Metal Slug Turns 25

Ahoy Captain Cats here and today we are going to look at a series that reinvented the run and gun genre in video games and that series is Metal Slug.

The series was created by Nazca Corporation back in 1996. Before I continue, here is a little back story about Nazca Corp. Before Nazca Corp was a company, a lot of the staff of Nazca Corp used to work for Irem. The last game that this group did before leaving Irem was a game called Gun Force 2 and that game was released in arcades back in 1994. Gun Force 2’s feel, style, gameplay, and over-the-top action made many fans of Metal Slug calling Gun Force 2 “Metal Slug Zero.” Also, Gun Force 2 was the last game by Irem to be released in arcades, while Gun Force 2 was the sequel to Gun Force, the two games are 100% different.

Soon after leaving Irem after the release of Gun Force 2, Nazca Corp was born and went on to create their first game, the now-classic arcade golf game Neo Turf Masters in early 1996. Later in 1996, they went on to release Metal Slug in arcades via the SNK Neo Geo arcade machines and the rest was history. The game follows Major Marco Rossi and Captain Tarma Roving of the Peregrine Falcon Squad and their mission is to fight against the army of General Donald Morden in order to prevent a massive coup d’état and the creation of a New World Order.

The game went on to re-invent the run and gun game style in every way and went on to become a massively successful game franchise. If you have the time go and play this game and if you like it I would recommend you play Metal Slug 3 and X.