Sometimes blast processing just isn’t enough. Sure, the SEGA Genesis made a name for itself by lording its alleged technological superiority over the poor bit-deficient NES – and by frequently showing off its impressively fast abilities in such titles as Sonic the Hedgehog – but some bars were just never meant to be cleared by the thing. One such bar, for the longest time, was SNK’s Metal Slug; specifically the first entry. Despite its debut on the Neo Geo MVS (with ports coming to home 3D-centric systems like the Saturn) gamers long speculated that, with a bit of work, this relatively advanced game could be crowbarred onto the previous gen. Why? Well, because it’s there, of course. What better reason does one need?
It’s easy to see the logic behind the endeavour. Metal Slug, irrespective of its original home on an at-the-time powerful arcade system, didn’t exactly push the envelope graphically. Its pixel-art approach combined with its simplistic, yet effective, colour palette made it a prime target for tinkerers bent on seeing if it could be made to run on the Genesis. Ragtag band of devs Omebrou Corp. have led the effort on social media, and have invested a fair chunk of time into reverse-engineering the Contra-style run n’ gun to fit the console’s architecture.
Despite mixed early results, they’ve kept at it, and have now shared some footage of their version of the game actually running – albeit in crude demo form – on SEGA’s golden child. Man, if only we all put the same level of dedication into other causes, we could all solve world hunger overnight, eh? Omebrou broke the news on Twitter, which you can see below:
The demo actually appears rather impressive, and if you hadn’t told me this wasn’t an actual professional release (you spoilering jerk, you) I probably never would have guessed. We’re certainly interested to keep an eye on the project as it moves forward; and who knows? Maybe the hardware odds will be well and truly defied, and we’ll end up with a final product that many sceptics long thought impossible. Stranger things, and all that.
Are you a Metal Slug fan? Will you be following this endeavour? Let us know!
Via, Twitter.
