The emulation has this weird frame hitching issue every now and again that can lead to unread inputs, and it happens often enough to severely hamper the playing experience. GOG and Steam have the same version of 1-3, and I find it literally unplayable. I've seen others complain about the same problem on PS4, so that's definitely worth checking out before buying. I've only played the PS2 version in emulation and found it to have an unplayable level of input delay. The anthology that you can pick up on Playstation is a good value with 6 games in one collection, and most importantly it's one of the only ways to play Metal Slug 6. They do have a single save state slot that's really slow and janky to load, but it works. The emulation is solid and they have a couple of added gameplay modes - the inclusion of the Japanese and NA ROMs is nifty. The Switch ports of 1-5 are all decent enough, but a little pricey. Again thank you to RealSoyZombie for allowing me to finally play and be a true MS fan! I shall update my journey of playing each one here in future edits. Update: with the help of a fellow Redditor ( RealSoyZombie ) of this subreddit I have been able to gain access to the games! (Well.the first 3 anyway). Not a total noob when it comes to the series but I'll still take any advice regardless. I heard their was a DS version of Metal Slug & I do have a 3DS so maybe I should start there? Again not sure. I have played Metal Slug Defense and Attack, but I stopped playing them long ago, and were basically my only way of getting my MS dopamine fix. I know MS 1-5 are all goated in some form but any particular one to start off with? Also any other places similar to here to meet up and talk with other Metal Slug fans?

But I never really knew where to start in attempting to play the series since I have always wanted to when first diving a little into this franchise. I have always loved Metal Slug and its sprites/gameplay when viewing it as a spectator.

Reddit metal slug 1