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In PAL territories the games have been ported to both the PS2 and Xbox. There are also plans for PlayStation Portable and Wii ports of the first 7 games in the main series (including Metal Slug X). Public opinionMany fans consider Metal Slug 3 to be the best entry in the series, due to its complex level design, outstanding pixel art, and comical, over-the-top presentation. Metal Slug 4 is considered by many fans to be the least enjoyable game, as bosses can often "trap" the player making death unescapable. Enemies in the foreground can also "knife" the player in situations where enemies in the other games couldn't. These problems are often attributed to Metal Slug 4 being developed by Mega Enterprise after SNK went bankrupt. Metal Slug 2 has the most slowdown of any game in the series, but a remix version, Metal Slug X, fixed performance issues. Some stages changed from day to night, new enemies such as the mummified dogs in Mission Two were introduced, the laser weapon can be used earlier, and an art gallery was added to the game's end.
Etymology of "Metal Slug"Meeher, the lead designer of the game for Nazca, wanted to create an armored fighting vehicle that could crawl on the ground like a "slug", similar to a snail but without an outer shell protecting its body. The word "metal" in the title indicates that the vehicle is mechanical. Initially players regarded the title as being "not good enough". Meeher later joked about the title, saying "Maybe I don't make much of a sense?" Slugs in Metal Slug sequels included animals, planes and other vehicles that do not fit Meeher's original definition.
StorylineThe first game's story involved the Peregrine Falcon (PF) Squad, a small but skilled team of soldiers who fought against the army of General Morden. In the games following the first, the PF Squad also battles an alien threat to Earth (the Mars People), as well as several other supernatural threats including yetis, zombies, ambulatory venus flytraps, giant enemy crabs and mummies. Outlandish elements were removed from the fourth game to return to the feel of the original title. The fifth moved to the motif of modern guerrilla warfare, leaving only traces of the series signature quirky humour and paranormal enemies.
GameplayThe gameplay of the series is characteristic of run and guns: The enemies come in hordes, the weapons have high fire rates. All of these characteristics come from the Contra series, which the gameplay is based on. Metal Slug however takes the concepts introduced in Contra and expands upon them. First and foremost is the ability to perform melee attacks. In most run and guns, contact with an enemy leads to immediate death. In this series, contact only results in either party's death if an attack is performed. This leads to the ability for the player to run in and use melee attacks to take down a number of troops. The second addition to the series is the use of vehicles, the eponymous slugs.
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