Metal Slug X (1999)
The classic PlayStation game, now playable directly in your browser via PS1 emulation. No downloads required!
💡 Tip: Click inside the game to capture keyboard. Connect a gamepad for authentic PS1 controls!
What Metal Slug X is
Metal Slug X is SNK's 1999 reworking of Metal Slug 2, and it is the version people mean when they say Metal Slug 2 is the best in the series. The original had a genuine technical problem: put enough sprites on screen and the Neo Geo slowed to a crawl. X rebuilt the game around that, redistributing enemies, reordering stages, changing the time of day on several levels, and adding weapons the first release did not have.
What survives from both is the animation. Every soldier has a distinct death, every vehicle comes apart in stages, and the hostages you rescue each have their own idle fidget. It is hand-drawn sprite work at the point where the craft peaked, and it is why the game still looks better than a lot of what came after it.
How it plays in your browser
This is a run-and-gun in the arcade tradition, which means it is short, hard, and designed around credit feeding. You get a pistol with unlimited ammo and pick up better weapons as you go: heavy machine gun, rocket launcher, shotgun, flame shot, laser. Each has finite ammunition, so the real skill is knowing when to spend the good gun and when to fall back on the pistol.
The Slug itself - the tank you climb into - takes hits for you and can be abandoned deliberately. Ejecting from a damaged Slug and letting it explode into a group of enemies is a legitimate tactic, not a failure state.
Tips worth knowing
- Rescuing hostages is not optional if you care about your score. Each one drops a weapon or a bonus, and they are the main source of ammunition.
- The mummies turn you into a mummy, which halves your speed. Grab the antidote a hostage drops or you will spend the rest of the level crawling.
- The food items that make you fat are not a penalty - your shots get larger and hit harder. It is a trade of movement for damage.
- Grenades are aimed on an arc, not straight. Against anything above you, throw earlier than instinct says.
- Learn to leave the Slug. It is a shield with a health bar, not a permanent upgrade, and dying inside it wastes both.
Frequently asked questions
Is Metal Slug X the same as Metal Slug 2?
It is the same game rebuilt. Same story and stages, but the slowdown is fixed, enemy placement is different, several stages are set at different times of day, and there are weapons that Metal Slug 2 did not have.
Can two people play Metal Slug X together?
Yes. It is a two-player co-op game and both players can share one keyboard, which is how it was meant to be played.
Is it hard?
Very. It is an arcade game designed to take coins. Expect to lose repeatedly on your first few runs - that is the intended difficulty curve, not a sign you are doing it wrong.
Do I need to download anything?
No. It runs in the browser through emulation, with no installer, plugin or account.
More games like this
our Metal Slug X write-up, Street Fighter Collection, DOOM. You can also browse the full games library or read the guides on the blog.