Metal Slug 2/X was a hell of a follow-up to the original. When the first Metal Slug game was released, it was this cool run and gun title with this cartoonish, humorous take on war that still managed to deliver an action-packed experience. Of course, we were hoping that the sequel would be just as enjoyable as the first. We got more than that. Nazca took it upon themselves to go, well, batshit crazy. The game took us on a world tour, bringing us to completely different places in every stage, fighting mummies in an Egyptian setting, riding a train through a burning city, dodging exploding mutants in sewers, and literally destroying China. It's a hell of a ride. For a while, I believed that these two games were easily eclipsed by Metal Slug 3, a fun game in its own right, but when I came back to Metal Slug 2/X on the Anthology, I started thinking that they're actually superior to 3.
With all that in mind, you'd think it would be quite hard to pick one memorable moment from Metal Slug 2/X. I thought so at first, but the difficulty of choosing immediately went away when I remembered one segment of the game: the subway trains. The stage before that point was already a roller coaster ride, having to dodge Morden's army in a sea of exploding cars. Then, you would enter the subway tunnel and everything seemed usual so far. Well, as usual as a Metal Slug game gets. Soldiers come out of the woodwork, helicopters are spraying bullets from above, and you're left dealing with this situation with a laser gun. Then it happens. The subway signal thingamejig sounds off, bats desperately move out of the way, and you're stuck with this subway train coming right at you. Luckily, you have some grenades and a stronger weapon still equipped, and you destroy the train with little to no effort.
However, the game makes sure you won't get off so easy the next time, as it throws more soldiers, helicopters, and two tanks at you. By the time the next train comes, you have nothing but your handgun. It seems like a hopeless battle, but you don't give up and fire that little handgun like crazy. You fight through the pain coming from your right hand as you continue to mash that button, and, through sheer determination, successfully destroy the train. You think you're in the clear... then the alarm sounds off again, and you're left to deal with another train with just your handgun. This is where the real challenge is. It wasn't having to take down the first train with your default weapon, it's having enough strength and willpower to repeat the process with the second train. You won't get it right the first time you play this segment. Hell, you won't get it right the second and third times. But, eventually, it'll happen. You'll annihilate that second train with your handgun. Granted, you'll be tired as hell when it happens, but you'll feel great. A third trains comes after it, but if you managed to stay alive to blow up the second one, the game rewards you with a stronger weapon to take it out. After that, you're free from train hell!
Then you're left to deal with exploding mutants in the next section.
It's pretty much because of playing this game in the arcade, this particular, memorable segment, that I developed fast trigger fingers. Thankfully, it came in handy again when I tried playing through Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance's end on the higher difficulty settings...