Metal Slug 2: Super Vehicle-001/II

This game adds a lot of fun odds and ends like weapons, items, and easter eggs, and brings in sci-fi/fantasy elements to add some more variety to the levels. It's stupid, but the fact that if you grab too many food items you become fat, *and* that there's a different variant of each weapon when you're fat, is pretty funny. There's a lot of stuff like that in this game. If you play these games for the vibrant pixel art and absurd attention to detail, there's a lot to love here.

But in terms of mechanical game design this is a step down. Too many of the new enemies feel like bullet sponges, and while the new levels have some cool ideas, there are many tedious repetitive corridor-based segments, especially in the back-half of the game. Unfortunately both of those aspects would get worse in Metal Slug 3.

The fact that 2 & 3 are rated above Metal Slug 1 on this site makes me wonder if people don't just blow through these games with unlimited credits. Metal Slug 1 is one of the tightest action games I've ever played, and is quite fair for an arcade quarter-muncher. In contrast, this has frustrating elements and can feel tedious if you try to play it legitimately.

Through perserverance and sheer force i was able to beat this one. Hard game for sure, and its basically an evolution of contra except with some of the best sprite work out there. SNK was really brilliant at this. You fight through the world, with stages in various locales including jungles, tombs and deserts.

I like the slapstick humour of this game, the high intense action godly visuals. In terms of gameplay it controls really well, but it almost feels like a bullet hell at times. The high difficulty makes it a frustrating game, even if you are playing it with infinite credits. The series doesnt change as much from entry to entry, so i reckon that this is a good starting point.