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Metal Slug 5 (メタルスラッグ 5) is a run-and-gun video game for the Neo-Geo console/arcade platform developed by Noise Factory and SNK Playmore. It was released in 2003 for the MVS arcade platform and is the last Metal Slug game released for the Neo Geo.

The game was later ported to Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2, as a standalone game in Japan and Europe, and along with Metal Slug 4 as a compilation in North America and South Korea. It was also ported to Microsoft Windows for a Korean release. It is also part of the Arcade Archives for Xbox One, Windows 10, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. A port was also released on Nintendo Switch in 2018.

Story[]

Wars continue to rage across the world. Amid this chaos the Elite Peregrine Falcons (PF) Squad hurried to complete their development of the next wave of Metal Slugs in the hope of bolstering their firepower enough to quell the rising conflicts.

However, the Government SV research facility has been attacked by an unknown party and a disc containing Metal Slug secrets has been stolen. The disc contains not only the schematics for Metal Slugs but also PF Squad combat data and analysis of weapons used by Morden's forces. In other words, whoever gets their hands on this disc would be privy to all of the Government Forces' secrets. Marco and Tarma receive orders from Tactical HQ to recover the disc at all costs.

Meanwhile, Eri and Fio of the Information Office's Elite Sparrows Squad are investigating the Ptolemaic Army, a paramilitary syndicate active in excavating and then pillaging archaeological sites. The pair succeed in tracing the syndicate to the ancient ruins known as "The Corridor of Fire". An attempt to take back the ruins fails, however; the Sparrows are driven back by the natives dwelling there and the giant Metal Slugs that they worship.

The two incidents prove that the Ptolemaic Army were behind the robbery of the Metal Slug secrets. The Government Forces, totally exposed to the Ptolemaic Army due to the contents of the disc, decide that an all-out assault on The Corridor of Fire presents too much of a risk and instead plans an infiltration operation by a handful of members from the PF and Sparrows Squads. The purpose of the mission is to take back or destroy the disc and to wipe out the Ptolemaic Army. After insertion all decisions shall be made in the field. Marco, Tarma, Eri and Fio's next mission has begun![1]

New Features and Differences[]

Gameplay[]

  • The player can perform a slide-dash by pressing the jump button while crouching. The move is exclusive to this game.
  • The Two Machine Guns' ammo is increased from 200 to 300 rounds.
  • "Fat" is the only remaining transformation. It is only available in Mission 1.
  • The Flame Shot has been omitted.
  • The Metallish System from Metal Slug 4 has been abandoned.

Presentation[]

  • The Rebel Army, Donald Morden, and Allen O'Neil are nowhere to be found in this game. Rather, one fights armies of veiled terrorists, special forces, and assorted mecha named the Ptolemaic Army. As a result, this game lacks much of the sense of humor of its predecessors. However, most of the new enemies are edits of the Rebel soldiers' AI, and while many feature completely new animations, some simply use edited sprites from previous titles.
  • There are no zombies, mummies, aliens or other such supernatural creatures, although the final boss is a large demon.
  • Unlike its predecessor Metal Slug 4, which reused many of the backgrounds and sprites from the previous games, Metal Slug 5 incorporates a wealth of new environments, backgrounds, and unique bosses. Some of the background sceneries are heavily edited from previous games, however.
  • Eri and Tarma return as playable characters with Trevor and Nadia being omitted entirely.
  • There are cutscenes at various points throughout the game, rather than one or two at the end, giving the game a hint of progression of plot.
  • The soundtrack as a whole uses a heavy metal theme. This includes the remixed versions of "Final Attack", "The Military System", "Carry Out", and "Gravestone".

Slugs[]

Alongside the returning SV-001, Slug Mariner and Slug Flyer, three new vehicles were added:

  • Slug Gunner: The ultimate evolution of the SV-001 and LV Armor. The Slug Gunner fires a machine gun, a chassis-mounted main cannon, and can punch enemies with a close-combat exploding pile bunker. It can perform a mid-air jump like that of the LV Armor. It is also able to transform from a walker into a tank and can move slightly faster in addition to running over infantry. However, the Slug Gunner is clunky, takes a while to turn, and only has a 90-degree firing arc (180-degree while in the air).
  • Slug Mobile: A car with a 360-degree Vulcan cannon attached. Its secondary fire is an oversized Enemy Chaser. Of particular interest is that the player cannot eject from the vehicle, meaning they'll die when it's destroyed, and will subsequently respawn in a new Slug Mobile.
  • Augensterm: A giant spider-like walker with two legs tethered to the floor and two to the ceiling; pressing the jump button raises or lowers the cockpit. The Augensterm is armed with two 360-degree firing Vulcan cannons and a harpoon gun.

Missions and Bosses[]

Mission names are based on their level theme.

No. Name Bosses BGM
1 Heavy African SV-001/III Black Hound (secret miniboss)
Metal Rear
Heavy African
Ruins Excavation
2 Windy Day Shooting Ray Windy Day
Zoom Down
3 Intrigue Screamer Intrigue
4 Run Through Sand Marine Run Through
Bottom of the Sea
5 Last Ditch Resistance Mammoth Tower (miniboss)
Avatar of Evil (final boss)
Speeder
Last Ditch Resistance

Development[]

  • Compared to other games the series Metal Slug 5 features lots of unused data in its assets, including graphics, stages, characters, bosses, items and codes. Based on this, assumptions and educated guesses have arose, pointing it to be sort of incomplete, rushed to meet release deadlines.
  • In the Arcade flyer of the game (seen below), there seems to be some other versions of the Units or vehicles than those included in the game; for example, the one below Tarma is a different variant that features what seem to be either fins or wings. Just as the many material related to this game, this may suggest that initially there were a large amount of enemy mechs but didn't make it into the final release.
  • In the Xbox promotional flyer, below Marco and over to the right, there are two characters occupying the TIAF660. These two are nicknamed by fans "Achilles" and "Tabomba" although only the former has sprites and code in the game (and is also unused).
  • Concept art for the bosses orders the missions as 3-4-2-1-5 (e.g. the Screamer is listed as the Mission 1 boss) while the in-game debug level select orders it as 3-4-1-2-5 (as shown in early publications). This suggests that the first four missions were shuffled around due to deadlines, difficulty, or in-game story reasons.
  • The Flame Shot is the only weapon to not return, but the sprites of various Ptolemaic soldiers burning to death exist. The Flame Shot is present in the game's code and is accessed by using debug and entering Area 3:9.
  • There are two unused bosses, the Stone Turtle and Ptolemaios, both with mostly complete sprite sets and coding. The Final Mission's first background has what appears to be Stone Turtle carrying the Gaia Elephant and Ptolemaios on the burned city.

Trivia[]

  • The Guerrilla Soldiers' scarfs share the same color palette as the game's blood. Turning the blood off will change their scarves from red to white. The dead Guerrillas in Mission 1 has red scarves regardless of blood settings.
  • Only in the standalone PS2 and Xbox versions of Metal Slug 5 can the cutscene with the Natives be skipped.
  • Despite the various unused assets, sprites do make appearances in later games. The Stone Turtle debuts in Metal Slug Revolution, and Ptolemaios is the main leader of the Ptolemaic Army in Metal Slug Attack.

Screenshots[]

Artwork[]

External links[]

References[]

  1. Metal Slug 5 PS2 English Manual, pg. 4.
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Metal Slug 5
Heroes Marco RossiTarma RovingEri KasamotoFio Germi
NPCs POWRumi AikawaMadoka AikawaHyakutaro IchimonjiPtolemaic Army
Enemies Ptolemaic InfantryFanaticsGrenade SoldierBazooka SoldierShielded SoldierBikersSniperMortarNativesGuerrillaSpecial ForcesCommanderMasked SoldierWall DroneUnitsSensor MineBatMaggotJellyfishSquid
Enemy Vehicles Di-CokkaNop-03 SarubiaGirida-OM-15A BradleyJet Hammer-YangMini-Sub 88LandseekA.P.C.R-ShobuMH-6S MasknellFlying TaraEaca-BHover VehicleHover UnitPtolemaic SlugPtolemaic Saucer
Bosses Metal RearShooting RayScreamerSand MarineAvatar of Evil
Mini-Bosses: Black HoundGaia Elephant
Weapons Heavy Machine GunRocket LauncherShotgunEnemy ChaserIron LizardSuper GrenadeDrop ShotTwo Machine GunsGrenade
Slugs SV-001Slug FlyerSlug MarinerSlug GunnerSlug MobileAugensterm
Missions Heavy AfricanWindy DayIntrigueRun ThroughLast Ditch Resistance
Other TransformationsRA-TTTEnvironmental ObjectsItems
Unused Flame ShotPtolemaiosStone TurtlePink ZombiesThe Jet • "Achilles" • "Tabomba"
Metal Slug Series
Games
Main Series Metal Slug: Super Vehicle-001Metal Slug 2 (Metal Slug X) • Metal Slug 3Metal Slug 4Metal Slug 5Metal Slug 6Metal Slug 7 (Metal Slug XX)
Spin-Offs Metal Slug: 1st MissionMetal Slug: 2nd MissionMetal Slug AdvanceMetal Slug 3DMetal Slug Tactics
Real-Time Strategy Metal Slug DefenseMetal Slug AttackMetal Slug InfinityMetal Slug: Commander
Mobile Metal Slug MobileMetal Slug Mobile ImpactMetal Slug: Allen's Battle Chronicles (Mobile 3) • Metal Slug Mobile 4 (UMS: Landing) • Metal Slug Soldiers (UMS: Conspiracy) • Metal Slug Fighters (UMS: Fierce Battle) • Metal Slug Warriors (UMS: Triumph) • Metal Slug STGMetal Slug Mars Panic!Metal Slug TacticsMetal Slug M1Metal Slug M2Metal Slug 2013Metal Slug Team MissionMetal Slug TouchMetal Slug RevolutionMetal Slug WarsMetal Slug XX OnlineMetal Slug: Awakening
Pachinkos Metal Slug Type-AMetal Slug SV-001Metal Slug 3
Compilations Metal Slug 4&5Metal Slug AnthologyMetal Slug Complete PCArcade ArchivesNeo Geo Pocket Color Selection
Cancelled Metal Slug GBA PortMetal Slug Zero Online
Cameos and Crossovers
SNK The King of Fighters '99SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the MillenniumThe King of Fighters 2000SNK Vs. Capcom: CHAOSNeo-Geo Battle ColiseumThe King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2SNK Vs. Capcom: Card Fighters ClashSNK Vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DSDays of Memories 2Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting!RPG! Sister QuestThe King of Fighters XV
Others Battle CatsJetpack Joyride
Related Titles
Ikari Warriors Ikari WarriorsVictory RoadIkari III: The RescueIkari: Leona Gekitohen
Irem's D.A.S. Universe Air DuelUndercover CopsIn the HuntGunforce II
Others Neo Turf MastersBlack Finger Jet
Merchandise
Books Metal Slug: The Ultimate HistoryMetal Slug Attack Official Artbook
Collectibles Beast KingdomTunshi Studio
OSTs Metal Slug 2 Original SoundtrackMetal Slug 3 Original SoundtrackMetal Slug 5 Original SoundtrackMetal Slug Complete Sound BoxMetal Slug 7 ~iTunes Limited Edition~
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