This week has been hell for a number of reasons but it hasn’t completely diminished my capacity for gaming. I started Valkyrie Profile a few days ago and haven’t got past the first few cut scenes; even that was a struggle for me while my mind wasn’t truly in it. But something else has come to the rescue and it’s all about shooting stuff until it explodes.
Metal Slug is a run and gun series from SNK. Nazca Corporation made the first game and then they merged with SNK who made the rest. In most of the franchise games, you can play as one of four characters: Marco Rossi, Tarma Roving, General Donald Morden, and Allen O’Neil, and make your way through multiple missions, defeating soldiers, enemies, and final bosses at the end of each mission. Along the way, you free hostages with your trust pocket knife and collect new weapons, food, and power-ups along the way. It’s the perfect kind of arcade game and the sprite work is incredible.
Under any circmstances, this game would frustrate me no end. Shoot-em-ups, run and guns, bullet hell, they all involve projectiles flying around and you have to dodge them whilst also landing them on your enemies and that kind of anxiety doesn’t marry up well with stress. So turned invincibility and infinite time on in the settings and let rip. No need to worry about my health or running out of time to reach the final boss. Because I wasn’t in it for a “real” experience, whatever that’s supposed to mean. I needed a release from a difficult week—and honestly difficult 2026 so far—and shooting bad guys and watching everything go boom was the perfect solution.
I’ve worked my way through the first 5 games and while they’re more or less the same, the new bosses and mercenaries have grown on me with each version. I’d say Metal Slug 5 has been my favourite so far and 6 is just around the corner (once I get it working properly). I don’t fancy travelling to one of those places where you smash shit up and pay for the privilege when I have a handheld device and access to cool arcade games that let you go wild with grenades and flamethrowers. The colourful pixels make me happier and that’s the main thing.