Otherwise, this unlimited continue setup makes if far more accessible to a more casual action fan who wants to see how the game plays out. You could make the argument that it sucks the challenge out of the game, but it's also feasible to place your own limitations on the continue system if you plan on challenging yourself. If you die in Metal Slug XX, you simply restart where you left off, so you can switch between the playable characters every time you face the continue screen. The punishing difficulty can wear a little thin, but this particular title features a very lenient continue system, even more so than the limited number of continues given in Metal Slug 7.

If you thought that Contra on the NES was a difficult game, then you haven't seen anything yet. It's not going to win any game of the year awards, but if you're already into this kind of thing, it's worth checking out. It's pretty standard fare as far as 2-D action titles go, but it's well animated, the 2-D sprites are very well done, and the music is really solid. At the end of each stage, you'll encounter a huge boss that requires some quick timing, lots of grenades, and a little bit of luck to hit its multiple weak spots and kill it. You move along each stage, mostly going from left to right, shooting endless bullets at enemy soldiers who often die in gruesome, yet sometimes hilarious, manners.Īlong the way, you'll free POWs, who are your primary means of getting weapon upgrades, and you'll occasionally step into a slug vehicle, which is a tank-like weapon. The Metal Slug series is known to be maddeningly difficult, and Metal Slug XX doesn't change that notion. It features SNK characters (most notably the protagonist, Marco Rossi) battling it out against an evil army led by General Marden, who apparently has an endless number of enemy troops and weaponry. It's a difficult, often punishing, shooter series that hails from the old-school arcade and Neo-Geo days. If Metal Slug XX is your introduction to the Metal Slug series, then let me give you a little background. For everyone else, though, Metal Slug XX is worth a look, especially at the $20 price point. With that in mind, if you don't plan to play this game with another person in tow, then you should probably think about skipping this particular release altogether. That's because it's a slightly revamped port of Metal Slug 7 on DS from last year, and aside from adding the ad-hoc two-player mode, it doesn't differentiate itself very much from the original title. For hardcore Metal Slug fans who are also DS owners, Metal Slug XX on the PSP might look awfully familiar to you.

Metal slug xx