~B
A Walkthru for Metal Slug, the Popular Shooter Arcade Game.
Thanks for reading this walkthru. If you like it, or it helps you beat the
game, e-mail me with thanks and/or opinions at frostfire@mail.utexas.edu.
Metal Slug is a really cool side-scrolling shooter, and, I assure you, I
know what I'm talking about when I give you tips. I've beat the game over
ten times and I never get bored!!
So here's a basic walkthru of the game:
You choose from one of two soldiers (depending on what side you put the
quarter in and press start on) who look different but have the same basic
abilities. Your character can jump, crouch, walk, run, shoot, and throw
grenades. Your basic weapons are a pistol (infinite ammo, rapid fire in
one direction, very weak power), and a combat knife (used instead of
gunshot to kill enemy soldier or cut hostage's ropes when you're close to
them). Your character's mission is basic: blast away and go-go-go!!
Through the game's six missions, you must shoot laughing and chuckling
enemy soldiers, rescue hostages with very long hair, and destroy lots of
heavy artillery, particularly six devestatingly dangerous boss vehicles.
Of course, your character does have several special items he can pick up,
get from hostages, or shoot out of buildings and crates. Most of these
items like coins, fishes, monkeys, medals, turkeys, love letters, pigs,
etc., just give you bonus points, but some of them actually power up your
character. Here are those:
Ammo Box: This gives you ten extra grenades. Grenades have great explosive
power against all enemies, and your own grenades can never hurt you.
Useful in all situations, including inflicting real damage to enemy tanks
and bosses, hitting enemies behind hills throwing them at you, and
destroying waves of foes coming towards your character. Unfortunately,
it's hard to hit flying enemies with these things. The ammo box will also
give you ten extra cannon shells if you're driving the Metal Slug tank.
Each life, you start with ten grenades.
Bullet Box: If you have a special weapon (any gun other than pistol), this
gives you more bullets for it. Otherwise, you just get points for picking
it up.
Heavy Machine Gun: Represented by an H icon, this replaces your ordinary
pistol like all special weapons. You'll still use your combat knife,
though, if you get close to a hostage or human foe (good for saving ammo).
This gun has 200 bullets, and can shoot rapid-fire in a straight or
circular pattern, unlike the pistol, which can only shoot straight. It's
also a little more powerful than the pistol is. Whenever you have to
continue the game, your character automatically recieves one of these in
thanks.
Shotgun: Represented by an S Icon. This 30-shot weapon shoots in a wide
arc close to you, meaning you can hit several enemies at once. It has
about three times the pistol's power and can penetrate enemy soldiers' iron
shields if they have them. The shotgun does have some real drawbacks,
though. Its range is VERY limited (only a few steps away from you), and it
fires powerful but slow.
FlameShot: Good weapon. This gun, represented by an F icon, carries 30
shots of fire, which will go right through enemies and can hit several
advancing in a swarm or straight line. Just as powerful as the shotgun,
but faster and has full-screen range.
Rocket Launcher: The R icon gives you this baby. 30 shots, explosive
damage. Remember, rockets are about 3/4 as good as grenades (rockets are
also twice shotgun power), when it comes to firing. Slow, though, but
their range far makes up for that.
Metal Slug Tank: This is an excellent device. Instead of getting killed
with one hit like your soldier, it can take three or four, and is only
damaged by heavy artillery. Of course, that's what the bad guys break out
when you start driving one. You can run over enemy soldiers with your tank
when you have it. Your tank's basic weapon is a heavy machine gun that
never runs out of ammo, and grenades are replaced by twice-as-good cannon
shells. Picking up gas cans while in the tank will replenish its life
meter, allowing you to take more hits before the baby goes boom. When
that's gonna happen, your guy can easily jump out. And he can even crash
the tank into the enemy ahead of him and jump out for massive damage!
(Note: this is only advisable when used against boss vehicles). Your tank,
though, does have a few disadvantages. One: it can't turn around. So
cannon shots can only hit what's in front of you. It's also not as
maneuverable as your character and can't jump as high. Its power does make
up for that in the early levels, though, so use the tank, and use it well.
Perhaps the best thing about this game is the comedy scenes. These scenes
you see occasionally range from the antics of the enemy soldiers to the
clownish scenes of frightened people in a small village (Mission 5) to the
arm-flapping, jumping-for-joy rescued hostages. Your soldier will also do
things like change the clip in his pistol, drink from his canteen, or bark
into his radio when you let him just stand there too long. These things
are fun to see, but you only have a limited amount of time and life (3
lives per credit) to complete each mission, so don't just stand around too
often. The comedy scenes also add to the realism of the game, making it
even more fun to play.
Now let's get to the Missions:
Mission 1: You parachute into the middle of a Southeast Asian jungle.
Rush past the big stone head, proceeding right and firing as you go. Enemy
soldiers rush towards you, stop and shoot them as they come. They'll get
you with pistols or knives if they get a chance. Ahead, shoot open the
crate by the big rock for a HMG (Heavy Machine Gun). Use it on the two
soldiers arguing over the pig and then grab that pig for bonus points.
Keep going right, towards the wrecked and beached submarine. Blast more
soldiers (watching out for ones coming from behind you), and keep an eye
out for your first POW to rescue. He's tied to the post on the upper level
and keeps pointing to his ropes, asking you to cut or shoot him free.
Blast the ropes, blast the post for extra points, and then leap up and
touch the rescued guy. He gives you a bonus medal (pulls out some big
pants and it falls out, hilarious!), then says thanks, salutes you, and
runs off. Try not to get killed now, or the game won't acknowledge your
rescues (hard to do this on later levels). Keep going right, rescuing
another POW who'll give you a HMG (more shots for the one you have if you
still have it). Blast all the enemies coming at you through the sub's
shell with it before you grab the FlameShot in the crate ahead. After you
get it, keep advancing, shooting it ahead of you. Trade it in for another
HMG from the crate up ahead, as the HMG is a better weapon against enemy
bomb-dropping helicopters. Like the one that flies in once you reach the
edge of the river. You must kill it to advance, so use this tactic for all
bomb-dropping helicopters: Get under it, shoot up, blasting any section,
get away from the volley of four bombs once they begin to fall and blast
the chopper again as it flies over you for another drop. The thing will
stick around till it's destroyed, and make sure you grab the love letter
that falls out once it goes boom for extra points. Go through the shallow
river now, shooting soldiers in front of you, and also blasting the scuba
divers as they jump out of the water. If one manages to throw his big
missile at you, just jump over it. Soldiers will also work alarm siren
horns (blast them for extra points) and shoot at you from the wooden
structures overhead. Keep your eye out for yellow barrels up there. One
shot and they explode, destroying the structures and any soldiers in or on
them (but their explosions won't hurt you). Keep going right, grabbing the
bonus items and jump up on the structure with a house on it to get to the
crate on the tower. This has an HMG, while the one below the hut just has
a bonus item. Use the HMG to blast the big wooden house with two
grenade-tossing soldiers ahead of you. It's good to destroy that thing
BEFORE you board the waiting Metal Slug. That way you can dodge the
enemy's shots more easily while you shoot the building out from under them.
Grenades will waste it faster, but you want to save some for the enemy
boss. Go right once the house's front area is gone, under its stilits.
Another chopper appears, handle it like you did the last one, using your
tank's HMG, which can shoot in all directions even if your tank can't turn
around. Grab that gas the chopper leaves behind once it crashes into the
enemy stilt house and keep going right, getting the cannon shells farther
on. Shoot the bazooka-men that appear above, and then blast that big
barrel marked "Danger" on the boat with your cannon. One shell or two, and
the boat and stilit house are destroyed, meaning you can advance. Shoot
down the POW hanging from the ruins of the stilt house for more cannon
shells/grenades and get the gas that also falls out of the ruins. Go on up
the rapids to the waterfall, watching out for two enemy tanks that come
down at you one at a time. These things are easy for tanks, just get real
close to them and blast away with your tank's HMG while their shells fly
right over you. At the rainbow (appears when you first roll onto the
bridge over the cliff falls), shoot up to destroy a hidden platform and
knock down some POWs. Release them by running into them (don't worry,
these guys can't die) for bonus points. Ahead, there's a wrecked plane
suspended over the waterfall. A soldier waits on the wooden structure
built up around it, ready to scream in panic and start sounding an alarm
siren. Blast him, and free the two hostages on the plane fuselage (use
your HMG to cut their ropes, then wait for them to arm-flap down and run
into them) for extra explosives and a Rocket Launcher. Time to face the
boss. An enemy soldier powers up the plane's heavy nose-mounted laser
cannon and attacks. You'll have to destroy the cannon to beat the level.
Watch for brown soldiers with bazookas rushing out of the plane during the
fight, as you can shoot them with the tank's HMG for extra explosives and
special weapons. You can do the same with prisoners if any more appear.
This boss is pretty easy. The cannon can't move from its current position
except slightly up or down, and shooting any part of the plane or the
wooden structure built around the plane damages it. Basically, the cannon
has only one way of attacking you. It will fire several volleys of three
arcing laser blasts over your tank, which are easy to drive under before
they land. It keeps doing this for some time, so just use your cannon
shells on the gun in front of you, blasting the part of the plane's body
hanging over the waterfall as you dodge its arcing blasts. When the gun's
about halfway to going boom, it will start firing large laser balls in a
one-high, one-low, and so on pattern along with the arcing blasts. Just
keep up the same strategy, ducking under the high laser balls and jumping
over the low ones while you dodge the arcing blasts and keep up a rain of
fire on the wrecked plane. Leap out and use your rocket launcher if your
tank gets destroyed, even though that shouldn't happen on such an easy
boss. When that gun goes bye-bye, Mission 1 is complete and you'll get
bonus points for each acknowledged rescue (as well as the POW's name, most
of them seem to be Japanese or Greek guys), plus a bonus multiplier if the
enemy didn't manage to destroy the Metal Slug tank. On to the next mission.
Mission 2: Welcome to London. A London that's been wrecked by the enemy
soldiers, that is. You parachute in, and land next to some guys roasting
marshmallows over a campfire. Blast 'em and rescue the POW dangling
overhead for a bonus item. Shoot the two enemy flags, stone post, and big
clock to pieces for extra points. Two soldiers with shields come in next,
they can only be hurt by bullets when they pull their shields away to
attack with their knife or pistol. You can still shoot them from behind,
below, or above, but the best bet is to get close and use your knife. The
shield can't block that. Now advance right, shooting the grenade-tossers
that crawl toward you down the railroad tracks. There are three sets of
lightning rods and electric wires strung across the tracks you have to pass
through without touching them. Jump over the first, crawl under the second
for a bonus item, and then jump the third and get that shield soldier
waiting on the other side for a FlameShot. Use it on the guys with
bazookas parachuting down from overhead, any shield soldiers rushing in
from the right, and anybody who crawls under the wires behind you. After
you roast the second shield soldier, you may proceed. Make sure to shoot
the track switch for a lot of extra points, then cross the bridge over the
Thames. Soldiers in life preservers will shoot at you from below, so wait
until they stop shooting and go down before jumping the gaps in the bridge.
You don't want to fall in the water here. Your guy can't swim, and even
if he could, the big fish down there is hungry. The first bonus item you
see is out-of reach, but you can shoot the lampposts on the bridge for
extra points. There's a POW hanging from a lamppost shortly after you pass
the "Pub and Grill" sign, shoot him down for a Rocket Launcher. Ahead, an
enemy tank advances on you. Just fire rockets at it from a crouch position
to blow it up, and its shots will fly right over your head. Note: This
type of tank will eject a soldier who fires one rocket at you you can
easily jump over, then runs away if the final blow against it isn't from a
rocket or grenade. After the tank blows, grab the explosives it left
behind and keep going, using rockets to shoot the groups of soldiers
tossing grenades up ahead. Shoot down the POW for more rockets. Ahead, an
enemy boat rolls in with guys relaxing on its deck. Toss some grenades
down there to end their relaxing and jump on board. Stand next to the
pilot house and blast away, this way you can damage the boat and kill any
grenade-tossers who rush out. When the boat's damaged enough, it will turn
over and soldiers will concentrate on bailing water out. Leap back onto
the bridge from the boat, getting the HMG on it if needed and shoot
downwards while in the air to kill the bailing soldiers and send the boat
to the bottom. Repeat with the next two boats as they come in, getting
another Rocket Launcher from the second, and a Shotgun from the third (the
last boat rolls in from the left instead of the right, so be careful).
After sinking all three boats, go right and blast the boathouse. The POW
hiding inside will give you a bonus item once you rescue him. A shield
soldier and a bazooka soldier will rush in from either side, then a tank
just like the one you crouched to shoot at while crossing the bridge comes
from the right. Use the shotgun to take them out, grab another load of
bombs the tank leaves behind when blown up, and go right, blasting the two
soldiers and POW overhead for a HMG. Don't pick it up just yet, though.
The Shotgun is a better weapon against the rail-tank that rolls into view
overhead. Shoot it as it comes with the shotgun, getting in as much damage
as possible while it clears the track of debris before firing at you. When
it does, just get out from under the slow-moving blue laser balls it drops
and keep firing at it. Pick up the HMG when you run out of shotgun shells
and watch out for the shield soldiers that may rush in from either side
during the fight. Once the rail-tank's dmaged enough, its drivers are
killed and it will fall off the track and you can keep going right. Shoot
the bazooka soldier waiting to ambush you near the ramp going up. On top
of the ramp, a soldier clinging to the outside throws grenades while
another one rolls them down the ramp at you. Jump over their grenades and
use the HMG to kill both. Then advance to the top of the ramp and board
the Metal Slug. Say, is that Big Ben fallen over in the background? Roll
on over the wooden ramp, shooting soldiers that climb up to lob grenades
with your tank's HMG. The four POWs will give you bonus coins when freed.
Next up, three planes diving in from overhead dropping easy-to-dodge bombs
on you. Use the tank's HMG to soak the planes until they break up, they're
much too fast for cannon shells. Once the planes are gone, the enemy
General's personal air transport flies past and you can proceed. Run over
the two shield soldiers in your path for extra cannon shells (two boxes)
and then get the gas before boarding the rolling train car. The General's
air transport flies down ahead of you, and it's the mission boss. This
plane has a frightening amount of stamina, and its main attack is to drop
missiles out its bottom. Just jump over the missiles if they get shot at
you or roll away from them if you can. Keep up a rain of fire on the plane
with your HMG, jumping up to hit it with cannon shells when it's low.
Occasionally the plane's side door will open, revealing a soldier who
tosses down three grenades or fires a couple weaving rockets down at you.
Both types of projectiles are easy to dodge. The plane can also go to the
far right of the screen and drop a bunch of round munitions on you. Just
zoom to the left and dodge any incoming shells when this happens, then
shoot at the plane again once it comes down. You can use the train car's
three platforms as sniping posts, jumping boards, or overhead cover when
they're raised (the arrow below one flashes when this happens). When you
damage the plane enough, the enemy General himself, a guy wielding a rocket
launcher who kinda looks like Saddam Hussein, will appear in the plane's
open side door and fire at you. The plane's weapons don't shoot at you
while he's out, so just dodge his rockets (pretty easy to do, especially
with cover from the raised platforms) and keep shooting the plane. If your
tank gets destroyed, leap out and handle the jet like you would a
bomb-dropping copter, keeping in mind to leap up and lob grenades when it
gets low. When the plane is eventually destroyed, it falls down and blows
up. The General leaps out and is rescued by a plane like the ones that
divebombed you earlier. Don't worry, you will see the General again later
in the game if you survive. Mission 2 Complete!!
Mission 3: Enter the snowy alpine wilderness and get ready to climb the
mountain, soldier. The first POW you see has a HMG to give you (where do
these guys get their weapons?). Leap up to the ledges above you (jumping
to the ledges in the direction of the arrow signs is best) and remember, if
you fall off the screen, you're dead. On the long ledge with a prisoner
tied to a post, you can get a cute bonus teddy bear if you free the guy and
kill the two soldiers (one shield, one bazooka) who rush out to ambush you.
Use the HMG to take out the paratroopers with bazookas as they drop from
overhead next, making sure to jump around the ledge to dodge their shots.
A bomb-dropping copter comes next, but the ledge is wide enough for you to
use the same weave-back-and-forth to dodge the bombs while shooting upwards
strategy you've used on them before. After you blow the copter and grab
that falling love letter, an elevator descends from above. Shoot up to
kill the shield soldier on board, then leap on and let the elevator carry
you up. Kill the guy on the ledge to the left firing a bazooka at you
(three shots per volley) with fire from a crouching position or while
jumping over his shots. Then leap over there and jump onto the upper
ledge. Now you have a problem. There's a big motorized column on the
other side blocking you from jumping over there with its bulk and constant
descent. The bazookaman firing volleys of three shots from under it is
also a problem. To get past this part, stay on the small ledge above the
wide one on the left where the bazookaguy can't get you and lob three
grenades at that big button on the column with the up arrow on it. This
will make the column go up and you can leap across to the right ledge
without it getting in the way before it comes back down if you're quick
enough. Shoot the bazookaman once you're over there and then stand to the
left of that big "Danger" marked barrel and fire away, killing any more
soldiers who rush in from the right. Once the barrel's blown, the column's
destroyed and you can proceed (Note: you can also shoot at the barrel from
the other side while the column is up, but doing it this way is MUCH easier
and takes less time and gunshots to hit the up button). Keep jumping to
higher ledges, grabbing extra bullet boxes and bonus items as you do. When
you get to a ledge with a diagonal sign pointing to the upper right, stay
there and jump up and down, firing at the soldier waiting to roll grenades
at you on the next ledge. When you've killed him and his three waiting
replacements, jump across and keep going up, grabbing more bullets and
bonus items as you go. Make a running jump to the left to access the next
ledge after grabbing the birdie nest and then jump up between the soldiers
above you rolling snowballs around and shoot them in the back as you leap
over them (the snowballs are immune to all damage, so jump over them to
avoid getting crushed). Get to the far right, getting the bonus items as
you go, and jump up to the ledge above. Now you're at the mountaintop.
Time to face the soldier I call the jerk drill sergeant, a barechested
bearded guy with a chaingun who yells insults at you while he attacks. The
guy can also throw grenades at you and slash you with his knife if you get
too close. Try to stay away from him during the fight, and jump over his
chaingun blasts and grenades. Drop grenades on him from the upper ledges
and shoot at him with the HMG if you have one. Otherwise just keep
jumping, dodging, and firing away. Ignore all the stuff he yells at you
and watch as he turns red (the redder he gets, the closer he is to death).
Eventually, he'll fall over and go "See you in Hell!" Then you can proceed
to the right. Leap up to the highest ledge and then leap from there to
grab a bonus item at the treetop. Get the Rocket Launcher from the POW.
Use it to blast that tank ahead of you firing arcing laser blasts one at a
time. A rocket's upward arc will enable it to kill the soldier dropping
grenades if you're wondering how to gte past his constant rain of
explosives. Keep going right, shooting up the stack of plates blocking
your way just ahead and then you're near the enemy barracks. Shoot the
soldiers rushing at you, and grab a bonus item from the POW. Use your
Rocket Launcher to destroy the wooden walkway overhead and bring down the
boxes up there. You'll pick up two boxes of bombs, a bonus item, and a
shotgun. Use the shotgun to kill the enemy soldiers rushing at you and the
guy atop the latrine throwing grenades. Ignore the scared man inside the
latrine (he can't be killed, nor can the toilet be destroyed) and pay
attention to the three tanks just ahead. They're the type it's safe to
shoot at if you crouch down while firing. The first one is directly
shielded from your gunfire by the toilet, so use the shotgun or grenades
instead while you crouch to take him out. Leap over the toilet between
volleys, grab the ammo box the first tank left behind, and shoot at the
other two from a crouching position next to them. They leave nothing
behind when destroyed, but at least you can proceed right to the barracks.
A soldier here will start sounding an alarm horn while more drop grenades
from overhead and a tank of the type you encountered back at the waterfall
in Mission 1 lobs cannon shells. First, rescue the POW for a bonus item,
then shoot the two soldiers lobbing grenades from directly above you. Then
kill the alarm horn guy (he pulls out a pistol and starts firing if you let
him survive too long). Next, concentrate all fire on the big "Danger"
marked barrel. Detonating it will destroy the tank, topple the barracks,
and kill all the soldiers inside as they tumble over the cliff. You
survive and can easily walk out of the rubble and go right, boarding the
Metal Slug when it appears. Use the tank's cannon to take out the first
enemy tank up ahead (all these tanks are ones that lob regular round shells
at you like the ones in Mission 1). Then handle the one on the upper level
like you would a bomb-dropping helicopter. Proceed right, staying on the
lower level and shooting down any trees in your path. POWs will give you
gas and cannon shells when you rescue them. More soldiers rush in to throw
grenades, use your tank's HMG on them. When more enemy tanks roll in,
handle the upper level ones like you would bomb-dropping helicopters and
kill the ones on your level with the Metal Slug's cannon (jump over them if
they come in from the left). Eventually, you'll go up a ramp and free a
prisoner who gives you a rocket launcher. Then the boss tank rolls in
below. You can't jump down to its level, so weave back and forth while you
drop cannon shells and downward machine gun fire onto the big tank. Take
out the tank's two side guns first, as they can not only shoot machine gun
fire but also drop land mines onto your level that you must shoot or jump
over to avoid. Then concentrate all fire on the big gun, jumping away from
it when it vents its exhaust (that means it's about to fire a straight
diagonal or upward laser blast that really damages your tank). When that
gun's eventually destroyed, the tank will also go boom and you've completed
the third mission. If you lose the Metal Slug during this fight, you can
still hit the tank below you by firing downward while in the air or
dropping grenades on it. You can get more explosives, HMGs, Rocket
Launchers, and bonus items from POWs that appear to either side during the
fight. Also, if you die here, you'll get a Rocket Launcher for continuing
instead of an HMG.
Mission 4: The hilly German countryside is the setting for this one. When
you've landed after parachuting in, proceed to the right and lob a grenade
at the bar's back wall after you shoot the soldiers on the ground to take
out the balcony bazooka sniper. Shoot the wall down and blast the soldiers
behind it, but don't blow up that "Danger" marked barrel just yet! First
leap on top of it and then leap to the ledge above with the
speech-practicing politician (sometimes a monkey instead, but both are are
bonus items) and the Metal Slug. Drive that tank down from the ledge and
then blow the barrel. Roll on into the bar, shooting the soldiers who come
at you with bazookas. Others leap down from above with knives extended,
but they can't hurt your tank. They may try to grab onto the side, though,
and hitch a ride. Weave back and forth, firing your tank's machine gun, to
shake them off. As you jump over the pool table and keep going right,
don't forget to grab the bonus items and boxes of explosives (from rescued
POWs), plus a HMG (also from a POW) on the upper level, and shoot down the
ceiling fans for extra points. Jump over the round-shell-launching tank
when it appears behind you and use your cannon to destroy it. All this is
easy to do in the Metal Slug. Once you get out of the bar, get ready to
face some heavy-fire scenarios. Enemy tanks come up on the inaccessible
ledge above and start dropping round cannon shells. To take them out, get
directly under the tank (where it can't hit you) and weave back and forth
to avoid any fire from other nearby tanks on the above area while shooting
up. Notice the cracks appearing in the ledge area under the tank as you
shoot. Once the ledge suffers enough damage, it will collapse and down
comes the tank. Get out of the way so it doesn't fall on you and shoot the
two or three soldiers that climb out once it hits the ground. Whoa,
another tank came up to take the fallen one's place!! Don't panic, just
handle it the same way you did the previous tank (the replacement tanks
won't fall, just explode up there on the ledge) and no replacement for it
will come once it's destroyed. Now, with no tanks bombarding you from
above, keep going to the right, and watch out for soldiers hiding behind
the hills up ahead and in the foxholes beyond. They'll throw grenades at
you, and they can't be shot unless you can leap over their cover without
getting blown up. A cannon shot or the Metal Slug's machine gun can take
them out without you having to jump over. About halfway through this
section, you'll meet another crouch-down-and-blast-it-type tank. Since
three soldiers in foxholes and two overhead shell-dropping tanks arrive
about the same type, it's a little hard to handle it all. First, fire a
machine gun volley at the first foxhole grenade thrower to take him out,
then use your grenades/cannon on the tank on the ground. Next, use your
machine gun on the other two soldiers, and finally take out the overhead
bombing tanks after that, as their shells are pretty easy to dodge. Lob a
cannon shell over the next hill to kill the three grenade-tossers waiting
there, destroy the last overhead bombing tanks, and then advance towards
the hill. Ahead, a soldier mans a big missile launcher behind a
spike-studded shield. The spikes are deadly if you aren't in the Metal
Slug, so jumping over the cannon isn't a very good idea. Just lob a cannon
shot or grenade at the gun to destroy it (the explosive rolls behind or
flies over the shield and gets the soldier), shoot the soldiers rushing at
you from behind to lay down land mines before they can do it, then head up
the hill and handle the shielded cannon at the entrance to the Ardennes
Forest like you did the one at the bottom of the hill. There's another
Metal Slug just beyond it in case you lost the last one. Unfortunately,
the forest has a lot of missile turrets among its trees, most of them on
the ledges above you. Barbecue these with your Metal Slug's machine gun as
they appear on the screen, backing up to avoid their missiles. Use your
cannon to destroy the big guns on the path ahead of you (it usually only
takes one shot per big gun) while they reload after each shot they fire,
making sure to pick up the gas, boxes of explosives, or bonus items they
leave behind after being destroyed. There is one POW at the start of this
section, in the cave under the hill you roll down, who will give you extra
explosives when freed. Just watch out for the soldiers who may ambush you
from the cave with grenades. Also look out for the ones laying down land
mines for you to back over and heaving grenades at your tank (in addition
to the cannons) as you roll through the woods. Once past the big turret on
the hilltop (use your tank's cannon to destroy it), roll into the red-hued
cave and save the four POWs for two boxes of explosives, a bonus item, and
a Rocket Launcher. Then the two enemy boss tanks roll onto the screen, one
on the upper level from the right and one on the lower level from the left.
I call these big artillery tanks "Sweeper Tanks," and they have bazooka
snipers, missile launchers (shoot ones like the divers threw at you in
level one, only they arc over you and then come down, able to hit you on
either the upper or lower level of the cavern), and forward missile
launchers (straight shot rockets), in addition to their ability to run over
you. It's really best to take out the upper-level one first. Lob a few
shells into it first, then do the crash-your-tank-into-the-enemy maneuver
on it. You'll need the greater maneuverability of your soldier for this
fight. If the shells and crash didn't destroy the upper Sweeper Tank, use
your grenades while you're jumping over it as it comes at you. Dodge the
missiles both tanks fire and stay on the upper level. Once the tank up
there is gone, only the big missiles from the bottom one can hit you.
Handle it by leaping back and forth to dodge the missiles while dropping
grenades and firing downwards while in the air. Any POWs that appear
during the fight will grant you extra explosives, HMGs, Rocket Launchers,
or bonus items just like on the last boss fight. Once both tanks are
destroyed, Mission 4 is complete.
Mission 5: Ah, a peaceful Slavic village. Whoa, check the peaceful part.
It's full of enemy soldiers and vehicles. This may be one of your toughest
missions. As soon as you land, a housewife will run screaming out of her
home. Shoot the soldier who's chasing her and watch out for his comrades
who soon arrive with knives, pistols, and grenades. After beating them,
don't go forward just yet. Shoot at the building above you, taking out
every balcony railing, window, doorway, and wall section. Eventually, the
building collapses, an old man runs out screaming and struggling to hold
his pants up, and you get lots of extra points. There's also a few bonus
items and special weapons on the wreckage. Continue down the village
street, shooting soldiers of all types waiting for you. Use parked cars
and enemy trailer command posts as jumping platforms to reach any objects
out of your reach on the buildings (most out-of-reach objects appear once
the buildings are destroyed) before you shoot them to pieces for extra
points and so enemy soldiers can't keep spilling out of the trailers. Any
object on a balcony will fall once the balcony's destroyed, and special
weapons you can get here include a couple HMGs, a Shotgun, a FlameShot, and
two RocketLaunchers. Switch weapons as necessary, and make sure you
destroy all the buildings and cars in your path for extra points as you
continue to the right. Watch out for bazooka snipers or grenade tossers in
the trees and windows above; destroy their posts to take them out, special
weapons work well. The village post office (right after the building the
two screaming bakers rush out of once it's destroyed, on the upper level)
is the last building you can destroy. There's a cannon-shell firing tank
rolling in as you come to it, use your grenades then get on the upper level
and waste the post office. You'll get no special items, but will receive
many points and take out a few soldiers. Free the POW for extra
explosives, then board the Metal Slug and wax the enemy trailer ahead with
your machine gun, then kill the round-shell-firing tank waiting behind it.
Ahead is a roadway with several cars in your path and shield soldiers
rushing at you with ready knives. They can't hurt your tank, so shoot or
run over them and destroy the cars in your path with the tank's machine
gun. When you reach the cringing old lady, enemy planes start divebombing
you again. Jump over their missiles and use your machine gun to blow them
out of the sky. Next comes a bomb-dropping helicopter, one that drops its
bombs faster than the ones you've faced before. You'll just have to be
quicker when waxing this one with your machine gun and also be careful not
to rush forward too quickly, as more enemies await ahead. Namely, a wall
blocking your path with a "No Tanks Allowed" sign on it you'll have to
shoot down (beware the soldier atop it manning the drunk missile cannon)
and a truck full of enemy soldiers coming up behind you. Best thing to do
is not advance too far to the right until you've wasted the chopper, then
shoot any bazooka or grenade-tossing soldiers on the inaccessible upper
level with your machine gun. Next leap onto the truck and take it out (the
drunk missiles are relatively easy to dodge if you aren't being bombarded
by other enemy fire), then use your cannon on the wall. Proceed through
the underpass, watching out for guys on motorbikes that come streaking at
you (use your machine gun or jump over them) or guys on bikes with sidecars
containing bazooka snipers stopping on the upper level (waste with your
machine gun before you proceed). When the wooden door with the girl on it
appears on the upper level, shoot it to pieces for extra points. Board the
Metal Slug waiting for you in the middle of the underpass if you need to do
so. At the other end of the underpass, there's a similar drunk-missile
launcher and "No Tanks Allowed"sign setup, only this time you'll also have
to deal with motorbike-snipers above and soldiers leaping onto your tank
trying to hitch a ride. Plus, coming up behind you is a Sweeper Tank!!
This is the point where not being able to turn your tank around can really
piss you off. To handle this, use your machine gun on all the motorbike
snipers above, then quickly blow the wall with shells (takes three), and
advance to outrun the Sweeper Tank, while using your machine gun to kill
the leaping soldiers. If you can get the Sweeper Tank scrolled off the
screen, it won't continue the chase. There's something worse up ahead,
though. Continue past the last few motorbike soldiers (for this mission,
anyway; more do appear on the next), and wait for the village dogs to rush
past you before proceeding. The boss vehicle, a big red spiky armed
bulldozer-like tank transport will fire its missiles at you as you advance
towards it, but they're easy to dodge or shoot. The tank on board the
transport won't fire at you, but you do have to worry about the missiles
and volleys of seven arcing laser blasts the transport itself will shoot.
Crash your tank into the thing to begin (once again, you'll need your
soldier's maneuverability) and then lob grenades at it till it extends its
jacks and goes up, revealing a big poison gas turret underneath. Stay away
from this gun (the gas will get you if you get too close), and concentrate
all fire on it while you dodge the boss's other artillery. Once the gas
gun is destroyed, four POWs fall out of the machine. Free them for a HMG,
Rocket Launcher, a grenade-box, and a bonus item. Now stay underneath the
elevated boss where only its guided missiles can get you, and shoot up at
its soft underbelly. You can't use grenades on the boss now, as it is
elevated too high, so it's going to take a while to destroy it. Make sure
to duck under or shoot very missile that comes at you while you're
underneath the boss, so that none hit you, but they're pretty fast, so
don't be surprised if you need to use several credits to pass this boss.
Once he's destroyed, it's on to the final mission!!
Mission 6: Time to enter the Amazon jungle for a final confrontation.
Parachute in, and watch the three Metal Slugs roll away to attack the enemy
base ahead of you. There are no Metal Slugs for yourself on this level.
To begin, shoot that soldier hiding below you using the
shoot-down-while-in-the-air maneuver and then shoot down the POW above you
(hidden in the trees, you can easily spot his long blonde hair if you look
hard enough) for a box of grenades. Advance to the right, killing the
soldiers as they climb up the cliffs ahead of and behind you. Use grenades
on any tanks that threaten. You'll soon reach one of the three Metal Slugs
that you saw roll out (now destroyed) and have to kill a bunch of soldiers
waiting to ambush you from inside its corpse. Go forward, crossing onto
the bridge over the river. Enemy soldiers with bazookas and on motorbikes
(just like the ones on the last level, either roaring straight at you or
sniping from above) await on each of the bridge's two levels. Watch out
for the enemies dumping steel beams on your head from their green wagons
(waste the wagons for extra points) on the upper level, and keep in mind
that any section of the upper level with big orange barrels attached to it
can be shot to pieces if you want to restrict enemy movement up there.
Tanks that come at you include a few of the round-shell-firing variety
(handle them like you did the ones on lower and upper levels at the end of
Mission 3, making sure to kill any enemy soldiers nearby first to avoid a
great mount of fire bombarding you), and a crouch-and-blast-it type or two.
These latter ones are surrounded by lots of soldiers, so it's hard to take
them out with the normal strategy. Instead, throw grenades at them while
dodging enemy fire and shooting the soldiers around it. The POWs on the
bridge give a grenade box, a couple HMGs, and some bonus items once freed.
When you reach the end of the bridge, a big Huey-type helicopter (the final
boss) flies down. Your old pal the General appears in the open door, but
he's not ready to fight you yet. Instead, he blows up the bridge and sends
you plummeting to land on a large boat below you. This boat will
automatically start heading to the right, the way you need to go, and it's
equipped with a limitless-ammo machine gun turret. Hop into the turret
after freeing any POWs who fell along with you and grabbing their bonus
items. Get ready to shoot down three dive-bombing planes while rotating
the turret back and forth to dodge their bombs. Next up, several
paratroopers descend onto the boot. Jump off the turret and waste them
with small-arms fire (your pistol), then the bomb-dropping copter comes.
Don't bother to take out this one, just rush back and forth on the deck to
avoid its bombs until it flies away. Then you'll be under the Great Amazon
Highway, one of its pillars blocking your boat's way onward. If that
"Danger" marked barrel is any indication, though, you do have some way to
topple the freeway and proceed. First, rush back and forth on the deck,
shooting down the bazooka snipers overhead. Then use your boat's turret to
take down the pillar. If the bomb-dropping copter sticks around (this
sometimes happens), take it out first. Your boat will keep going once the
freeway section's toppled, and you can get some bonus items, a box of
grenades, and a HMG from the POWs who leap down from above. Ahead, there's
another swarm of divebombing planes like the ones in the last mission whose
missiles you must jump over as they streak past. At the next freeway
pillar blocking your way, use the boat's turret to take out the motorbike
snipers overhead, and then blow up the pillar like before, watching out for
paratroopers. The two POWs up there give you a bonus item and HMG once
shot down from where they're hanging and rescued. Proceed onward in the
boat, using your turret or pistol on any scuba divers who jump out of the
water to throw missiles at you. Ahead, the boat stops at a beach. Jump
off, grab the bonus items, and proceed to the right, past the burned-out
husks of two more Metal Slugs (don't worry, no soldiers leap out of these),
and get ready to face another super-fast bomb-dropping helicopter. Handle
it by running under it as it drops its bombs, shooting straight up as you
go (hold the joystick in an upward diagonal as you press the shoot button
to preform this maneuver). An HMG can really help here, as its rapid fire
shots will take out the chopper faster. Once it's shot down, go on to the
right, blasting any knife-slashing soldiers who jump down at you. When you
finally reach the enemy command center, jump up and fire at the guy hanging
to the searchlight and tossing grenades. Free the POW for a Rocket
Launcher, dodge the last few knife-slashers, then that big Huey you saw
before flies down. The General comes out on the side-mounted platform,
ready to blast away with his rocket launcher. The Huey also has a big
Gatling gun under its nose, a hidden guided-missile launcher just above the
Gatling gun, and can drop bombs. To avoid most of these various attacks,
you need to keep moving around while you use the Rocket Launcher or HMG on
the Huey, which can take a lot of punishment. The more smoke that comes
out of its engine as it attacks, though, the closer it is to destruction.
To avoid the missiles it launches (most frequent attack, 4 to 8 per volley,
more in each volley as it gets closer to destruction), shoot the missiles
down as they arc toward you and try to jump away from them so they'll
collide into each other. After the volley's all been destroyed, go back to
standing under the chopper and shooting upwards to blast it away. The best
way to avoid the copter's Gatling gun is by fleeing to the upper platform
where it can't get you. You can also hit the Huey with grenades by leaping
from up there and tossing them as you sail back towards the ground. The
General's rockets can be avoided by leaping over them as they sail towards
you. When the chopper cycles to the top right corner of the screen and
opens its bomb bay, rush over under it and shoot up to destroy any falling
bombs directly over your head. As long as you shoot those bombs and don't
move from your initial sniping spot till the Huey comes back on screen and
resumes its regular attack pattern, you should be okay. As the copter
takes more damage, more bombs will fall out in this attack, too. This will
be a long battle, and may take several credits, but you should win
eventually. POWs who appear on screen during the fight will provide extra
grenades, Rocket Launchers, or HMGs if you rescue them. When you
eventually destroy the Huey, the general will come flying out as it
explodes and you can rush over and slash him several times with your knife
for fun as he falls and lays on the ground (no, he's not gonna get up and
fight you outside of a vehicle). Now Mission 6 is complete, and so is the
game. Sit back and enjoy the impressive cinematic ending and the promise
of Peace Forever!!
That's all the perils you'll face in Metal Slug. If you manage to beat the
game, congratulations. You've beaten a very difficult and very cool load
of fun!!
