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Exactly the old-school thrill we've all been looking for...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: June 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

"Modern" games have reached, of late, a level of complexity both admirable and dreadful. The obvious effort and attention to detail required to produce such titles is worthy of respect, but also of criticism. Many of the current chic trappings with which newer games are adorned lead only to, or are in themselves, distractions. An involving and complex story line, highly-detailed graphics and sound, elaborate controls and objectives - all of these are positive and rewarding, but also lead to a less visceral, less pure experience. They are, in some measure, less game-like.

As a result, it is a great relief to know that straightforward, old-school games like Metal Slug 3 are still available on mainstream systems.

Metal Slug 3 can be summed up, like the rest of the series, very simply: You shoot stuff. As an essentially traditional shooter, with both side-scrolling and top-down levels, any gamer can jump right in without instruction. Waves of comical enemies assault you in various ways, and you are tasked with eradicating them using a variety of amusing weapons and vehicles, from a basic handgun to a laser, from a camel to a helicopter - it's a time-worn game play concept with which everyone is familiar. However, as it is a traditional shooter, no one can master all the levels easily. As you advance through the levels, or 'Missions' as they're styled in the game, the action becomes faster and more complicated, and more frustrating as well. Unlike many other games, though, it is a pure kind of frustration that only a traditional, over-the-top arcade game can deliver, and it feels satisfying. Never is the player truly discouraged from conquering the game; he is only spurred to improve his coordination and planning until victory, which any dedicated player will inevitably achieve. In this way, Metal Slug 3 is an incredibly rewarding game, never feeling hopeless, but never feeling cheap. The deceptively simple dodge-and-shoot game play is wonderfully fun, always keeping the pace and never getting boring.

Now, by styling Metal Slug as a simpler, no-frills game when compared to other X-Box titles, am I advocating backward evolution? Hardly! Everything Metal Slug does, it excels at. The graphics, while 2D , are beautifully realized. The sprite animations are smooth and detailed, and possessed of their own character and emotion. The weapons each have their own advantages and disadvantages, and their own fun effects, and the game offers plenty of opportunity to mess around with them. The sounds are of a lower quality than you'd expect from a CD-based title, but there's charm in that as well: the game retains 100% of its character in the translation from the Neo Geo arcade system to the X-Box.

Control is simple, there is a primary fire and a secondary fire button, jump, and movement is accomplished with either the left thumb stick or the D-pad. The simplicity of the control, combined with the simplicity of the concept and the ferocity of the action can't be beaten.

A single gripe: X-Box Live wasn't really utilized effectively, which is a shame. The potential for wild four-player Live action is there, but the developers settled for a simple high-score ladder, which is amusing in it's own way, but not what it could have been. This small letdown in no way detracts from the fun quotient of the game, however, it simply represents a missed opportunity for an amusing bonus.

Though a relatively new game by genre standards, Metal Slug 3 is a purebred return to the fast-paced, white-knuckled, high-score obsessed days of arcade craziness that once were, and I couldn't be happier for it. Here's to enthusiastically awaiting 4&5, due out later this year.

Finally

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: May 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Finally metal slug 3 is getting an affordable state-side release. its been available on th aes for quite some years now. 5 has just been released. its a straight up port of the arcade version with minor tweaks. its going to have added levels and newer music. As usual you star as either Tarma, Marco, Fio or Eri. It has many fun old levels with many new ones. the gameplay is as solid as it ever has been and just as fun. the braching paths let you play through the same level a different way. again its the co-op that makes the game truly awesome. teamin up and kickin butt in all its glory. you cant go wrong with this game.

The be-all of 2D shooters.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: June 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This, is Metal Slug 3. This is the hardest 2D shooter you will ever play. And that's a fact. I'm not saying that based just on my personal experience. No, if you go to any gaming board, MS3 will surely get the vote as hardest shooter to date. I'll tell you straight up- if you ever get so frustrated with some games to the point where you throw the controller down on the ground or anything like that, stop reading this review, and lose all interest in the Metal Slug series. Because this game will make you cry. While the game doesn't really get hard until probably 2/3 through, there's no denying that the last stage is a test of skill and sanity. I mean it- SNK's so mad that their games don't sell well here in the US, and so they threw every bit of their rage into this level. I was so close to hate Metal Slug 3, give in and get a rapid fire controller just to beat it. But when I took down the final boss, it was like I conquered games in general.

If you've been living in a cave for the past decade, Metal Slug is a simple 2D shooter series. You pick one of four characters, all of which are the same aside from appearence, and run around shooting the bad guys. That's all there is to it. No deep storyline or character development here. If you see an enemy, you shoot them and keep running to the right. And if you get hit once, you die. It's that simple. Now, beating the game is another story. There's an impressive assortment of weaposn you'll find as well. Machine guns, flame throwers, lasers, seeking rockets, bouncing shots, shotguns, and the most humorous of all when the announcer says its name: the RAWKET LAOUNCHAIR. Well, it's really the rocket launcher, but when the announcer says it, it in a league of its own. And there's the usual grenades, and various vehicles to pick up along the way. Anyway, the first level has you take on opposing forces in the jungle, where you're lead to branching paths- one of which has you on a boat in the river freeing hostages from the vines above and taking out truckloads of enemies. It's chaos. Soldiers are everywhere, and you have to wait until your boat gets under the hostage before freeing them, since they'll not officially be freed unless they salute you after touching your character. The boss for the stage is a huge crab that launches fireballs at your character while escaping on a bridge in the Metal Slug- a god damn awesome tank with unlimited ammo and a huge cannon. The second level is probably the most fun to play- you run around a stage where zombies are on the loose. And there's other humans in the level, so if a zombie attacks them, they become an enemy as well. This applies for your character as well. When attacked, you turn into a wacked-out zombie version of yourself, and your bomb attack becomes something so priceless you'd have to see it to believe it. You vomit a HUGE streak of blood, capable of taking down helicopters and lines of enemies in one hit. The only problem is that you barely jump, and are slower than Louie Anderson trying to get out of bed. And the end boss here has two forms. You better have saved some bombs for this one.

I'm not going to go into detail about every level, but I do have to mention the fifth and final stage. It's a pain in the ass, plain and simple. And it also brings out the only real con in the game. The level itself spans roughly 5 sections. You start out in either a helicopter or jet, and take down some enemy fighters in the sky (and some unfortunate para-troops). After this, you zoom down to ground-level and dispose of the enemy forces there. Most of which are in covered wagons and tanks. But then, comes the first boss of many- an angry guy with a machine gun in a heavily armored plane. If you lost your vehicle prior to this part, start over. You'll need the extra hits because for first-time players, his grenades can be hard to see. Following this section is the second half to it where you fight another boss in a helicopter while using a mounted gattling gun. This part isn't too hard, and can be finished in no time. But, once defeated, your character gets captured, and another comes to save them. The guy in the helicopter turns out to be an alien, and goes off into space. Guess where you go next? That's right. It's off to the alien mothership in your tiny rocket. This part is fast-paced and enemies come from all sides of the screen. Luckily, you'll get more weapons than you'll know what to do with here, and taking them out isn't too much of a hassle. Keeping the rocket though, is a whole other story. Since I've played this level so many times, I've memorized it, and don't lose it anymore. But again, first-timers will go nuts at this part probably. If you can finish this section, you'll start flying into the mother ship which at first, seems like a living thing. The walls are all organ-like, but aliens are flying around in here too. Beating this finally gets you to inside the real ship where you'll probably die in the first 3 minutes. There are limitless enemies here. Some take dozens of shots before dying, and others have cheap attacks. Moving on, you have to rescue your partner, who was cloned trillions of times, hope for the best, escape while avoiding zombie-clones THAT CAN DO THAT BAD-ASS BLOOD ATTACK WHICH KILLS YOU ALMOST ANY TIME THEY DO IT, and THEN you'll make it to the last boss. Yes, this is the entire last level. And there are no save or checkpoints. This is where that con kicks in. With the arcade versions, you just popped in more quarters to continue from where you died. But in the Xbox version, once your lives are up, you start over from the beginning of the level. Not the section you died in, the -very- beginning of the level. Yeah, try beating the last level in one shot and you're a gaming god. The only way to do this is to plug in a second controller and hit 'start' immediately after your character dies, and before the countdown begins. This'll net you the second player's character with a full stock of lives, which is your only shot at beating the game. Believe me, when/if you beat this last level, it'll be the finest moment in gaming that you'll ever accomplish.

There are two added mini-games for the Xbox version here. Fat Island and Storming the Mother Ship. They're both fun, epecially Fat Island. You try to reach a set weight by eating all the food that appears on the screen and dodging enemies with the help of your snowman bombs. Two-player chaos ensues. Storming the Mother Ship is a total jerk though. You play as one of the three different enemy soldiers in the game, but this time, you're on the good side. One has grenades, another has a bazooka (grenades in gun-form more or less), and the other has a shield and melee attack. Play through most of the last level as any one of them and see how far you can make it. Here's a hint- the shield and melee attack is a big plus.

For the graphics, I can't give Metal Slug 3 a real score. It's almost 10 years old, and 2D, AND originally for the NeoGeo system. You know, that ancient thing with games that were in the hundreds of dollars per cart. It looks good though. Character animations are great, as are the backgrounds. There's a lot of detail to be found. While some say it's the "best looking 2D game ever made", that's hardly the case. Go check out Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and say otherwise. As for the sound, the music is so good that I got the soundtrack, and the voices are to die for. RAWKET LAOUNCHAIR!

Only, and I mean ONLY get Metal Slug 3 if you think you can handle it. I'm not trying to make myself sound high and mighty, but it -is- a tough game. Probably the toughest I've played mostly thanks to that last level and screwed up continue system. And don't you dare play it with two players (at the same time) on that part. Any level where you have two players leads to twices as many enemies, and the bosses seem to have even more health. 'not a good idea for the last level at all. But pick up MS3 if you can still find it. And if it's too hard, try 4+5 which were just released, and are much easier. I so kicked your ass MS3. Of this, I am proud.

The Legend

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you're reading this, you fall into one of two camps; those who love Metal Slug 3, and those who haven't played it.

If you belong to group 1, buy it. You know the drill regarding Metal Slug, and if you didn't already import the PS2 release, here's your chance to grab it for less money. In addition, you're supporting SNK's stateside buisness, and that's always a good thing. C'mon. It's SNK, for God's sake.

If you belong to group 2, then sit back and let me see how much of this game's history I can pack into 1,000 words.

Despite the name, Metal Slug has nothing to do with the animal, or even really the type of ammunition, which you'd think would make sense. Back in the arcade days of 1996, a group of laid-off Irem staffers (the company responsible for the immortal R-Type) got together and kicked out a game by the name of Metal Slug for the Neo Geo MVS/AES system. The concept was the same as any basic Contra-style shooter. You moved from left to right on the screen, jumping on platforms and shooting anything that shot back at you.

Like R-Type, Metal Slug had a "gimmick" that set it apart from other, similar shooters, and that was the Metal Slug itself; a cute, almost anthropomorphic mini tank that could jump and crouch. The player could find the Slug in the game's levels and it allowed a huge boost in power. That was really the whole concept.

It's also *not* the defining point of Metal Slug, merely it's namesake. Less memorable than the mechanic of the vehicles was the game's presentation, pacing, and level of fun. See, the thing about Metal Slug was not so much the raw game mechanics as the amount of obvious love that was poured into it. At a time when the Neo Geo was still the undisputed king of 2D graphics, Metal Slug reigned king as a pinnacle of what could be achieved artistically with supposedly "primitive" 2D graphics.

It's a little like the Color vs. Black and White debate with films. There's no denying that color is the way of the future, and it certaintly allows for a comparable amount of artistic expression, but B&W enables certain things that color does not, and a skilled director can make the most of these things in a way that color will never be able to reach. Apply the same argument to 2D vs. 3D, and you get what's so special about Metal Slug. Little touches like the hand-drawn cell animation in every single moving object in the game (and *everything* is animated in some way) allow for a remarkable amount of character, and it shines through in everything from the standing animation of the player's character to the facial reactions of the enemy troops when your character comes back from the dead after you put another quarter into the machine.

Anyway, Metal Slug went through two more arcade versions: Metal Slug 2, and Metal Slug X (basically a revamped version of MS2, which also landed on the Playstation 1 in the U.S., so grab it if you can find it). When Metal Slug 3 came out in 2000, it quickly became apparent that this was the zenith of arcade shooters. If you're a Led Zeppelin fan, here's an easy comparison: Metal Slug 3 is like the game version of Led Zep 4. It's that turning point when the end product becomes aware of it's own mystique and uses that knowledge to take things to a whole new level. Metal Slug 3 is a game that's aware of it's own following, and it manages the rarely accomplished task of giving the fans what they want, and giving them something entirely new at the same time.

Even if you're not familiar with the previous games in the series, Metal Slug 3 still has that aura of a game that's legendary and knows it, and is therefore unafraid to try things that it would have stopped short of in previous installments. This is hard to explain properly in few words without having some kind of visual aide, so you're just going to have to trust me when I say that this game reaches the level of inspired art, and there are several occasions where you'll grin while playing it, and probably mutter to yourself "Oh, man, that's really cool."

Well, okay, here's a "quick" example. The final stage in the game starts out with your character in a flying Slug -- an evolution of the tank from the first game. It then mimicks other spaceship-themed side-scrolling shooters (like R-Type) until you wind up on the ground, where it re-creates the final level from the original Metal Slug. Then, the alien enemies from Metal Slug X make an appearance, capture your character, and abscond back to their mothership. You then get a different character (of the 4 selectable) and, combined with the forces of the soldiers you fought in the first game, get into spaceships and rocket off to go fight the aliens. From there, the game becomes a vertically-scrolling shooter (like Ikaruga) until you finally make it onto the mothership, where it's classic Metal Slug until you finally rescue your originally selected character...And by then, you're about halfway through the level.

See what I mean? It's self-referencing, well constructed, funny as hell, and just all-around amazing.

Also, unlike many other games of this nature, Metal Slug 3 is for the casual and hardcore alike. It's graphics aren't so poor that they'll turn anyone off (in fact, they've held up very well) and the concept is so simple that anyone can pick up and play. The one caveat is that the game is quite hard, but there's selectable difficulty and enough leeway that, even if you can't make it all the way through, there's a good chance one of your buddies can. Expect to spend some time with it, mind you, but it's not so hard that it stops being fun, which is really the most important thing of all.

This is an excellent chance to grab the Holy Grail of 2D games. Don't miss it; you won't regret it.

Great 2D Shooter For Oldschool Gamers

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you are the owner of an SNK neo-geo system, then chances are you've either owned, played, or spotted some of the earlier installments of Metal Slug in some shape or form (if not this one). To those who haven't, just look at it as being SNK's answer to Konami's "Contra." SNK has finally decided to port one of their 2d classics over to the xbox gaming console.

The player is given the option of choosing one of four characters (two males and two females) to drag along into battle through five immense stages. Five immense solid 2d stages. No 3D (2.5D) influences whatsoever. This is classic 2d shooting at it's finest.

The player can choose to go into battle alone (one player game) or can also have a friend tag along (two player game with shared continues) for an even greater challenge. During gameplay, the player/s will collect several crucial weapons (firearms) to help them through battle. Rescue fellow hostages and be rewarded with vital items (rescuing hostages also adds to bonus points once having finished completing a stage).

The game's difficulty is tough (I must admit) it's no cake-walk. Player's may find themselves constantly replaying certain stages in order to complete. Since the game does force the player/s to restart the stage he/she die on all over again from scratch when they've lost all their lives (no checkpoints) even if the player/s have continues left. This may come as an annoyance to some, given the fact that continues are limited. However, there is a save feature which lets players replay stages over (stages they've completed in general) so if all continues are lost, they can replay the stage they were just on from the title screen.

Metal Slug 3 offer replay value in the sense that when having finished completing a game mode, others will soon be accessable. Why only four stars? It all comes down to the simple fact that Metal Slug 3 isn't a game for everyone. Fans of high polygon-count titles, tremendous graphics, etc., may not find themselves at home. Metal Slug is a game that's mainly aimed towards the oldschool 2d veterans of fast-actioned arcade platformers. Classic 2d shooter at it's best. Just don't expect to be too blown away.

Awesome

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is everything I've always wanted. Mindless action with a bit of comedy involved. You get to ride in numerous vehicles called metal slugs (hense the name). There are four characters to chose from, and each slightly unique. The old-School graphics are awesome, and it even has the arcade style setup. You can unlock bonus missions. The multiplayer is very fun with friends. I would buy this game.

Hardcore/old school gamers need apply only

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

NOTE: For some reason every review on here as of this date says this game is awesome, but since a couple of people don't know how to use a drop down menu next to the "HOW MUCH FUN IS THIS GAME?" section the average rating is like 2.5 stars before this review. I guess before I make fun of the reviewer who criticized people for not posting a rating while not posting one him/herself, my review is four stars ;)

My heading is serious. To the uninitiated, this game will seem to be one of the dumbest looking things to ever surface for any modern day video game system. I should note that the exact opposite is true. This game is a gracious delight to those of us who grew up without 3D games and played 2D side scroller shoot-em 'ups like Contra. Back in the day (1990s) we didn't have any 3D bump mapping, texturing, line drawing distance, polygon count, and the dreaded LOADING screens; this is what video games were all about back then...simple and fun as hell.

GAME DESIGN/CONCEPT: Metal Slug 3 is a sidescroller shooter similar to Contra games of old; there are many weapons that you can get via icons dropped from dead guys, there are TONS of enemies, there are few levels (like five, I think) and you die from one hit (unless against zombies, where you turn into a zombie and then die if hit again). This is a classic gaming concept that has been succesful and will prove to bring back fond memories to those of us who have wasted many hours playing games like this. But I must forewarn those who think that this childish looking "T" rated game with only five levels will be beaten in 20 minutes; this game is friggin' hard.

I can't count how many times the screen is filled with deadly-to-the-touch objects that leave almost no room to move. There is no continuing midlevel, even in co-op mode, so if you lose all your lives, it's back to the beginning of the stage (and that's a real bummer for the longer than life last level). When you first play this game and realize you are getting your a$$ kicked left and right, chances are it's not you. This game makes Contra: Shattered Soldier for the PS2 look like "Play with the Teletubbies". You will find yourself constantly playing the levels over and over again to master them, but rest assured that you'll have fun replaying them; besides, that's how we've always beat these kinds of games. If you find yourself somehow getting bored of getting your hindside handed to you, get a buddy and play co-op! This is the most fun I've had playing co-op since Halo, believe it or not. This brought me back to the days of playing these kinds of games in the arcade with a buddy, kicking butt and spending money fast. I really wish there were more games out there with co-op play, and I don't mean the weak co-op like in James Bond: Everything or Nothing, but Brute Force/Halo/Mario Kart Double Dash co-op that detracts from the conglomeration of deathmatch games out there.

This concept may sound like blasphemy to those "game enthusiasts" of today (if you can call them that), by having a game that has you replaying the levels just to get by them and where logic and smarts means nothing to a good-ol' trigger finger that can shoot thirty bullets in five seconds. Believe me though that this game is fun as can be and is a wonderful homage to 2D sidescrollers of the past.

GRAPHICS: If my rating was based on technologically astounding graphics, this game would get a single star. However, video games are meant to be a form of interactive entertainment, not works of aesthetic pleasure to be looked at passively. The graphics look like something from the Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis ages, but that's not a bad thing...the graphics fit the game, and that's all that matters.

MUSIC/SOUND: Again, this review is not based on technical merit. The audio in this game is cheesy as can be, and it perfectly fits the silly nature of the game.

CONTROL: The controls are about as simple as they get; a button to jump, a button to shoot, a button for grenades, and your standard pause. Doesn't get much simpler than that. I could care less that this game doesn't have a ten button sequence to do a running ninja stabbing head decapitation barbeque cookout trolly. The controls are so simple that reading the instructions is not necessary.

OVERALL: This game is great, but an insane difficulty level may be too much for all but the most hardcore gamer (why I docked a star); perhaps more lives than the maximum 5 or perhaps midlevel checkpoints like Contra SS for the PS2 could have helped (I dont agree with the choice to omit mid level continuing; that would have made this game infinitely more playable). Many video game hobbyists will clearly be turned off by the graphics and sound; to them I say at least rent this game and try to enjoy it. You'll be surprised at how much fun this game is.

Shoot-em-up!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: June 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have always played Metal Slug in the arcades and I played this for X-box and I cried! This game is the best! The graphics, the effects, the guns. They are very much like the arcades. I love this game! BUY IT NOW... and I realy mean NOW!

Mad Fun!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: June 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

classic arcade adventure shooting game. buy this if you miss those old arcade games, you won't regret it. loving it.

Good retro-style shooter

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: October 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

What a blast! This game hearkens back to the days of the original Duke Nukem, Contra, or any of the other great twitch-shooters of the past. It's essentially a mindless shooting game, done in retro side-scrolling style, but as that goes, it's a lot of fun. You basically travel through levels, killing anything and everything, grabbing powerups as you go and trying to survive the constant onslaught of enemies the game throws at you. For a retro-style shooter, it's a reasonable challenge, as enemies sometimes overwhelm you with their sheer numbers. The bosses are fairly tough, as well, and there's part of the problem with the game: You get between three and five men to start each level. Let's say that you lose your last man fighting a boss. You hit "continue," thinking that you'll get a fresh set of men to resume your fight with the boss. WRONG. You have to start back at the beginning of the level! That can be very, very frustrating, especially when some of the more challenging levels can take all but your last man...and then you have to face the boss with just one life to spare! (Ouch!) If you're careful, though, you can survive the worst areas intact, especially if you're patient enough to watch for powerups. Strongly recommended to fans of shooter games or for those who loved the old side-scrolling action games (like me).

I hope this review was helpful
--Christian Wheeler

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