I loved this game since I first laid eyes on it in a dingy basement of a "game center" in my little home town: it was just a bunch of PS1 consoles hooked up to CRT TVs and people paid by the hour to play and could pick any disk that was available. I always had a fond memories of playing Metal Slug in this game center but never had a chance to replay it. Then one day, when I was older and had a PS4 I decided to buy Arcade Archives re-release of it and I'm still playing it on PS4 and on RetroArch on my phone. I can almost 1cc it! Almost!

This is game is fun. This game is epic. This game will never waste your time and it will always deliver the most amount of fun in the least amount of time possible. Like arcade games tend to do. But this one is especially fun. It's got charm and it's just immediately apparent that of lot of sweat, blood, tears and soul went into this game. And I just can't stop feeling this immense respect and gratitude for the people who made this game and for their hard work.
I can feel emulated heart of Neo-Geo system creaking and budging under pressure just like Metal Slug vehicles, but it never gives in. It keeps going. Usually when I play Metal Slug, I imagine that I'm in the arcade and I have enough money for a couple of plays and I try maximize my gameplay time with it: just act like I would have acted in the arcade with limited money resources. That way I'm much more careful and focused when I play and dying really hurts! But it feels so good to win!