Box Copy
Dive! Dive! You're the
Captain of the latest, meanest, baddest attack sub in the sea. And it's
a good thing too, 'cause you're gonna need every ounce of firepower you
can muster to complete this mission!
It's time to load torpedoes
and open launch bays. The enemy is at full mobilization. Get ready for
the wildest underwater action yet. Down periscope and blow them to squid
spit!
Discussion
I love the copy on the back of the box. They could have completely
ignored trying to make it sound like some sub simulation game and just
wrote “STUFF BLOWS UP GOOD.” Because it does, a lot.
If that’s not enough to warrant a look, let this soak in; this is for
all intents and purposes, the original Metal Slug. Some of the staff
from Irem left to form Nazca, the makers of the Slug series. You can see
almost all of Slug’s origins here - the palette, the explosions styles,
the over-exaggerated but still artistically beautiful vehicle designs,
and more.
Game play is pretty basic, simply move, shoot, and survive. Your
submarine has three angles of fire including front, upwards and
downwards. You earn power-ups that will help build up your armament, and
can also find bonus items for extra points.
There are 6 total levels, each with its own boss. Enemies can range from
boats and other submarines, to helicopters, planes, creatures, and would
you believe a giant rock golem? Graphics are in absolutely gorgeous 2D
Sprite based images, with some amazing color shading and vibrant accents
to each area. You’ll travel from the arctic, to an underwater temple, to
a factory, and even underwater caves. Only during a level title card
sequence is there a moment to rest - the game throws everything at you,
all at once. Animation is top notch on everything but your
submarine...it’s oddly still except if caught in some sort of
turbulence.
Music and sound effects are fairly standard and nothing truly memorable,
with one important difference: in the PlayStation version you can choose
between the original and a PSX remake of it. Saturn only gets the arcade
soundtrack.
None of this matters though - the game is pure action and explosions
from start to finish, and there is never a dull moment. The boss fights
are tough, but fair, and there are so many little animation touches that
you’d have to play the game two or three times to catch them all.
Whether its the little people running scared in the city stage, or
sailing past a submerged urban ghost town, no sprite is wasted. You
could probably beat the game in an hour or so total without dying, but
then this is arcade game. It’s all about the replay value and score
chasing, of which it has in droves. Especially with the 2 Player action
going on.
Speaking of, I was planning on doing a Battle Mode for this, but there’s
not really that huge of a difference between the two. Essentially,
Saturn is great but with some slowdown, but the PlayStation has more
options and the ability to save your high scores to a memory card. There
is a weird 'PlayStation' Mode, but I can't figure out what it does other
than add a shield graphic. You’d be fine with either version, as it’s a
must buy.
No, seriously - go buy it right now. You won’t regret it.
Go.
Now. |
Trivia
- Variant Alert! Dive
below...
- The PSX version has
a peculiar option called 'PlayStation Mode'. From various internet
searches, it looks like the only real difference this provides is a
shield option not found in the Saturn or Arcade mode. Pay no
attention to the bubble in the screen caps. ;)
- Besides that change,
the PlayStation also has less slowdown than it's 32-Bit brother,
allows more characters in the High Score table, and even stores it
to one block of the Memory Card.
- Several members of
the design team left to form Nazca - the Metal Slug team!
- The Sega Saturn
version has a CGI movie in the beginning absent from the PlayStation
version.
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