DISCLAIMERS:
- the reviewer has not finished the game with 100% completion
- the game was played on the Xbox One S using the version of the game intended for United States audiences
One year after the original Metal Slug 2, an updated version titled Metal Slug X was released. In 2017 Metal Slug X was rereleased as part of the Arcade Archives series by Hamster. This review will judge this rerelease on its own merits.
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Metal Slug X‘s gameplay is obviously tailored to the arcade experience. It is a fast paced run and gun game with one hit deaths everywhere. At the same time enemies are predictable and are not overpowered. It is surprisingly fair considering how many quarters the game seems like it would cost to fund. Playing the game feels very good and the controls are all basically perfect. There is a great variety of scenarios and areas that are interestingly designed. The consistently provides action, with the only break being between missions. Overall Metal Slug X does what it does essentially perfectly. The only real problem that one could have is how difficult the game is, though this isn’t much of a problem when this version has infinite free continues. The game is also rather short, as most arcade games are, but it justifies this by being highly replayable and scoring the player like most arcade games do.
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In terms of sound Metal Slug X is a bit above average. The music is all fitting and well made. Sound effects are about what one would expect, with only a few surprising exceptions. Overall Metal Slug X‘s sound is about as good as you could possibly ask for from an arcade game.
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Most of the effort that went into making Metal Slug X obviously went towards its technical aspects. It is among the best looking pixel art games ever made. Animations are all impressive, with some extremely impressive animations towards the end. The only real problem is the slowdown, which is emulated in this version rather accurately. It is obviously an improvement over the original Metal Slug 2, but this slowdown still hurts both the experience of playing the game and the smoothness obviously. This rerelease of Metal Slug X is about average in terms of emulator options, but it at least gets the basics right unlike some more unfortunate cases. Overall Metal Slug X is very impressive considering when it came out and it still looks much better than most modern 2D games.
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The plot of Metal Slug X is far from the focus. It is not immediately obvious what the story even is but looking on line will quickly reveal that there is something to it. The world is also not particularly well developed. Overall this is not a particularly strong aspect but it also hardly matters considering the genre and this game’s origins in the arcade.
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The value of this version of Metal Slug X is probably the only potential problem with it. Playing through the game once on an arcade machine would probably cost more than eight dollars worth of quarters, but this version was also released many years after that arcade version so standards are different now. The game absolutely still holds up in every aspect besides length. Still, people who will play the game more than once will easily get their money’s worth from this game. Playing it just once is also arguably worth it, though a lot of people seem to have a problem with games like these costing more than five dollars.
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Overall the reviewer would give the game an 8.5 out of 10.
