This game was ported from the Neo Geo MVS arcade version to the PSP as part of Metal Slug Anthology.

The anthology consists of 7 games, Metal Slug 1 to 6 including Metal Slug X (upgraded version of Megal Slug 1).

For players who were familiar with Contra, this game gives a bit of nostalgic feeling because there's a lot of similarities like power up guns and challenging stages and bosses but with a lot of differences too like saving prisoners.

Metal Slug 1 is the start of an epic run and gun series that would start a franchise of action pack, knife killing and destroying all enemies game and that's what we're gonna review.

---

Characters

Protagonists

This was taken from the gallery option of the game. Player 1 is Captain Marco Rossi, the guy in red and player 2 is Lieutenant Tarma Roving.

Antagonist

General Morden, A great official of the Regular Army who depicted to the Rebel Army due to the untimely death of his son.

---

Story

The story is a typical revenge plot by the antagonist.

Start Screen

General Morden, a great leader and noble soldier of the Regular Army who switched sides to the Rebel Army because of an accident that led to the bombing of Central Park and killing his son along the way.

So he seized the bases that consists of untested but powerful tanks known as metal Slugs or Type-001 Super Vehicles and started a plan for world domination.

In order to counter act his madness, the Regular Army deployed their best special force named Peregrine Falcons with their best soldier and first in command Captain Marco Rossi who wants to get equal on General Morden for killing many of his comrades together with second in command Lieutenant Tarma Roving who saved the president and encountered the great general in the past.

The story is pretty much not really existing in the game. You just go about and blast your way through enemy forces in all stages.

---

Graphics

If we're gonna look at the angle of this game being ported to the PSP, then graphics ain't that good but the original game was way back 1996, more than 20 years ago. And during that time, the graphics that Metal Slug 1 shown was unbelievable.

It has funny animations that made this game one of a kind like this enemy soldier who was surprised seeing the player.

Or these guys trying to cook a POW :-)

The masterpiece of the visuals is shown each time you go to a different stage. It was synchronized smoothly like a work of art that it makes you feel like watching an animated movie during that period. Very few games during that era can compare to the graphics of Metal Slug 1.

---

Sound

Music was the same from the arcade version meaning it still has the same magnificent, heart pounding action music that drives your adrenaline like crazy and pumps your blood faster than it should be. Orchestral and jazz music are present on each stages and sometimes even both that tells you the composers really put their heart into it.

Source

---

Gameplay

This is what made Metal Slug one of the best games ever. The gameplay is simple yet so addicting that you'll eventually dive into action the moment you start your mission.

Controls

For me, controls in the arcade is much smoother than the PSP version but the difference is almost never felt. D pad is for running left and right, shooting upwards or ducking, buttons for shooting, bombing and jumping.

Basic Weapons

Metal Slug 1 consists of several different weapons that will help you destroy all of your enemies and run straight through them all the way to the final boss.

Weapons such as:

The basic handgun which consists of unlimited number of bullets. This is your first weapon and will be with you throughout the game.

Unlike Contra where in you lose a life if you touch the enemy, Metal Slug doesn't have that and when near an enemy, you will automatically use a knife instead of the gun.

And you can also use the knife to release prisoners.

You also start 10 grenades per life which is much much stronger than guns and good for vehicle type opponents.

Special Weapons

Special weapons are bullet limited type of guns that are much much stronger than the basic handgun.

There are 4 and these are:

Heavy machine gun, a balance weapon that has the most number of bullets which is 200.

and can fire multiple shots in one press of a button.

Flame shot that has 30 bullets and is good for soldier type enemies.

And this is the reason why it's great for soldiers :-)

The homing rocket launcher that also consists of 30 bullets.

This one is also good for vehicle type enemies like the grenade.

The most powerful weapon of all, the shotgun.

That can devastate your enemy with 30 bullets. It can beat bosses with just a few shots.

Type-001 Super Vehicles

This is the vehicle the the final boss took away from the Regular Army, the Type-001 Super Vehicles and throughout the game, you will see 1 or sometimes 2 in each stage of this that you can use to fight enemies.

I don't know why General Morden wants this type of tank that can be defeated with just 3 shots lol. Its bullets are similar to the heavy machine gun but blue. It is unlimited and can be fired in any direction.

A great way to use this vehicle is by going out of the vehicle for a short amount time that would turn your character invincible for dodging enemy projectiles.

And instead of grenades, you can fire the cannon for a powerful blow to any enemies.

And ducking while pressing the grenade button will let you throw grenades instead of the cannon. Pressing the gun and jump button at the same time will do like a kamikaze attack that will destroy your vehicle in exchange for the most powerful attack.

Stages

The game has 6 stages and every time you finish a stage, the next one will be of higher difficulty and there would really be a gazilion enemies that you will encounter.

I compiled screenshots of the beginning and bosses of each stages.

Stage 1

Boss

Stage 2

Boss

Stage 3

Mini Boss

Boss

Stage 4

Boss

Stage 5

Boss

Stage 6

Boss

Here's a pic of General Morden after you kick his ass!

Every time you finish a stage, prisoners that you saved will be counted and you will receive additional scores for each.

And after finishing the game, you have the bragging rights if you got the highest score and the world is finally at peace for the meantime.

---

Overall

Playability is approximately maybe an hour to 2 hours to finish on average but veterans can finish it in under 30 minutes. Replaying the game is not as fun as the first time especially if you finish it in hard mode because the enemies you fought throughout the whole game are the same if you replay it.

But overall, it's one of the best games to play especially with a friend because there's so much action and secrets that you can experience and locate playing this. Prisoners, power ups, full of action atmosphere, funny animation and so much more.

All photos without source were taken from my PS Vita

---

---

If you find value on this post, feel free to share it.

Join our amazing Filipino Steemit Community on Discord especially if you need tips and guides about Steemit

Steemit Philippines Discord

gif was made by @malos10