Review: Metal Slug 3 (PS2)

SNK (now under the guise of Playmore) might have solved this problem. The solution itself may seem disgusting to any real fan of the series, and for anyone who comprehends the tense joy of holding onto that last life while fighting the level boss. In Metal Slug 3, you have infinite lives. You will die in every way possible, and you will have to hit continue, but unless you let the timer count down to zero, you can always come back with a heavy machine gun at the ready.

Obviously, a crucial amount of pressure is now missing; you can play however the heck you want, and you'll still see the end credits without breaking a sweat. Don’t worry though, the challenge of the game hasn't been taken away. It's still there. You just have to take it on in a different manner. When the game is finished, it will tell you how many continues you've used. So now it's about using as few continues as possible, and not holding on dearly to how many the game has allowed you. Due to this, you can practise the levels to your heart's content, not having to see the Game Over screen undesirably, but in the process making things much more desirable for newcomers. With three button controls, D-pad for movement and no fear of death, it's the ultimate introduction to the series. You can play it in co-op with your 8 year old brother, partner, casual gamer, dad, anyone in fact and it won't affect your overall performance in the end of game report. Everyone's happy.

If you are one of these people in question - who've never come across the Metal Slug games before - it's a platform shoot 'em up series, where finely balanced action and comic visuals have earned it huge respect and even adoration amongst many players. There are only three control functions in the game: shoot, jump, and fire grenades. The rest is down to your reflexes and wit, and therein lies the charm of Metal Slug.

Those who have played the recently released port of Metal Slug X on the PSone might have noticed the limitations of the console, due to some missing animations and not being anywhere near-perfect a representation of the arcade original. The PS2 has made amends with MS3 - the animation and backgrounds are perfect, so fluid that in the many times Gamestyle has finished the game, slowdown was never once noted no matter how hectic the action became. The amount of varied animation itself is staggering; Metal Slug 3 truly is comic violence, literally, since every death in the game is funny as well as gruesome. From the way you disintegrate with oozing purple blood as a zombie, through to the flamethrower-lit Nazi lookalike who'll fall to his knees and turn into ashes, it's a 2D visual treat from start to finish.

And one which will take the better part of two hours to finish (and that's the entire main game). There are five stages, ranging from the desert to an alien mothership. There's plenty to shoot at and ogle, and when you finish the game going through again can be a very different experience because there are a lot of different paths to take. One example comes when entering a tomb; you'll head underground facing mummies that can infect you, but you're incapable of running and need to defend yourself with nothing but a pistol, while going above the tomb entrance would take you to a mountain full of man-eating plants. There's also a wide range of vehicles to commandeer, including the infamous machine gun-mounted camel, a few new modes called Fat Island and UFO (when you finish the game) and last but not least there's that continue target you’ll want to aim for. Nevertheless, there is a limit to how many times you can play these five levels. The extra modes don't really add much lifespan, and it's a game you might want to bring out whenever a friend comes round who hasn't seen or played it yet.

As you might have noted, the version reviewed is Japanese as it's not been released anywhere else yet. If you're wondering how 'English-friendly' the game is, let Gamestyle report that in the entire game there is probably only two lines of Japanese (once before the Start screen, where Gamestyle assumes it's asking whether you want to load your file) - otherwise, everything else is in English. Even the credits. So if you're thinking about importing this, it's an advisable option considering the number of years that have passed between the release of Metal Slug X (PSone) in Japan and Europe.

Metal Slug 3 doesn’t have a huge lifespan. It doesn’t have fancy 3D graphics. What it does have is a guy shouting "Rocckkket Lauunchhher!" in a Texan accent while you're freeing a semi-naked evil general from the clutches of ETs who look like walking squids.

Rating: 7 / 10

Words by Usman Zia