METAL SLUG X

I've spent enough time in arcades and on Neo-Geo emulators to know exactly what Metal Slug X is, and what it isn't - and that context matters before you spend money on this Steam port. This is not Metal Slug 10. It's the 1999 arcade revision of Metal Slug 2, built because the original was nearly unplayable in later stages due to catastrophic performance slowdown. SNK rebuilt it on the Metal Slug 3 engine, reshuffled enemy placements across all six missions, added new weapons, and fixed most of the technical mess. What you get on Steam is that arcade version, presented cleanly. The shooting itself is immediate and unforgiving in the way that only old-school run-and-guns pull off. One hit kills you. Enemies stream in from every direction. The screen regularly becomes a wall of bullets, grenades, and bodies. The Pistol is your fallback, and it's miserable - so hunting down weapon pickups from rescued POWs is a constant priority. Metal Slug X expanded the arsenal over its predecessor considerably: the Iron Lizard skates along the floor and detonates on contact, the Drop Shot bounces unpredictably off surfaces, and the Enemy Chaser locks onto targets with loose homing logic. All base weapons also have powered-up fat variants, because yes - eat enough food scattered through the levels and your soldier becomes obese, moves like they're wading through concrete, but fires rounds the size of small cars. It's absurd. It works. The fat transformation mechanic is available across almost every mission here, compared to the single stage where it appeared in Metal Slug 2, and the payoff is genuinely different moment-to-moment pressure. Vehicles are redistributed too - the Slugnoid appears where a regular Metal Slug was hidden in the original, and there's generally more hardware available in co-op to share between two players. The mission structure runs you through six levels with distinct visual and enemy themes: desert night combat, a subway full of rail tanks, pyramid corridors with Mummy Dogs, and a frozen Arctic finale with a submarine boss that fires noticeably faster than before. None of it overstays its welcome because the whole run clocks in around an hour on a good playthrough - less once you know where the cheap enemy spawns are. Here's the honest part: the Steam port has a functional online co-op mode and local co-op support for up to two players, but online player counts are thin at best. If you're planning to find random partners on demand, adjust expectations. Controller support works well and this is one of those games where a pad with a decent d-pad actually makes more sense than mouse-and-keyboard. The difficulty selector and free-play unlimited continues mode make it accessible without gutting the challenge - you can use the continue count as your personal benchmark for improvement. Replay value past one or two runs is limited. There's no ranked ladder, no progression system, no post-launch mode of substance. What's here is a precise, dense, handcrafted arcade experience that you finish, restart, and try to beat with fewer continues. That's the whole loop, and for the right person, that's genuinely enough.

Fred · Scout Team

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