metal slug slugged

i finally broke out of my up-to-now handheld-only gaming year by continuing my exploration of run ‘n gun games outside of the contra series with the first game in the metal slug series, via metal slug anthology on wii. the game was enjoyable (and it was nice not to have to worry about running out of quarters/continues), and doesn’t take itself too seriously (the POWs you rescue hide the bonuses they reward you with behind a pair of striped boxers before revealing them with a flourish). the game places more of an emphasis on bombs and vehicles (not to mention violence) than other games in the genre that i’ve played, which helps give it a different feel, but otherwise there wasn’t a lot that felt unique, especially compared to the most recent game in the genre i’ve finished, gunstar heroes. the weapons feel pretty standard, as do the locales and boss fights. i went ahead and played a bit of the sequel and already it looks like it’ll be more unique, but for now i’m going to set the disc aside.

metal slug links slugged:
- review at nintendolife.com
- entry at wikipedia
- random: One-Life Clear Metal Slug Without Pressing Up Or Down

taking a shot at early 2-D shooter xevious

i had heard about namco’s classic early shooter xevious but didn’t have much interest in it until a 3-D version of it was ported over to the 3DS. in preparation for tackling that version i spent some time getting acquainted with the version of the original that appears on namco museum megamix for wii.

the game has a unique feel due to the distinction between enemies in the ground vs. the air, and hardcore gaming 101 notes that “it was the first vertical scrolling shooter to have backgrounds graphics that weren’t a simple starfield”. they also point another of its unique features, which is that:

Xevious is programmed to react to the player’s behavior. If you’re too proficient at killing a certain kind of enemy, the AI will send other kinds. Similarly, when your score increases, the waves of enemies intensify. Bombing a nearby Zolbak will reduce the enemy forces’ aggressiveness for a while, making this otherwise harmless object a priority target for survival.

they also note that “Another fine example of Xevious’ well implemented difficulty setting is its sophisticated checkpoint system: if you get through more than 70% of an area and die, you’ll start your new life from the next one, thus reducing frustration,” and that “The massive enemy flying fortress Andor Genesis is considered one of the first bosses ever in the history of videogames.”

putting historical appreciation aside, from a modern perspective i found the game to have some major drawbacks. the single boss character is difficult to get past, and there’s one set of enemies in particular (called zakato apparently) that explode almost on sight and i found almost impossible to avoid. the version on namco museum megamix provides a stage select which was welcome, but otherwise the game feels like it was designed to munch quarters. i don’t see the point in the randomly hidden bonuses, and the controls felt a bit sluggish, although that could’ve been in part due to the version i played. i did enjoy the interplay between the air vs. the ground enemies and the enemies’ unique behaviors in general. the seamless transition between stages is noteworthy, but when combined with the “skip a stage if you die more than 70% through it” it did make tracking my progress a bit difficult.

all in all not my favorite arcade game, certainly, but enjoyable enough and a historically interesting early 2-D shooter.

take a shot at these xevious links:
- hardcore gaming 101 provides an overview of other entries in the series
- entry at strategywiki.org with images of all the enemies and the game’s elaborate backstory (not sure where the story comes from, though, since this was an arcade game)
- guide to all the hidden SOL towers
- racketboy’s recent “Games That Defined the Shmups Genre” article highlights xevious as an influential early classic
- entry at wikipedia
- a “let’s play” video series at 8bitcity.blogspot.com

arcade rampaged

i’ve randomly had a copy of rampage: total destruction for wii for ages, and i finally sat down to give it some quality time. i’ll get back to that game in my next post, because i focused first on the original arcade version that’s included as an extra and incidentally is also available on other collections such as midway arcade treasures.

for anyone who doesn’t already know, rampage casts you as one of three monsters (basically king kong, godzilla, and a huge werewolf), and your only goal is to “rampage” from single-screen city to single-screen city, punching all the buildings enough so that they crumble to the ground. i have vague memories of seeing rampage in arcades when i was a kid (i think partly because it was memorable that when you’re defeated your naked untransformed human self slinks off screen) and a big draw was that you could play with not just one other person, but two. the game has the same mindless co-op appeal typical of beat-’em-ups, but the premise gives the setting and gameplay (or “theme and fun” as nintendo power would call it) a unique feel. for 1986 the game is quite well presented, and the hulking monsters strike a pretty good balance of being slow-moving but still easy to control.

the game is definitely designed to be a quarter muncher, though, as it becomes immediately clear that the humans have the advantage and are going to win out in the end, especially considering that the game loops after day 128. after playing through more than 30 levels i had had enough, even though the ability to eat humans somehow never seems to get old. the three characters seem to be interchangeable (although it’s nice to see they made one of them be a female), and the different cities you visit are completely indistinguishable: the gameplay is pretty much exactly the same from level to level. if i’d actually had to pump in real quarters to a machine i would’ve strategized a bit more, but it’s hard to imagine progressing very far on one quarter even with the optimum strategy in place (chasing a high score isn’t emphasized much here since there are unlimited continues). the human sprites, bullets, and items are all a bit too small, so much so that i don’t even recall seeing many of the items that are apparently in the game.

despite these complaints, the game is mindless fun and good for a half hour of co-op gaming. it’s fairly easy to accidentally punch or jump on your buddy, but that just adds to the co-op entertainment factor. on the boyfriend-o-meter this one scored surprisingly high, and i suspect that it’ll also be enjoyed by similarly casual gamers.

rampage through these rampage links!
- good overview of the game at arcade-history.com
- thorough FAQ at gamefaqs
- entry on the game and the series at wikipedia
- apparently a movie is in the works??