Alright, so I have been on a huge 2D gaming fix that started when I downloaded a mac version of MAME to catch up on old games I loved and ones I missed. I've been cuddling up with Darkstalkers and the Street Fighter Alpha series. Initial D Arcade Stage is noticeably absent, as no ROM for it exists yet to my knowledge. I did, however, track down a series I had always wanted to play, but kept forgetting it ever existed.

I remember reading the August 1998 issue of Gamefan magazine, where editor ECM gave an absolutely glowing review of Metal Slug 2. it looked cool, full of lots of explosions and carnage, both of which were displayed in accompanying screenshots with an almost pornographic enthusiasm. No doubt about it, he was an SNK fan and it showed. That's what I loved about Gamefan. You could feel their enthusiasm and love for what they did, but I digress.

For years, SNK stood out in my mind only because of their Art of Fighting games, which only ever showed up on my periphery, mostly due to my perception of the series being a poor Street Fighter clone. It wasn't until just recently that I gave Garou: Mark of the Wolves a whirl (I had heard from several sources that it's one of, if not THE greatest 2D fighter of all time) and I saw the love and care that went into making the game. I'm told Last Blade 2 is of similar quality, but the rom is not working, so I can't comment.

Anyways, Metal Slug. I downloaded 1 - 3, as well as Metal Slug X, which I'm given to understand is a remix of 2. Jesus, these games are good! I can't believe games with this much attention to detail in the backgrounds and sprite animation ran as smoothly as they did, and in games that are over a decade old for a system that is just five years shy of being as old as I am for that matter! How was it possible?

So how are Metal Slug 4-6? Or 7 for that matter? Can I get some opinions or thoughts on the series? What are some other SNK series worth checking out?

By the way, before I get scolded for piracy, rest assured I will be buying the Metal Slug Anthology collection for Wii.

I commented before on Metal Slug and my thought remains the same: If the control were tightened in them and not as...well, sluggish as they are, it would be one of my top series easily. There's so much good about them, but the gameplay is hampered when I can't manuever well enough to avoid the carnage, ala classic Contra. 2 player is definitely the way to go.

I believe the issue you are talking about actually had Metal Slug X in the feature (I remember it really well...I bought the Saturn import of MS1 based on the review, as I hadn't heard of the games back then...I believe this issue also had the Xmen vs Street Fighter Saturn version feature as well). He also did one for Metal Slug 3 in the dying days of the mag.

Um, and take it from someone who bought AoF Collection to see if they were as bad as they were made out to be...Those games were pure bleh, cool characters and awesome music aside. I actually haven't played Garou Mark of the Wolves, but definitely check out Real Bout Garou Densetsu (is VERY similar to the SF Alphas) and King of Fighters 98. I enjoy the novelty of the Samurai Shodowns, but I never played them too seriously. Not that I even know anyone that plays SNK fighters seriously.

One cool thing about SNK was their early sound team released a constant supply of arranged albums (which were mostly the mixes from the Neo Geo CD in slightly more complete form) and most of them are really good. The early King of Fighters arranges are especially worth tracking down (94-97...98 whole OST is kickass arranges of previous fighters themes, while the arrange is kinda so-so overall). Art of Fighting 2 Image Album, Garou Densetsu Special Image Albums 1 and 2 and Real Bout Special all had great arranges as well. And I totally dig the King of Fighters R1/R2 and SNK vs Capcom Neo Geo Pocket OST's...that's good chiptune right there.

I'm going to assume you've already read the Metal Slug article at Hardcore Gaming 101.

definitely try out Metal Slug 2nd Mission for NGPC (using cough cough cough if you must). It's slicker than the first NGPC Metal Slug and has an interesting branching level system.

Metal Slug 7 is....weird. It's definitely not as good as the "regular" Metal Slug games, but I've only played the DS version, and I have to admit I really liked the training school feature (although the framing device is pretty embarrassing). The main campaign is pretty clumsy except for a few rare highlights, although the added alternate routes in Metal Slug XX (PSP and XBLA) might help that somewhat. If you checked out any version, I think it should be, although I don't know if the XBLA version is any good (it should be basically the same thing, but I imagine the XBLA version doesn't work that well and you're unlikely to make any new friends through online play)

As for other SNK series, Last Blade is also excellent, even the version for NGPC - it's easily one of the best portable fighters I've ever seen, full of neat features. You should also check out SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium.

I got Metal Slug XX on the PSP and I found it to be a massive disappointment, even with fairly low expectations. It's not even that there's anything massively wrong with it (though the backgrounds are pretty awful). It's just that preety much everything in it has been done already and better in the early Slugs.

On the plus side, it is a challenging one. Now I'm not exactly what you'd call a great (or even good) Metal Slug player but I think, as Slugs go, it's a tough one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up863eQKGUI

SNK is a very special company to me. I used to be a complete Capcom head playing SF and Vampire all the time but after a certain amount of time of no new releases I felt like Capcom betrayed the genre. Add in MVC 2 which I hated and you had a cocktail for pure and sinister evil. Enter SNK. I had convinced my brother in 2002 to buy a Dreamcast because of its selection of awesome games but he never bought anything for it. I went to a local video store and bought KoF 99' The Dream Match Begins. It was then I learned of SNK and all its exploits.

KoF is simply astounding, with my favorite being 96'. Every year the game has has a gradual evolution and it was always great to see more people from AoF and Garou added all the time. By the time they abandoned the original Neo Geo hardware they had made KoF 2003 and Garou MoW. Simply astounding how much work went into a piece of hardware from '93

Samurai Spirits has been equated to a game of chess for most people. Its very slow moving but if you know what your doing a match could be over in a matter of seconds. I find that this series is pretty campy and also hit or miss with the best being 2 or 4. 5 and 6 were handed to a separate development team that broke off of SNK and later became Examu of Arcana Heart fame. They did a servicable job on the series but decent nonetheless. 5 had a 5 Special version that came out that was much better than the original release and 6 is essentially a semi broke dream match although fun.

Play Last Blade it is wonderful. I feel like Art of Fighting is to Samurai Spirits as Garou Densetsu is to Last Blade. The game just feels right. The battle system is wonderful, the animation is crisp and smooth the music is so awesome. The only shame is that there were only 2. Do yourself a favor and import Bakumatsu Roman 1 & 2. Its a good time. If you can't they also had english releases on Dreamcast.

Garou is also extremely awesome. If you get the Battle Archives you can really follow an evolution in the series leading all the way to MoW. The game honestly doesn't start getting playable till Special and 3 but when you get to the Real Bout portion of the series you are in for a treat. You start to see ideas from this game being thrown into KoF. Things like Rick Strowd being proto-Vanessa. A lot of songs were directly taken from here for character themes so when you look for the KoF inspiration in Garou it rests. Again I need not tell you the godlyness of MoW. It really is one of the best fighting games ever made.

Art of Fighting is one of SNK's original experiments developed alongside Garou. The real hallmark of the series wasn't the game play but the extremely detailed spritework and the excellent jazz soundtrack. The game is extremely difficult to play and not really all that rewarding but on the upside its mythos was fused into KoF so it wasn't for naught. AoF 3 has some of the coolest sprites you will ever see but the gameplay will make you rip your hair out. Buy the collection for Historical Evaluation purposes only.

Ah Metal Slug. Yeah MS is awesome. MS 4 and MS 5 weren't developed by SNK(Nazca). They were developed by a company called Mega Enterprises and they did kind of a lousy job with the series. Both games are decent but they lack the charm of the SNK releases. Most people you will talk to will tell you that MS 3 is the best in the series. Playing 6 is also an interesting endeavor. A number of new concepts were released along with new playable characters (Clark and Ralf) but the game really isn't like the ones of yore. I say while they aren't as good just try to enjoy them for what they are. As far as the Metal Slug Collection goes I implore you to buy the PS2 version. Its a much more suitable affair and there is also some bitching about hitflashes not transfering to the Wii verion along with the inability to use a proper controller. The load times are junk and the extras are nil. Buy at your own discretion. I personally own X on PS1, 3 on Xbox, 4/5 on PS2. Also Metal Slug Advance wasn't nearly as bad as HC Gaming would have you believe. While not their best effort it still serves as a solid couple of hours of fun on a hand held.

Long live SNK.......and their awesome arrange albums.

Metal Slug 4 & 6 are the most boring entries in the series, period. I'm kind of lukewarm on 7 (which I played as XX), but there's no getting around that the giant-robot fight with Allen was just a mess. Some traditions shouldn't be tampered with.

I think what I'm loving most, besides the masterful artistry present in the series, is the sense of humour. Seeing enemy soldiers having a barbeque or watching Indian merchants in the background haggling is a joy to behold. At one point, I even had one of those POW dudes follow me around throwing hadoukens at my hapless enemies. I feel like it's almost a parody of itself and other games in the genre like Contra.

The games are grueling, but in no way so daunting that I feel compelled to give up when killed. There's no save states in the emulator I'm using, so when I wanna go for a perfect run and I die, I impulsively start the game over. It's a bit annoying, but I can fell the improvements I make with every step. I've heard of people beating these games on a single credit, which completely blows my mind.