Metal Slug Tactics (Nintendo Switch)

A new twist on an old IP

Anyone at least in their 30s who loves run and guns should be familiar with the super popular SNK IP, Metal Slug, from the ’90s. The games were originally released for SNK’s home console, the NeoGeo AES, and the MVS arcade cabinets. The series hosts several zany, over-the-top cartoon animated pixel art characters running around and blowing practically everything up on the screen with an insane amount of sprites all over the screen. The first five games were released originally for the Neo-Geo and then ported to most 4th-generation consoles like the PlayStation and Sega Saturn.

Enough of the history, though. What’s up with the “Tactics” portion of the title? The developer, Leikir Studio, decided to take the series in a completely different direction. It made a top-down isometric tactical sim very similar to games like Final Fantasy Tactics. The story doesn’t deviate much from the original series but expands the world. The evil general has escaped, and it’s up to the misfit band of spec op troopers to save the day…. I told you it didn’t deviate much, lol. In keeping with the original art design of the characters and environments, there is no mistaking that this is a Metal Slug game.

Metal Slug Tactics is very different from the other games with tactical aspects in some ways. There have been other offshoots, like a tower game and Metal Slug Commander that, in truth, I’m not familiar with, but remember hearing about some years back. There was also an MMO in the early 2000s in development, but it was scrapped. However, the tactical style gameplay isn’t very different from others in this genre. It’s a grid-style turn-based strategy with multiple levels in height and environment. Each mission has different criteria for victory, some not requiring total annihilation of your enemies like the run and guns did.

There are different loadouts from the shop on the base that you can purchase with the cash you earn from missions. Character growth gets tracked by level individually, and skills are learned from experience gained in combat. Each player has their own unique abilities and weapon specialization. As you progress, other characters can be recruited, giving a variety of styles and strategies to implement in each mission.

While the artwork hasn’t changed, the music is much better. Composer Tee Lopes did the soundtrack for Metal Slug Tactics, and boy, did they nail it. It has that military vibe with a heavy snare drum and percussive arrangements, and totally sets the tone.

While Metal Slug Tactics doesn’t do anything that hasn’t been done it’s still great. My main gripe is that the game uses a fixed camera angle that can’t be changed, so some details get lost because they’re hidden. A rotation feature would be so nice, and give better perspective when planning out moves and player deployments.

I had a lot of fun doing this review, as I like tactical games and love the Metal Slug series. Plus, this game was seriously challenging, with many missions taking multiple attempts before I figured out what worked best. I haven’t completed it in full yet, but I intend to. Overall, the fun gameplay had depth, and the quirky story was both engaging and humorous. Metal Slug Tactics is a cool twist and does a great job of keeping the series relevant. Had the game employed a camera rotation feature, I might’ve scored it even higher.