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Where are the modern Metal Slugs?

mushy tailspin

mushy tailspin

Banned
You see a lot of Indies going for retro game design, with 2d art. I want to know where are the Neo Geo level of sprites now a days? I know amazing sprite artists are out there, but I never see anything that looks as great as the NeoGeo, specifically the Metal Slug series. Those games will look just as good in 100 years.

If these games with this level of sprite work can you name a few for me?

I did lookup Nazca Corporation to see where those artists went to. But it seems they all went to studios doing 3d games.

Am I crazy for wishing we still got 2d games of this level?
 
mushy tailspin

mushy tailspin

Banned
1morerobot said:
Good question. What was the last Slug game and where are the devs now?
Click to expand...
Last slug was metal slug 7 on the DS

The original devs hard to say exactly. I know one of the producers of the first 2 or 3 went to platinum games.

I've tried looking for the artists from the original specifically but didn't turn much up.

It was originally made by Nazca Corp before being bought by SNK. I believe the same people did Samurai Shodown 1 and or 2 after bought by SNK.

Not many new assets besides backgrounds and some so-so animal slugs, and like a mini mech like slug assets have been made.
I would love to find a community of great sprite artists and put something together I got programming experience. But no art capabilities

I've also been imagining a miniature war game like Warhammer or War Machine but with metal slugs and troops and POWs all that. Would love to have that on a table.

Fallout just had a board game with minis and a totally seperate full War game(costs in the 1000s on KS to get all the goods)
 
mushy tailspin

mushy tailspin

Banned
Forgot to mention there are fan made(modded Rom) Metal Slug games released on PC.
So far the the one group I see making these is Super Blinky.
They use SNKs assets except in the menu(you'll see)

The download links are in the YouTube videos description

Metal Slug 1.5 X


Metal Slug 1.5(no X)


Metal Slug 2.5 Deadpool Edition


There's more I think. I only played 1.5 several years back, and it wasn't the 1.5 X version.
 
Last edited:
Scopa

Scopa

The Tribe Has Spoken
mushy tailspin said:
You see a lot of Indies going for retro game design, with 2d art. I want to know where are the Neo Geo level of sprites now a days? I know amazing sprite artists are out there, but I never see anything that looks as great as the NeoGeo, specifically the Metal Slug series. Those games will look just as good in 100 years.

If these games with this level of sprite work can you name a few for me?

I did lookup Nazca Corporation to see where those artists went to. But it seems they all went to studios doing 3d games.

Am I crazy for wishing we still got 2d games of this level?
Click to expand...
Yeah, you’d think with the glut of indie platformers that there would be something compareable, but nothing comes close. I know it’s not an easy thing, but it’s a shame.

I’m pretty sure I heard on a podcast semi-recently, that the artists of Metal Slug are hard to track down.
 
mushy tailspin

mushy tailspin

Banned
Scopa said:
I’m pretty sure I heard on a podcast semi-recently, that the artists of Metal Slug are hard to track down.
Click to expand...
Yup! Haven't heard the podcast, but that's known, and the producer Kujo is the only one in the credits I think that is known

RetroGamer has an interview with producer Kujo from 2015. It's a great read here:
RetroGamer.net Making of Metal Slug

Apparently he never formally worked for Nazca Corp. He was moonlighting on the project while still working at irem.
The first 2 titles made by Nazca Corporation was Neo Turf Masters, and Metal Slug. A game proceeding Metal Slug by Irem by the team at Nazca were In the Hunt, Gun Force 1&2. The second is often referred to as Metal Slug Zero. I haven't played it, but I intend to. If you look at the sprites & gameplay it is obvious it was made by the same people. I'm wondering if Items Gun Force 2 credits used the developers nicknames too. If you haven't seen it here:


He says the credits are all the developers nicknames because it was like a secret club of 15 former/current employees of Irem. He also says he will not reveal who they are.
It hints at, and I've thought this a probability that they never revealed themselves because there would be a ton of people seeking them out(which I've now been doing 25 years after the fact. There may have also been legal reasons like contracts with Irem that prevents them from revealing who they are. It's just a guess, and I have no proof.

It also talks about some games he made immediately prior with In The Hunt (aka Kaitei Daisenso.)
Anyway all this info is there, and I strongly suggest reading it!

Masatshi said:
btw. try Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2... no pixels, but still very nice made metal-slug-style 2D action!
Click to expand...
Thanks! I only own a Switch, but I see it's on there, and I'm going to get it once I get paid. Edit: currently they only have the first one on the switch eShop. Is that one worth it still? I added it to wish list still plan on getting it as it looked similar to MS game play. The vids I watched of 2 look even better with online co-op! Know when it releases on consoles? Came out for steam March 2nd. It's not in the eshop coming soon queue either
 
Last edited:
Scopa

Scopa

The Tribe Has Spoken
mushy tailspin said:
Yup! Haven't heard the podcast, but that's known, and the producer Kujo is the only one in the credits I think that is known

RetroGamer has an interview with producer Kujo from 2015. It's a great read here:
RetroGamer.net Making of Metal Slug

Apparently he never formally worked for Nazca Corp. He was moonlighting on the project while still working at Item.

He says the credits are all the developers nicknames because it was like a secret club of 15 former/current employees of Irem. He also says he will not reveal who they are.
It hints at, and I've thought this a probability that they never revealed themselves because there would be a ton of people seeking them out(which I've now been doing 25 years after the fact. There may have also been legal reasons like conrracts with Irem that prevents them from revealing who they are. It's just a guess, and I have no proof.

It also talks about some games he made immediately prior with In The Hunt (aka Kaitei Daisenso.)
Anyway all this info is there, and I strongly suggest reading it!


Thanks! I only own a Switch, but I see it's on there, and I'm going to get it once I get paid
Click to expand...
Man, that is so interesting. Thanks for the link.
 
mushy tailspin

mushy tailspin

Banned
Masatshi said:
btw. try Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2... no pixels, but still very nice made metal-slug-style 2D action!
Click to expand...
Got my money about an hour ago, and got the first. Just beat the first boss, and got to the soldiers wear gas masks. This game is TUFF! I like it
I like the kicking mechanic.

MOD EDIT - Edited some minorly offesnive language out of the post. Seemed like a poor joke so no warnings or bans issued.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Masatshi

Masatshi

Member
mushy tailspin said:
Got my money about an hour ago, and got the first. Just beat the first boss, and got to the soldiers wear gas masks. This game is TUFF! I like it
I like the kicking mechanic cuz them gay sailors all up on my dick
Click to expand...

first one is good too, yes! but the second one is even better, cause you can aim and shoot 360 degrees and not just straight like in part one. plus the screen is a little more zoomed out, which gives you a better overview on the action. plus: 2-4 player coop play! that's always a winner!
 
JCK75

JCK75

Member
My favorite games growing up were Contra and Metroid on the NES, Metal Slug was a perfect evolution of Contra IMO and I'd love to see more stuff like this.
What's odd about me is when I see a new game being made in 8 bit I'm a bit turned off, I'm not into retro look for the sake of being retro, but when it looks 16 bit and they actually try to make some impressive 2D visuals
I love it more than anything.
 
grizzlywhisker

grizzlywhisker

Neo Member
LucidFeuer said:
There's no other Metal Slug than Metal Slug. (okay maybe Cuphead as mentioned above)
Click to expand...

i felt like cuphead was it's own sort of 2D game. it put more emphasis on boss battles than platforming levels. when i got cuphead at release i expected it to be more of a super mario world type of game with lots of platforming levels, but instead it was mostly longer stand alone boss battles with some platforming stages thrown in between.
 
Naked Lunch

Naked Lunch

Member
Cuphead has nothing on Metal Slug. Nothing.
Metal Slug 1 is still the greatest after all these years. Perfect pacing and length.
 
mushy tailspin

mushy tailspin

Banned
Cuphead looks great I spoiled myself watching a full play through but it looks more like bullet hell to me than whatever genre metal gear is.
I've been playing cannoli. Its really hard. Its kinda got too many weapons and ammo to deal with cycling through. I like it but I prefer pickups to just fall off when I'm out of ammo, no reloading, cycle through weapons trying to get to a different one.
I understand what its going for but now that I've got like 7 or 8 of them its like Jesus Christ.

Edit: I wish I just had unlimited magnum and flamethrower. Headshots or hearing them burn has brought me joy. I thought Thompson would be good but they sponge that shit up
 
Last edited:
A

alienator

Member
i sometimes fantasize that Contra Hard Corps (on ps3/xbox) is the best metal slug ripoff there is.

coincidental: i just bought a Metal Slug MVS neo geo cart 2 days ago. Finally.
 
BANGS

BANGS

Banned
Instantly thought of Cuphead when reading the topic title... although it really is a different game...
 
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