Metal Slug 3 is one of the most highly regarded entries in a classic franchise that, along with Contra, has pretty much defined the "run and gun" sub-genre of action platformers and shmups.

The Metal Slug series has an emphasis on enemies crowding around (collision damage can't kill you), conservation of power ups, and a variety of vehicles which appear throughout the game and change the way you move and fight for a limited time.

As for MS3 itself, it's similar to Contra 3 in that it stands on a middle-ground between early platforming heavy run and gun shooters and the "boss fest" design of later games like Contra Hard Corps and Alien Soldier. The game is constantly switching up how you progress through stages, so it's quite varied. There are also multiple paths through each stage, each of which plays differently.

Metal Slug 3 is also legendary for its difficulty to 1 credit clear, which is vastly greater than most other shmups and arcade shooters. It's not that it has anymore cheap deaths or memorization than any other shooter, it's just that it's very random (often forcing you to react very quickly), very long, very punishing for even the slightest mistake, and requires fairly high execution. This is all if you're going for a 1cc however. The game is still quite fun if played with more than one credit, so a 1cc should really be regarded as the ultimate challenge to be tackled if you feel brave enough.

As for the port quality, it's decent. I haven't played the game on GGPO or Supercade enough so I can't quite compare the netcode for co op to those, but it's generally decent, though I've occasionally seen lag spikes that can get both you and your partner killed if you don't pause and wait them out. Similarly, there's occasionally some strange frame rate hiccups during single player, but these are much more rare.

All in all I'd say definitely buy it if you don't already own it on some other collection. If you've already been playing it on MAME or whatever, now you can have a nice official copy and don't have to worry about pirating an excellent game. If you haven't played it already, definitely go for it 'cause it's a classic.

Metal Slug 3 is one of the most highly regarded entries in a classic franchise that, along with Contra, has pretty much defined the "run and gun" sub-genre of action platformers and shmups. The Metal Slug series has an emphasis on enemies crowding around (collision damage can't kill you), conservation of power ups, and a variety of vehicles which appear throughout the game and change the way you move and fight for a limited time. As for MS3 itself, it's similar to Contra 3 in that it stands on a middle-ground between early platforming heavy run and gun shooters and the "boss fest" design of later games like Contra Hard Corps and Alien Soldier. The game is constantly switching up how you progress through stages, so it's quite varied. There are also multiple paths through each stage, each of which plays differently. Metal Slug 3 is also legendary for its difficulty to 1 credit clear, which is vastly greater than most other shmups and arcade shooters. It's not that it has anymore cheap deaths or memorization than any other shooter, it's just that it's very random (often forcing you to react very quickly), very long, very punishing for even the slightest mistake, and requires fairly high execution. This is all if you're going for a 1cc however. The game is still quite fun if played with more than one credit, so a 1cc should really be regarded as the ultimate challenge to be tackled if you feel brave enough. As for the port quality, it's decent. I haven't played the game on GGPO or Supercade enough so I can't quite compare the netcode for co op to those, but it's generally decent, though I've occasionally seen lag spikes that can get both you and your partner killed if you don't pause and wait them out. Similarly, there's occasionally some strange frame rate hiccups during single player, but these are much more rare. All in all I'd say definitely buy it if you don't already own it on some other collection. If you've already been playing it on MAME or whatever, now you can have a nice official copy and don't have to worry about pirating an excellent game. If you haven't played it already, definitely go for it 'cause it's a classic.