

Despite the pure shock of existing in the first place, MG3 for the Xbox is a damn fine shooter. The game lends much of its enjoyment to the same simple joys found in Contra: fight hordes of incoming enemies with awesome weapons knowing that if you even make one mistake, if you get hit by one of 1,000 bullets and missiles flying towards you, you will die. These games are at their best when they are kicking your butt and making you swear like a sailor with a broom up his ass. And in this way, MS3 can definitely stand on the top of the mountain among other greats in the genre.

One thing MG3 actually does better than Contra is the sheer variety of gameplay. Most versions of Contra have you and a friend marching from left to right, destroying everything in your path, level after level. Sometimes the level scrolls up, sometimes there is no scrolling at all, but usually you find yourself on foot against a legion of enemies.

In MG3, there is much more variety. While the levels found in Contra are still there, you also have a huge amount of vehicles to play around with. Sure, it's still scrolling left to right, shooting everything in your path - but this time you're riding a camel. Or an elephant. Or, you turned into a Zombie and are unleashing a vomit/laser attack. Or, your plane just blew up and you’re using a jetpack. While the actual nuts and bolts gameplay changes very little from level to level or game to game, players never get bored because new things are always being thrown your way.

Also, the game has these branching paths that make replaying levels really fun. Every level seems to have 4 or 5 different ways to go through it. The best part is, you have to actually figure out where the branching occurs. The game doesn’t reach out, hold your hand, and point you to the fork in the road very often. It’s almost like Donkey Kong Country in this way. In fact, they both involve riding animals as well… Another video game first right here on G-Pinions! I have looked and no one else, ever, has compared Metal Slug to Donkey Kong Country.

It’s not all wine and roses, though. The biggest (only?) problem with the game comes from the cool weapons you pick up along the way. While both games have rocket launchers and flame throwers, in MG3 the developers actually limit the ammo in these super guns. I guess this is an attempt to make the game slightly more difficult, as these weapons - especially the shotgun, and especially the “Rocket Lawncher” - are much more powerful than the standard gun. But, in games like this where shooting and dodging make up the entirety of the gameplay, it would be nice to forget about ammo and just kick some butt.

Also, this game may be a tad too hard. While Nick and I breezed through the first 4 levels without too much difficulty, the fifth, and possibly last, level is just too long and frustrating. Ok, it’s not really frustrating because it’s so damn fun, but it was too hard for us to beat. The level is much cooler than anything else in the game, but not being able to restart after destroying the second mini boss made this level a chore to keep playing through.

Let me break down for you just how insane this level is - you start out in a helicopter, mowing down parachuting enemies high above the Earth. Then you find yourself inches above the ground, still flying in your helicopter, taking on more powerful enemies in vehicles. Then you fight your first boss, who is so large you find yourself trapped against either the ground or invisible walls for much of the battle. At this point, you’re lucky to have lost only one life.

Then, after a very short land fighting sequence, you fight the second boss. This guy is a piece of cake and should be dispatched without dying. However, as easy as he is, the first two sections take about 15-20 minutes to play through. The next section is by far the best part of the entire game - you fly space ships in a vertical shooter level. Pure awesomeness. If this came out in the 70s instead of Galaga, the world would have been a much better place. So, while you're blasting hordes of aliens, and the occasional meteor shower, one can actually make it through this section without dying.

But, this brings the level time in at around 30 minutes. At this point, you've probably made a few mistakes and have 1 or 2 two lives left. And this is where it gets harder. You must throw your awesome vehicles away and fight in standard, side scrolling combat. This is as far as Nick and I got. I would have loved to see the whole level, but once you lose your 5th life, you have to do the whole thing again. Though we did end up trying about 5 or 6 times...

Anyway, this game isn't really worth buying, except for $10 or less. But, it is still ridiculously fun. I love shooters like this and am super pumped for Alien Hominid next week. Mmmmm... mindless shooters....