Metal Slug 6 FAQ (Arcade version)

Contents:

1: Introduction
2: Controls and commands
3: Characters
4: Weapons
5: Slugs
6.1: Mission 1
6.2: Boss 1
7.1: Mission 2
7.2: Boss 2
7.3: End of Mission 2 Cut scene
8.1: Mission 3
8.2: Boss 3
9.1: Mission 4
9.2: Boss 4
10.1: Final Mission
10.2: Final Boss
11: Version History
12: Legal
13: Credits


1. Introduction

First off, Metal Slug 6 is a 2D side scrolling shooter that was released
as a tenth anniversary edition of the game series. The other games in
the series are Metal Slug, Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug X, Metal Slug 3,
Metal Slug 4, and Metal Slug 5. Recently, the Metal Slug Anthology
features all seven of these games on one convenient package. If you have
the anthology, this FAQ might be of some use to you as it can help you
beat Metal Slug 6.

Something new in Metal Slug 6 not previously seen in other versions are
the new characters, weapon stock system, and character specific
abilities. Another major difference is the fact that you can select one
of two modes, Hard or Easy. Note that the slide ability in Metal Slug 5
has been scrapped. It does not appear in this game and its removal is
probably a good thing.

In Easy mode, the game is easier. In this mode, your default weapon is
the Heavy Machine Gun [H] with infinite ammo. Also special weapon ammo
supply is doubled. The drawback to Easy mode is that you cannot play the
final mission so if you want to play the last level, you have to choose
hard mode. For the easy mode bosses, they have several powerful attacks
that they do not use. I will outline these differences in the boss
strategies.

In Hard mode, the game is similar to previous Metal Slug games. Only in
this mode can you access and play the final mission. Also your initial
equip is the handgun with infinite arms off course. Compared to Easy
mode, your special weapon ammo supply is halved. Note that you can pick
up the Heavy Machine Gun [H] in hard mode, but not in easy.

2. Controls

On the arcade version of the game, there are 5 buttons, A-E and an 8
direction joystick.

On the arcade machine I play on, they are in the following arrangement:

ABC
DE

The A button fires your weapon. B is the jump button. C is the grenade
button. D is used for the Frontal Attack or the Slug Suicide if you are
riding a Slug. For Ralph and Clark, pressing up+A+D is the command for
doing their special attack. The E button is for changing your weapon.

Aside from the normal controls, there are several other commands that
are unknown to most newbies and I will now elaborate them. First off, to
jump off your Slug, press down and the jump button. Note that from the
time you dismount to the time you land, your character is invincible.
This command is very useful and is necessary to defeat some bosses.
Another neat trick is that while riding a Slug, you can throw your
normal grenades by pressing down and the grenade button. The upside of
throwing grenades from inside the Slug is that you can throw them at a
much faster rate.

Some other not so known, but not as important commands include the
weapon discard. It is performed by pressing C and D simultaneously.
Also, pressing A and D at the same time will cause your character to do
a melee attack.

3. The characters

In this game, there are six characters each with different special
abilities so on the character select screen, pick the one whose
abilities suit you the best

Marco:

He is the team leader and his special ability is that his initial weapon
is stronger than everybody else. Normal ammo supply and grenade supply.

Fio:

Fio's special ability lies in the fact that she starts each life with a
Heavy Machine Gun [H] with 150 arms. She also has increased ammo supply.
I have heard that her handgun is weaker than everybody else, but I have
yet to confirm this.

Tarma:

Tarma's special ability lies in the Slugs. Whenever he rides a Slug, he
has increased firepower and automatic Vulcan Fix. Vulcan Fix allows the
player to hold the fire button and the Slug Vulcan will keep rapid
firing in one direction. This ability is good as you gun will not change
angle when you move left or right. When ever Tarma rides a armoured
Slug, it the damage it takes is halfed. Normally Slugs lose 1/3 of
health when hit, but with Tarma, it will only lose 1/6 of its health.

Eri:

Eri's special ability lies in her grenades. She gets 20 of them at the
start and has the longest throwing range. She can also aim them in the
four directions. I also believe that they do more damage than normal.

Ralph:

Ralph is a special guest character from the King of Fighters and Ikari
Warriors games. Perhaps his best ability is that if he gets hit, he will
come back to life, essentially giving you double life against most
attacks. One catch on the double life ability is that there are some
attacks that will kill him in one hit no matter what. While Ralph has
double life, he has half ammo for all special weapons and grenade
crates. He does start with 10 grenades, but every grenade box gives 5
instead of the normal 10. Ralph also has a special melee attack called
the Vulcan Punch that causes major damage to enemies.

Clark:

Clark is the second special guest character from the King of Fighters
and Ikari Warriors games. His special ability is the Argentine
Backbreaker. This special move can only be used on organic enemies in
melee range. When used, most organic enemies die in one hit and every
use scores a large amount of points which increases with more combos up
to a certain limit. Note that when the special is used successfully,
Clark becomes invulnerable for a second or so.

Here is a video I found of someone racking up a lot of points using
Clark's special: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGfXO3VMZNM

4. Weapons:
Handgun:

Symbol: None

This is your initial equip in Hard mode. In easy mode, the Handgun is
replaced by the Heavy Machine Gun.

Arms: Infinite

Power: 1/5
Range: 3/5
Speed: 4/5
Rarity: Initial equip

This is your initial weapon and luckily it has infinite arms. It is best
used to conserve the ammunition of special weapons when facing a small
number of enemies. Note that Marco's Handgun is stronger than normal as
that is his special ability.

Its weaknesses include having the worst attack power of all the weapons.
Also, it cannot shoot diagonally so taking out enemies up high might be
difficult as you need to stand under them. Overall, use this weapon to
save the ammo of special weapons or learn to love it if you don't have
any special weapons on you. Note that some enemies can deflect the shots
of this weapon.

Knife:

Symbol: None

This is your standard melee attack that is used whenever an enemy gets
close to you.

Power: 2.5/5
Range: 1/5
Speed: 3/5
Rarity: Initial equip

Every character comes with a melee attack which is the knife. Ralph's is
the best at melee as his knife attack is fastest of the entire cast. The
melee attack is useful to kill off organic enemies that are close to
you. In later levels, knifing can be better than the handgun as the
knife attack can kill some enemies faster than the handgun. Also, some
enemy attacks

Grenade:

Symbol: A crate full of shells

This is your standard bag of handy grenades that every solider has that
can be very helpful in your battles.

Initial arms: 10, Eri 20
Pick up arms: 10, Eri 20, Ralph 5.

Power: 3/5
Range: 3/5
Speed: 3/5
Rarity: Common

This weapon can be used by pressing the C or the grenade button. What
happens is that your character pulls out a grenade and throws it
forward. Eri has a longer throwing range and she can aim then with the
joystick. After the grenade is thrown, it bounces for a little bit and
explodes upon contact or after it stops bouncing. It is best used to
take out armoured tanks or enemies downhill for you. Sometimes, grenades
can be a life saver as they can usually take out an organic enemy that
is just about to hit you before they hit you.

Grenades can be found from prisoner drops, crates, or certain enemy
drops.

The Grenade does not have many weaknesses apart that it has low range.
It is a pretty good balanced weapon that will be very useful.

Firebomb:

Symbol: A bottle with the word Fire on it.

This weapon is basically an extension of your normal Grenades. By
grabbing a fire bottle, your normal Grenades turn into Fireombs.

Note that if you have Firebombs and you grab an item that says "Bomb"
your Grenades will return to normal.

Arms: 10 and it converts your normal grenades to Firebombs.

If you pick up a bomb box, while having Firebombs, they won't revert to
normal grenades.

Power: 3.5/5
Range: 3.5/5
Speed: 3/5

When thrown, a bottle resembling a Molotov cocktail containing flammable
material hurls towards the ground or enemy. If it hits the ground, there
will be a flame wave that erupts around the contact point that
incinerates nearby enemies. Note that if you hit an enemy directly such
as a boss, there will be no splash damage, but the hit will be slightly
stronger. The advantage over normal grenades is that it has a larger
blast radius.

The biggest weakness of the Firebomb is that it cannot roll as it
explodes upon contact with the ground.

Heavy Machine Gun

Symbol: [H]

This is the most common special weapon found in crates, prisoners and
some enemy drops. Comes in normal and Super versions. The Super version
will have a pulsating H and the icon is slightly bigger. The difference
between normal and Super is that the Super Heavy Machine Gun one has
more attack power as indicated by the slightly larger shot.

Arms: 100

Power: 2/5
Super power: 3/5
Range: 5/5
Speed: 4/5
Rarity: Common
Super Heavy Machine Gun Rarity: Uncommon

This general purpose weapon is best used on large numbers of organic
enemies. On single organic targets, it is quite a waste unless facing
some of the stronger enemies on the final mission. Against tanks, it is
moderately effective, but better than the handgun as it packs more
power. This weapon is the initial equip of Easy mode and will not appear
as a drop in this mode. Note that the super version of this weapon
appears in the fourth level of easy mode. I believe that picking up the
Super Heavy Machine Gun in easy mode does nothing.

The Heavy Machine Gun's only weakness is that it might not have enough
power to take out swarms of stronger enemies in the later levels, mostly
in Mission 3 and onwards. Another bad thing about the Heavy Machine Gun
is that it consumes ammo at a high rate. Note that some enemies can
deflect the shots of the Heavy Machine Gun.

Rocket Launcher:

Symbol: [R]

This weapon is first found in Mission 1 and is dropped by crates,
prisoners, and some enemy drops. Comes in normal and Super forms. The
Super one has more attack power.

Arms: 10

Power: 3/5
Super power: 4/5
Range: 3/5
Speed: 2/5
Rarity: Uncommon

Basically this weapon shoots a large missile in the direction you are
pointing in. It can only be fired in four directions and has limited
homing ability. This weapon is best used on armoured units such as tanks
and bosses.

The Rocket Launcher's biggest weaknesses include a slow firing rate.
This weapon cannot be fired rapidly as there is a limit to how many
missiles can be on screen at a time. Also, it is not very effective
against swarms of organic enemies as a result of its poor firing speed.
In addition, it has poor homing ability and it cannot strike diagonally.

On a side note, the Rocket Launcher is pronounced similarly to "Rawket
Lawnchair" by the announcer voice. Not critical to gameplay, but a funny
joke to some.

Enemy Chaser:

Symbol: [C]

This weapon is similar to the Rocket Launcher with a few differences.

Arms: 10

Power: 2/5
Range: 4/5
Speed: 3.5/5
Rarity: Uncommon

What this weapon does is that it shoots a homing missile in the
direction you are pointing in. What direction you point in does not
really matter as it will home on to nearby enemies regardless of
direction so it is possible for the shots to go behind you. It has a
much higher firing rate than the Rocket Launcher at the expense of
power.

This weapon is best used against armoured or flying units. It is decent
against a swarm of organic enemies as it has a large blast radius that
can take out multiple targets.

Compared to the Rocket Launcher, it has lesser power so this is its
greatest weakness. Also you will probably find that rapid firing of this
weapon will cause it to be used up very quickly.

Flameshot:

Symbol: [F]

This weapon is like a portable barbeque. Comes in normal and super
varities.

Arms: 10

Power: 4/5
Super Flameshot power: 5/5
Range: 2/5
Speed: 1/5
Rarity: Rare

How this weapon works is that when you fire, a large red blast of fire
comes out of your gun. It is great at roasting enemies alive and most
organic creatures die in one shot. The Flameshot is similar to the
Shotgun with the only difference is that the Flameshot is multihit while
the Shotgun is a single hit. The main advantage that the Flameshot has
over the Shotgun is that its shot lasts slightly longer. Note that this
weapon is great at negating the shots of Martians.

While the Flameshot packs a powerful punch, it comes at the expense at
speed and range. With its horrible range, the Flameshot is a semi-melee
weapon. Also, since it is a multi hit weapon, in order to do full
damage, the enemy must be in contact with the shot for the entire time.

Iron Lizard:

Symbol: [I]

This weapon is found in the Mission 1 and it looks like a toy car...

Arms: 10

Power: 3/5
Range: 2.5/5
Speed: 3/5
Rarity: Uncommon

Basically this weapon is a missile on wheels. When fired, a rocket drops
to the ground and rolls towards an object and explodes upon contact. It
is only good on armoured units on the ground or enemies downhill from
you.

For the most part, this weapon isn't that great as it can only hit
ground enemies. Although it can be fired upwards, it doesn't go very far
as it drops back on the ground thus making it useless against aerial
enemies. Also, if the ground is not even, it will have difficulty
reaching a target as it will blow up when it crashes into a wall.
Basically, this is the second worst weapon, as your Handgun might just
be better than it.

Laser Gun:

Symbol: [L]

This is a rapid firing weapon similar to the Heavy Machine Gun that is
first found in Mission 2. Comes in normal and Super varieties.

Arms: 100

Power: 3/5
Super Laser Gun power: 4/5
Range: 5/5
Speed: 4/5
Rarity: Uncommon
Super Laser Gun Rarity: Very Rare

This weapon is similar to the Heavy Machine Gun, but instead of yellow
shots, it shoots out a continuous laser. Usage is similar to the Heavy
Machine Gun, but the Laser differs from the fact that it has more attack
power. Great against large swarms of enemies or armoured units and the
additional attack power means that it can cut through stronger enemies
with ease. Also, its shot cannot be deflected by the reptilian aliens in
Mission 3 onwards.

The Laser Gun's biggest weakness is that it consumes ammo at a
ridiculous rate.

Drop Shot

Symbol: [D]

This weapon is so bad that your Handgun is better than it. First found
in Mission 2.

Arms: 10

Power: 2/5
Range: 2/5
Speed: 2/5
Rarity: Rare

How this weapon works is that when you fire, a small bouncing ball will
come out and bounce its way slowly towards your enemy. You can only
shoot three at a time and they move very slowly towards the enemy. The
Drop Shot is only good if you are right up next to an enemy tank or if
an enemy is downhill from you.

Overall, this weapon is purely crap and is indeed the worst weapon in
the game. It is bad in most situations and your Handgun is definitely
better than it. In other words, if you have other weapons in your stock,
leave it. If you have nothing but your Handgun, you might still want to
leave it.

Shotgun:

Symbol: [S]

This slow, but powerful weapon makes its first appearance in Mission 3.
Comes in normal and Super varieties.

Arms: 10

Power: 4/5
Super Shotgun power: 5/5
Range: 2/5
Speed: 1/5
Rarity: Rare
Super Shotgun Rarity: Very Rare, only found in Final Mission.

What makes this weapon great is that it packs a mighty punch with a
single shot. One shot will take out most organic enemies in one hit and
tanks are destroyed quickly with this weapon.

What the Shotgun has in pure power, it sacrifices speed and range. Each
shot is a large blast in front of your character so you have to be
somewhat close to your enemy. It can only fire in four directions so it
might be hard to hit aerial enemies. Also, the Shotgun is quite slow so
each shot must be accurate or else you might be screwed.

Zantetsu Sword:

Symbol: [Z]

The best melee weapon you will ever get. First found in Mission 3.

Arms: 10

Power: 4/5
Range: 1.5/5
Speed: 3/5
Rarity: Rare

When equipped with this weapon, your character basically has an insanely
powerful knife attack that just rips enemies apart. Since it is a melee
attack, you need to be close to the target. Unlike your normal knife, it
works wonders on armoured and even has the ability to negate enemy
shots. Like your knife, you can only attack left and right.

Overall, the biggest weakness is the lack of range and firing direction
as it is the only weapon that cannot be fired up or down, but its high
speed and insane attack power makes up for this disadvantage.

Dual Machine Gun

Symbol: [2xH] (The in game symbol is of normal size off course)

The Dual Machine Gun has the highest firing rate of any weapon in the
game. First found in Mission 3.

Arms: 200

Power: 4/5
Range: 4/5
Speed: 5/5
Rarity: Rare

The Dual Machine Gun is an upgraded form of the Heavy Machine Gun
featuring more firepower. When you get this awesome weapon, your
character wields two machine guns instead of the usual special weapon
rifle. Basically is one of the best weapons in the game and will help
you greatly in combat.

What the Dual Machine Gun is good against are large swarms of powerful
enemies. It has enough firepower to take out masses of enemies with
ease. Tanks fall quickly under the sheer firepower of this weapon. With
this ridiculous amount of rapid fire, most enemies fall with ease and it
makes quick work of bosses.

At the expense of a ridiculous firing rate, the Dual Machine Gun burns
ammo up at an insane rate. Pressing the fire once can use up at least 8
shots. As such, it is a complete waste to use the Dual Machine Gun
against single targets. As such, take care not to waste the ammo
whenever it is not necessary.

Super Grenade:
Symbol: [G]

A rare weapon that is packs an explosive punch. First found on the
alternate route of Mission 1.

Arms: 10

Power: 4/5
Range: 3/5
Speed: 2.5/5
Rarity: Rare

This weapon works similarly to the Rocket Launcher. It fires a smaller
shot, but the shot deals more damage. This weapon is best used against
armoured or strong organic units as it is a complete waste on lesser
enemies. Overall, this weapon still has the weaknesses of the Rocket
Launcher, but is still better than it because of its higher attack
power.

Bullet Box:

What this item does is that it increases the ammo of a special weapon
proportional to how much it starts with. The weapon that receives the
ammo restoration is the one that you are equipped with when you grab it.
Note that if you grab it while using the Handgun, you will get nothing
and the item is wasted.

Gas:

This isn't really a weapon, but more of a health pickup. It restores a
third of a Slug's health. Has no effect if you grab it outside of a
Slug. It is only found in areas where you are likely to have a Slug.
Note that this is a rare item that only appears twice in the game.

The above section I have listed details all the essential and important
items that will aid in beating the game. All other items you can find
function only to give you bonus points.

5. Slugs

Q: What is a Slug?

A: A Slug is one of the various vehicles that you get to ride throughout
the game. Each have their own characteristics and I will describe them
in detail.

Metal Slug

This is the famous super tank that is found in all of the Metal Slug
games.
This Slug is armoured as when you enter it, a health bar will show up at
the top of the player status. Each hit will normally decrease its health
by 1/3 until it is destroyed. For Tarma, the Slug has double durability
so each hit does 1/6 damage instead of 1/3. If the Slug runs out of
health, an arrow saying "Out" will appear so press jump to escape the
Slug before it explodes on you. The Metal Slug is found in Mission 1. If
you happen to complete Mission 1 with the Slug, you will get a point
bonus at level completion.

The Metal Slug is armed with a Vulcan that fires blue shots rapidly. The
gun's direction changes as you move around. It also has a cannon that
fires a powerful shell to the right. Note that the Slug cannot turn
around so the cannon is only effective towards enemies to the right. In
addition, the Metal Slug can run down enemy soldiers as a melee attack.
The Slug is unharmed by knife attacks.

Unlike the other Slugs, the Metal Slug is the only one that can duck
like your solider, enabling it to avoid a lot of attacks. While ducking,
if you press the grenade button, normal grenades will be thrown at
increased speed. Lastly, if you press the D button for the Frontal
Attack, your character will jump out and the Slug will run towards the
right, running over enemy soldiers before self destructing into
something for massive damage.

Donkey Slug

This Slug is first found in Mission 2. Like all animal Slugs, it has no
protection so if you get hit; your character falls off and dies. Note
that if you die while riding it, the Slug is will still be there as it
is indestructible from enemy fire. The Donkey Slug is equipped with a
Vulcan that fires larger, stronger, oval shots. Initially, the Donkey
Slug has no cannon, but near the end of Mission 2, it picks up a cart
accessory that gives it the cannon.

Something notable about the Donkey Slug is that it is quite slow, which
makes dodging enemy fire a little difficult. To counter this, jumping
while moving can increase movement speed by a little bit. In addition,
the Slug dismount was boosted significantly as when you jump off, your
jump is a lot higher than the dismount jumps of other Slugs, making it
easier to retreat to the opposite side of the screen. Also, the cannon
accessory acts as a platform that gives you the extra height needed to
reach some items or prisoners.

If you happen to suicide the Donkey Slug, your character will jump off
and the Slug will charge towards the right with the Slug Vulcan flying
off and exploding in mid air. Note that, after the Slug Suicide, the
Donkey can be found running back towards the left so it technically
never dies. Although it comes back, you can't get back on it again.

Slug Gunner Prototype

The Slug Gunner Prototype is found right before the boss fight of
Mission 3. Unlike the other Slugs, it has automatic Vulcan fix. However,
this Slug has no protection so if you get hit, your character is toast.
It is equipped with a cannon that can fire either left or right,
depending on what direction you are facing. The Vulcan has an angle of
90 degrees, but you can turn the Slug around. Like the Donkey Slug, it
cannot be destroyed by enemy fire, but your character will die if hit.
The only way for it to be destroyed for good is if you suicide it. Also,
it is the fastest Slug in the game, with a movement speed slightly
higher than your character.

Slug Flyer

This Slug is found right before the aerial section of Mission 4. The
Slug Flyer is basically an airplane with a Vulcan that can only fire
towards the right. Instead of a cannon, the Slug Flyer has powerful
missiles. If you manage to keep the Slug alive to the boss, it will make
fighting the boss a lot easier. Like the Metal Slug, it is armoured and
can take 3 hits before exploding. If it does run out of health, jump to
eject before it blows up.

Slug Driller

This is the newest Slug of the Metal Slug series and it is found near
halfway through the Final Mission. It is equipped with drills that can
destroy the ground in the subterranean section of the Final Mission. The
Slug Driller is equipped with dual Vulcans that are absolutely crap
unless you are Tarma. The Vulcan can destroy the ground, but is not as
effective as the drill.

Controls for the Slug Driller are quite complicated as they are somewhat
inverted. First of all, the Vulcans face the opposite direction you are
moving in, thus away from the drill, unless you have Vulcan Fix with
Tarma. For some reason, the Vulcan firing rate was horrible unless you
are using Tarma which in this case is normal. Instead of a standard
cannon, this Slug uses mines that explode when enemies contact it.

Note that this is the only inescapable Slug so if its health runs out,
your character dies with it. Also, Ralph's double life effect does not
work here. If you do die in the Slug Driller, another one will reappear
with your character inside it. Note that the Slug's mines reset to 10
when you respawn.

6.1 Mission 1

Before I start on the walkthrough, I would like to note that this guide
is written primarily for a single player game. While playing two player
co-op is not much difference, most strategies are designed for the
single player game. At times that I will discuss about two player
strategy, I will make that explicit, therefore, assume that all
conditions are single player.

For the most part, the only difference between single player and two
player is that the weapon drops may vary slightly in terms of quantity.
The types of weapons found will still be the same, just that the
quantity might be slightly different. Also, since there are two players
playing, your combined firepower is essentially doubled. Overall, it is
easier to beat the game on two player mode just because you have more
firepower from two players. Note that both players cannot choose the
same character though.

Mission one is a somewhat long, but easy first level. Most will find
that they can beat this level without dying so the end of level bonus
can be large.

This level starts by your character parachuting down to a grassy field.
Run towards the right and you should find a couple of soldiers guarding
a prisoner who is tied up. Shoot them with your Handgun and free the
prisoner. He gives you a Heavy Machine Gun.

Next you should find a scouting soldier on top of a platform. A weak
tank will appear so shoot it with the Heavy Machine Gun and it will fall
quickly. Note that this tank attacks by shooting a slow homing missile.
Next, a truck containing soldiers will back up onto the screen. At this
point, you might as well use up the Heavy Machine Gun as you will get
two more special weapons slightly. Keep shooting the truck or use your
Grenades and the if you want, shoot the scout and you should rack up a
lot of points due to the combo system. If you are using Ralph, two
Vulcan Punches will take care of the truck.

After dealing with the truck, you should get a Rocket Launcher. Next,
there will be some shielded solders standing on some boxes. As more
enemies come onto the screen, you can take them all out by blowing up
the danger barrel.

Jump upwards and you should find a set of two crates. One contains
Grenades and the other one an Enemy Chaser. The Enemy chaser should take
care of all the enemies and the tank that appears.

Next there will be a set of mine soldiers. They run at you and dive,
dropping a mine on the ground. The mines only explode after a certain
time, but just to be safe, jump over them. Knife or shoot the solders
and proceed right.

Next, you will find a towering tank. You can kill it quick by throwing
Grenades or by doing one Vulcan punch. It attacks by shooting a rolling
bomb. Watch the soldiers that appear behind you though.

On the downhill section, more mine soldiers will appear and you can find
another prisoner that gives you a mushroom. As you run towards the
docks, care not to fall into the water or else you will lose a life.
Another shield soldier will appear. Since nothing else will come, you
can take your time and shoot it with your Handgun or kill it quickly
with one Grenade.

Jump and proceed and you should find a helicopter above you. When it
appears, you can jump and throw some grenades at it. To kill it, shoot
upwards and move slightly right or left to avoid its dropping bombs.
After defeating it, it will drop a letter that gives you points.

Continue jumping and you will find two prisoners and some soldiers near
a mortar launcher. Shoot them quickly and proceed right. Keep going
right and you will find another shield guy and some other weak soldiers.
Another prisoner will give you a Heavy Machine Gun. You might want to
save it to blow up the running train that appears next.

On the train part, shoot upwards and the containers will explode. Note
that the handgun does not have enough power to effectively destroy the
containers. Most of the containers contain point items such as food. The
most important thing to shoot is the container that contains the Metal
Slug. Shoot it and it will fall so hop in for a ride. After getting the
Slug, the last containers have bazooka solders on them. They only die if
you destroy the container they are on. Also the other containers have
cannons that shoot rockets.

If you are playing two players, it is best to focus your fire on one
container at a time. By focusing your fire, you can destroy more of the
containers in less time and grab the items inside them. Also, focus
firing can neutralize the threat from the bazooka soldiers or the cannon
containers faster.

Go right and now you are about done half of the level. Next there will
be more soldiers and a prisoner that gives an Iron Lizard. Kill more of
the mine solders and proceed right. Next you will find a mountain base
with a mass of bomb throwing soldiers and a helicopter. First kill off
the mortar and then focus on the helicopter while running over soldiers
that get close. The Danger barrel can be destroyed to kill off enemies
close to it.

At this point, you can either go right or up. Going right is the normal
easy route and up is the harder alternate route. If you want to beat the
level quickly and easily, take the right route. The up route is harder,
but you can get more prisoners and points there. Some might find the
normal route too easy and for the better players, the alternate route
might be a better challenge.

First, I will discuss the normal route that you can take by going right.
As you go right, you should find a large metal gate and some bats
flying. To advance, you must destroy the gate in front of you. There is
no need to waste your special weapons so just use the Handgun or Slug
Vulcan. The bats can be shot for fun for some extra points. There are no
enemies at this part.

Destroy the door and you will find a cave. In the cave, there are some
soldiers hiding behind some sandbags. Destroy the sandbag bunkers or lob
a grenade/ cannon shot to kill off those soldiers. In the air, there are
a couple of prisoners and one will give you a Flameshot. Next, there
will be a few tanks that look similarly to your Metal Slug. Stay far
from them and keep shooting them until they die. Note that there are
bats in the sky so you can shoot them for extra points.

Soon, you will be caught in a depression and a large wave of soldiers
will come left and right. Keep shooting left and right and run over
those that get close with the Slug. After destroying the last tank, you
can advance to the boss by blowing up the door behind the tank.

The alternate route can be taken by going up instead of right at the
base of the mountain area. By going up the go arrow will point up
instead of right. Jump across the gaps and make sure not to fall to your
doom. There will be a shield soldier waiting for you. Throw a grenade or
shoot it with your Slug.

As your proceed up, there will be more soldiers including ones armed
with shields and bazookas. The bazooka ones are more threatening so kill
them first. To take out the shield one quickly, just run him over with
the Slug or toss a grenade. A little way up, you can find some more
prisoners and one will give you a Heavy Machine Gun.

Keep going up and eventually you will meet a helicopter. This foe is
quite threatening so take it out quickly. Next, some paratroopers armed
with bazookas will drop from the sky. Kill them before they have a
chance to shoot. Keep going up until you reach the top.

Soon you will find yourself dropping by in a warehouse full of prisoners
hanging by the ceiling. Free them and kill off the soldiers. One of
these prisoners will give you a Super Grenade weapon for the boss. If
you take your sweet time killing off the enemies, more soldiers will
come which can be either bad or good. Good if you want to rack up
serious points with Clark, bad if you just want to make it out in one
piece.

In addition to the soldiers, there are a few tanks here. Some shoot
missiles while others will shoot three fireballs. The fireballs can be
avoided by ducking. Note that in order to advance, the tanks must be
destroyed. After clearing this area, you will find yourself at the boss
room.

6.2 Boss 1

You enter the room and soon find yourself fighting a large yellow
bulldozer like tank. This boss is relatively easy and can be taken care
of with no deaths in a fast manner.

The character that has the advantage on this boss is Tarma just because
of the Slug. With Tarma the boss can fall in a minute or so, possibly
less. There are no character disadvantages on this boss.

In his first form, the boss has a shovel in front of him. He attacks by
shooting a small cannon that has low to mid range. To avoid this attack,
either stay far away on the left side of the screen or you can use the
Slug dismount trick to avoid it.

If you want to kill off the boss fast, it is recommended to stay close
to the boss as you will be able to hit it with your cannon, your
grenades, and your Flameshot. Dodge the cannon attack by using the Slug
dismount trick. If you are using Ralph, you can Vulcan Punch the boss if
you want for major damage.

His other attack is that the shovel will rise up and an Iron Lizard will
appear. If you destroy the Iron Lizard, you can get some power up. If
you take too long, the boss will move forward and reduce the amount of
battle space you have which means that his later form attacks can hit
you despite the fact that you are as far as possibly can from him.

His second form starts when the shovel blows up and breaks off. Next a
drill will appear in front of him. At this point, he will attack with a
rock launcher that is located at the top of the boss. The rocks try to
aim towards you, but cannot get you if you are in melee range. To dodge
this attack, either be as far as you can from the boss or be in melee
range.

After the boss shoots the rocks, they will stay on the ground and hinder
your movement across the screen. Also, if you don't destroy the rocks,
the boss will use the drill attack. Note that since the boss moves
closer towards you as the battle goes on, there might not be enough
range to avoid the rock attack by going on the far left side of the
screen. In this situation, get in melee range.

The drill attacks vary for easy and hard mode. In easy mode the drill
always go diagonally upwards. This causes a rock shower to fall from the
sky. The rocks can be destroyed with the Heavy Machine Gun quite easily
and some will yield items.

On hard mode, the drill will not go upwards, but horizontally towards
you. The drill alternates from high and low with the high attack
starting first. This is possibly the hardest attack to dodge of the boss
as it has a lot of range. Note that the range of the drill is not
necessarily the entire screen, but since the boss moves forwards as time
progresses, it can cover the entire screen. Dodge the high attack by
crouching. To dodge the low attack, jump over the drill bit. It is safe
to touch the rope the drill is attached to, but be prepared to jump
again when the drill bit retracts. Note that the second before he does
the drill attack, the drill will spin for a second before it flies
towards you. Also, when the boss uses the drill, it means he is near
death. Finish him off and Mission 1 Complete!

After completing the mission, you will get a point bonus depending on
your prisoner count and wither you have the Slug intact or not. This is
probably the level in which you will receive the largest bonus so savor
it while you can.


7.1 Mission 2

Ok you have finally beat Mission 1 and now it is on to Mission 2.
Mission 2 is slightly harder than Mission 1, but a little bit shorter.
This level might be hard for some novices, but it will only get tougher
from now on.

You start the level on some wooden dock like area with water underneath.
Run across right and you find a new enemy, the axe wielding madman.
These guys look like the native villages and they don't like presence.
These enemies attack by either swinging their axe at your or by throwing
a stick of dynamite. The dynamite attack does not explode on contact,
but only after a certain amount of time. Occasionally, there is a madman
in a makeshift raft below that throws dynamite sticks upwards towards
you. Note that the axe men can take more punishment then regular
soldiers. To kill the guy in the raft, jump and shoot downwards.

Kill off the axe man and proceed right. You should find a prisoner and
he gives you a point item. Jump across the hole and don't fall as that
will mean certain death as your character cannot swim. The first crate
contains a Heavy Machine Gun. A set of axe men will jump over the fence
and try to ambush you. There is no need to use your Heavy Machine Gun.
Either kill them with your Handgun or run knife them before they can
attack.

A couple more axe men will appear and you can find a box on a lower
level. The crate contains a Laser Gun. Note that the upper platform is
shorter than the lower platform. Drop down from the upper platform and
land below, careful not to die in the hole. Grab the Laser Gun and jump
right. More axe men will come so knife or shoot them.

Jump over the hole and a prisoner will give you a bullet box. It is best
to give the ammo to the Laser Gun. Shoot the prisoner above you to free
him. Next, there will be a tank to the right on a platform that launches
missiles. The missiles tend to land in the middle of the area so to kill
it, stand underneath and shoot it. This tank has quite a bit of health
so it might take a while to kill. If you are using Ralph, you can jump
into it and give it a Vulcan Punch to kill it quickly. The higher angle
the missile tank fires at, the less range it will have. Note that more
axe men will come and if they can't melee you then they will throw
dynamite sticks.

Proceed right and take the upper platform as piranhas will attack the
lower platform. A prisoner will give you a Firebomb power up. As you
proceed right, there are two prisoners on a platform. One will give a
Laser Gun and the other will give a bullet box that you should give to
your Laser Gun.

At the final part of this area, a large swarm of axe men will come from
all directions. Note that there will also be enemies ranging you from
below. The axe men keep on coming and the only way to advance to the
next part is to destroy the wall to the right.

On the next part, you will be on a hiker's path that slopes upwards. The
first prisoner will give you a Dropshot. If you have both a Heavy
Machine Gun and the Laser gun, don't grab it as it crap and not
effective in uphill combat. Next, you will find a new enemy, the
Martian. He attacks by shooting out blue bubble shots that slowly home
towards you. These shots can be destroyed by shooting or crouch knifing
them. If there are a lot heading towards you, throwing a Firebomb will
destroy a lot of them.

Go right and kill off the Martians. When they die, they squirt out green
guts. As you proceed right, you will find a wooden bridge with a
prisoner that gives you a Super Flameshot. Next a mass of Martians will
drop from the air. If you want, the Flameshot can take out multiple
enemies with one shot, provided that the enemies are in range.

After killing the Martians, you will find the Donkey Slug. On the next
section, a regular soldier will try to sneak up on you. Also, UFO
enemies will fly above you and try to kill you with their Laser attack
when you are directly below them. The Slug Vulcan has enough firepower
to kill off UFOs above you provided that you aim straight up. The Heavy
Machine Gun also has enough power to kill off the UFOs before they
attack if you are playing easy mode. If you find the Slug too slow, you
can slightly increase the movement speed by jumping while walking.

Next, you will find a camp. Kill off the scout before he can sound the
alarm and go right. Soon after, you will find the Donkey Slug cart
accessory which gives the Slug its cannon. Also this cart acts as a
platform to help you reach items or prisoners upstairs.

At this point, this is the hardest part of the entire level. You will
soon find yourself swarmed by multiple enemies of different type and is
difficult not do die here. First off, I will list the priority of
enemies that you should take out.

If you see bazooka soldiers, kill them first as they can be deadly in
the confusion of combat. Next off should be the Martians. There will
also be jumping knife soldiers that try to knife you. If they get too
close, dismount the Slug and jump backwards. The shield soldiers are not
much of a threat, but they can protect other enemies so knife or bomb
them if they block your normal shots. If a tank appears, use your bombs
or Slug cannon. Don't bother killing the UFOs as your fire power is best
used to deal with the Martians or other enemies. Just make sure you keep
moving left and right so they can't hit you.

Note that the crate on top holds a Rocket Launcher. To grab it, dismount
the Slug and land on the Donkey cart. Jump to touch the Rocket Launcher
and the prisoners. One of the prisoners here will give you a Zantetsu
Sword, but it is not of much use. Also, another prisoner will give you a
bomb crate. As you keep going right, you will find a Haduken prisoner
that shoots energy balls at enemies. If you see tanks, kill them fast
with the cannon. These tanks attack by shooting fireballs that are hard
to dodge if you are on the Slug as it is too tall, so that is why they
need to be destroyed quickly.

Since this is the end of the level, you might as well shoot out the Slug
cannon as you cannot take the Slug to fight the boss. The end of the
level is marked by a wooden door that must be destroyed. After
collecting the last two prisoners, you can suicide the Slug if you wish.
Destroy the door and head to the boss.


7.2 Boss 2

At the boss area, you walk to the right. Your character stops and a
giant tank charges down the hill. You jump on the tank and the battle
begins.

This boss is not too hard, but is harder than the first boss and it
includes a lot of button mashing. Characters that have an advantage
include Marco, Ralph, and Eri. Marco's advantage lies in the fact that
the Handgun is probably going to be the most used weapon against the
boss. Ralph's advantage is that his Vulcan Punch can destroy a part of a
boss quickly, allowing you to continue attacking the main body. Eri's
advantage lies in the fact that she can throw her grenades upwards to
hit the main body with ease.

Against this boss, Tarma and Clark have a disadvantage. Tarma's
disadvantage lies in the fact that his power lies in the Slug. Since
there is no Slug in the boss fight, he has no special abilities. Clark's
disadvantage lies in the fact that he cannot use his special technique
as there are no organic enemies in the battle for his special to be used
on.

Fio neither has an advantage or a disadvantage against the boss. While
her increased ammo supply ability might be useless as you won't get many
special weapons in the battle, the fact that she starts each life with a
Heavy Machine Gun cancels that problem.

When fighting the boss, the part to aim for is the cannon at the top by
shooting upwards while standing under it. To hit it with grenades
normally, stand under the cannon and throw a grenade while jumping. Eri
does not need to jump as she can throw the grenades upwards.
Alternatively, you can stand on the left side and throw the grenade
right while jumping. Ultimately, destroying this part destroys the boss
and completes the mission. The other destructible parts are not linked
to the main health of the boss, but the destruction of them can make the
battle easier. By destroying the certain non essential parts of the
boss, such as the missiles, you can occasionally get a special weapon
such as the Heavy Machine Gun, Rocket Launcher, or a bomb crate.

On the first phase, the cannon on top is a large standard cannon. On
hard mode, this cannon will shoot large missiles. The missiles fly
backwards and will hover in the air. At this point, they are tracking
your position. When it drops, it will fall to where you are or
previously were if you dodge it successfully. These missiles are
destructible and can yield items, but the Handgun does not have enough
firepower to take them out quickly enough. Note that this attack is not
used easy mode.

Another attack the boss uses are small missiles. They come from the side
panels of the boss and cross the screen in fixed horizontal linear
trajectories. For this attack, I usually stand on the middle right of
the boss. Most of them pass over you and they can only hit you if you
jump. Occasionally there will be a low missile so jump over it or duck
if it looks like it will hit your head and not your feet. These missiles
are weak and can be destroyed in two or three pistol shots. Note that
this attack can be used at the same time as the homing large missile
attack.

The third attack the boss uses is two side cannons. The cannons come out
of a side panel and rotate from left to right, slowly shooting as they
rotate. It is highly recommended to destroy one of the cannons as if you
leave both intact, you might get trapped. The cannon I usually destroy
is the right one as it is easy to destroy just by standing under it. If
you are using Ralph, one Vulcan Punch will take it out and you can
continue shooting the boss's main body.

When you have done enough damage, the cannon on top will explode and the
boss will move to phase two. At this point, the cannon is replaced by a
large missile silo. The primary attack of phase two is that a gigantic
ballistic missile will launch into the air. While it is launching, a
massive amount of flak will go up and slowly fall down. These small
shots can be negated by your shots.

As the missile goes up, the screen might zoom out a little to show the
large missile. The missile will not have enough thrust and soon falls
back down towards the tank. When it falls, it will fall to your previous
location that is determined when the missile was shot. Note that the
missile covers about half of the area so run to the opposite edge of the
battle field to avoid attack while avoiding the flak. The large
ballistic missile is fired one at a time until the boss reaches its near
death state.

When you do enough damage to the boss, the boss will be in its near
death state. At this point, it fires the ballistic missiles in volleys
of two, which makes it harder to dodge. While it is harder to dodge, at
least this means the boss is nearly defeated. Shoot it for a little
while more and finally the boss will explode and crash into a mountain
side. A cut scene follows after the boss that you can watch or skip by
pressing start.

7.3 End of Mission 2 Cut scene

In my opinion, this cut scene is well placed as it gives you a chance to
rest your weary fingers after that button mashing fest on the second
boss.

After defeating the boss, your character laughs and does his victory
pose. In the bush, you will find that General Morden is alive and well
and with two Martians. The Martians use their guns and shoot some
bondage shot that wraps your character in some thick green rope. Morden
laughs his ass off when the Martians suddenly shiver in fear and hug
Morden.

Suddenly, the Martians shiver in fear and grab onto Morden. Two flying
Aliens that you will see in the next levels appear and they grab the
Martians. The Martians try to hang on to Morden and they manage to take
his pants off, before being carried off by the Aliens. The aliens take a
big bite and the Martians hang limp with their brains busted open while
the Ailens have a feast on their gray matter. A third flying Alien
attacks Morden and knocks him down and he lands at your feet, looking
like he is begging for help.

At Mordon's base, his men are lifting something up with a crane and they
are cheering and laughing. Suddenly the object they are lifting drops
and they find themselves under attack by the Aliens. The soldiers try to
run for their lives, but they can't get away. The Martians are paralyzed
with fear and soon everyone dies and the base explodes.

Next, your character breaks free, and Morden looks like he is begging
for help while lying on the ground with his pants off. When Morden
passes out, the cut scene is over and on to Mission 3!

</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
8.1 Mission 3

At this moment, I do not have this part complete, but I do have a
strategy written for the boss of Mission 3 which I will put after this
placeholder section. Boss 3 is the hardest and most discussed boss of
this game so you are probably more interested in knowing how to defeat
him.

8.2 Boss 3

If you are wondering what the boss looks like, he is a giant robot with
a brain that you can see through some transparent glass. The boss battle
takes place in the sewers of Mission 3.

First I will list the character strengths and weaknesses. First off,
Marco's advantage his handgun is the powerful and you will be using the
handgun a lot. Since you will be using the handgun for most of the
battle, the extra damage would help a lot.

Fio double extra capacity would be good as any Dual Machine Gun [2xH]
you get will last longer. However, I have heard that her hand gun is
weaker than normal so with a handgun she might lack the power you need.
She also starts each life with a Heavy Machine Gun [H] so that can be
used for extra firepower.

Tarma is only as good as the Slug which would be a pain to get and reset
after you died. Not a good character choice.

Eri's strength lies in the fact that her grenades have more range and
supply. This is only a good character choice if you can chuck out 20
grenades before you die.

Ralph is good because of the second hit. Since special weapons are rare,
his half ammo doesn't hurt a lot. Don't try the Vulcan Punch on the boss
though as the claws will get you.

Clark is completely useless as he can't do his special here and he has
no other abilities that would help in the boss fight. Don't choose him.

Before the boss battle jump on the Slug Gunner Prototype and fix your
Vulcan at about 30 degrees. As the boss walks towards you your Vulcan
will constantly hit it. In the beginning, the boss doesn't really shoot
much plasma balls so take this time to shoot out your cannon. After
doing major damage and when the plasma balls start to rain down, retreat
to the middle right side of the screen. If you are about to be hit,
suicide the Slug as you are invincible when you jump out of it. The Slug
will crash into the boss and you won't need it in the future as getting
it back is very difficult.

For some players, the Slug can be more of a liability as it is very
difficult to retrieve it after you die. After the boss has taken
significant damage, he will swing his claws at you when you get close to
retrieve the Slug. By the time you manage to get back on the Slug, your
respawn invincibility might have worn off and there might not be enough
time for you to clear his claws. If you do clear the claws, you will be
busy fixing the Vulcan. At that time, you might get hit by a plasma ball
and thus you have to repeat the cycle of Slug retrieval while dying
quickly.

During the battle, the boxis your friend and I tend to stay on top of it
at most times as there is enough room to dodge the plasma balls while
ensuring you are safe from the car and the electrocution attack.

Now I will list some tips on dodging the plasma balls as this is the
most common and dangerous attack. What I do is stand on the left middle
of the box. When the ball stops moving, it will home on to your present
location. When it falls, I tend to jump right and in the middle of the
jump, I reverse the joystick and land back on the box. By this time, the
plasma ball already exploded and is no longer a threat. In easy mode,
the boss will not continuously spam the plasma balls, but use only use
it if this is his "turn."

If the boss picks up a car, it means free shots as this attack is the
least threatening. You can simply avoid it by standing on or behind the
box. Watch out for the plasma balls though as they will still be raining
down continuously. The boss does not drop the car immediately, but waits
a second or so.

If he electrocutes the floor, stand on the box and when avoiding the
plasma balls, take care not to fall off the box or else you will die
from the electrocution. Before the boss electrocutes the floor you can
tell he is using this attack as some tubes will come out and face the
floor. Also, there will be a box in the area.

If he uses the ribbon sinusoidal wave, crouch in front of the box. There
is a gap there that will allow the attack to pass you safely. Take care
not to camp there too early as a plasma ball will get you. If you have
the Slug, dismount/ suicide the Slug and land in front of the box
crouching. Note that when you are dismounting off the Slug, you are
invincible until you land so you can pass through the attack unharmed.
In easy mode, you can dodge this attack by jumping towards the boss
while riding the Slug. This tactic does not work in hard mode.

When the boss uses the water wave, you have to jump over it. I believe
standing on the box will save you but the box will not always be there
when he does this attack. This attack is quite rare, but it is perhaps
the most difficult attack to dodge.

The boss will only swing its claws at you if you try to get close to it
after doing significant damage to it. This usually happens if a player
tries to retrieve the Slug after they died. This attack cuts the battle
field in half and makes the situation quite dangerous. To avoid the
melee attack, stay on the right side of the screen so its claws are out
of reach.

Now to the offensive part. Occasionally, Dual Machine Guns [2xH] will
appear. These are quite rare, but they can do massive damage to the
boss. Since it is likely you will be dying often, use your grenades to
do major damage to the boss every time you respawn. If you are using
Eri, range shouldn't be a problem as her grenades travel further than
anyone elses. If your grenades tend to miss, you can increase their
range by throwing them while jumping from the box. The height of the
jump on the box should give your grenade enough range to hit the boss.

For the most part, your handgun will probably be used the most. Sneak in
a few shots while you are facing the boss when you are dodging the
plasma balls. Perhaps the most important part is to throw out all your
grenades at the boss as they can do some serious damage.

Overall, good luck on beating this boss as this is the boss that most
people have trouble on. When you do finally beat the boss, the robot
will collapse and its brains will flow out of its head and gush out
everywhere. Hopefully this boss guide has helped you defeat this boss.
If anyone who reads the guide has additional comments or suggestions,
please discuss it on the arcade Metal Slug 6 board.

11. Version History:

0.5 Halfway complete. Initial submission.
0.51 Fixed the apostrophes that appeared as question marks problem.
0.52 Fixed up some boss strategies.

12. Legal:

Copyright 2007

13. Credits

Special thanks to the players who uploaded their Metal Slug 6 videos on
Youtube. With the help of your videos, I have been able to supplement to
my knowledge of this game and to provide a better guide for those who
might have trouble with this game.

Thanks to CJayC, the GameFAQs creator who created this site so that we
can share out video game knowledge.

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