[Game review]Metal Slug 6, and more

Metal Slug 6

Once in a while gamers need to return to the simple pursuit of shooting and bombing enemies. Metal Slug 6 gives them the opportunity for such mindless fun. One of the strongest features of the game, which has gained wide popularity at arcades over the years, is its simplicity. It requires hardly any intelligence. The Metal Slug series with its attractive, hand-drawn graphics and simple game play system helps gamers to take notice of a 2D shooting game in a world where most video games have moved to 3D formats. Metal Slug 6 continues this tradition while introducing new alien species. There are also two new characters, Ralf and Clark, imported from the fighting game “The King of Fighters.” Each one has different skills and they are the only two characters with special fighting moves.
Another new feature is the ability to carry more than one weapon. Players can also choose between two levels of difficulty ― easy and hard.
The disappointment with Metal Slug 6 is that there are only five stages, which means the game ends too quickly.
By Lee Ho-jeong

Hotel Dusk: Room 215

Metal Slug 6
Genre: 2D Shooting
Platform: PS2
Publisher: SNK Playmore
Rating: ★★★★: Solid entertainment, especially for fans of the genre.

Technology has long since left the old adventure game behind. Recent forays into these puzzle-based games with no guns or spells or skills in sight have sold to a niche audience on the PC.
But the Nintendo DS is technologically at just the right level for this style of game, as the recent success of “Phoenix Wright” in the United States has demonstrated.
But “Hotel Dusk: Room 215” is vastly different. Where most DS games rely on cartoon-like characters and cater very much to kids, “Dusk” exhibits a more subdued tone, a serious noir-themed story and excellent art, combining sketch animation with watercolor-style backgrounds.
In “Dusk,” you play a broken ex-cop from New York who was forced to shoot his partner, and now works for a door-to-door sales company, though he also takes petty PI jobs under the table. His visit to the Dusk will slowly reveal the truth about what happened to his partner.
The player holds the DS sideways so its screens are vertical, unique and effective, while the touch screen is used for most commands. The patient adventure fan will find in “Dusk” a pleasant, stylistic diversion. By Ben Applegate

Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Genre: Adventure
Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Nintendo
Rating: ★★★★: Solid entertainment, especially for fans of the genre.