The core experience, with it being a score chasing run and gun experience, is relatively quick. It's all old hat nowadays as developers utilise impressive engines and technology to do remarkable things with pixel-art and more, but at the time Neo Geo games like these - including their arcade forms - were remarkable to behold. Every aspect of the game has a few more frames of animation than is strictly necessary, giving the sense of more fluid and detailed movements and visual effects. Not only is the art design reflective of some comic book styles, but it was beautifully programmed at the time. In its arcade form this was a huge coin guzzler, but the unique aesthetic to these frantic games continues to set them apart. A limited number of bombs can be thrown in each life, you do melee attacks automatically when close to a foe, and one-hit deaths mean that you'll perish plenty of times. You run and gun, with various power-ups to find that give you ludicrous heavy guns, rockets and more besides. The basic formula is Contra blended with '90s arcade visuals and slapstick comedy.

Metal Slug 3 is fondly regarded in the series, delivering on the trademark madness while also providing some uniquely memorable moments. The treatment is rather similar to the 3DS iteration of Mega Man Legacy Collection - the games have the usual glitches and old-school slowdown, but there are a lot of fan-pleasing bonuses to enjoy. These are essentially faithful ports, designed to emulate the original Neo Geo experience on modern hardware while throwing in a broad range of features and customisation options. As we write this we still await the Nintendo Switch Virtual Console, but courtesy of HAMSTER we have the 'ACA' Neo Geo range on Nintendo's latest console.

Metal slug 6 emulator