• A recap of the franchise is the subject of a video detailing the release of Metal Slug Tactics.
• We hear from the original creators of the franchise in Japan.
• Metal Slug Tactics is still slated for release before the end of 2024.

Like many upcoming games, Metal Slug Tactics is releasing “dev diary” videos about the production, but the most recent of these is rather special.

Entitled “The Legacy” this video – which you can watch in the embed at the bottom of this article – pay homage to the series as a whole and what has come before from talented game devs in Japan.

“For all of us at [developer] Leikir Studios & [publisher] Dotemu, making a new entry in a legendary franchise like Metal Slug was a childhood dream come true.However, as we know, with great legacy comes great responsibility!,” reads an announcement from the Steam forums.

“It was essential for us to properly pay respect to the roots of Metal Slug, all while translating its iconic run-and-gun gameplay into a tactical RPG.Who better to guide us than the original devs at SNK? We went to their headquarters in Japan to talk about what made Metal Slug such an iconic, beloved franchise, and what it means to make a Metal Slug game in 2024.”

While we won’t ruin the video we will say that a common theme across it is “man, those past games really were great, huh?” a sentiment we can’t really argue with. There are some interesting titbits in there, such as the fact that no art assets were reused but instead needed to be made from scratch to fit the isometric view of the new game.

It’s also interesting to hear the things that those inside of SNK have to say about Metal Slug Tactics as they have had a chance to play earlier versions of the game.

For those who want to learn more about the long history of metal Slug, we highly recommend this long video from the YouTube channel iam16bit, which we watched recently. Due to the fact that iam16bit’s video is so much longer, and it isn’t just a piece of marketing material, it gives watchers much more appreciation for what went into previous games.

With the history lessons over we can look to the future and the release of Metal Slug Tactics, which is planned for release on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. The release window is the American Fall 2024 which is between late September and late December.

We’ve been keeping an eye on Metal Slug Tactics ever since its reveal in 2021 so let’s hope it can deliver after all that waiting.