Faz um tempo que compartilhei aqui minha opinião não muito favorável de Metal Slug Advance, e considerando ela, acho no mínimo curioso como a SNK acertou a mão em um jogo anterior ao do GBA e em um hardware inferior.

Mesmo que não tenha tido o sucesso do Game Boy, o Neo Geo Pocket foi um console que entregou verdadeiras pérolas e Metal Slug 1st Mission é uma delas. É impressionante como esse jogo captou a essência da série, com um level design bem feito, gráficos bonitos e com personalidade e uma jogabilidade precisa (ainda que com um probleminha).

Metal Slug 1st Mission possuí uma variedade considerável de fases, mais longas que as dos jogos de arcade, e algumas delas possuem múltiplas rotas, o que acaba direcionando para outras fases, o que adiciona um fator de replay raro na série. Além disso, ao se concluir o jogo uma personagem adicional é desbloqueada, mas isso não implica em uma jogabilidade diferente ou uma campanha à parte, ao contrário do visto na sequência.

Mas algo que de fato adiciona variedade no jogo são as fases que se passam em veículos (um avião e o tanque que dá nome à franquia) e os desdobramentos delas em caso de falhas nessas missões. Quando o avião é abatido, há uma sequência de paraquedas em que se deve soltar e abrir o paraquedas em um tempo determinado, enquanto em uma falha com o Metal Slug o personagem vai para uma cela e deve escapar dela armado apenas de uma faca.

Como de praxe na franquia, os gráficos são bonitos, com animações bem feitas que mostram do que o NGP era capaz, e a direção de arte conseguiu dar uma personalidade aos personagens e ao ambiente do jogo, com cenários que remetem mais a um conflito de guerrilha do que algo em escala global ou interplanetária.

Da parte das críticas, a trilha sonora reimagina bem algumas das faixas conhecidas da série, mas falta variedade. A outra crítica vai para um ponto da jogabilidade: o NGP possuí 3 botões (A, B e Option, que serve como Start), e a série é conhecida por usar 3 botões (ataque, pulo e granadas). A solução encontrada foi usar o botão Option para alternar entre tiro e granadas, ambas acionadas com o botão de ataque. Para pausar o jogo, deve-se apertar e segurar o Option. Não é algo que inviabilize o jogo, com o tempo dá pra se acostumar, mas não dá pra negar que não contribui em deixar os controles dinâmicos.

Com um nível de desafio bem encaixado, jogabilidade adequada (apesar do problema descrito antes), gráficos bem feitos e fator de replay não visto antes na série, Metal Slug 1st Mission proporciona uma experiência agradável a quem quer que for jogá-lo.

Really bummed out about this one because it looked good and the gameplay itself was fun as a usual metal slug game. In many ways this game is impressive for a handheld title during its time but there is so much annoyance behind it all.

The level layouts are extremely annoying with some levels making me question if they tested certain segments as sometimes it would feel like you had zero choice but to just take a hit. The bosses were very barebones and damn near bullet sponges until you figure out you can equip grenades which helped. By the end I saw myself just waiting to get to the final mission so I could just wrap up this game because I simply wasn't having much fun due to the level layouts and bosses.

Hopefully the second game is better!

Played on the Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection on Switch. Not terrible for a 1999 portable run and gun, in a lot of respects pretty impressive. Just didnt have a blast playing it. I didnt find out until like the final boss that you can press X to switch to bombs. Probably would have had more fun with the game if I read the manual better at the start of the game. Some of the level design can be pretty confusing too, I was wandering around mission 7 for like 30 minutes. I also don't understand how I went from mission 2 to 7, or how the level progression is decided in this game period.

Metal Slug has always been an interesting arcade shooter with some of the best pixel graphics, and some of the tightest controls out there. Sure, a lot of the game had you dying pretty easily, and the series is a known quarter muncher, but there was just something about it that made it more nuanced than simply taking all your money. Sadly, I can't say 1st Mission does anything that the Metal Slug series is known for.

While a portable Metal Slug sounds great, and would later be a possibility with the likes of the PSP/DS, 1st Mission just had the Neo Geo Pocket. For a Neo Geo Pocket game they certainly do what they can with the graphics. You can tell they are going certain backgrounds, and while the sprite work pales in comparison to the arcade counterpart it looks good on the small handheld. The music isn't really anything to write home about, but it is a passable soundtrack that keeps up with the Metal Slug usual OST flare. Either way, it's notable that Metal Slug challenged what the Neo Geo Pocket can do just like it did in Arcades.

On top of that, the mission structure was changed to having 17 different levels, with them being notably smaller and far more challenging due to screen crunch, terrible tank controls, and unfair enemy shots after victory. It really is odd that a series known for it's tough but fair game design just honestly had some unfair moments in it's first handheld game. 1st Mission is honestly just not forgiving to the fact you don't have as much information on the screen nor that you could have missed a simple jump or maneuver because of game lag or bad vehicle controls. By all means, this isn't to the point that it's unplayable, but I certainly wouldn't have gotten far without some sort of rewind feature.

Still, I wouldn't want to deter a fan of this series from playing this game, and for what 1st Mission is, it's a unique Metal Slug game that tried to do something different, and did what it could on the handheld. While an asterisks ever looms on the "for the Neo Geo Pocket", it still has a unique charm to this day with the way it looks and how it's designed. It's a bit of a shame that you have to unlock the girl character by beating the game with the male counterpart, but it is at least something neat you get for beating the game. Other than that, Metal Slug 1st Mission is just kinda a neat game.

[Jugado en la colección de Switch]

Uno de los mejores juegos de dicha colección, aunque muy por debajo de los Metal Slugs orignales de la Neo Geo de sobremesa.

Para ser una versión portátil la verdad es que ésta bastante bien. Un poco confusa la progresión del juego, pues no sé muy bien por qué parece que te saltas algunos niveles o algo así.