Playstation 2 - Metal Slug 4/5

Boston · Postby **Boston** » April 11th, 2006, 10:34 am

Playstation 2 - Metal Slug 4/5 April 11, 2006

Metal Slug 4/5 for the Playstation 2 comes available on two disks but I am not sure why as there is very little content available. This frenetic shooter will have you running and gunning through jungles, deserts, oceans and cities. There is mind blowing firepower available providing you can stay alive long enough to use it! The graphics are circa 1995 and some of the levels are extremely weak. For instance, in one level you get attacked by zombies and when you get hit you turn into a zombie yourself…..which SSSSLLLLOOOOWWWSSSS down your character and ruins the fluidity of the game!!! There is often so much going on that you have little room to maneuver and you will often find yourself the victim of countless cheap deaths. The antidote is provided by the developers who realized it was impossible to complete this game without unlimited continues. Unlimited continues!

Programmer #1 : Hey dude, there is a lot going on in this game!

Programmer #2: Put more stuff on the screen!!!!!!!!!!!

Programmer #1: DUDE!!!!!!! This is like, WAY hard!!!!!!

Programmer #2: Put more stuff on the screen!!!!!!!!!!!

Programmer #1: DUDE!!!! I’m like….FREAKING OUT!!!!!!

Boss: Ok you losers! Remember, you can’t polish a turd so wrap it up and put in unlimited continues…and remember….even though we could squeeze these games on a 5 ¼ “ floppy disk make sure to put it on two disks!!!!! We are going to make BILLIONS!!!!!!!!

Programmers #1 and #2: YES DUDE!

D

Time to complete each game using unlimited continues: 45 Minutes .…..

Boston

Next Review: Dreamcast - Resident Evil: Code Veronica

sega saturn x · Postby **sega saturn x** » April 11th, 2006, 7:14 pm

That's dead on in every regard, keep up the good work!

Boston · Postby **Boston** » April 12th, 2006, 9:19 am

Thanks! I'll be starting my own site in the next month or so...still working on the details....Thanks again and take it easy!

Boston

bluemonkey1 · Postby **bluemonkey1** » April 12th, 2006, 12:22 pm

Yeah since Metal Slug 3 the series has been too tough. Still enjoyable but too tough.

Code Veronica is well class though.

Zenzerotron · Postby **Zenzerotron** » April 12th, 2006, 4:36 pm

I'll tell you flat-out that I probly qualify as an SNK/Neo-Geo fan boy. So, if you want to disregard what I'm about to say, so be it.

Honestly, I don't know how else they could have approached it. Since these are arcade games, they are SUPPOSED to make you die constantly, thus sucking up as much quarters/tokens from you as possible.

Altering the games to make them "fair for home translation" would have been blasmphmey.

They could have made it so you get limited default credits, and each hour you play, you unlock one additional default credit, but that's a flaccid way to extend the game's playtime.

When you translate intentionally-quarter-sucking arcade games to home consoles, with the intent of making it 100% arcade accurate, unlimited continues is the only reasonable way to go.

If you have a better solution then unlimited credits, I'd love to hear it.

John Rowland · Postby **John Rowland** » April 12th, 2006, 7:51 pm

I like Mars Matrix's way of handling it best: earn points to buy continues, etc. That way if you play well, you earn the continues faster. By trying to earn these continues I found that you can actually get a lot better at the game too.

Boston · Postby **Boston** » April 13th, 2006, 9:15 am

Hey Z

Thanks for your comments and I appreciate you being honest...owning up that you are a SNK fanboy. To be honest, if it is just like the arcade then it stunk in the arcade too. Like I said, you can't polish a turd. I am not the person who made the game so it's not my job to fix it. I just played it and reviewed it. Not to mention the fact that I plunked down $25 of my hard earned cash for this dud. I think I was actually being kind giving it a D as it was really close to D- or an F. Forget everything else that didn't go right with this game and think about the fun factor...it just isn't there.

Boston

bluemonkey1 · Postby **bluemonkey1** » April 13th, 2006, 4:08 pm

Metal Slug 1, 2 and X were all great arcade games but they weren't so frustratingly hard.

Zenzerotron · Postby **Zenzerotron** » April 13th, 2006, 4:36 pm

I love the Metal Slug series, but if you post a review panning any Samurai Shodown games, then you'll really see me crying, shouting, cusssing, and screaming.

Honestly, how you are panning Metal Slug 4/5, you could use to pan really great classic complation discs like Capcom Classics Collection, the Midway Arcade Treasures series, Taito Legends, etc. All those discs feature unlimited credits because they feature quarter-munching unfair games as well.

I guess my gripe with your review/opinion is soley based on this. Other then a store-system like Mars Matrix, there's no other solution to quarter-sucking arcade ports then unlimited credits, and I don't see it as fair to pan a game over this solution.

John Rowland · Postby **John Rowland** » April 13th, 2006, 10:38 pm

Whoa whoa whoa. Ok, slow down here. First we have:

[QUOTE=Zenzerotron]If you have a better solution then unlimited credits, I'd love to hear it.
[/QUOTE]

Then we have:

[QUOTE=John Rowland] I like Mars Matrix's way of handling it best: earn points to buy continues, etc. That way if you play well, you earn the continues faster. By trying to earn these continues I found that you can actually get a lot better at the game too.

[/QUOTE]

And then:

[QUOTE=Zenzerotron]Other then a store-system like Mars Matrix, there's no other solution to quarter-sucking arcade ports then unlimited credits, and I don't see it as fair to pan a game over this solution.

[/QUOTE]

Aha! So ROWLAND is always right! I knew it!

Thought you could get away with it did you?