This review is based off a Livestream session where I played the game.
26 minutes into this video;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yATtzQkhGu0#t=26m
Pros
- You can pilot a Metal Slug! YES! Metal Slug is awesome. Whoopie!
- Oh, um, there's also Mario levels and a Mario engine there. Seems pretty accurate. But who cares? METAL SLUG!
- Crossover elements are interesting and fun to identify. Especially Metal Slug ones.
Cons:
- There are levels which the Metal Slug can't clear. This is an abomination and a grand tragedy.
... Ok, but on a more serious note, Watch out for "Troll-ish" level design that is totally meant to screw you over if you try thinking with your natural intuition.
- The one boss I fought seemed ridiculously hard, as you can see in the video. Well, actually, the hardest part was at the very first wave of attacks there, now that I think about it - and the second boss phase was actually easier... huh. Difficulty imbalance much?
Gameplay:
An attempt at replicating the Super Mario Bros. 3 engine with some additional stuff, such as, well, Metal Slugs! Also Yoshis.
Graphics:
Crossover elements all mis-mash together. The art styles stylistically clash often, especially when you mix N64 3D Rendered character profiles with SNES sprites, but it's hard to really care when I'm launching a Metal Slug missile at what's blocking my path.
Sound:
Crossover elements use sound effects from their respective games; The Metal Slug still has that classic NeoGeo sound, for example. Standard Mario elements use SNES sound effects. Musical choices are picked from the various crossover elements.
Replay:
After you try clearing every level by using cheats and forcing a Metal Slug in and seeing how far it can get, you can try playing it normal Mario-style! ... Wait, do I have that in the wrong order?
Final words:
Maybe if I'm really, really lucky, the next release will let me kill Bowser with the Metal Slug.
Final Score (out of 5 stars) :
4.0 Stars
