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A staple of the Metal Slug series is its variety of deadly weapons. Here is a list of weapons the player can use throughout the main series and certain spin-offs.

Handgun[]

Tarma with the default pistol Fio using the female pistol

The player's default weapon. The male characters use semi-automatic pistols, while the females use double-action revolvers. The handgun has unlimited ammo, but lacks the heavy firepower or high fire rate of other weapons. When the special weapon runs out of ammo, the player will go back to using this handgun. If the player stands still after firing off a large amount of consecutive shots (at least twelve), the character will appear to reload his/her handgun, but this is purely cosmetic.

Metal Slug 6 onward introduces the Weapon Stock where the player can switch between the handgun and two other weapons. Marco's special ability is dealing double damage with his pistol.

Special Weapons[]

Special weapons are more powerful than the default handgun but must be picked up first and have limited ammo. Picking up multiples of the same weapon will increase the player's ammo supply, although, from the second pickup onward, each pickup will only supply 67-75% of the starting amount depending on the weapon.

All special weapons take the form of the AR-10 assault rifle for male characters and what appears to be a sawed-off shotgun for female characters. The Two Machine Guns weapon instead takes the form of two SMGs: a pair of M-3685s for men and a pair of UZIs for women.

All special weapons are lost upon death. Leona will lose them upon losing all of her lives.

HeavyHeavy Machine Gun[]

Eri with heavy machine gun
A weapon with a very fast fire rate, its bullets are slightly more powerful than that of the handgun. The HMG starts with 200 ammo. The HMG is the only weapon that can fire diagonally prior to Metal Slug 6. The HMG can also be obtained by picking up Allen O'Neil's M60. The Big HMG has a faster rate of fire and fires much larger shots.

When the player loses all of their lives and uses another credit to continue play, an HMG appears on top of the player spawn as an assist. The exception is with the Tani Oh fight, where a Rocket Laucher appears instead.

In Metal Slug 6 and Metal Slug 7/XX's easiest difficulty, the player's pistol is replaced with the HMG; Fio weilds the Big variant. A grenade crate appears after continuing.

The HMG powerup appears as a black crate with a yellow H in the center. The Big version appears as a black crate with a pulsing H in the center

RRocket Launcher[]

Bigrocketlauncher

A weapon that fires small, slow moving rockets with great attack power. The rockets can adjust their trajectory somewhat to hit targets, on different platform levels, but they cannot turn around completely. The rocket launcher can weaken tanks and other armored vehicles much faster than other weapons and can take out groups of weak enemy infantry with a single shot. The Big Rocket Launcher fires large rockets with much greater destruction.

The Rocket Launcher powerup appears as a blue crate with a yellow R in the middle. The Big version appears as a blue crate with a pulsing R in the center.

In Metal Slug: 2nd Mission, Gimlet and Tequila can use this weapon.

SShotgun[]

Eri firing the super shotgun
A weapon that fires a short range, but incredibly powerful blast. This weapon is very effective at taking out groups of enemies, but is also dangerous as a short range. The Big Shotgun fires a larger blast with double the range of the normal shotgun. Extremely effective against infantry and vehicles, however, this upgraded one has half the ammo forcing players to use some strategy while wielding it (15 compared with original one with 30).

The Shotgun powerup appears as a green crate with a yellow S. The Big version appears as a green crate with a pulsing S.

In Metal Slug: 2nd Mission, Gimlet and Tequila can use this weapon.

FFlame Shot[]

Flame Shot

A weapon that fires a large blast of flame. The Flame Shot can take out large groups of infantry with one shot, but has limited range and a slow fire rate. The waves of flame travel in a shallow parabolic trajectory upward when fired horizontally and much longer range when fired upward but has a decreased range when fired downward. At point blank, the Flame Shot can deal heavy damage to vehicles, but it loses effectiveness with distance.

The Flame Shot powerup appears as a red crate with a yellow F in the center. An upgraded version, appearing as a red crate with a pulsing F, fires a larger blast of fire and is powerful enough to damage armored vehicles.

This weapon is not available in Metal Slug 5.

LLaser Gun[]

Fio firing the laserEri firing the super laser
A weapon that fires a laser that can cut down groups of infantry in rows and also can destroy large vehicles effectively. The Big Laser Gun fires a laser that's 5 times as wide as the regular laser and is much more powerful. From Metal Slug 6 onward, the Laser Gun has the ability to travel diagonally at a 45 degree angle.

The Laser pickup appears as a navy blue crate with a neon orange L. The Big version appears as a navy blue crate with a pulsing L.

Enemy CChaser[]

A weapon that fires small rockets that chase enemies. The rockets are slightly less powerful than the standard rocket launcher, but compensates with homing capability and increased ammo capacity. It is effective against infantry and not-so effective against vehicles.

The Enemy Chaser powerup is a yellow crate with a black C in the center.

033ASIron Lizard[]

Marco firing the iron lizard
A weapon that fires remote-controlled missile cars which travel along the ground until it makes contact with a target. Upon contact, they explode and release a large blast of blue flame, giving it a chance to take out targets beyond the point of contact. It's very effective against infantry and very weak against vehicles. Looking closely, it appears as an RC/Toy car fused with a missile.

The Iron Lizard powerup appears as a yellow crate with a red-orange I in the center.

DDrop Shot[]

A weapon that fires landmines which immediately drop and bounce across the screen until they hit a target or lose momentum and stop moving. Because the bombs fired from this weapon have slow horizontal speed, it is more suitable as a situational weapon and may be potentially cumbersome or dangerous to use.

The Drop Shot appears as a yellow crate with a blue D in the center.

Super GGrenade[]

Eri firing the super grenade
A variant of the rocket launcher that fires large RPGs rather than rockets and is very effective against infantry and light-armored vehicles.. Upon contact a large plume of fire is shot straight up (much like thrown grenades), allowing a chance to take out an enemy above. The low level of ammo (even lower if playing as Ralf in Metal Slug 6 and Metal Slug 7/XX) suggests conservative use, employing melee attacks, the basic pistol, or other heavy weapons.

The Super Grenade powerup appears as a yellow crate with a green G in the center.

2H Two Machine Guns[]

Tarma wielding the Two Machine Guns weapon, which visually appears as two SMGs
Nadia 2h

A weapon that fires two streams of machine gun bullets as opposed to the single stream of the HMG. This unique weapon is fired from two SMGs instead of the AR-10. The 2MG starts with 300 ammo (200 in Metal Slug 4), the most of all special weapons, but since this weapon fires two guns at once, ammo is used twice as fast. Note that unlike HMG, 2MG cannot be fired diagonally.

The 2MG appears as a black crate with a yellow 2H inside.

021445Zantetsu Sword[]

Marco attacking with the Zantetsu Sword
This swords launches waves of energy whenever it is swung. This wave is powerful enough to kill large numbers of infantry, delete incoming bullets, and destroy armored vehicles. It has a short range and cannot be aimed vertically, however.

The Zantetsu Sword powerup appears as a black crate with a yellow Z in the center.

TThunder Shot[]

A weapon introduced in Metal Slug 7. It starts with 20 rounds. It fires blue lightning that homes in onto the enemies. Like the Shotgun and Flame Shot, it pierces through multiple enemies at once, making it a very useful weapon for getting enemies in a line. It's also decent against vehicles. Unlike the Enemy Chaser, sometimes the Thunder Shot beam may not home, making it difficult to strike multiple enemies with some different level floors.

The Thunder Shot powerup appears as a blue crate and a glowing cyan T in the center.

Weapon Ammunition[]

Metal Slug: Super Vehicle-001 to Metal Slug Advance[]

Note: In Metal Slug Advance, all weapon ammo is halved until the player collects the respective weapon clip card.

Weapon
Amount
Heavy Machine Gun 200
Rocket Launcher 30
Shotgun 30
Flame Shot 30
Laser Gun 200
Enemy Chaser 40
Iron Lizard 30
Drop Shot 30
Super Grenade 20
Two Machine Guns 200 (MS4)
300 (MS5)

Metal Slug 6[]

Weapon
Easy Mode
Hard Mode
Others Fio Ralf Others Fio Ralf
Heavy Machine Gun 100 150 50
Rocket Launcher 20 30 10 10 15 5
Shotgun 20 30 10 10 15 5
Flame Shot 20 30 10 10 15 5
Laser Gun 200 300 100 100 150 50
Enemy Chaser 20 30 10 10 15 5
Iron Lizard 20 30 10 10 15 5
Drop Shot 20 30 10 10 15 5
Super Grenade 20 30 10 10 15 5
Two Machine Guns 400 600 200 200 300 100
Zantetsu Sword 20 30 10 10 15 5

Metal Slug 7/XX[]

Note: Leona is only playable in Metal Slug XX.

Weapon
Beginner
Normal/Hard
Others Fio Ralf Leona Others Fio Ralf Leona
Heavy Machine Gun 200 300 100 240
Rocket Launcher 60 90 30 72 30 45 15 36
Shotgun 60 90 30 72 30 45 15 36
Flame Shot 60 90 30 72 30 45 15 36
Laser Gun 400 600 200 480 200 300 100 240
Enemy Chaser 80 120 40 96 40 60 20 48
Iron Lizard 60 90 30 72 30 45 15 36
Drop Shot 60 90 30 72 30 45 5 36
Super Grenade 40 60 20 48 20 30 10 24
Two Machine Guns 600 900 300 720 300 450 150 360
Zantetsu Sword 20 30 10 24 10 15 5 12
Thunder Shot 40 60 20 48 20 30 10 24

Secondary Weapons[]

Melee Attack[]

Marco using his melee attack (combat knife)
When the player's character gets close to an infantry enemy, a melee attack will be triggered. The damage from melee attack is often sufficient to kill a human enemy without a shield. Zombies, Mummies, Aliens, and other non-human enemies, as well as bosses, can take many more melee strikes to kill. The Knife's animation can be cancelled when crouching and immediately standing up after firing.

Different characters use different weapons for their melee attacks:

  • Marco, Tarma, Trevor, Ralf, Clark, Leona, Walter and Roberto use a combat knife.
  • Eri, Fio, Tyra and Nathalie alternate between a hatchet and a tonfa.
  • Nadia uses a taser instead of a hatchet, although she still uses a nightstick. Attacks with taser, when triggered, can also damage non-human objects, such as tanks.
  • Trevor uses a fearsome kick attack with a blade he conceals in the heel of his boot. This slightly hinders Trevor's movement while walking.
  • Walter, Ralf, and Clark, as well as Marco and Tarma in certain games (e.g. Metal Slug 2/X), have a punching glove in their bags or neckbands and spring them out when crouching.
  • Clark uses his Argentine Backbreaker, and a standard low kick.
  • Leona uses her Moon Slasher.
  • Alisa uses her wrench, as she wasn't properly prepared for formal combat.
  • All characters in their fat form use a fork when standing and a whip when crouching.
  • All characters underwater use a trident.

Melee Weapons

Knife | Tonfa | Hatchet | Tomahawk | Punching Glove | Stun Gun | Wrench | Vulcan Punch | Argentine Backbreaker | Moon Slasher

Grenade[]

Marco using his grenadesEri throwing the stone version of the grenade
Players can throw a powerful grenade which explodes upon contact with an enemy or when it's momentum ends. Two variants can be found to change the grenades properties:

  • Fire Bombs, essentially Molotov cocktails, which can cause flames over a large area and burn enemies on contact
  • Stone, which are large boulders which trade damage and explosiveness for increased range.

There are other types of throwable weapons:

  • The Smoke Bomb is one of the grenades the player can use in Metal Slug 3D that creates a large smoke that blinds enemies.
  • The monolith, a type of bomb in Metal Slug 3D, shoots a beam into space, and then brings down a big tablet crushing any tanks or people under it. The only disadvantage is there's a delay for it to take effect.
  • The Earring Bomb is a triangle-shaped earring that Leona wears. She modified the earrings to carry a small amount of explosive, so she can throw the earring like any regular Grenade. Because it is much lighter than a common grenade, Leona can carry more of them.

In certain areas, grenades are replaced by other weapons

  • In the water, grenades will turn into a sinking mine, hitting anything under it.
  • In the air, it will turn into a large enemy chaser that deals enormous damage
  • In space, the player can use a rectangular capsule bomb that travels in a straight line.
  • In the zombie state, the bomb will change into the deadly blood vomiting attack.

As of Metal Slug 6 onward, per bomb crate, Eri receives twenty grenades, Ralf five, and Leona twelve. Eri and Leona also start each life with the same respective amount.

Throwing Weapons

Grenade | Fire Bomb | Stone | Earring Bomb | Smoke Bomb | Monolith

Other Weapons[]

There are also other weapon pickups given by the president or found in the field:

The AA Machine Gun is the main anti-aircraft weapon of the Regular Army. Used first by the Regular Marines, and later by the Regular Infantry, it is a typical .50 mm machine gun, firing light bullets. Its high rate of fire makes it a formidable machine gun. The blue design is used by the marines and the silver one by the Infantry.

The Thunder Cloud is a secret weapon in Metal Slug 3 and Metal Slug 4. This is an extremely rare, top secret weapon whose ammo canister is loaded with nanobots that generate an artificial thunder cloud loaded with negative electromagnetic energy. The cloud will hover over the nearest target and zap it with lightning bolts.

The Mobile Satellite (MOBS for short) is a secret weapon in Metal Slug 3 and Metal Slug XX. The MOBS is a small hovering remote control device resembling a satellite, armed with an ion cannon. It tracks down any possible target using an advanced radar system and discharges ion bolts continuously on them until they're defeated. Once it's battery runs dry (200 Ion bolts and it runs down), it falls and explodes.

Both the Thunder Cloud and MOBS instantly break once the player picks up a weapon crate.

Slugs are also weapons by the Regular Army. They can be found throughout the game. In multiplayer mode, two Slugs can be found in a single mission.

Other

AA Machine Gun | Thunder Cloud | Mobile Satellite | Vehicles

Neo Geo Pocket Color Weapons[]

These weapons are exclusive to Metal Slug: 1st Mission and Metal Slug: 2nd Mission.

Machine GunMachine Gun[]

The Machine Gun is basically a Heavy Machine Gun with low firepower. Unlike the heavy version, the Machine Gun can be aimed diagonally upwards or downwards while jumping. The Heroes can use this weapon.

Special Shot Special Shot[]

A bomb/rocket that is fired straight up (or dropped) and explodes in a large radius. Everything on screen gets heavy damage and hidden items are dropped. Unlike other weapons, the Special Shot can be used by the SV-000 and Slug Flyer. The Heroes can use this weapon.

GrenadeGunGrenade Gun[]

Fires grenades at farther distances and different directions. The Grenade Gun uses its own weapon supply separate from the player's own grenades. Gimlet and Tequila can use this weapon.

MissilePodMissile Pod[]

Shoots a spread of missiles. In Metal Slug Defense and Metal Slug Attack, it instead fires one missile at a time but has homing properties. Red Eye and Tequila can use this gun in Metal Slug: 2nd Mission. Red Eye and Lydia use this gun in Metal Slug Attack.

Fire Gun IconFire Gun[]

Unlike the Flame Shot, the Fire Gun fires a constant stream of flames that can arc when the gun is moved. Red Eye and Tequila can use this weapon.

BazookaBazooka[]

Fires a single explosive shell that explodes on impact. Red Eye and Tequila can use this weapon.

Exclusive Weapon Crates[]

These weapons have a crate associated with it but are exclusively operated by a specific person.

Anti-materiel rifle icon smallAnti-Tank Rifle[]

Dragunov Ver.Rebellion MSA ground long2

A large rifle used by Dragunov that fires explosive rounds capable of multiple hits per shot at a long distance.

The Anti-Tank Rifle powerup appears as a black crate with a yellow "A" in the center.

Freeze gun icon smallFreeze Gun[]

Beatriz freeze gun 2 small

A personal-sized cannon used by Beatriz that fires a very long freeze ray. Any units defeated by it is turned into either snowmen (living) or ice blocks (mechanical). Beatriz fires one continuous shot until it runs out of ammo.

The Freeze Gun powerup appears as a blue crate with a light blue "F" in the center.

Weapons
Standard Handgun (Murder .50AEMurder Model-1915 .38 Mk.1Am) • AR-10M-3685M60
Special Heavy Machine GunRocket LauncherFlame ShotShotgunLaser GunIron LizardSuper GrenadeEnemy ChaserDrop ShotTwo Machine GunsZantetsu SwordThunder ShotMachine GunGrenade GunMissile PodFire GunBazookaSniper RifleBlizzard
Bombs GrenadeFire BombStoneEarring BombSmoke BombMonolithSnowball
Melee KnifeTonfaHatchetTomahawkPunching GloveStun GunWrenchVulcan PunchArgentine BackbreakerMoon Slasher
Other AA Machine GunSpecial ShotThunder CloudMobile SatelliteArmor Piercer
Exclusive Anti-Tank RifleFreeze Gun • "Gatling Shot"
Metal Slug: Awakening
Weapon Classes HMGGatlingFlame ShotBazookaHeavy Sniper RifleFreeze GunCombo ShotgunBoxing GunSaw LauncherBowLaser GunFission Gun
Other Freeze GrenadeDrone
Gameplay Elements
Screens Status ScreenContinue ScreenGame Over ScreenRecaptured PrisonersBest Tank BustersArcade Settings
On-Screen Elements MissionsItemsWeaponsSlugsPOWCharactersEnemiesMilitary VehiclesBossesEnvironmental ObjectsCivilian VehiclesRank MedalBackground Vehicles
Actions Metal Slug AttackVulcan FixTransformationsMetallish SystemRush Blaster SystemWeapon StockDeathsInvulnerabilityCancelingSuper Devil Mode
Modes Combat SchoolAnother StoryAnother MissionStorming the MothershipFat IslandOffice
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