celerystalker
04-11-2016, 01:00 AM
88598860886188628863886488658866
With the Neo Geo Pocket Color, SNK really backed up the statement that they were not trying to directly compete with other handhelds, but rather create a product for fans of their style of games and the Neo Geo arcade experience. One of the early games was Metal Slug: 1st Mission, which embodied the concept of the handheld perfectly. As a side story in the Slug universe, 1st Mission is not a port of any arcade game, but a re-imagining of the core concept to preserve the spirit ofthe arcade franchise while making it more suitable for portable gaming.
What this really means is that your characters control just like their arcade counterparts, drive vehicles just like them, and fight nice, big bosses like them... but the stage design and mechanics have been tweaked to work better on a handheld. For instance, you now have a life bar, but only one life and limited continues. Enemies still have lots of great animation, but there are fewer on screen at once and fewer projectiles that would be difficult to see on a smaller, unlit screen. To compensate for the reduces challenge on that front, levels are longer and more vertical, with more platforming hazards and segmented to implement flying and parachuting concepts. You can also put the system in standby mode, adding to the portability with the option to play in smaller chunks as needed.
1st Mission is also substantially longer than any of the arcade games, and filled with hidden items and easter eggs. There are branching paths and more than thirty possible stages, giving a ton of replay value to boot. It's all pretty great for a handheld Metal Slug, even though it does get shown up a bit by its own sequel, 2nd Mission, which I'll save for another day.
Sorry that I have trouble taking a good picture of the NGPC with my phone, but I tried. HG101 has a few nicer screens here:
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/metalslug/metalslug4.htm
Played this one?
With the Neo Geo Pocket Color, SNK really backed up the statement that they were not trying to directly compete with other handhelds, but rather create a product for fans of their style of games and the Neo Geo arcade experience. One of the early games was Metal Slug: 1st Mission, which embodied the concept of the handheld perfectly. As a side story in the Slug universe, 1st Mission is not a port of any arcade game, but a re-imagining of the core concept to preserve the spirit ofthe arcade franchise while making it more suitable for portable gaming.
What this really means is that your characters control just like their arcade counterparts, drive vehicles just like them, and fight nice, big bosses like them... but the stage design and mechanics have been tweaked to work better on a handheld. For instance, you now have a life bar, but only one life and limited continues. Enemies still have lots of great animation, but there are fewer on screen at once and fewer projectiles that would be difficult to see on a smaller, unlit screen. To compensate for the reduces challenge on that front, levels are longer and more vertical, with more platforming hazards and segmented to implement flying and parachuting concepts. You can also put the system in standby mode, adding to the portability with the option to play in smaller chunks as needed.
1st Mission is also substantially longer than any of the arcade games, and filled with hidden items and easter eggs. There are branching paths and more than thirty possible stages, giving a ton of replay value to boot. It's all pretty great for a handheld Metal Slug, even though it does get shown up a bit by its own sequel, 2nd Mission, which I'll save for another day.
Sorry that I have trouble taking a good picture of the NGPC with my phone, but I tried. HG101 has a few nicer screens here:
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/metalslug/metalslug4.htm
Played this one?