Just played Metal Slug 4

Just played through the first four levels of Metal Slug 4 and these are my impressions.

In as much as I am appreciative that people still think the series worth churning out another sequel (in fact I hope they do continue it indefinitely), the game suffers a lot in beauty and creativity. Compared to Metal Slug 3 and X, Metal Slug 4 seems... stale. Metal Slug 3 was beautiful and each stage was introduced gradually, e.g. intro zombie stage, desert stage with plants, etc... The bosses in Metal Slug 3 were also VERY beautifully designed and innovative, e.g. Hermit Crab, Alien circle, Robot, Aztec thing, etc. Metal Slug 4 rehashes MANY backgrounds right from Metal Slug 1 and the bosses are simply butt-ugly, 2D and boring to fight. The Blimp, the Tower, The Robot Face (badly drawn).

It seems as if Mega were given all the proprietary code by Playmore to make a sequel and these guys palette-swapped graphics from Metal Slug 1 to 3 and tweaked a few things to make the game seem new, e.g. ride-able Metal Slug X rocket launcher, ride-able Metal Slug X golem, ride-able Metal Slug X sidecar, etc....

When I first played Metal Slug 3, I was shocked at the amount of innovation and new graphics (just thought of the submarine). Metal Slug 4 strikes me like a game produced by one novice programmer who isn't very creative.

On a plus side, you can see that the programmers have tried to invent new ways to make the play more challenging, by restricting your movement, on lorries, elevator cages, etc. (Sad to say, Demonfront is going to swamp this game. An irony is that Metal Slug 3 would hold up better.)

However, I haven't tried the alternate routes and haven't seen the androids or monkey so my gameplay impressions (not graphics, still bad) aren't complete yet.

All in all, with all this flak, when you get your turn to play Metal Slug 4, it would make it seem so much better.

Will try to get some photos up.

No way! Metal slug 4 will never be beaten by a clone!(Demon Front)

I have a feeling that by the end of the year, there's gonna be a whole lot of used Slug 4 homecarts for sale...this impression confirms some of my worst fears from all the screenshots. It's quite obvious that the new SNK's Korean overlords simply don't have the magic touch like the true SNK of old...... <img src="graemlins/ohno.gif" border="0" alt="[Oh No]" />

Watch the wave of sharp denials....

Sorry kids...Slug 3 was the real swan song for this series.

Megaking is NOT SNK...
That was clear right from the start...

I've just played till the last boss. This game is so bad I don't feel like saying more about it. They should have ended it at Metal Slug 3.

<img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[Crying]" />

well....
at least ill have 500 dollars from not buying it

so sad after reading your mini-review <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[Crying]" />

as brandi said - mega isn't snk ! but I'll wait to made my own opinion about the game !

what is strange is that they already release on AES, only a month and a half after MVS release ?

Well if this makes the price go down then so much the better for me cuz I'll buy it. Oh and BTW coinopexpress is offering new MVS kits for $130 cheaper than the neo store so I guess the price drop has begun.

I've cooled a little from just now.

I recall this alternate path where you meet mummies and men in radioactive suits. There's some intro to the stage but I don't quite understand it. (SPOILER: the first mummy falls to his knees and his bandages on his face falls off, showing a bloodied/red face and he whimpers. wah?) Seems to have no relevance to the rest of the stage. Anyway, there are about 3 points in the stage that you are forced to stay in one screen and just keep shooting mummies and radioactive-suited guys. One of them is where you are SWAMPED with guys throwing rollers while the mummies breathe high. I know I am a good player but this was insanely impossible to get by without throwing all your grenades. (It could be possible that if you get turned into a mummy, you can't be affected by the rollers, though doesn't seem likely.) And even if you have chucked all your grenades, the stupid sequence lasts SO DAMN LONG. You will get killed! You really have to experience it first-hand. It is SO DAMN LONG. On one static screen! Goodness.
Throughout this stage, the mummies pop up everywhere and anywhere. It is unbelieaveably lame and lazy of the gameplay designer.

I have to reiterate, SO MANY rehashed background graphics. From Metal Slug 1 too!

The bosses are so poorly designed, all unimaginative and butt-ugly. You can have an ugly boss but that is designed well, e.g. alien circle in Metal Slug 3.

There's another stage on a ship where you have to jump over some containers but as they drew it in 3D-perspective you don't really know exactly where the edge is. Imagine a drawn cube and the "landing surface" is somewhere on the top side of the cube.

death
|
|
______________ V ____________
/ /| / /|
/ / | / / |
/ / | / / |
/ / | / / |
/ / | / / |
/_____________/ /____________/
| | | |
| | | |

Of course, that wouldn't be so much of a problem unless you were required to make many jumps quickly to and fro between many of these crates. Which of course, the moron of the programmer makes you do by having choppers rain down on you.
(This segment is somewhat similar to Metal Slug 2/X where a gunship throws bombs done at you and you have to jump between two trains where the gap widens and narrows. In 2/X, the landing aread of the platforms are obvious and the gunship only throws bombs vertically down at you. Mind you, bombs that you can shoot and destroy.) Here in 4, the two choppers each time (yes, this sequence is repeated too) shoot bullets that angle at you.

Rant.. rant..

About the android machine gunner which we see on the official video, he plays exactly the same as in all previous incarnations. The static stage is the same, his shooting pattern is the same. He does everything exactly the same. However, he does shed his skin. Wee... They could have at least made him shoot something else after he reveals he is a robot.

The andriod Mordens are a bit more interesting. They take many hits and their headless bodies actually kill you if you touch them. Found out the hard way. Don't know about the laughing head on the floor though. (Fairly nice touch)

There are soldiers dress in blue that shoot something like the heavy machine gun but much slower and smaller.

(I suddenly recalled those hoppy round suicide bots in Metal Slug 3, they were quite interesting. And the long-legged ones. Damn it! The entire rocket launch sequence and the music!)

One of the last mission requires you to abseil down a rope ala Mission Impossible. Moving up and down is quick but left and right is slow. This stage is similar to the descending submarine stage in Metal Slug 3. However, the moving left and right is very slow. Unlike the moray, jellyfish and crayfish that move/shoot at you slowly, there are soldiers that shoot directly at you with normal fast bullets from ALL angles. WTF. Idiot programmer. Did I mention that you move left and right slowly?

Another rant, this time about the vehicles, they do not have a being-hit sequence like the metal slug does. Why couldn't they bloody draw some frames where the launcher skews to one side? I think there are 4 proper vehicles to sit in. (the sidecar is not included as it is a mandatory feature in the first stage) The Rocket Launcher. The Forklift. The Shielded Tank. The Golem. Apart from the badly drawn Forklift, the rest are reused graphics.

Now that I've mentioned it, in one stage, if you do not disable it an enemy-manned Rocket Launcher in time, it shoots five-six rockets at you right across the screen at a high speed. For first-time players, this is a bit sad.

Lastly, for those like me who thought the '2H' double heavy machine gun weapon power-up allows the screen to be filled with bullets, you will be disappointed to know that the weapon only fires in an X-Y manner. Now, this begs us to wonder whether this is a processing problem where the Neo cannot handle too many fast small sprites on the screen. Because if it isn't the case, what were they thinking in making this weapon fire up down left and right only? Come to thinking of it, the Neo can handle it, look at the Jumper Slug in Metal Slug 2/X. There wasn't any slowdown there. Are these people stupid???

I'm glad at least Metal Slug 3 came out, it showed what the series could be. Hopefully, the Mega crew will improve.

Graphic didn't come out too well.
---------------------------------

There's another stage on a ship where you have to jump over some containers but as they drew it in 3D-perspective you don't really know exactly where the edge is. Imagine a drawn cube and the "landing surface" is somewhere on the top side of the cube.

```````````````````````death````````````````
`````````````````````````|``````````````````
`````````````````````````|``````````````````
```````______________````V````____________``
``````/`````````````/|```````/````````````/|
`````/`````````````//|``````/````````````//|
````/`````````````///|`````/````````````///|
```/`````````````////|````/````````````////|
``/`````````````/////|```/````````````/////|
`/_____________//////|``/____________//////|
`|`````````````|/////|``|````````````|/////|
`|`````````````|/////|``|````````````|/////

[ May 15, 2002: Message edited by: Clear Paper ]</p>

Hmmmmm... well, that doesn't sound to good. I had a feeling, but I don't want to make any sort of judgment until I have had a chance to play it. Your complaints seem fair though, it seems like there are a lot of little flaws that add up to big disappointment. Oh well, hopefully it will end up in an arcade nearby so I can run through it... then again I am not even going to consider buying until it is down to about $150 so I am sure there will be more posts like this by then. Hey Clear Paper, why not fancy this up and submit it as a formal review to the site... it would be good to get some reviews in for MS4 where everyone can see them!

-Nick

hey

look who's perfect now


where is big bear ( playmore - megaking n1 fan )


<img src="graemlins/tickled.gif" border="0" alt="[Tickled]" />

Sounds like a good idea to make it a review. Might do so when I get some pictures.

Wow, that's definitely making think twice about shelling out the money for it... <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[Crying]" />

Maybe is the problem of the different of MS4, is that SNK dind't work on it.

Maybe that MS4 can be beaten by a clone.
But I think that MS3 is the real "BIGGIE"!!



Nazca must make a new MS game. And let MegaEnterprise stay out of it!! <img src="graemlins/glee.gif" border="0" alt="[Glee]" />

Having tried Metal Slug 4 and been disappointed, I played Metal Slug X religiously yesterday and discovered just how much effort the designers put into the game graphics. Playing with the dips, all Metal Slug 1 levels are playable with rudimentary enemies too. So having my faith restored, I went back to the arcade and tried Metal Slug 4 again. I really couldn't help noticing the whole-sale copying of background from Metal Slug 1 levels. Play some Metal Slug 1 and X and you will be stunned.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that on the snow level, an alternate path is available from the collapsing snowed cliff. I was slightly disdained by the gameplay before I decided to fall off the cliff to see if it yielded an alternate route. (Try falling off other areas as they may yield alternate paths too. WTF. the programmers are idiots. I wouldn't have dropped off if I wasn't already sick of the game)

Anyway, in this path, you come across the snowmen from Metal Slug 3, which I always thought a little out of place in the cave assessed from the zombie stage. Here in Metal Slug 4, at least, there's lots of snow to begin with. So well, coming across them AGAIN is a LITTLE fun. But not when you get by them and have to ascend up a vertical stage. Getting shot to pieces by soldiers that fire in new angles (very steep, could be that I haven't played enough Metal Slug to know, though I doubt so), tired me out and has made me decide to play Metal Slug 4 when it comes out on home cart. (Yes, I'm a sucker/collector too.) As an observer and not an advocate, emulation will kill all sales of this game as a home cart. Likewise, MVS operation. No one will be willing to ploink coins into an arcade machine if it comes out on the emulators. Even arcade operation of Metal Slug 3 suffered from emulation, what more the infernally anal Metal Slug 4? Sigh... Shawn, reduce your stock!!!

hey...clear paper...nice avatar !!

and your thoughts about slug...no suprise !
the same happend to castlevania and the contra series after treasure left !
sad but true !!

and those ex irem grafix man is a genius !
all these little things and animations..he is crazy !the god of 2d !!!
nobody can copy his style !!
sorry guys...but true !

the other slugs rule..but this one....is already a copy or a clone...and demon front...is a original !!!!!! think about !!
(at leat somehow !! )

shit...i want my slug back..but this times seem gone ,and another good series destroyed !!

fuck...them !!!!!!

I want that game!

Hey Clear paper!
you finally get to play the game?
I was so sick of it that I quited after I die on the snow stage.
A pity that that the Metal Slug series are ruined by third parties developer. <img src="graemlins/ohno.gif" border="0" alt="[Oh No]" />
Worst still is noboby want to play this game at the arcade, how sad...
<img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[Crying]" />

Mmmm.. yeah. LOL, I guess I won't be playing it with you in the arcade then.

Some consolation is that I think my standards of the Metal Slug series is high so perhaps my review of 4 might be a tad blazing. Then again.. maybe not. I think fans of the series will agree with me. I sincerely hope the programmers will build on their experience and make a great Metal Slug 5. They can't end it like this.

I agree with you.
Too bad that MS5 wont be on AES or MVS <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[Crying]" />

[ May 18, 2002: Message edited by: Metal-Geo ]</p>

hey clear paper, how was the music in slug 4?