The first "Metal Slug" is just as explosively entertaining, ridiculously fun and hilariously funny the millionth time I've played thru it as it was the first. It's also just as challenging as ever. How the hell did people beat these games in the arcade? Players probably saved up eighty bucks just to get to the ending alone. There is some painfully noticable slowdown in the first and fourth stages, but that doesn't hold it back from being one of the best titles in the series. Highly recommend!
Holds up well as an arcade game, I'm just bad at it. Beautifully detailed backgrounds and animations take some of the sting out. While I feel like there are some increasingly cheap deaths in the last couple missions (and the final boss), I'm sure I could quickly figure out more efficient runs. Even with the chaos of missions 4 and 5, it's a very readable game. Plenty of better run 'n' guns exist and better had come out by 1996, but Metal Slug's personality goes a long way.