Metal Slug 2

If I had to name my all-time favorite arcade game, this is it. There are very few games I spent more quarters on at the arcade as a kid.

The story is a little stronger this time. Rebel Army leader, General Donald Morden, has escaped from prison and is resuming his war against the Regular Army, set on establishing a worldwide dictatorship. Now, it's up to Peregrine Falcon squad to stop him once again, unaware he's made an unexpected ally.

MS2 introduced two new playable characters, Eri Kasamoto and Fio Germi. Also debuting were 2nd Lieutenant Hyakutaro Ichimonji, who aids you in battle with his chi blasts, and Sgt. Rumi Aikawa who provides you with weapons or supplies from her backpack.

This is also the first game in the series to introduce more supernatural enemies, like mummies in Level 2, mutants in Mission 5, and, ultimately, aliens in the finale who usurp Morden as the game's true and final antagonists.

As for weapons and equipment, the laser gun, firebombs, and AP tank shells were added to the players armament. New slugs were introduced as well, like the SV-Camel in in Mission 1, the Slugnoid in Mission 2, and the VTOL Slug Jet in Mission 3. You can become obese if you eat enough food pickups, which increases your firepower at the expense of speed, or be transformed into a sluggish mummy if one of the aforementioned creatures.

The music was some of the best in the series, with lots of strong metal and rock guitar riffs mixed with the indigenous themes of each level, like the Arabian styled theme of "Judgement" in Saudi Arabia, or the Chinese theme of "Back to the China". We also got my favorite theme in this game: "Kiss in the Dark" a quick and hardcore rock song played in the subway tunnels of New York City, where you all but break your finger shooting at oncoming trains.

Given its success, the game's timeless and fun formula remained largely unchanged from the prequel, although MS2 does possess smoother controls and improved graphics and sounds. Unfortunately, it's prone to slow down when there's a large number of sprites and action happening onscreen at once. Metal Slug X fixed this problem with its advanced engine improving the games performance, so you may wish to try that version instead.

If you enjoy classic arcade games, you can try this on Steam or the PlayStation Network.

Metal slug 2 offers pretty much more of the same kind of gameplay as part 1 but when you consider how much fun the first one was, thats not a bad thing at all ! All the classic metal slug ingredients are here - brilliantly animated sprites, that morbid sense of humour , great level design , tons of cool weaponry , that classic blast em up game play and hilarious ,yet catchy, music.

Unfoutunately, the same problem that have plagued the whole franchise is also here - its insanely hard difficulty . When this game gets hard believe me it gets hard ! The amount of projectiles the games designers expect you to dodge is way, way too much . Also the metal slug vehicles, which are supposed to be an important part of the game just aren't really as fun to play with as the characters are on foot .

But despite being mega hard, the games greatness shines through and proves that when it comes to old school shoot em up thrills, metal slug games are up there with the greats

This first sequel in the Metal Slug series is every bit as furious and chaotic as the original. This time you can play as one of four characters across the usual variety of wonderfully detail and humorous landscapes as you blast seven shades of excrement out of enemy commandos. There are explosions and laughs galore as you battle your way through 6 stages teeming with baddies.

The level are a bit more eccentric this time with mummy's tombs and giant killer whales popping up. The finale even throws in an unexpected twist when you have to team up with your enemies to fight off an alien invasion, complete with and ID4 rip-off/homage ending.

Play this in the arcade and expect to be sent home penniless with your fingers all blistered.