Metal Slug 4 (Neo Geo)

To do: Add unused graphics from here.

Metal Slug 4 continues the story of the fight against General Morden. Unlike the previous games, which were made by SNK before it went into bankruptcy, this game was made by a third-party developer, Mega Enterprise, and was published by Playmore, who would become SNK Playmore after SNK's resurrection in 2003.

Debug Menu#

おしながき

• メニューを　とじる（ＰＡＵＳＥしたまま） - Close the Menu (While Paused)
• ＳＥＴ　ＤＥＢＵＧ　ＤＩＰ
• ステージ　セレクト - Stage Select
• ＴＥＳＴ　ＳＴＡＧＥ
• サウンド　テスト - Sound Test
• リセット - Reset

It is worth noting this Debug menu is shared by Metal Slug 2, X, 3, 4, and 5.

To access the debug mode, open the game in Console Mode and set debug developer mode On at the Neo Geo boot-up screen: this can be done via the Kawaks emulator, the Nebula emulator or using the Neo Geo UniBios.

Start the game, and press COIN up during gameplay twice: after pausing, the debug menu will appear - with options to activate the debug dipswitches (which can be activated separately through other options using Kawaks) and even the ability to play on any regular level, and even some test levels not available in the actual game. There is also a Sound Test screen, and since this version of debug mode is carried over from Metal Slug 3, the Color Test menu is absent.

SET DEBUG DIP#

• ムテキ - Invincibility.
• ＶＩＥＷ　ＩＮＦＯＲＭＡＴＩＯＮ - View debug information.
• イツデモＰＡＵＳＥ - Allows to pause during score tally, cutscenes and credits.
• ＶＩＥＷ　ＧＥＯ　ＳＣＲＯＬＬ　Ａ - 1st plane check, shows the walkable ground, makes the foreground choppy as it scrolls when activated. May linger if not turned off properly.
• ＶＩＥＷ　ＧＥＯ　ＳＣＲＯＬＬ Ｂ - 2nd plane check, makes the background choppy as it scrolls when activated.
• ＶＩＥＷ　ＡＴＴＡＣＫ　ＲＥＣＴ - View attack hitbox.
• ＶＩＥＷ　ＢＯＤＹ　ＲＥＣＴ - View body hitbox.
• ＶＩＥＷ　ＰＵＳＨ　ＲＥＣＴ - View objects that block the players path.
• ムセイゲン　グレネード - Infinite grenades.
• ムセイゲン　ＰＯＷガン - Infinite ammunition.
• ＶＩＥＷ　ＰＡ　ポイント - A sprite appears, showing the player's respawn point.
• Ｄボタン、テキ　ゼンメツ - Press D to destroy all onscreen enemies (no score bonuses).
• ”ＰＡＵＳＥ”ヒョウジＯＦＦ - Disables the blinking pause message.
• ＢＧＭ　ＯＦＦ - Turns off the BGM.
• ＷＡＲＮ　パレット　オーバー - Has something to do with the palette.

TEST STAGE#

These actually don't seem to be test stages, but just an image gallery with background music.

ステージ　セレクト - Stage Select

• ＦＯＲ　１　まるこ - FOR 1 Marco
• ＦＯＲ　２　とればー - FOR 2 Trevor
• ＦＯＲ　３　ふいお - FOR 3 Fio
• ＦＯＲ　４　なでいあ - FOR 4 Nadia

Selecting any other will cause the game to freeze.

Sound Test#

SFX and BGM test screen.

Reset#

The final option in the menu will reset the game.

Unused Graphics#

These 2 tilesets are present in the ROM respectively at 0x2690 and 0x2e00, and are supposed to be used to display the Parental Advisory Warning, but instead other graphics are used, which are totally out of place. (See Region-exclusive Messages)

Region-exclusive Messages#

Depending on what BIOS is used, the message shown at startup will be different.

US (MVS)	Japan

The character set normally used on the parental advisory screen was mistakenly replaced with the graphics for the character selection screens and Striker portraits from The King of Fighters 2000, rendering the screen a jumbled mess. This occurs with the MVS BIOS only, as the AES version skips it when booting.