Metal Slug

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Nothing has come close to this game in terms of graphics, excluding fighters of course. Whenever someone brings up "good looking sprites" the metal slug series is always a granted. Not only did the game look good but it demanded cool gameplay from the player. It's something that even the audience has a lot of fun just watching.

Another strength of the metal slug series, at least up until 3, was that it's scenarios are cool. When the sequel for metal slug came around the team decided to go for a very bold move and ditched the WWII-exclusive theme and added sci-fi and supernatural elements to the game, and cute playable girls too!

Even if you aren't very good at the game and kept dying the team made sure that the various death animations looked solid as well so you were always entertained. Metal Slug SV-001 through Metal Slug 3 are the pinnacle of video games and is not something that can be copied very easily as they require care in not just the graphics but scenarios as well. The direction of metal slug, at this point, became a love letter to action movies. Every metal slug that came afterward was just a retread of previous enemies for the most part, boring scenarios, and no real innovation for the series until 6, but even that could be considered more harmful for the series than good as it asks you to stop playing as who you like the most and play as who has a perk you want to 1cc the game easy (It's Tarma), as well as adding two more buttons to the gameplay, sacrificing it's "simple controls" feature the series has been touting since the beginning.

What do you think of Metal Slug, /ic/? I like it. I see it as a huge inspiration and a goal to aim for as well.