The reason you won't tire of this is because of the myriad little touches that act as the perfect seasoning. This makes for one tough game, and progressing through the five levels is relentless in both intensity and difficulty.

This is straight-up run-and-gun stuff - you move your little grunt (you can choose from four) from left to right, hammering the virtual 'attack' button to shoot anything that moves.Įnemies come in a dizzying number of shapes and sizes, from shuffling zombies to hulking tanks - and each has a distinct way of moving and attacking. Metal Slug continues to look like no other game, with as much attention devoted to your average enemy grunt as it has been on the main character. Once you've grown accustomed to these rough edges you'll soon start to appreciate the level of artistry and detail that went into the game's graphics. Well, I say undiminished, but the truth is the first time I started the game on my third-generation iPad, the detailed 2D spritework for which the series is renowned looked a little blurry and ugly on that large Retina display. Now it's finally made its way to iOS, and its old skool charms remain undiminished. It first appeared in arcades and on the cult Neo Geo console way back in 2000, before being ported to pretty much every mainstream console under the sun. Though it's ostensibly a brainless shoot-'em-up made from simple ingredients, the expert way in which it's been prepared lifts it above most other arcade blasters - although it's somewhat spoiled by dodgy utensils. I came to a similar conclusion playing Metal Slug 3. The secret, of course, is in skilful preparation, due care and attention, and the perfect level of seasoning. The same basic ingredients can either create something impossibly delicious or crushingly bland. Having taken a bit of an interest in cooking recently, I've come to appreciate an amazing - no, a magical - fact.

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