This year has been a very good one for long-time SNK fans, as the company not only released the latest installment of The King of Fighters, but also just announced the return of Fatal Fury. Well, the company knows that it has many series in its possession that fans long for back and one of them is Metal Slug. If you’re a fan of this run ‘n’ gun series, there’s great news as SNK reiterated that they have plans to work on a new iteration.
Sometimes it’s amazing how companies don’t continue series that are highly appreciated by fans around the world. A clear example is Metal Slug, which was one of the main referents of the run ‘n’ gun genre. It’s been decades since SNK has released a new game that lives up to the originals, which date back to the arcade years.
SNK promises the return of Metal Slug in form
However, today we know that the company is aware of this and that it has not forgotten this franchise, as many might think.
On the occasion of the announcement of the new Fatal Fury, veteran SNK producer Yasuyuki Oda was present at gamescom 2022 and Twinfinite took the opportunity to question him about Metal Slug.
The interesting thing is that the producer did not remain silent, but promised that “they are definitely going to do something in the future”. As it is something not officially announced, the producer could not reveal detailed information, but anticipated that they already “have ideas”. Clearly, Oda is referring to a game in the run ‘n’ gun format series, like the original titles.
While this is good news for those who are waiting for the return of the series in form, it is important to mention that this is not the first time that SNK confesses that it is exploring the possibility of working on a new Metal Slug game.
There are several Metal Slug games in development, what are they?
In fact, in 2019 precisely Oda talked about some mechanics that could be implemented in a new modern Metal Slug. In 2020, SNK reported that he was working on 3 Metal Slug projects, 2 of which were for mobile and one for console. We know that one of them is the one developed by TiMi Studios (Pokémon UNITE, Call of Duty: Mobile), called Metal Slug: Awakening (formerly known as Code: J) and that it is not yet officially available, but has only been It has been possible to play it in Beta tests in recent years, and so far there is still no defined release date.
The other mobile title was known to be targeted at 10-20 year olds and would be a “2D horizontal scrolling card game”.
The most curious thing is that the title for consoles, focused on a veteran audience (30 to 40 years old), would have classic gameplay, run ‘n’ gun and side scrolling. However, we have not heard anything about this new game, the most promising of all for veteran players.
On the other hand, SNK last year revealed Metal Slug Tactics, which will be completely different, since it would be of the turn-based strategy genre and would be developed by DotEmu and Leikir Studio. Unfortunately, the title was delayed and is expected to debut sometime in 2023.
As we told you, SNK has worked on several famous franchises from its golden age, so we have no doubt that it will fulfill the return of Metal Slug, a series that is very endearing and that has not returned as fans want.
Would you like to play a new installment of Metal Slug in form? Tell us in the comments.