Metal Slug Advance

"Finally, Metal Slug has arrived on the GBA.."

The Metal Slug series is definitely one that has lasted through this generation of 3D graphics intensive games. The series has always been about gameplay and fun and when I heard about one coming to the GBA, I knew I had to have it.

GRAPHICS
The graphics in this game are very impressive. The characters and their animations all move very well and are nicely done. The backgrounds are also appealing and vary a bit from forests to seas to caves. The bosses at the end of each stage are also done well, although some more variation would have been nice.

SOUND & MUSIC
The music in this game is good, although it plays a backburner role to the sound effects. The music is upbeat and catchy, but nothing real memorable. The sound effects on the other hand are superb. Everything from the screams the enemies emit when you shoot them to the gunshots themselves are excellent. I also enjoy the voice that announces the gun you pick up when you do, like with the Heavy Machine Gun.

STORY
A story in a game like this? There isn't a need for one. I play these types of games to blow stuff up.

GAMEPLAY
The gold mine of games like these. You start out by choosing between one of two characters, with no difference between them. You then come to a menu from which you can start a mission, view cards/prisoners, and save/quit. When you pick a mission, you're thrown into the fun stuff. It's basic side scrolling action at its best. You go from point A to point B, then fight a boss to finish the mission, all the while trying to free prisoners and collect cards.

There are a total of about 6 weapons you can choose, all of which have limited ammo and will then revert back to your normal gun. There are also 3 vehicles you can commandeer throughout the stages and are mighty fun to blow more stuff up with. You will fail a mission if you lose all of your life, which is around 5 hits or so, but there are health recovery items in the stages that can be gotten from prisoners and crates. Of course, if you fail, you'll lose any cards/prisoners you've collected.

REPLAY & DIFFICULTY
There are two difficulty levels, with not much difficulty between them. Easy is easy and Hard is like Easy, Part 2. The only difference I've seen is that the regular soldiers are a bit more aggressive on Hard, but all of the vehicular enemies stay the same. The hardest part of the game is trying to collect all of the prisoners/cards. As mentioned above, you pretty much need to go through a stage without dying to get them all.

The biggest shortcoming of this game is that it's extremely short. There are only FIVE levels and with the game's overall easiness, it shouldn't take too long for you to beat the game. The replay is in the cards, but that can get tiresome after a short while. The big replayability comes from the fun factor/pickup-easiness of this game.

CONCLUSION
To put it simply, this game is pure fun. I highly suggest that you buy it to make sure more games in this series are produced. While it may be short, I will always pick it up and play it every once in a while. The Metal Slug series continues forth with another great installment.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/05/04