Metal Slug X

"Would you like to ride in my beautiful war machine?"

Sequels are a dime a dozen these days, remakes however only come once in while mainly if the original didn’t meet up to the standards of the developers (or in Resident Evil and Metal Gear case, just to please the fans with a updated version). I’ve never had the chance to play the original MS2 in arcades much less seen it, so I don’t know all the changes that SNK made. But what I do know it’s an excellent continuation of one of the most Contra style shooters in the history of video games.

Skinny: Morden back and, being the ruthless wannabe dictator, is trying to take over the world with his massive army and big a## machines once again. But this time he got a little help that not of this solar system. Once again Marco and Tarma spring into action to stop him. But why let the males have all the fun? Newbies Fio and Eri fill out the female section of the team and complete the foursome of this rag tag (and very unlikely) group of mercenaries. Cute eh?

Play Dials: Same as the first. Three button control. One to fire, one to jump, and one to throw your bombs, so simple a cockroach can play it.

Core: It basic run and gun. Shoot up any man and machines that stand in your way grabbing powerups to make you life easier. Enemies come at you from all sides though some don’t seem to have any brains as a few run right into your rapid-fire. Machines need a little more of the heavier stuff to take down and the Bosses, yesh! But if you happen to find the ever-famous Metal Slug (war machines) then you’ll have a slight advantage….that is if the enemies don’t destroy it first. Through it all you have to be extremely good at dodging as bullets fly in all directions. But once you have it down, everything becomes cake (with the help of A LOT of quarters). There in lies the problem; nothing really changes on the next few plays allowing anyone with a memory to conquer the game. And once that happens what else is there to do? Other then go for bigger points by trying to find all the hostages and items as well as see how long you can go on with everything without being shot. Still it’s a fun game while it lasts.

Eye-Candy: Even more beautiful Monty Python style drawings (considering you ever saw the show). The backgrounds are nicely detailed locals and environments, not to the mention the great designs on the characters. Animations match up very well to with cartoony expression and smooth detail. Where can I find the artists to this game? The rock the VG casbah.

Noise: Wartime style music that matches the mode of the stage. Sound department? Gunfire, huge explosions, beam sounds that sound like beam sounds. And yes those are girly screams coming from your enemies before you blow their brains out.

Final Call: An excellent sequel and probably even better remake if I ever had the chance to play the original. If you love the first game you’ll love this one. That is if you haven’t played the other sequels yet then you’ll probably have to come back on this. Either way you’ll have to agree on, war can be a good thing if done right.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/16/03