(originally I intended this post to be about my disappointment with Samurai Spirits/Shodown being announced since I care little for the series just like KOF but recent events changed my mood)
Holy hell, I figured this was coming but I never thought that SNK would go through with it, the Metal Slug franchise is crossing over...again, this
time with none other than World War Toons, a VR FPS game for the PS4 that's well very cartoony and takes pretty silly liberties with the historical setting (which at least is more forgivable and understandable than BF5 does, though I still want me swastikas...not that I'm a fan of Nazism mind you, lord no, but I digress). And given that the two franchises are technically cartoonish, military themed franchises where realism often goes to the sidelines for the sake of not taking themselves seriously, it seems to be a perfect fit for a cross over between them, though WWT takes place in a WWII setting while MS takes place in a pseudo-modern-ish setting that was sort of WWII-esque but not really so since MS2. And yeah I know it's going to be in a FPS perspective but frankly I don't give a damn, neither do I about the possibility of some of the Metal Slug Asstack waifus making appearances (though it'd be funny to have MS-Alice be a playable character, albeit in her Slug tank). That and it's all in 3D, 3D rendered and by golly they look pretty good; like holy s--t check out these models of Marco and Eri:
And of course there's the titular SV-001 tank to feast your eyes on but I couldn't get a good image link here so you have to go to the text link yourself. Still, they're all mighty better than what they looked like in Metal Slug 3D. Granted I didn't think the style in that game was bad but still SNK could have done better and that of course we have Studio Roqovan succeeding where SNK stumbled. And speaking of SNK (Moneymore), quite frankly, I did fear that the company would have opted to have KOF or Samsho-Spirits be the crossing over franchise since the two are more well known than MS and that the two did appear in fantasy settings...fantasy settings! Thankfully my hopes have come to fruition and now MS is getting represented at last, and in 3D no less (HD 3D graphics mind you). The last time MS did crossover was with Battle Cats...in a mobile tower defense game with the old Neo Geo sprites and that disappointed me given that I felt the MS could have done better (and chosen a better franchise to crossover with though I'm willing to bet Battle Cats is somewhat more fun to play than both Derpfense and Asstack altogether but I digress). Still, this crossover is part of what I have advocated for ever since the damn company's like gettting into the liscensing business and
getting back into video game development, cuz you know, the MS series NEEDS REPRESENTATION at least!? Something that SNK often FUMBLES, MUMBLES, and STUMBLES time and again with their unwise decision to put them in mobage apartheid (which I do not need to revist) and having much of their stickers be in the aftermentioned sprite form instead of like having someone like Falcoon draw stuff on them like he did with KOF (hell I wouldn't have cared if it was Dai doing it). Yeah I may have nick picked the merchanizing aspect but still I can't help but feel like SNK has almost no idea what to do with the series but at least this news proves that now the Slug is getting the representation it deserves and I don't care if it does in 2D or 3D (or both).
Still, this is good news for the franchise and I'm glad that the MS is getting a crossover in a good way and not in a mobage at least. Heck at this point, hopefully it'd open the road to other possibilities with other franchises like World of Tanks, Armored Warfare, and wait for it...Smash Bros. Ultimate. SNK ought to have it be featured in the upcoming game with Marco being a playable fighter and the team being "different colors" of sorts, similar to how Bowser Jr and the Koopalings are respectively if you know how they go; but then again that's another discussion for another time. Still, to quote Syndrome from the Incredibles, "oh man! I'm still geeking out about it!". You done good SNK, you done good...for once.
