Unfortunately, these were the two elements lacking in most new game developments - where it had become easier to create a single 3D model than animate every frame of every sprite that ran across the screen. Where graphics previously had to be reduced in size, colour and frequency on-screen, there was no longer any restriction other than the developer's imagination and dedication. In the year 2000, when Metal Slug 3 first appeared on the NeoGeo, games storage and system capabilities had finally reached a level which fully unlocked the potential of this sadly dwindling style. Two-dimensional graphics have rarely, if ever, been so lavishly represented as in this game. Travelling across the globe from the Middle-Eastern desert to the bottom of the sea and the bowels of the pyramids, the wildly outrageous antagonists that teem throughout every inch of the game are awe-inspiring.īut if we're talking about jaw-dropping stimulation with Metal Slug 3, the graphics take the entire bakery. Quite how these two troublesome circumstances merge is what the game's all about, and although it doesn't make any particular difference in the long run, it's a premise that provides an incredible wealth of colourful adversaries and environments as the characters attempt to track down the mastermind behind the evil plot. This game's as good to watch as it is to play. The machines of Metal Slug 3 are each a work of art in their own right. But another, indiscernible menace is also looming - kidnapping farm animals, interfering with government officials, raising the dead and doing naughty things to inquisitive scientists. With the nefarious General Morden's rebellion long since crushed, the super-soldiers' special talents are called upon once again when rumours of his reappearance are whispered in the darkest corners of the globe. The premise is equally simple, yet perfectly adequate to establish the protracted adventures of the four well 'ard heroes - Marco Rossi, Tarma Roving, Eri Kasamoto and Fiolina Germi. It might be an incredibly simple case of button-bashing and bullet-dodging on the surface, but Metal Slug 3 just keeps going - and continually evolves the play mechanics to keep even the most apathetic gamer teetering on the edge of their seat, exhausted by the action one second and energised by the change in incredible scenery the next. While it certainly does appeal to the quick-gaming-fix fraternity, it also highlights a void in the 360's catalogue that any dedicated follower of Microsoft doctrine should be excited to fill. From a cursory glance at the simplistic run 'n' gun game mechanics, there's no reason to think Metal Slug 3 would find appeal with any demographic other than the ex-arcade creeper or teenage ADD sufferer, but that's not the entire story. Vomin' up blood as a zombie to kill a bunch of baddies is just too much fun to describe.īut what's really fascinating here is the fact that a vaguely ageing title appears to have found its niche market on a modern console - this is Metal Slug 3's ideal home, and you'd be a fool not to make it welcome in yours.Ĩ00 Microsoft Points isn't a huge amount by any means (a mere drop in the ocean for those wise enough to have given Christmas a wide berth), though it does initially sound a tad weighty for a game that's so difficult to pigeonhole. This time it's reminded us that a Live Arcade game doesn't have to be a two-minute retro-revival it can be a lengthy, wonderfully gruelling adventure of non-stop violence and mature, yet cartoony circus of balletic destruction. Fortunately for SNK, the sheer weight of high-octane passion that permeates every jagged pixel of this NeoGeo classic ensured it stood proud amidst the sea of 3D games it was born into.Īnd this hasn't changed - Metal Slug 3 once again gets the dust blown off its noble cartoon graphics and emerges as an unforeseen champion of another gaming realm. The fourth game in SNK's much-lauded series (following on from 1, 2 and X), it was a bold move from the start when the developers pushed ahead into the new millennium with a 2D hand-drawn platform shooter. Metal Slug 3 is neither a short nor a complex game, but a massively detailed epic in the classic arcade style - a vision of what the coin-op's silver age could have looked like had it come along ten years later. But now Metal Slug 3's arrived we've found the sturdy middle ground 'twixt hard and fast gameplay and involved console devotion. True enough, that's a significant part of its charm and an aspect that broadens the 360's horizons in a way that would be difficult to achieve with commercial, off-the-shelf releases. I hadn't noticed how much Xbox Live Arcade was populated by short, uneventful, casual games.
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