Metal Slug 4

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Metal Slug 4

Developer(s)	Mega Enterprise
Publisher(s)	Playmore
Release date(s)	June 12, 2002
Genre(s)	Run and gun
Mode(s)	Single player, 2 player Co-op
Platform(s)	Arcade, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Input	8-way Joystick, 4 Buttons
Arcade cabinet	Upright
Arcade system(s)	Neo-Geo (553 Mbit cartridge)
Arcade display	Raster, 304 x 224 pixels (Horizontal), 4096 colors

Metal Slug 4 (メタルスラッグ4, Metal Slug 4^?) is a run and gun video game for the Neo-Geo console/arcade platform created by SNK. It was released in 2002 for the MVS arcade platform and is the fourth game in the Metal Slug series. It is regarded by some as the worst and the second most difficult game of the series, as it was designed by a different company, was under considerable time and financial constraints, and contains mostly recycled content from earlier games.

Metal Slug 4 retains the exact same gameplay as previous titles, with the addition of some new enemies, bosses, weapons, and many new vehicles. The game, however, reutilizes many backgrounds/levels, and makes minimal effort to disambiguate 4 from the other games in the series. The game however, does add a unique refinement to games of this genre, a bonus combo system. It was later ported to Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2 along with Metal Slug 5 as a compilation.

1 Differences from previous games
2 Similarities to previous games
3 New additions
4 Trevor and Nadia
- 4.1 Trevor Spacey
- 4.2 Nadia Cassel
5 Development history
6 Fan Reaction and criticism
7 Developer intentions
8 External links

[edit] Differences from previous games

The obese mode and resulting weapon powerups while being in that mode have been virtually eliminated. The only opportunity to become fat is during mission 3.
There is almost no destructible scenery in the game. This could be seen as a downward trend peaking at 2/X, however it seems to be more attributable to the hand off to a new developer.
The controls for self-destructing a vehicle have changed. What once was a combo move performed by pressing 'A' and 'B' simultaneously, is now performed by pressing the 'D' button.
Instead of the typical 3 hits that Slugs take in previous the Metal Slug games (except for the Slug Flyer in 2/X), each Slug is given a different amount of armor, though they are represented by the same bar. Also, different enemies deal different damage to the Slugs.

[edit] Similarities to previous games

The first two levels are almost complete re-hashes from Metal Slug 1/2/X.
The concept of branching levels, first introduced in Metal Slug 3 is kept intact, though is not nearly as expansive.

[edit] New additions


Tarma making a cameo appearance in the first level of the game	One of the new enemies in the game, a rogue scientist	The boss, background, and foreground, are all elements of Metal Slug and Metal Slug 2

Metalish System: A bonus scoring system was added that allows the player to be rewarded depending on how many enemies are killed in the time allotted. The time allotted is determined from the type of emblem that is picked up. A time meter will appear on the top of the screen, and if the player lives through the end of the level, they will be awarded bonus points for badges that represent feats accomplished. However, picking up an emblem while in a Slug or using a Slug while under the effects of the emblem will cancel out the timer and thereby cancel out the bonus scoring,

Two New Characters: Replacing Tarma and Eri (who make cameo appearances in the game) are two new characters: Trevor and Nadia (see below). It should be noted that there were programming flaws for the 2 new characters. For Trevor, his melee animation forces him to remain still while performing the action, unlike the other melee animations of other characters. This causes the player to be in a vulnerable state as the player is unable to move to avoid any incoming projectiles or hazards. As for Nadia, whenever she performs a melee attack, she does not earn 500 points, but only earns 100 points. In all but Metal Slug: Super Vehicle 01, performing a melee attack on an enemy gives the player 500 points while using any other projectile weapons gives 100 points (in Metal Slug 1 performing a melee attack gives 300 points) . These flaws, however, can be circumvented by jumping or ducking with the respective character. Also, Trevor and Nadia are palette swaps of Tarma and Eri respectively, with minor edits.

Dual Machinegun/Two Machinegun [2H]: Although the player is shown wielding 2 Uzis, the player is only given 200 rounds of initial ammunition (300 In MS5). However, it is extremely powerful, capable or ripping through hordes of soldiers and armoured vehicles alike. Unlike the Heavy Machinegun, the Uzis are not able to arc to fire in between transitioning from a side attack to a top attack.

Monkey Transformation: Though this transformation is new, the sprite used for it isn't. If a player gets hit by a poison dart from a scientist carrying a rifle, the player will be transformed into a monkey that uses an Uzi. In this transformation, the player walks very slowly and is unable to pick up any weapons. The player gains the ability to jump really high and hang onto railings. Moving on a railing is faster than walking on the ground, but the player is unable to attack upwards. However, the player is usually safe from all attacks barring a grenade lobbed upwards by a Rebel soldier.

New Vehicles: Note that these are new vehicles and not new Slugs, although there is 1 new Slug. Many of these are actually enemy-driven vehicles which you can commandeer in certain portions of the game.

M-14 Bradley: Fires four unguided rockets.
Metal Crow: Although not new, this is the one time you can control it. First appeared in MS1 as the "Melty Honey" under the control of the Rebel soldiers. It is equipped with a blade-covered shield that shreds enemies.
Crawler: Mechanical version of the sub-human mutant (as those in Metal Slug 2/X's 5th level). Does not provide protection.

New Enemies: New enemies can be found in Metal Slug 4, although there aren't very much new additions to the overall force. But also the zombies are back and an addition of mummies in mission 4.

[edit] Trevor and Nadia

Apart of all the new additions, Metal Slug 4 incorporates 2 new characters to the history: Trevor and Nadia.

[edit] Trevor Spacey

Place of origin: Korea
Occupation: Sergeant in PF Squad, Government Forces
Date of birth: June 25, 2010
Age: 20
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 73 kg
Blood type: AB
Pet phrase: "I'm gonna make scrap metal of you, pal!"[1]

A computer prodigy by the age of 3, Trevor picked up his skills from his parents and by the time he was 7 he could understand complex computer engineering jargon and would upload vaccines to the net to fight viruses. While attending college he gained a reputation as a technical programmer and was recruited by the army, leading him to join Marco Rossi's Peregrine Falcon Squad where he is a Sergeant.

[edit] Nadia Cassel

Place of origin: France
Occupation: S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S., Intelligence Agency, Government Forces
Date of birth: August 6, 2012
Age: 18
Height: 170 cm
Weight: 48 kg
Blood type: B
Pet phrase: "This is just suh-weet, non?"[2]

Nadia was destined to be a model, if only she could stop gaining weight! Failing to do that she decided to join the army for the exercise despite her manager's objections. While in training she discovered her fighting potential and volunteered for the S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. special unit to gain battle experience leading to her being assigned to assist Fiolina Germi and Marco Rossi of the Peregrine Falcon Squad in stopping General Morden.

[edit] Development history

Metal Slug 4 is a product of a joint-venture between both MEGA Enterprise, a Korean game publishing and distribution company, and Noise Factory, a Japanese company focusing on creating musical scores for several Japanese games, as well as helping out with overall game creations as well.

When SNK declared bankruptcy, MEGA Enterprise still retained its right to distribute several of SNK's titles within Korea. MEGA went a step further by acquiring the authorization to continue to produce several of SNK's titles, primarily the Metal Slug franchise, which was a very popular arcade game series in South Korea.

Since MEGA Enterprise did not have the technical expertise to produce a game from scratch, they grouped together with Noise Factory, which helped to make the soundtracks of the game and several programming and design concepts. After spending approximately 400-million won (approximately US$ 390,000) into the production, Metal Slug 4 was finally released in December of 2002 after much anticipations within the arcade community.

[edit] Fan Reaction and criticism

When released, Metal Slug 4 was universally panned. Critics, desiring the epic spanning pathways and variety of design seen in 3 found little to like in 4, with many graphics taken from previous episodes in the series. MEGA Enterprise was criticised harshly, and sales were poor.

The reason for such harsh criticism was focused into a tight ball that spanned around many aspects of the game. Players criticized that the visuals were nothing if not recycled. They also reported that the gameplay was faulty, with the new characters' melee attacks being mediocre compared to the other two characters in the game, and soundtrack deviating away too much from the original scores.

The critical fire against Metal Slug 4 would burn strong until the release of Metal Slug 5 by SNK Playmore, the resurrected SNK. Heavily hyped before release, Metal Slug 5 provided the new artwork and enemies that had fans been expecting in Metal Slug 4, but some felt that the core game and level design was little improved over its erratic and disappointing predecessor. Some of the criticism specifically targeted at MEGA Enterprise's offering has since lightened, due to some fans' perceptions of the series as a whole beginning to decrease in quality after Metal Slug 3.

[edit] Developer intentions

Metal Slug 4 's original concept was not to add dramatically new things, but to return to the original intentions of Nazca in the first Metal Slug. Metal Slug 's original concept was that of a World War II background. The original concept artworks of the game featured many weaponry and vehicles from World War II, from both the United States to Nazi Germany. The first concept of the Girida-O (the unmanned green tank that runs over even its own friendly troops) looked strikingly close to American M4A3 Sherman Tank. Although the plans were scrapped, many of the vehicles still resembled World War II style design, including the level 3 boss, Iron Nokana, which is undoubtedly based from the German Schwerer Panzerspähwagen (SdKfz) 230 series, and Iron Iso (the immobile tank that usually sits behind a pile of sandbag and shoots you with its huge cannon) resembling the German Panzerkampfwagen (Pzkw) VI Ausf. E Tiger I. This effort to revert to the original concepts required several compromises which, in the end, led to lack of new styles in gameplay.

Where Metal Slug 3 was largely about throwing the player into ever more vibrant, wacky and original situations, Metal Slug 4 refines the core gameplay of the previous games. The combo system is only one aspect of this effort. Although each scene may not be as memorable as say, the final stage of Metal Slug 3, it all creates a game where skill and gameplay, not graphics and situations, takes priority.