For what it's worth, this is some sublime, short afternoon fun. It's kinda therapeutic, gunnin' down enemies from left to right with these gorgeous spriteworks. I also enjoy how the game just cannot handle the amount of shit there is on screen - the slowdowns aren't really annoying imo, they can be quite helpful to assess situations etc. My rating might change as I go through all the Metal Slugs, but all in all, a fun game.