i was playing metal slug again yesterday on my old laptop. not even sure why i opened it. maybe just bored or maybe i just missed that chaos. the game still loads with that same old sound and for a second it felt like im back in those childhood gaming shop days. you know those small places with noisy keyboards and random kids shouting.
metal slug is weirdly simple but also not simple at all. like you just run and shoot right. but then suddenly there are tanks aliens zombies everything at once. and you die in one hit. one hit. thats it. no mercy. i kept pressing continue again and again like an idiot.
i remember once i was at a cousin house. electricity went out and we were just sitting there doing nothing. then light came back and first thing we did was turn on that old pc and open metal slug. we didnt even talk much. just passing keyboard turn by turn. losing again and again but still laughing. idk why that memory came while playing yesterday.
the pixel graphics still look nice. like not fancy but they have that charm. explosions feel loud even without sound sometimes. characters look tiny but somehow expressive. marco running like crazy. that heavy machine gun sound stuck in my head now.
controls feel a bit stiff though. or maybe its just me getting slow. enemies pop from everywhere and i panic. i keep jumping for no reason. sometimes i even forget to shoot. just standing there and boom dead.
also those random funny things like turning into a mummy or getting super fat after eating too much food. its so random. makes no sense but still funny. i was smiling at screen alone like a weirdo.
i think what makes it fun is that it doesnt try too hard. no long story no complicated system. just pure action. maybe too much action sometimes. my fingers actually started hurting after like 20 minutes.
anyway i lost all my lives at the same boss again. that huge tank thing. couldnt even reach half health. kept thinking ok last try then ill quit. but yeah i didnt quit.
its strange how a small old game can still pull you in like that. even when everything now is big graphics online stuff open world blah blah.
▶️ 3Speak
