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Metal Slug: Super Vehicle-001
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| Developer(s) |
Nazca Corporation, SNK Corporation, D4 Enterprise, Inc. |
| Publisher(s) |
SNK, Nazca Corporation |
| Platform(s) |
Arcade, Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Virtual Console,PSP |
| Release date(s) |
May 24, 1996 |
| Genre(s) |
Run and gun |
| Mode(s) |
Single player, 2 player Co-op |
| Input methods |
8-way Joystick, 3 Buttons |
| Cabinet |
Upright |
| Arcade system |
Neo-Geo (193 Mbit cartridge) |
| Display |
Raster, 304 x 224 pixels (Horizontal), 4096 colors |
Metal Slug: Super Vehicle-001 (メタルスラッグ, Metaru Suraggu?) is a run and gun video game for the Neo-Geo console/arcade platform created by SNK. It was originally released in 1996 for the MVS arcade platform. The game is widely known for its sense of humor, fluid hand-drawn animation, and fast paced two-player action. It is the first title in the Metal Slug series.
Story
In 2028, General Donald Morden launches an all-out, global attack against the Regular Army. With superior numbers and equipment, the Rebellion overwhelms the unsuspecting Regular Army troops easily.
The attacks could have been countered effectively, or even prevented, should the high-ranking officials have listened to the Regular Army's intelligence community, which had been warning about all sorts of indications that the Rebellion could attack at any moment in decisive force. Unfortunately, the same officials decide to save their own skins and announce that it was the intelligence failure that led to such catastrophe, which the personnel serving in the intelligence community did not appreciate whatsoever.
Meanwhile, Regular Army is pushed to near annihilation, with cities that it was suppose to be protecting in ruins. General Morden makes an announcement that all of the major cities around the world will be under his control within 170 hours, also adding that any resistance would be futile.
The announcement certainly did not discourage a band of Regular Army soldiers attempt to salvage whatever they had left. Shortly after, a group named "Resistants" are formed by surviving members of the Regular Army and its researchers, who began to covertly convert the Metal Slug tank prototypes into combat-ready status in a hidden factory, hoping to launch a counter-offensive to regain what they had lost to the Rebellion. Morden just as quickly learns of this fact and attacks the plant, crushing the Resistants and capturing the tanks, putting an end to the counterattack even before it could begin. The vehicles are then scattered to prevent any ragtag Regular Army troops reclaiming them and using them to launch attacks.
Seeing the Regular Army panic and crumble, 1st Lieutenant Marco Rossi of the Regular Army Peregrine Falcons special forces unit quickly unites remaining Regular Army units and begins a commando operation to reclaim the tanks. Fighting alongside him is Second Lieutenant Tarma Roving from the same unit. Their main objectives were to engage the Rebellion and neutralize its leader, General Morden, while reclaiming the Metal Slug tanks to aid them in battles. If the tanks could not be recaptured, then they would have to destroyed to prevent them from being used by the Rebellion.
After various campaigns, the Regular Army defeats the Rebellion forces and reestablishes stability. General Morden is apprehended near the end of the conflict and is jailed in a maximum security military prison complex while awaiting trial for his war crimes.
The soldiers of the Peregrine Falcons squad were declared heroes by the Regular Army officials, with the lieutenants Marco and Tarma being credited with many awards. However, not everyone treated the P.F. squad as such because Regular Army officials had been discredited by their failure to prevent the Rebellion attack.
Gameplay
The player has to constantly shoot at a continual stream of enemies in order to reach the end of a level. At the end of each level, the player must confront a boss who is often considerably larger than regular enemies and takes many shots to defeat. On the way through the level, the player finds weapons upgrades and "slug" vehicles that can be used not only as weapons but also as added defense.
The protagonists can perform melee attacks by using a knife and/or kicking. The player does not die for simply coming into contact with most enemies. Correspondingly, many of the enemy troops have melee attacks. Much of the game's scenery is destructible. Sometimes this reveals extra items or powerups, most of the time it simply results in collateral damage.
During the course of a level, the player encounters POWs. If these are freed, the player can receive bonuses in the form of random items or weapons. The player receives a score bonus for freeing prisoners at the end of the level; at this point the game shows the name and rank of each POW freed. If the player dies before the end of the level, the tally of freed prisoners is deleted.
There are a total of six levels, with themes ranging from forests, garrisoned cities, snowy mountain valleys, canyons, and military bases.
Enemies
The vast majority of enemies encountered in Metal Slug are enemy soldiers, who are given weaponry that fits their specific role. There also a host of mechanized enemies: tanks, mobile artillery, aircraft, armored personnel carriers and technicals. Much of the game's humor comes from how the enemies portray themselves. The player encounters them at many times of leisure: sunbathing, roasting food over a fire, or just conversing amongst themselves.
Platforms
Originally, Metal Slug was available on Neo-Geo MVS arcade system and AES home entertainment system. Later on, a Neo Geo CD version of the game was introduced to help along with Neo-Geo's lagging sales, but it never caught on due to the lack of attention that the NGCD received.
Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation versions were also ported and distributed. The Saturn version was available in two different versions, 1.002 and 1.005, the latter with minor bug fixes, and are no longer in production. The PlayStation version is currently being distributed by SNK Playmore as a re-release version.
In 2006 and 2007, Metal Slug Anthology was released for the Wii, PlayStation 2 and PSP. This version included all the original Metal Slug games, 1 through 6 and X. It is also known as Metal Slug Complete.
Metal Slug is also on GameTap, with a two player online option, and was also released on the Wii's Virtual Console in 2008.[1]
There were plans to port Metal Slug to the Gameboy Advance (it was mentioned in the development section), however the official SNK website stated, "Due to the limited memory size of the GBA cartridge the plans for MS on GBA have been cancelled."Even though you can find the FINISHED Gba version on most rom/emulator sites. In 2006, according to a pamphlet handed out at the Tokyo Game Show by SNK Playmore, a version of "the original" Metal Slug is being brought to Xbox Live Arcade. SNK Playmore did not list a release date for the Metal Slug title.
Metal Slug was included as part of SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 which was released for the Wii, PlayStation 2, and PSP in 2008.
References
External links
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