Actually, I find the Xbox pads just fine for a game like metal slug. It's not like it is a fighting game (even though the Xbox pads, compared to the other 2 NG systems, are easier for me on fighting games, mostly because 1. It's not way out of place and odd feeling like the GC one, and 2. I don't have to press down on the pad like crazy to get moves off like the PS2 pads(Note, the PS1 pads don't have this problem)).
Still, because of Neo Geo Pocket, I've learned how to play a great game of Magical Drop with my thumb, and there will NEVER be a Metal Slug as demanding (control-wise) as Magical Drop.
Still, I'm just hear to show my love for things Metal Slug 3, and to report my findings with this port, nothing else. No need for the console on console versus antics.
One thing I do notice is how difficult the game gets because of the added speed, in this port. You think Boss 2 is easy? Just try it in this version and be surprised how much you relied on the game slowing down when it came to the orbs coming at you while the enemies rotated. Now's your chance to see the fast firing patterns, of that boss, at full speed.
Other times, it's like playing MS3, but you simply do things faster, that's all. Once you got the speed down, you do just as well (like the underwater sub section in Level 3). Taking note that those used to playing the arcade version may sometimes die because they forget they can move as fast as they can because they're used to the speed they normally play at. (This goes for both missed opportunity, and for putting yourself in harms way because you expected to move slower. I don't know what it is, but I guess a Metal Slug player actually internally memorizes how much on screen is required to slow the game down, and they automatically compensate for speed changes) You have to kind of forget that. Just remember, for now, that no matter how many of those expensive flowery big explosions you see, the game keeps on truckin' so you better do that too.
Needless to say, don't forget to revert back to that old habit when you play on the NeoGeo again. This almost constitutes as a gameplay change.
Though I did play a ton of RCR. 
Well he stopped by the house and got all excited to see that I got it, and he took the game to go play with his friends. I'm so proud of him. 
