Was Metal Slug Originally a Tank Only Game?
The game is named after its tank, the SV-001 Metal Slug, and the original design honored the name literally: a slower, darker game in which players controlled the prototype tanks through shorter, less complex missions. Test audiences did not want it. Nazca rebuilt the game around soldiers on foot, with the tank as a vehicle you find, and SNK asked for more length to sell the result to console players.
THE TWO VERSIONS
What changed, on the recordIn the prototype plot, Regular Army members Phil Gene and Michiko Nakajima crewed the SV-001 and SV-002 prototype tanks. The released game stars Peregrine Falcon soldiers Marco Rossi and Tarma Roving instead, running six missions on foot with a knife, found weapons, freed prisoners of war, and the tanks as power ups that add offense and defense until they are destroyed. The overhaul also incorporated more platform elements. The design goal that survived both versions was simplicity: an exciting side scrolling shooter on one joystick and three buttons, with visuals inspired by the works of Hayao Miyazaki. The rebuilt game became one of the top ten highest grossing arcade games of 1996 in the United States, which suggests the location test audience, for once, was the design team's best friend. The full development story is on the history of Metal Slug.
THE GAME ON THE SHELF
Metal Slug