Games

[icycalm]

http://insomnia.ac/reviews/neogeo/metalslug/

and although I would consider them more rightful heirs than some of the officially licensed doujin games SNK Playmore has put out

Which ones are you referring to exactly? I've only really played up to 3...

[JoshF]

I guess all of them after 3, but 4, Advance, and 3D are the worst. 5,6, and 7 are playable but look like shit for various reasons and don't improve on 3. It's like Street Fighter 4, except five of them.

[Recap]

That was an awesome reading, though I'm not sure if you needed to explain in such detail the scoring gimmicks (don't get me wrong; that's the part I enjoyed the most since I'm still trying to complete the game and never cared about scoring that much, but it belongs to a FAQ, not to a "review") while you're omitting a deeper approach into the visual influences (belgian comic, old European low-budget fantasy movies, etc), which should be imperative in a game like this.

My other criticism is your reference to Konami's Contra. I don't believe Metal Slug "evolved from this model", much less they "play similarly". While Contra is an influential title, it's not the first in the genre, and indeed Metal Slug's (much like Cyber-Lip before) pace and mechanics resemble Contra's predecessors (Quartet, Gayvan, Xain'd Sleena...) much more I'd say.

[Molloy]

I never cared for the Metal Slug games much after X. Stuart Campbell wrote a good article about how the series lost it's way. I'd recommend fans of run and gun also check out the much underappreciated Gunners Heaven.

[JoshF]

Stuart completely missed the target there. With that title you'd expect him to mention how the series was not put into the most talented hands because Playmore only cared about hiding behind a name and the people who gave that name prestige to get in a better financial situation without the cost of keeping with the design integrity that name came to represent. I mean, MS4 looks like it was made in Multimedia Fusion with all that frankenspriting.

Also, blaming the game because he can't get passed level 2? That's Gamespot nonsense Stu.

[Recap]

Wait till you read the Gunners Heaven review (?). +90% of the text dedicated to how the concept of "homage" evades him. And to show he is unable to distinguish Treasure's unique graphic styles from a quite generic sprite design, that is.

Anyway, I always thought that Metal Slug 2 / X was already far from the brilliance of the first game. Prettier, but the stage 2 totally ruins it for me. Extremely long and boring for 1-credit-only people who never gave a shit about egyptology.

[icycalm]

That guy is much like Tim Rogers -- hit and miss, and they usually miss.

But when they hit they are certainly worth reading. This usually happens with mainstream crap though.

That was an awesome reading, though I'm not sure if you needed to explain in such detail the scoring gimmicks (don't get me wrong; that's the part I enjoyed the most since I'm still trying to complete the game and never cared about scoring that much, but it belongs to a FAQ, not to a "review") while you're omitting a deeper approach into the visual influences (belgian comic, old European low-budget fantasy movies, etc), which should be imperative in a game like this.

Well, perhaps he never read Belgian comics or watched old European low-budget fantasy movies!

It's understandable that he'd devote so much space to the scoring system, though, since that's his goal when playing the game. If I had been reviewing it I probably wouldn't have mentioned scoring at all, since I never play run and guns for score. I guess each person gives emphasis -- and HAS to give emphasis -- to whatever aspect of the game they end up playing the most. You could argue that one should cover ALL aspects in a review, but with complex games that's often not possible...

I mean I could write a review focusing on the 1CC angle, and you could write a review focusing on the graphics angle, but at the end of the day Josh's review would be of more value than both yours and mine put together, since it takes a lot more time (and skill) to dissect the scoring system than anything else in such a game...

In a perfect world we'd have a CVG-style review, with Josh doing the main text and you and me doing little inset boxes talking about whatever it is he didn't. And everything presented in a cool layout with awesome screens and artwork everywhere.

In a perfect world...

[Recap]

You could argue that one should cover ALL aspects in a review,

Indeed. All those which are relevant for whatever reason, at least. Josh's article would have made for a wonderful editorial titled "Metal Slug and a score insight", but as a "review", it's lacking. You can skip the in-detail graphics commentary when you "review", say, Cyber-Lip, but not in Metal Slug.

[JoshF]

I tried taking good screenshots for a reason.

[icycalm]

I think we are ignoring something important here. The point is not so much whether Josh SHOULD have talked more about the graphics -- the point is whether he HAD anything at all to say about them. Because at the end of the day I wouldn't want him waffling on and on about something into which he has no insights to offer.

See what I mean?

Your "Belgian comics or old European low-budget fantasy movies" theory sounds interesting, but the fact of the matter is that it never occurred to Josh or me, so, I mean, what can we possibly do about an aspect of the game we are not even aware of?

If we somehow forced Josh to devote a few extra lines/paragraphs on the graphics I am sure he'd give us something, well... forced. If I was reviewing the game I would have spent an extra couple of lines on the graphics perhaps, but again, since you are a bigger connoisseur of the subject, I am sure that my treatment wouldn't have satisfied you, in the same way as your or my treatment of the scoring system wouldn't have satisfied Josh.

But listen: why don't you write a paragraph (or more or less than a paragraph -- whatever you want) on the graphics, and I will add it to the bottom of the review in your name? This is something I've been planning to do for a long time, actually, and in any case it's a time-honored reviewing technique that's sorely-missing from the internet these days.

If you can't be bothered to do that then we'll just have to wait for your own review. Perhaps I can then get someone to translate it and link it off Josh's review, and then the universe will be at peace, at least as far as the total and ultimate review coverage of Metal Slug is concerned.

[JoshF]

Yes, we need a Recap's Corner.

I'd like to see an example of Belgian comic book art that shows it is the inspiration. I thought the characters in particular had an ambiguous European style to them. But if you look at some of the paintings (done by Susumu I believe) they resemble a style that typifies model box/hobby magazine artwork, which wouldn't surprise me if it were the source seeing how they had some mecha aficionados. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what his former profession was or is today.

[new_pornographer]

Saw this Metal Slug documentary on youtube, and thought I'd best post it here:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xBYDSBxz-wk

It's in French, so only really watchable for any cunning linguists on here. There are some views of keyframe animation art of the characters on paper at one point though, so at least there is a visual bonus for watching.

[raphael]

The "documentary" isn't worth much ... if anything.

[icycalm]

I watched the first few minutes. It seems at least better than the standard American and British TV gaming shows... You can see some genuine enthusiasm here, I think.

[raphael]

Yeah, Tommy Francois (guy with red hair), Ben Shinobi (the superplayer) and Alex Pilot (cameraman and editor) sure are enthusiast (to say the least). But it's produced by GameOne ... so not much to be expected outside of PR material.

[icycalm]

Ben Shinobi

Is Shinobi a french last name? I should change mine to Alex Hayabusa.

[Duke]

I beat this game in one life a few years ago. Too bad I posted my score on the long-gone Click-Stick forums...of course, my Saturn's battery has died several times in the interim.

I would have mentioned the difficulty curve. Once practiced, the game is really easy up until the sixth stage, at which point it becomes really difficult. I ruined a lot of otherwise great runs working that out. The milking can get a little boring; I find it's more fun to play for survival than score.

As far as ports, the Saturn version has better graphics (a few frames missing from the arcade, but still impressive) while Playstation's has better sound and more extras. While the PS port of Metal Slug X is superb, 1 did not get the same treatment. There is mid-level loading and the graphics are so compromised it affects the gameplay (it all feels faster-paced...which is actually a good thing sometimes). I'm not current on the prices, but a few years ago the SS version was around $60 and PS around $20. I imagine the ratio is still somewhat similar. Both versions are NTSC-J only.

The Saturn version will also work nicely with the 4-meg Capcom cartridge. In fact, the only game I need to use the 1-meg for is Samurai Shodown 4...