Metal Slug Advance is a fast paced and light hearted side scrolling shooter based on the original Metal Slug series for the Neo Geo arcade systems. This game maintains virtually all aspects of its older brothers by including the same cast of iconic characters and zany weaponry. The look and feel of the enemies is the same. The POW's are still there with their many gifts ranging from a heavy machine gun to some tasty chicken. Many of the original sounds are present too. As a matter of fact the only thing that is really different about this game is the addition to a 'card' system. The goal of the card system is to offer replay value. Every time you complete a stage or do any other important (or sometimes obscure) feat, you are rewarded with a card. Some of these cards can slightly alter how the game plays i.e. extra grenades, increased walk speed etc. I dont really know what you could get as a reward if you manage to obtain all the cards.
I found this game very fun and rewarding. After some time, however, this game can get very frustrating as some sections are quite punishing if not executed perfectly. I also feel that the boss fights arent as rewarding as the level sections of the game. The boss fights are also not very innovative. This aside, the game has some pretty ridiculous bosses and you feel like a total boss aferwards.
Pic related, its the third boss, unoriginal and very frustrating.
A full list of the various cards you can collect.
http://randomhoohaas.flyingomelette.com/MetalSlug-MissingInAction/MetalSlugAdvance/Walkthrough/cards.htm
Today we watched a brief history of how video games came into arcades and eventually, into our homes. The documentary mentioned some very landmark titles such as missile defense and pac man, and was a pretty accurate history as far as I'm concerned. Afterward, we watched another short documentary on the history of the NES. This was very similar to the documentary we wathched earlier, probably because they were both made by the same people. It was the same deal, but this time it was a brief history on the NES.
After both documentaries, we discussed our opinions on the gaming industry as a whole, past and present. Next, we discussed a ratings system that we should grade our games on when we review them.
Time for some video games.
Was reading my HTH e-mail when I realized we are also supposed to comment on these blogs. Whoops!
ReplyDeleteWatching you try to beat that last boss was pretty funny. It would take a solid five minutes of repeating the same strategy to weaken it, and then once you spent all this time the difficulty would increase by a tremendous amount. This was incredibly frustrating because it took all this work to get to a point that inevitably got you stuck.
To me this is a classic example of how video games are able to suck so much time out of your day. When there is an objective that you want to complete it can often take multiple tries. This can really lead to a lot of effort spent until you either give up or finally win.