shooter

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.

This game represents what classic gaming used to be, gameplay! This game is similar to contra, streets of rage, double dragon, castlevania, and ghost and goblins. Its got the best of all these games and more! You shoot to kill. There are tons of enemies, huge variety, huge bosses, and non-stop killing/shooting action. Lots of different weapons and power ups. This game is not all walk and shoot, you get to operate many different machines during your adventure. Then you can rescue hostages, get a monkey that works like a familiar, and many other things. Sometimes you get transformed into a zombie and the zombie can be powerful too with its own attacks, you might not want to pick up the medicine which heals you back to normal. Just one of the many fun piece of this game.

Graphic was good but not awesome. Its only little better than Metal Slug X for Playstation One but without the choppy animation. Metal Slug 3 runs super smooth at all times. The sound is excellent, just like the arcade. There are only 5 levels but 2 extra levels were made for the Xbox version, pretty cool here. The stages are medium sized in my opinion, could be bigger.... There are usually 2 alternate path you can choose during each "1/3" of the stage, but they all lead to the same boss stage. There all 4 characters to choose from, they all have the same abilites.... 2 players can play this game together, multi-player makes this shine! Game is rather short, you can blast thru it probably in an hour or two, but the 2 extra stages is there for you. This is one of those game after you finish you would like to play again.

Overall this is a golden classic arcade style game, it represents the zenith of 2-D action era. A must buy for all Xbox owners.

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.