On the Neo-Geo, Slug was one of the better Contra clones in recent memory. Contra gave you the role of a freedom fighter of sorts who raced from left to right and shot everything and everyone in sight. Along the way, you would pick up weapon power ups and go through hordes of resilient enemy grunts. Metal Slug is Contra but with an extreme attention to the smallest of details. Quite simply, the level of detail in Metal Slug is nothing short of amazing. Nazca did an incredible job on the Neo-Geo with Slug and the Saturn version does it's predecessor justice.

We can start by looking at the detail afforded to the main sprite in the game - the blonde soldier that serves as your character. Upon starting the game, you will notice that the soldier wears a headband, silver bracelets, green fatigues, pointy boots, a vest with no sleeves that covers a white shirt, and finally a knapsack. The knapsack is occasionally filled to the brim with ammo and missles that you will pick up along the way. Another accessory that our soldier hero likes to carry around is his gunmetal colored piece and any power-up pieces that he might pick up along his travels.

The detail does not stop with the main sprite, everything else in the game is drawn and designed with the same amount of care and attention. I have played Metal Slug just to look at the little things in the levels that Nazca have put in. For example, in the first level, you will occasionally save hostages from their bindings. What you do is, go close to the hostage and press the attack button. Soldier boy will take out his knife and slit the ropes. The hostage will summarily let the ropes fall to the floor, salute you and then run off after he leaves a little prize for you to pick up. All this is portrayed in grand detail.

Another detail to look for in the first level to convince yourself that a lot of time was put into this game is when your soldier passes a puddle of water. Your image will be reflected on the water's surface as you pass it. Now, enough praise on this game's level of detail, why is the game called Metal Slug? I suppose there could be two meanings and I'll look at both of them. A bullet is sometimes called a cap or a slug, as in "I'm going to pop a cap..." but I think the programmers were referring to the metallic vehicle that you can get into which acts as your armed and armored transport.

The Metal Slug not only gives you an extra measure of protection but it can jump, fire heavy laser artillery and loft pineapple sized bombs at opposing enemy armor. The Slug essentially transforms our soldier into a veritable one man army that can take on the entire enemy soldier corps and their air support. The level bosses may give Metal Slug some resistance but learning their firing and movement patterns should help you and Slug get around these nuisances as well. The first level boss is a patsy that can be easily destroyed as it is immobile though it carries a lot of firepower.

Anyone who has played Contra or it's sequels and liked them, will love Metal Slug. Some will adore it. As a Neo-Geo fan, I am accustomed to games that have hand drawn graphics and characters rather than games that rely on rendered graphics. Slug features arcade class graphics that are clean, beautifully drawn and possess a fuzzy sense of warmth about them. The control and gameplay in Slug are also impeccable with flawless animation. I enjoyed the game immensely on the Neo-Geo and the availability of this title on the Saturn opens it up to a wider audience so they can try what Neo fans have been enjoying for almost a year already. Highly recommended.