Metal Slug 5 Review

By Matt Martin Published 13 March, 2006

Wooden snail 0.

Version tested: PlayStation 2

A big, steaming pile of dog poo. No, not the game silly, but one of the trophies you can collect during your Metal Slug 5 adventure. Oh, the mischief!

How do you feel about paying £20 for 51 minutes of game? My first trip through the five stages of Metal Slug 5 clocked in at under an hour, and that included pausing to discuss tea options. Chips, of course, dear. Don't make me tell you again.

There's nothing wrong with short games - we do have lives outside of gaming that involve work, women, babies, Ribena and gin - but ten minutes per level is tight. Especially when you consider that over in the US, both Metal Slug 4 and 5 are packed on one disc for a budget price. Call Nicky Campbell and that woman with the mole from Watchdog, it's a scam! If SNK and Ignition are reading this, shame on you. Shame, shame, shame.

Chances are you'll already know if an old-school side-scrolling shooter is your thing or not. If it's not, move along. Nothing to see here. Except perhaps for a really dirty joke further down the page about a woman and a horse.

Sluggin' it out

1

There's a new game to exploit there - Erwin Rommel's Extreme Tank Commander

Metal Slug 5 is an arcade-perfect shooter, the kind populated by full-fat pixelated sprites blasting the crap out of each other. Choose from one of four different-looking but identical-playing heroes and annihilate every soldier, helicopter, ninja and bazooka-toting badguy while running to the right hand side of the screen. It's fun! It is actually fun in a simple, loud, daft, bright and cute way.

And as you run you'll come across all manner of cheeky little sprites, jumping and stabbing and shooting like hyperactive evil pixies. Previous titles have thrown in all sorts of varied enemies, but this chapter tends to keep everything military themed, except for the killer squids in level four. The Metal Slugs of the title are vehicles - a 'copter, tanks, armoured car and the excellently-named Slug Mariner - all of which increase your firepower and keep the proceedings nice and lively, like bringing the jelly and ice-cream out immediately after you've played pass the parcel. No resting here, no time for sleeping lions.

If the party-popper graphics don't induce epilepsy, perhaps the soundtrack will coax the aural equivalent from your ears. When it's not an 80's synthesiser noodling off on one, it's a guitar solo that sounds like it was recorded by a long-haired ageing rocker in leather kecks standing on top of a mountain, gurning a lot and pointing to his invisible fans. It's awesome dude, in a Gene Simmons kind of way.

Love is the slug

2

Maracas: always the weapons of choice against heavy artillery.

Metal Slug 5 is a guilty pleasure. It may sport the Neo Geo graphical style from before 3D was a twinkle in a coders' eye, and it may be the very definition of linearity, long before sandbox gameplay was a bulge in a games designer's jeans, but it's still entertaining. It does conjure the thrill of standing in the Golden Slots arcade in Rhyl, shelling loose change into a wonky cabinet while trying to avoid the creepy perv with the Jeremy Beadle hand.

But if arcade games had been made this easy the Golden Slots would have gone bust much sooner, and not because police found a stash of animal videos in the manager's office. They say olden days games were hard, but Metal Slug 5 (which despite looking like your granddad made it is actually only from the year 2000) is so blimmin' easy there's no incentive to hone your skills and tackle the furious beast. With unlimited continues you can get killed but start from the exact same spot, along with a nice juicy machine gun power-up to blaze through enemies, just to give you a helping hand. No one's stopping you from playing through it again of course, but unless you've got a videogame form of OCD there's not much point. All that's on offer after completion of the game is a static screen of your trophies where you'll find your prized dog-burger along with a rat, fruit, lizard, barrel and a pussy cat. Thanks SNK!

But hey, it keeps you from hanging around on street corners and spitting at old ladies, then job done. It'll pass the time if for some reason you're sitting around twiddling your thumbs in anticipation of the release of Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run or something. If you're after a quality retro package you should opt for Taito Legends or something with lots of Sonic games in it. If you're a Neo Geo completist, or some kind of freak that can't think of a better way to spend £20 for an hour's debauchery, then go ahead. Metal Slug 5 is fun while it lasts.

And the score? 648,249 and I input my initials as NOB. Oh the score out of ten? It's...

5 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Matt.

About Matt Martin

Matt Martin joined GamesIndustry in 2006 and was made editor of the site in 2008. With over ten years experience in journalism, he has written for multiple trade, consumer, contract and business-to-business publications in the games, retail and technology sectors.

Read more articles from Matt by visiting the Matt Martin archive page.

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Comments (40) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Genji #1 6 years ago

    /looks for the dirty joke about woman and horse

    Where is it?

  • Hog-lumps #2 6 years ago

    I think he lied...........

  • itamae #3 6 years ago

    Let me be the first one to say that this review completely misses the point of games like these.

  • Genji #4 6 years ago

    Bloody hell. I read the whole review in anticipation.

    OK. Someone has to come up with a dirty joke involving a woman and a horse. Right now.

  • smelly #5 6 years ago

    How about something to do with the lovely debby mcgee removing smeg from a horses cock on ch5's the farm?

    (and then impying something to do with paul daniels).

    - but im no-where near clever enough for that.

  • Genji #6 6 years ago

    @smelly

    Being a non-European, I have no idea what you are talking about.

  • Hog-lumps #7 6 years ago

    @smelly

    Being a non-European, I have no idea what you are talking about.

    Don't worry, neither do us Europeans!

  • Genji #8 6 years ago

    Touche.

  • gerald #9 6 years ago

    I googled a joke to ease your sexual excitement...
    ---
    A minister gave a talk to the Lions Club on sex. When he got home, he couldn't tell his wife that he had spoken on sex, so he said he had discussed horseback riding with the members.

    A few days later, she ran into some men at the shopping center and they complimented her on the speech her husband had made.

    She said, "Yes, I heard. I was surprised about the subject matter, as he's only tried it twice. The first time he got so sore he could hardly walk, and the second time he fell off."

  • NeoGoaT #10 6 years ago

    "Let me be the first one to say that this review completely misses the point of games like these. "

    +1

    Metal Slug 3 is much better though.

  • Hog-lumps #11 6 years ago

    While I love Metal Slug, I'm annoyed that they didn't package MS 4&5 in the same box like the Americans got..........

  • lost_soul #12 6 years ago

    Better than 4, but still can't hold a candle against the first 3 Slugs :-(

  • smelly #13 6 years ago

    The metal slug games would be PERFECT for the PSP!!!

    Lets have them!!!!

    (pref all of them on one disc!)

  • smelly #14 6 years ago

    In fact, sony. If you put all the metal slugs onto one psp disc, i'll bite the bullet and buy myself a psp.

  • Cappy #15 6 years ago

    Strange... everybody else seems to think that Metal Slug 5 hit the arcades in 2003 rather than 2000. Its not like you could check and get your facts right with a magical reference tool (like the internet) though is it?

    I was not aware that Metal Slug 5 had a new feature that FORCED you to use continues either. You chose to ruin the game for yourself.

    The score is probably about right but the review is just wrong.

  • Hog-lumps #16 6 years ago

    a new feature that FORCED you to use continues either. You chose to ruin the game for yourself.

    Is there a feature that limits continues though? I mean it takes a very disiplined man to say no to the question "continue? Y/N"

    edit: or is that just me?!
    Edited by Hog-lumps at 13/03/06 @ 12:22

  • Cappy #17 6 years ago

    Well, I never use the unlimited continues available when playing games in MAME either. Maybe its just me.

    But its not acceptable to argue that the game is less than an hour in length and easy, then blast through it using continues. The review should also have taken the play experience when NOT using continues into account. I would expect a reviewer to play the game properly before deciding if the game is too easy.

  • smelly #18 6 years ago

    I get replay out of this games by trying to beat hi score, or doing it in 1 continue, etc.

    So for me lifespan of these games is 10 or 20 times that of a straight play through, maybe more.

    I'd still rather have it on psp (or even DS) though. PSP seems ideal for these games!

  • JHuxley #19 6 years ago

    "I get replay out of this games by trying to beat hi score, or doing it in 1 continue, etc."

    Likewise. The MVS version allows you unlimited continues on freeplay, you just have to challenge yourself to set a new highscore, get as far as possible on one continue etc. Use your imagination.

  • LetsGo #20 6 years ago

    So it got 5 cos it was 20 quid?

    If someone could afford 20 quid, would it get a higher score?

  • Daikon #21 6 years ago

    Some games are made to give you hours of storyline and gameplay.
    Some games are made just to give you a quick blast but what a blast it is!
    5/10?
    Wake up and smell the coffee.

  • jlaakso #22 6 years ago

    I haven't played this. MS4 was really rather bad, so I'm not that curious either. But I would be surprised if it was actually easy. The original three certainly were not.

    I didn't think anyone played using continues, unless they were practicing the game. I usually go through an arcade game once pumping continues, just to know what's coming, and then get down to properly play it. That is, using just the one credit.

  • Dirtbox #23 6 years ago

    Er. I'm not following...

    This is arguably the best game in the Metal Slug series.
    And arguably it's the best game on the Neo Geo.
    And Neo Geo is arguably one of the finest arcade game developers in the world.

    What's wrong with this picture?

    I didn't see Ikaruga being marked down for only being a whole minute shorter than this and frankly this type of niche hardcore gamers game should be marked up for the simple fact that the games industry needs to be shown more support directed at the niche releases.

    Oh I dunno. i get what Matt's going on about, but I just don't cpmpletely agree with sure a harsh score. I found It has plenty of replay, but there you go. I didn't spend 20 quid on it.
    Edited by Dirtbox at 13/03/06 @ 14:17

  • freedumb #24 6 years ago

    'Let me be the first one to say that this review completely misses the point of games like these.'

    It seems to be a continuning trend on EG these days.
    Edited by freedumb at 13/03/06 @ 14:17

  • Hog-lumps #25 6 years ago

    I didn't see Ikaruga being marked down for only being a whole minute shorter

    True, but at least in Ikuruga you had to play it for hours and hours to unlock more continues (and eventually infinate), i.e. you cant complete it in you first sitting - well I couldn't anyway!! :)
    Edited by Hog-lumps at 13/03/06 @ 14:30

  • bunglebonce #26 6 years ago

    At least there's consistency though.

  • Zuiyo #27 6 years ago

    Using continues is like using cheats or codes. No fun to be had there. If you're not man enough to press "NO" when you get killed, then you will never appreciate a game like this one. Go back to your Madden 06 or something.

    In arcade titles, if you press continue, your score goes back to zero. That means you're virtually accomplished nothing. That you're a cheat. Where's the fun? Beat the game with a credit, try to get high scores and you'll see how long the game lasts then.

    (I'm still playing Gradius V and having a big laugh everytime)

  • jlaakso #28 6 years ago

    "True, but at least in Ikuruga you had to play it for hours and hours to unlock more continues (and eventually infinate), i.e. you cant complete it in you first sitting - well I couldn't anyway!! :)"

    I don't see why forced repetition is a good thing. I love Ikaruga to bits, but I don't know if it was any better for not giving you infinite continues to begin with.

    But I guess it's about how people see "completion". Just seeing everything the game has to offer is not the thing for me, the successful gameplay (which you only witness when 1CC:ing the game) is the thing. I feel... bad... for using continues. They totally ruin the experience for me, making the game a sideshow and not a videogame.

  • Hog-lumps #29 6 years ago

    If you're not man enough to press "NO" when you get killed, then you will never appreciate a game like this one.

    Wow, easy man! Actually I spent a lot of my youth playing metal slug in the arcade (and I didn't have enough money for multiple credits back then.......)

    All I meant was 'is there an option to set the continues to 1 in the options menu'? If so then everybody’s happy! As for not appreciating a game like this, well I just mentioned I like Ikaruga so I must have a little appreciation of arcade games with limited continues..........

    (edit damn spelling)
    Edited by Hog-lumps at 13/03/06 @ 15:06

  • smoison #30 6 years ago

    If the game lets you contenue until you finish, its THE GAME that choses.
    The GBA version does not give you that option, thus forcing you to replay the levels ALOT.

    Its obvious that if a (NORMAL) person plays this, they will finish it in under an hour. Great review, and underlines the biggest flaw of the game. TAnd to MOST people 50 Mins play is not worth 20 quide.

    If you want this on PSP, emulate.

    Edited by smoison at 13/03/06 @ 16:37

  • Feanor #31 6 years ago

    "Using continues is like using cheats or codes. No fun to be had there. If you're not man enough to press "NO" when you get killed, then you will never appreciate a game like this one. Go back to your Madden 06 or something."

    Umm, what made you drag Madden 06 into this?

  • lost_soul #32 6 years ago

    "This is arguably the best game in the Metal Slug series"

    NO!!!

    Slugs 1,2,X and 3 were brilliant games; 4 and 5 are just shadows of the earlier greatness.

  • kentmonkey #33 6 years ago

    I'm getting deja-vu here. Gunstar on the GBA anyone?

  • Dirtie #34 6 years ago

    EASY? Are you joking?! Number 5 is probably the hardest out of the lot (either that or 4), just because you can get unlimited continues on the PS2 doesn't make it easy. Let me ask you, how many times did you have to continue? Because I bet if you'd used that many in the actual arcade, it would have costed a miniature fortune.
    Try getting through the entire game in under 5 continues, then tell me if it's easy.

    Also, playing any Metal Slug game multiplayer is awesome, it adds a whole new level of depth to the game. If you haven't yet, I suggest you do.

    Replayability? I find myself replaying Metal Slug games again and again, because even though I know what's going to happen, I still find it incredibly enjoyable. And if you're hardcore, it takes a whole lot of work to master a Metal Slug game. One other thing, if you actually slow down and notice the all the alternative routes (there's replayability by itself), the secrets and the incredibly high amount of detail that goes into these, I think you may just appreciate it a little more.

    Anyway, 5 is almost the worst of the lot, with the stupid techno music and poor design in places (probably what makes it hard in the first place), 4 is even worse, 3 was definitely the cream of the crop, with 1, 2 and X all being awesome as well.

    648,249 is a ladie's score by the way - oh that's right, the score resets to 0 each time you continue.
    Edited by Dirtie at 14/03/06 @ 03:53

  • Swaain #35 6 years ago

    As always when it comes to games like this, the EG review is missing the point - entirely. At least, this time you didn't *complain* about the unlimited continues. Hey, there's progress!

    Seriously : if you don't have anyone on your staff that likes these games for what they are & is at least moderately proficient at them, don't bother.

  • TheMoonRat #36 6 years ago

    EG reviews games for the general public not hardcore side scrolling shoot em up fans. Yes some of you enjoy playing it over and over and over for high scores. But is that something the average joe would do? Unlikely; if they got this game they'd play through and be shocked thats its completed before an hour is up! These games aren't inventive; don't break new moulds; don't offer much content and aren't aimed at the masses at all. But reading the review text; the game sounded quite a bit of fun. So I know everything I need to know about the game!

  • Genji #37 6 years ago

    Is it too much to ask for a console port of an arcade game to have some extras to increase its longevity? This was one of the failings of the Dreamcast, may it rest in peace.

  • Swaain #38 6 years ago

    You wrote :
    "EG reviews games for the general public not hardcore side scrolling shoot em up fans".

    Is that true? I don't want to blow this MS5 review out of proportion, but I think that's a really shoddy excuse as I'd be willing to bet that Eurogamer's readership is comprised *solely* of well-informed gaming enthusiasts that have access to various sources of information. (BTW : Is there info to substantiate this claim? There should be!)

    The average public doesn't need reviews to buy the latest incarnation of FIFA soccer; if the average games buyer cared about EG reviews, Driver 3 wouldn't have been a massive hit, and Beyond Good & Evil would've sold truckloads.

  • blicko #39 6 years ago

    This review is so poor I reckon this guy (Matt Martin) is actually Martin Coxall. Martin compensates for his lack of gaming knowledge by writing nonsense and giving low scores. Yes Martin, your reviews still suck.

    I wish I'd picked up on this thread earlier, but I just don't come here that often anymore. It's being going to the dogs since they started hiring freelance journalists who really aren't gamers. They expect us to read garbage opinions from non-gamers?

    I mean, unlimited continues? Of course there is, it's a friggin arcade game. Trying to get through it without using a continue is the point of the game, moron.

    This is right up there with Coxall's use of a keyboard to control a racing game.

  • bloodflowers #40 6 years ago

    Can we please see reviews from people qualified to write them? This is getting tiresome now. There are a million bad things (well, several) that you could level at MS5, but being easy and 2D graphics are not two of them.