Metal Slug 3 is an arcade run-and-gun developed by Nazca and published by SNK. It's the third game in the Metal Slug series, and released on the Neo Geo arcade system on March 23, 2000.
Some time after Metal Slug 2, the elite forces are still suppressing the remnants of the Morden Army, but they also spot a strange phenomenon of wildlife mutated into biological horrors. The quartet is dispatched to an island to investigate both of them, which leadd to conflicts on an unprecedented scale that will decide the fate of the world.
It was ported to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, whose versions add minigame modes. The arcade version has been re-released via emulation.
This work provides examples of:
- Actually a Doombot: The Final Mission's first boss is the General Morden himself, but upon defeat, it's revealed he is actually an impersonator planted by the Mars People, with the real one already kidnapped. He is also none the worse for wear after the boss fight and decides to kidnap one of your comrades, too.
- Arrange Mode: The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions have an alternative mode called "Storm the Mother Ship", which gets you to control one of the Morden soldiers and play the Final Mission's alien ship levels. You constantly receive reinforcement from other Morden soldiers in a true Zerg Rush manner, but you only have one life to complete it. It ends when you get to the room where the General Morden is taken hostage and rescue him.
- Big Boo's Haunt: Mission 2 is a horror-themed level where zombies usurp the Morden soldiers as regular enemies. The level is set at night, and any civilian can be caught in zombie attack and become one of them if you fail to save them in time.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Mission 2's ice cave path has Sasquatchs, fitting to the game's UFO theme, which can freeze the player characters with their ice breath and strike them with large bones.
- The End... Or Is It?: The credits are played over a pistol sinking into deep sea, but just as they end, the pistol hits the head of a fishman. There are developer interviews confirming that this was indeed a potential idea for sequels (although designer Akio said
he got too tired by the time they had to animate the ending, so they put this in as a joke), but that never came because the development team disbanded right after this game due to SNK's bankruptcy. - Enemy Mine: Once it becomes clear the Mars People is a bigger danger than either of them and takes their peers hostage, the Regular Army and Morden Army immediately call a truce and board on space battleships together to fight them.
- Hijacked by Ganon: You are led to believe for the first half of the game that the Morden Army is once again up to no good, but then it's revealed the Martians, the twist villain of Metal Slug 2, had kidnapped Morden, and they became the true Big Bad.
- Marathon Level: Final Mission is very long. It's lengthier than all the previous missions combined. Get ready for one hell of a battle against the Mars People.
- Production Throwback: The submarine Slugs in the underwater levels are evocative of Nazca's shoot 'em up In the Hunt, especially since their player submarines have very similar-looking paint job on their exteriors. Mission 1's underwater path also has a level design with flying lava stones you have to avoid; there's a similar level for In the Hunt, too.
- Same Plot Sequel: Much like Metal Slug 2, the Morden Army is initially present as the main villain until the final mission replaces them with the Mars People as the true final boss.
- Story Branching: The first four missions have multiple paths that lead to different levels. As such, it's impossible to see everything in a single playthrough. It's especially exaggerated in Mission 4, which has branching paths within a branching path. However, there is no Route Boss, and they all concluded in the same boss.
- Unexpected Shmup Level: The Final Mission starts with a shoot 'em up level taking place on your way to the first mini-boss. This isn't too unexpected, since just before, you hop on a conventional flying Slug. What is truly unexpected is there is another shoot 'em up level after the mini-boss, and you controls a spaceship in vertical scrolling levels.
- Unexplained Recovery: Allen O'Neil is already known for this due to being the series-wide recurring boss, but here he somehow reappears alive in the alien mothership even though he was apparently killed off in a boss fight earlier in the same mission.
