It certainly inspires a great sense of adventure. Both themes feature catchy melodies, addictive tribal percussion, and some atmospheric and textural woodwind work. The next track “Cliff and Cave” follows the same style, but it focuses more on the new motifs presented on the previous track. It truly is an outstanding and unique arrangement to one of the best video game themes ever.
Starting familiarly enough, it turns out of nowhere into a fantastic exotic theme, full of tribal percussion, African chanting, and it’s mixed all the way with beautiful and heroic orchestral motifs. Manabu Namiki does a great job in arranging this classic theme, while adding a lot of personality and uniqueness to it. Not since the first game it has made an individual appearance, but it has been frequently reprised in many compositions from the series. Simply put, an awesome way to start the album…įor me, the biggest surprise of this soundtrack was the arrangement of the “Main Theme from Metal Slug”. It’s used for the character select screen, and it does a terrible job in that context, since the players are not capable of starting the game because they can’t stop listening to the background music. Featuring catchy melodies, fantastic electronic beats and sounds, the track refuses to leave your head. The soundtrack blasts off with “Last Resort”, one of the best electronica themes that I have ever heard.
The over the top nature that has characterized the series is gone, but the soundtrack as a whole is still very extravagant, energetic, and, most importantly, very fun to listen. To put it briefly, the score is a mix of electronica and orchestral music, along with many unique elements here and there. Of course, this is not a negative, but the Metal Slug 6 soundtrack is truly a big departure from what one would expect - even more than Metal Slug 4. The score features familiar tunes along with fresh new ones, along with a strange and inconsistent mix of musical styles. Strangely, the soundtrack was mostly composed by Basiscape’s Manabu Namiki with a few tracks by Mitsuhiro Kaneda. Metal Slug 6 was fortunately a very good comeback for the franchise, being developed by the classic SNK members. This is what happens when Manabu Namiki scores a Metal Slug game, or at the very least, this was my impression upon listening to it for the first time. If the soundtracks of Radiant Silvergun and any Cave shooter had a child together, the Metal Slug 6 soundtrack would be that child… A strange and hyperactive child that doesn’t fit anywhere with everyone else, but can still make friends easily.