Had You Even Figured Out 2D Before Racing into 3D?

The exhibition hall was quite crowded.

After all, this is SEGA's territory, a gaming giant that once rivaled Nintendo.

Not to mention the added prestige of the Gamenova brand.

Now that the two sides are working together on a project, it would be a lie to say it's not attractive.

However, compared to the terrifying situation in North America where lines stretch from one block to the next, it is certainly much less impressive.

Is this a new machine?

Masahiro Sakurai approached one of the machines and looked at the device, which looked almost identical to the Genesis from not long ago. His first reaction was that he must have made a mistake.

But after taking a closer look at the sign next to it, it was indeed GenesisNEO.

"Equipped with a 32-bit processor?"

That alone makes this thing terrifying.

32-bit machine?

It's worth noting that the Super Famicom that Nintendo released not long ago was only a 16-bit console.

The generational gap is not so easy to bridge.

This is definitely up to arcade standards.

It's still the most powerful batch of custom arcade machines.

However, Masahiro Sakurai is also somewhat of an industry insider, and his understanding of this area is deeper than that of others.

He was well aware of the cost of doing so.

I glanced at the shelf displaying the cassettes; there were only a handful of cassettes to choose from.

Apart from Temple Run, which is labeled as a GAMENOVA product, most of them are arcade ports by Sega itself.

On the contrary, none of Sega's usual wide array of console games were seen.

This is clearly enough to explain the problem.

Because it lacks an 8-bit chip and there is no corresponding 8-bit analog mode designed for it, this machine is not backward compatible at all.

For a game console, this behavior is essentially like cutting off its own arms.

However, just as he was choosing which game to try, a game cartridge he had never seen before came into view.

The organizers clearly designed its placement intentionally.

It's like the moon surrounded by stars.

All the cassette tapes subtly clustered around it, leaving it ample space in the center, not daring to overstep its bounds in the slightest.

METALSLUG

Unlike other cassettes, its casing was made of gold-colored plastic and specially mixed with some glitter.

This made it even more eye-catching on an already conspicuous display.

This move was clearly GAMNOVA's doing.

They used this tactic back in the Wolfenstein 3D era.

"Metal Slug? Is this the new game they've been advertising?"

Masahiro Sakurai reached out and picked up the cassette tape.

The cover is clearly hand-drawn.

Four typical American tough-guy characters surround a strange-looking but inexplicably cool mecha vehicle.

This thing is clearly the legendary [Metal Slug].

Although it wasn't actual gameplay footage, the cover was enough for him to understand the game's theme.

A typical war theme, a common Old Huang in the gaming industry.

However, it's really not easy to do this kind of subject matter well.

Whether it's a shooting game or a side-scrolling action game, a lot of experience is required.

In this era of severe homogenization in games, there are really very few companies that can do this type of game well.

The cassette cover has a noticeable frosted finish, giving it a nice feel.

However, since it was a public test, there was no fully packaged card box this time, and naturally, there were no posters or other derivative items.

The cartridge design is basically the same as Nintendo's; after the cheat codes are inserted into the machine, the cover image can remain outside.

The cassette tape is quite thick, but it doesn't feel as flimsy as I expected.

It looks like the weight has been adjusted inside.

The fact that Gamenova could spend a few extra cents on such detailed processing of cartridges when everyone else was scrambling to control costs is enough to prove just how incredibly extravagant they were.

"Click"

Masahiro Sakurai applied slight pressure to insert the cassette into the machine.

The title line, "[METALSLUG]", was prominently displayed directly in front of him.

Power on and turn on the device.

SEGA's own boot animation has not been replaced; it still features the classic blue SEGA logo falling out.

In the darkness, the sound of tracks grinding against the ground could be heard through the speakers.

As the screen slowly brightened, the menacing tracks resembling blades appeared on the screen.

The camera pans out to reveal the steel slug on the cover.

The camera then cuts to the barrel of a rotary machine gun.

The gun barrel slowly began to rotate.

After a brief warm-up, the muzzle suddenly spewed out flames, and bullets poured out as if they were free.

Meanwhile, inside the armored slug, a shell was also pushed into the cannon barrel.

Boom!"

Amidst the deafening roar of artillery fire, a shell hurtled straight toward the camera, creating a massive crater in the center of the frame.

"Metal Slug!"

The title and voiceover are from the same source.

Regardless, the opening animation is indeed of excellent quality.

Press the start button to officially begin the game.

"Okay!"

A strong, clear voice rang out from the speaker: "0kay".

A standard American accent.

"Choose a character?"

Whether in single-player or two-player mode, the game offers four characters for players to choose from.

Marco, Tarma, Fio, Eri.

Two men and two women, each with their own unique character traits.

This mechanism is indeed rare.

I remember in Contra, although there were two characters, there was no way to choose between them.

The roles of Player 1 and Player 2 are fixed.

Um----

Rather than saying that even if you chose it, it wouldn't make any difference.

The only difference between the two characters in Contra is the color of their underwear.

It's indeed not easy to differentiate yourself from an 8-bit machine.

However, this one is clearly different.

The arcade-level graphics resolution makes the differences between the various characters clearly visible.

As can be seen from the preview animation, although it is pixelated mosaic, it is highly recognizable and can be matched with their character illustrations at a glance.

"Wait, it's not just a difference in appearance?"

Masahiro Sakurai suddenly noticed that the attributes of the different characters were actually subtly different.

Of course, this is not a difference in functionality, but rather a difference in resource management.

Marco and Tarma, the two male characters, start with 10 grenades, while Fio and Eri, the two female characters, only have 5.

However, as compensation, the two female characters have a higher maximum ammo capacity.

In other words, the game has already officially begun from the moment you select your character.

Is it better to choose more grenades for greater explosive power, or to opt for a larger ammunition reserve to extend the lifespan of special weapons?

"Since it's just a trial version, let's just choose the default character."

After a moment's hesitation, Masahiro Sakurai immediately selected Marco as the starter.

Anyway, there aren't many people in line, so I can just try them one by one later.

"Marco!"

The same narrator's voice called out his name loudly.

Mission ONE, Start!

It must be said that the experience of playing the game is completely different with and without voice acting.

To this day, the benchmark for 2D side-scrolling shooters remains the Legend Contra.

However, that level of audio effects would never be used in that work.

To say it has a huge impact on the gaming experience wouldn't be accurate.

But the difference in texture is truly enormous.

Marco descended from the sky by parachute.

This scene—the sense of déjà vu is just too strong.

"I can tell it's a Gamenova product—"

That's how it is in Contra, where the two main characters jump out of a helicopter at the beginning and start their mission.

It's a classic tough guy start.

It does lack originality.

only----

"This visual?! It's that powerful?!"

Masahiro Sakurai stared at the protagonist holding the gun, the flowing water, and the distant sky, momentarily forgetting to operate the controls.

Arcade level?

What the hell can an arcade machine achieve this level of quality??

Even though he considered himself a seasoned gamer who had played countless games, Masahiro Sakurai was certain that he had never seen graphics of this caliber in his entire life.

If I had to choose, perhaps Quake and Biohazard would be equally awesome.

But each of them is great in its own way.

Quake excels at extreme realism and simulation, offering true 3D first-person perspective, allowing players to move however they want.

Biohazard achieved a Hollywood- level horror film quality through its atmosphere and exquisite visual textures.

But Metal Slug is just a 2D game.

Logically speaking, according to current common understanding, 2D games are inherently inferior to 3D games in the hierarchy of gaming standards.

Otherwise, no one would have gone to such lengths to reverse engineer Gamenova's 3D magic.

They certainly wouldn't spend a lot of money to buy a license for the NovaEngine development engine.

But Metal Slug was like a game developer who had grown tired of the current wave of meaningless 3D animation, suddenly jumping out and giving them a resounding slap in the face.

It's like saying, "Dude, have you mastered 2D before you start making 3D?"

Japan is a major animation powerhouse.

When was 1988?

In March of this year, an anime called "Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack" was released;

In April, Hayao Miyazaki's self-written and directed film "My Neighbor Totoro" was released;

In July, Akira premiered.

This year was undoubtedly a miracle year for the Japan animation industry, and a year of an explosion of excellent works.

When it comes to understanding animation, Japan certainly has reason to be proud.

Metal Slug seems to have been created to cater to this market trend.

Strong style, humorous and funny, pixelated

On top of that, it's also very fast.

Super fast!

Masahiro Sakurai pressed the directional keys to make the character move, and his mouth, already agape in shock, stretched even wider.

Each movement was designed with a dedicated sequence of frame animations.

And the frame rate is exceptionally high.

Generally speaking, the more frames a hand-drawn action has, the smoother the flow will be.

GAMENOVA clearly understands this, and has adjusted each motion module to the most suitable level.

This speed is not simply about accelerating the process.

It's not because of the high frame rate that the game provides a smooth experience.

It's not about speed in terms of rhythm!

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