Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★ ★ ★)

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Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★ ★ ★)

Post by slugflyer »

It was new years eve, the year 2000. Neo Geo on the AES. I started a game without realising what time it would be if I kept playing.. I risked entering 2001 with an AES stick in my hand, away from my family as the clock struck 00:00. It was 23:45 and I didn't care about the world. The AES version you see, had no credit options - you had lives. You couldn't change that in the settings.

I've followed metal slug since way back in the days when arcades were more than something that existed in museums or eBay, or threads entitled 'members gallery'. I would laugh because no one knew what the arabic said on the backgrounds of the levels in metal slug 1, 2 and X. And I wonder how many people know who will read this what those banners said. It was so funny, to think that someone who was Japanese took the time to actually write something like that on the levels, I knew this was for me.

The game mocked humanity. It mocked video games. It mocked it's customers with it's insane difficulty. And let me talk about that for a second - because - to really play metal slug is not to finish the game. It's really about points - surviving the levels with prisoners in hand. If you die, you lose your prisoners. And chances are, you'll lose your motivation to finish the level because you won't beat your high score. And the next time you do it, you'll realise that you shot at the floor and mushrooms popped up that you NEVER knew were there in 11 years for an extra 100,000 points.

I fell in love with the vehicle you see in my avatar, my username. The scenes where you would dip in through the clouds and then a jetpack. The multiple paths. The insanely amazing pixel art that still, to this day, in a world polluted with 'indie game = pixel art', nothing touches. I've even observed this 'neo dev' nonsense trying to rip off metal slug - and the way they would jump in a game made 15 years later didn't TOUCH what the SNK Dream team made. This game is something else…

SNK is DEAD. HERE COME THE PORTS. HERE COME THE FACEPALMS. :mad:

Playstation 2 version was nice because it had some neat little modes. But the graphics, they didn't do the game justice. They were very blurry but credit to it's makers, it was actually decent. In fact, those modes were really cool. You could compete with a friend to eat the most if I recall correctly. Still - i'm not comparing extras, I'm comparing METAL SLUG 3, the arcade game. I still found myself playing my AES copy. I even got the Japanese Ps2 version because of the artwork. It was lovely box art.

It came out on the xbox (original), and that was pretty much the same story. Time went on and then we were given the Xbox 360 digital download. At this point, I started to get disillusioned with these money spinners. What the actual hell happened here.

To this day, nothing upsets me more than the digital version of XBOX 360 Slug 3. You were FORCED to have these 'optimised' piece of crap graphics - long gone were the pixels and it looked like it was painted in water colours! If you could look past that, there was one thing no slugger could over look - controls. You actually couldn't change the configuration. What on earth. It wouldn't be so bad if they were in the same arrangement as the arcade, but they weren't. As a result I couldn't play it, I couldn't look at it either.

I even bought an SNK 19" arcade cab on this forum just to play slug 3 in it's purest form. That was great, it really was. I thought that was as good as it would get - and at this point, the android, iOS , wii anthology etc etc versions had all come and gone from my memory in the blink of an eye. I needed buttons I could press. I needed my original excitement again.

Today, I read that Slug 3 made it to the PS4 on the Arcade Otaku news landing page - I love that page. Insta-buy. Given my history, it had now been a year or so since I last played slug 3. The last time was actually on my Analogue Interactive MVS version, connected to a TV you could only dream of when you were a kid. It was great, but still, the TV and the signal I had from the MVS, well, you can imagine as good as the analogue interactive is, and it was lovely, you could still say - there must be better.

Guys, Metal Slug 3 on the PS4 is *bliss*. I had the bit above because I wanted to demonstrate how much I love this game - that what i'm saying isn't just a whim, but something based on love. The team who have put this version out did the following so well:

1) The graphics are GOD DAMN BETTER THAN PERFECT. Something about the colours are just amazing - the feeling I had is perfect. Don't come to me with MAME. This just felt better than any Slug I experienced since my new years even on the AES when I went through it for the first time, the excitement. The filter options are Scanline (don't bother), Smooth (really, ignore this, but sadly its the default and I wonder how many people use this without realising they can change to: FILTER = NONE. GOOD GOD. Next, set the image size to LARGE. Don't you dare 'stretch'. The default is normal, ignore that. Next, get rid of the stupid borders and make it black on either side. Im playing this on my projector screen, 120". This is the BEST Metal Slug 3 experience I have had.

It's SO DAMN SHARP. So vivid. So clean.

2) Stay patient - there are no PS4 compatible joysticks, other than imported TE's. Hori VLX on the way. :awe: .

3) The sound. I heard sound effects I had never observed. Some of the audio was so much clearer. This version sounds AMAZING. General Morden, the bullets, the screams, the slugs… all crystal clear and in proper stereo, obviously.

4) Control config - You can configure the buttons. I highly recommend if you're still stuck on a PS4 pad and reading this :

SHOOT = Square
JUMP = X
GRENADE = O

*highly recommend that setup!*

5) High scores with my friends - I love having this feature now that everyone of my mates is on the same console this time, the PS4.

6) I had £15 credit on my pay as you go phone. Being on o2, they give me 'rewards' every month in the form of credit. Being a PS+ member, the game also had an extra discount. There was a new option to pay via mobile phone credit, so this was a steal for me. I can't express the value in it enough. The replay value in playing this game for high scores is just out of this world.

I don't care that it was missing modes such as all you can eat two player challenge. This is such a good port that I can finally put my AES version in a museum. I love my AES copy - the art, how it feels, and it's one of my favourite things I own. But now, once my HORI KURO VLX arrives, I know it won't get any better.

Trust me, this is the best £9 you can spend this month. Play it with high score eyes and you'll find yourself hunting techniques on youtube/twitch.


When they came up with the phrase 'The Future is Now', they were talking about today.
:awe:

p.s. I finished the game at 11:59 on new year's eve 2001 for the first time in under 4 credits. As a result, fireworks were EVERYWHERE for me that night. M-A-G-i-C.


SCORE: 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) / :awe: :awe: :awe: :awe: :awe:
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by LEGENOARYNINLIA »

I would prefer to bind the shot on the right trigger for added realism. :think:




:awe:
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by GermanGameRoom »

TheRedKnight wrote:I would prefer to bind the shot on the right trigger for added realism. :think:




:awe:
you wouldn't really want that.. you would quit playing after 5 minutes :D
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by LEGENOARYNINLIA »

GermanGameRoom wrote:
TheRedKnight wrote:I would prefer to bind the shot on the right trigger for added realism. :think:




:awe:
you wouldn't really want that.. you would quit playing after 5 minutes :D
You clearly don't understand the importance of realism in video games. :ugeek:
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by SuperPang »

Was this done by M2 perchance?
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by Ex_Mosquito »

Interesting. Surely playing any Metal Slug game on anything other than a 15khz CRT is just wrong? :) Also how is the lagg on the projector? All the other Metal Slug compilations had terrible emulation lagg even in on a CRT.

The PS4 Gradius has terrible lagg apparently. This would drive me crazy!! :/

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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by slugflyer »

Hmmm, well I don't have a means of testing it but it does depend a lot on your setup. I've held tournaments on the projector and not had any moans - Slug 3 felt fine to me tbh. Nohting like that video you posted - that was horrendous :-o Thanks for sharing! Had that on my radar! :cry:
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by George »

Hey kids you can buy MS Defense now with added dlc rape. Cheers SNK/Paymore :slowclap: :slowclap: :slowclap:
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by hnns »

Good read, thank you!

It really surprises me that a slug 3 fanatic like you, with a SNK 19" and the original game at hand, is recommending playing it on a next gen console. Even with all your arguments I am still sceptical, because from my experience old video game technology and new TV technology doesn't fit.
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by slugflyer »

hnns wrote:Good read, thank you!

It really surprises me that a slug 3 fanatic like you, with a SNK 19" and the original game at hand, is recommending playing it on a next gen console. Even with all your arguments I am still sceptical, because from my experience old video game technology and new TV technology doesn't fit.

Sure - you're very welcome hnns! ..the main thing here is that this game is a treasure. We all know what it is. But this version is really clean and perfect for me - to use on my projector, I loved it. I don't have that with my AES carts - they look like crap on new tech. And I have an analogue interactive too! (look that baby up!).

This is one version of Slug 3 that you can be happy with - and happy to introduce people with. I wanted to take the time to explain my opinions on that, because it deserves it. Just compare this with the XBOX 360 version, I encourage you to. You'll feel the way I do. I can't believe they don't have a no gfx enhancements mode and force them on you! And you cant change the controls :lolno: (which are just WRONG to begin with).

The online part where you can compare scores is truly the feature that makes this excel over the mvs version. It has everything you want, and that little bit more that makes playing for high scores count.

I can't wait until the HORI PS4 KURO VLX is out!! :awe:
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by bloodhokuto »

Wasn't this due out on the Vita too?
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by Jan »

I can't wait until the HORI PS4 KURO VLX is out!!
huh ? it is out in the us and jp. again no eu Version :problem:
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by slugflyer »

edit: until it arrives :awe: or 'out for delivery' :D
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by Jan »

ah ok ^^
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Re: Metal Slug 3 on PS4 is the best version ever made(★ ★ ★

Post by LEGENOARYNINLIA »

Meh, I'll wait for the PS5 version...
Emulation's nice when done well
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