Metal Slug 7 (DS)

Lordstar · Post by **Lordstar** » Mon May 19, 2008 5:29 pm

Shatterhand wrote:
one session on daily thompson and your stick would be fucked.
Dualshock2s wouldn't resist to a session of daley thompson either

And yay for going off-topic on an off-topic thread

WOW! I did! fuck it, its only MS7 its not like its something important (waits for flaming)

but yeah Im glad its on the DS. that means more people will be playing it and more money for the SNK peeps

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon May 19, 2008 6:38 pm

I did it first.

Post by **spadgy** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:50 am

Dated!, plus some other details...

Here's the meat and potatoes of the press release from SNK/Ignition:

"Developed by SNK Playmore Corporation and published by Ignition Entertainment, Metal Slug 7 follows in the footsteps of its predecessors by continuing to deliver the high-energy and frantic, fast-paced 2-D shooting action that the franchise has always been widely renowned for.

Players will join Marco, Tarma, Eri, Fiolina, Clark and Ralph as they prepare to take on Modern's Forces across 7 new missions that will bring them from Garbage Island to the Fortress of Ruins and beyond. Aside from featuring 7 brand new and fully detailed missions and six playable characters, Metal Slug 7 will also feature a host of new weapons, colossal new bosses, new Slugs to pilot and new gameplay modes for added replay value.

"Truth be told, I have a pink DS and was embarrassed to play it in public. Now with Metal Slug 7 loaded, I have no qualms," said Ajay Chadha, President of Ignition Entertainment. "Needless to say, and in all seriousness, we are very excited to announce our partnership with SNK Playmore USA to give both core and casual gamers a whole new insight into the unique, all-action, eye-popping world that is Metal Slug."

First released in 1996, the Metal Slug series has continuously dazzled legions of fans with its awesome variety of frenetic action and superbly balanced, non-stop gameplay. Its unique art style and memorable boss battles have been hailed as sheer artistry and have been acclaimed by game fans of all genres."

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:45 am

7 missions? ...

We'll see. I'm not really looking forward to it because I have huge hands and the DS Lite feels weird, especially the L and R buttons. I've died enough times in Contra 4 to know that the dpad is bad.

Zebra Airforce · Post by **Zebra Airforce** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 11:34 am

Try the DS Heavy. The shape is much nicer for us big handed cavemen.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:59 pm

I had one back in the day. I'd still be using it if it weren't for the adjustable brightness options, stylus, etc. They actually hurt my hands after holding them for long periods while playing Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow back then.

I don't have any problems with the DS Lite minus the PS3-esque coating which makes them feel cheap but makes them look stylish. The L and R buttons are the main issue.

E. Randy Dupre · Post by **E. Randy Dupre** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:12 pm

Try getting one of those hard plastic shells for the DS Lite if you don't like the feel of it. I picked up a Hori Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 one from NCSX a few weeks ago and it makes the machine feel much nicer to hold. Not as slippery, for a start.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:01 pm

Thanks for the reminder. I just placed an order for the Japanese version, release date is just over 2 weeks away. I don't count on SNKP sticking to that though. I put a music CD in the same order which I kind of want more :p

I think soft silicon cases may also help the grippiness, but you'll have to take them off from time to time and boil them or something to get rid of the dust.

I'm not sure there's anything you can do about the triggers, short of cracking open the system and replacing the tact switches inside.

FIL · Post by **FIL** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:12 pm

I wish somebody other than Ignition would port SNK games.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:02 pm

Do you mean port or localise? Isn't Slug 7 going to be DS-native?

If you mean localise.... that's why I'm getting the JP version ;) I don't put up with any BS except SNKP's.

edit: localize -> localise, I do prefer to write it this way.

FIL · Post by **FIL** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:11 pm

Yes, localise, sorry. Maybe we should have a sweepstake, what will Ignition get wrong this time?

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:07 pm

E. Randy Dupre wrote:Try getting one of those hard plastic shells for the DS Lite if you don't like the feel of it. I picked up a Hori Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 one from NCSX a few weeks ago and it makes the machine feel much nicer to hold. Not as slippery, for a start.

I have snap-on grip horns for my GBA SP, they are very comfortable and give it a more proper controller feeling. I wish they would make such a thing for the DS (and the PSP while they´re at it). It´s obviously defying the purpose of a handheld console a bit since it makes it clunkier, but it´s well worth it.

Post by **spadgy** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:54 am

FIL wrote:Yes, localise, sorry. Maybe we should have a sweepstake, what will Ignition get wrong this time?

What are the complaints about Ignition? I guess I've always tried to view them positively, as at least somebody is putting out SNK stuff in the UK...

E. Randy Dupre · Post by **E. Randy Dupre** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:31 pm

They made a real hash of releasing the Xbox conversions of SNK stuff in PAL territories a few years ago. Release dates were shifting by upwards of a year at one point. I'm still unsure whether the all of the games they were advertising as 'coming soon' ever saw the light of day.

Didn't they handle the PSP Metal Slug compilation, too? That was a wreck.

FIL · Post by **FIL** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:08 pm

The're also responsible for Card Fighters DS having that bug which rendered it impossible to finish I believe. And they made a real mess of KOF XI, really basic stuff that QA should have picked up in seconds. One of the characters is mislabelled in the character select screen, cutscene text sometimes doesn't fit on the screen and a particular action in training mode crashes the game. They also didn't give the PAL Metal Slug Anthology 60hz support.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:58 am

Guys, sorry but this is nothing to get excited about. I'm at level 5 and I can count the number of new enemies with my two hands... 90% you're just killing green soldiers over and over. And to make matters worse, the game seems to have been created using some kind of doujin engine (think mugen) as every reused sprite has been horribly cropped and taken a shit on and the backgrounds are full of boring (think next-gen grey-pissbrown color palette.)

This is just a preview as I haven't finished the game yet, but it needs to perform some kind of miracle to change my current opinion of it.

The bosses are good, but we've all seen better.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:43 am

I think the game looks pretty good on the DS. It runs quite smoothly, but that's mostly due to the lack of action. If you run through a stage quickly it'll most likely flop around like dying salmon and show some choppyness though.

I'm glad that the missions aren't overly long (Metal Slug 3 :<) and aren't too hard. But don't take my word for it, since I've yet to finish the game either.

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:51 am

Full game.

Actually this game probably has the most new sprites out of all the post-good looking Metal Slugs. It just might even be the one that betrays the original creators least.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 10:47 am

Looks like classic Metal slug to me. As in fun, pretty, vapid, and clinging to the mantra that style is always more important than substance. A bit like Alexa Chung. Success!

Zebra Airforce · Post by **Zebra Airforce** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:20 pm

Looks alright to me.

clinging to the mantra that style is always more important than substance

lrn2play

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:30 pm

NO ZOMBIES!!!

And no "staying in the same place for five minutes while endless streams of enemies pour in", either. You can tell that this title wasn´t meant to be a quartermuncher but a proper handheld title, much like Metal Slug Advance, which was pretty fair as well.

The way it looks it hasn´t the same OOMPH! MS1 and 2 had right from the start, but for a series that is milked dry, this does look at least moderately enjoyable and straightforward. I mean, the background are obviously ugly prerendered stuff, but it seems to be a decent game in his own right.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:36 pm

Also, is that a multiplyer in the bottom left hand corner? Although it looks a bit arbitrary, Metal Slug + scoring system = win in my books

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:52 pm

I guess it´s the same as in MS6, though I never really payed attention to that since I was too busy dying all the time. But yeah, a proper scoring system for a run and gun is a nice thing

The tons of coins to be picked up is sweet, too.

SuperPang · Post by **SuperPang** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 3:20 pm

It plays exactly like MS6. I really like it. Level design isn't up to old SNK standards of course but there are 7 of em and it plays like an arcade game, not a watered down version.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 4:17 pm

I haven't checked if my copy shipped yet, but I downloaded it and it seems completely fine to me, gameplay-wise. There is some funky scaling going on, but what can you do with the DS' limited screen resolution. The same thing happens if you run NeoDS in scaled mode, so I'm not overly miffed.

edit: Put in a bit more time, I'm really enjoying it.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:07 pm

I think putting in some work (gasp SNK doing work!?) and making new graphics with the resolution in mind would've helped. It's good to keep the expectations low, though.

lgb · Post by **lgb** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:33 pm

MX7 wrote:Also, is that a multiplyer in the bottom left hand corner? Although it looks a bit arbitrary, Metal Slug + scoring system = win in my books

MS usually has a scoring system of some sort. Not a shmup-like one, but it's pretty noticeable. If you've ever played Shock Troopers, you may know what I'm talking about.

Also, I'm actually starting to think SNK doesn't do as well now as they once did because they want to avoid becoming bankrupt again.

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 8:05 pm

I really enjoy the game so far; not getting swamped with an endless stream of enemies is a big plus; This reminds me a lot of Gunforce 1 (arcade not SFC) where you can take your time and takle the game with a bit of strategy. The difficulty has been tuned down even on the harder setting.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:15 am

LGB wrote:
MX7 wrote: MS usually has a scoring system of some sort.

lol

Anyway, this looks like cheap fun to keep me tided until Ketsui DS. My girlfriend loves MS, so this might be a worthwhile buy (Metal Slug, Like Bomberman and Gradius are one of those those games that is only fun if you have someone to play it with). The sprites are pretty gorgeous, even on DS. Seems like the series has found its' true home in handheld format. Still won't be quite the same with a d-pad though

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 1:47 am

MX7 wrote:vapid, and clinging to the mantra that style is always more important than substance

lol

MX7 wrote: Although it looks a bit arbitrary, Metal Slug + scoring system = win in my books

lol

MX7 wrote:
LGB wrote:MS usually has a scoring system of some sort.
lol

lol

MX7 wrote:Anyway, this looks like cheap fun to keep me tided until Ketsui DS.

lol

MX7 wrote:Seems like the series has found its' true home in handheld format.

lol