A staple of the Metal Slug series is its variety of deadly weapons. Here is a list of weapons the player can use throughout the main series and certain spin-offs.
Handgun
The player's default weapon. The male characters use semi-automatic pistols, while the females use double-action revolvers. The handgun has unlimited ammo, but lacks the heavy firepower or high fire rate of other weapons. When the special weapon runs out of ammo, the player will go back to using this handgun. If the player stands still after firing off a large amount of consecutive shots (at least twelve), the character will appear to reload his/her handgun, but this is purely cosmetic.
Metal Slug 6 onward introduces the Weapon Stock where the player can switch between the handgun and two other weapons. Marco's special ability is dealing double damage with his pistol.
Special Weapons
Special weapons are more powerful than the default handgun but must be picked up first and have limited ammo. Picking up multiples of the same weapon will increase the player's ammo supply, although, from the second pickup onward, each pickup will only supply 67-75% of the starting amount depending on the weapon.
All special weapons take the form of the AR-10 assault rifle for male characters and what appears to be a sawed-off shotgun for female characters. The Two Machine Guns weapon instead takes the form of two SMGs: a pair of M-3685s for men and a pair of UZIs for women.
All special weapons are lost upon death. Leona will lose them upon losing all of her lives.
eavy Machine Gun
A weapon with a very fast fire rate, its bullets are slightly more powerful than that of the handgun. The HMG starts with 200 ammo. The HMG is the only weapon that can fire diagonally prior to Metal Slug 6. The HMG can also be obtained by picking up Allen O'Neil's M60. The Big HMG has a faster rate of fire and fires much larger shots.
When the player loses all of their lives and uses another credit to continue play, an HMG appears on top of the player spawn as an assist. The exception is with the Tani Oh fight, where a Rocket Laucher appears instead.
In Metal Slug 6 and Metal Slug 7/XX's easiest difficulty, the player's pistol is replaced with the HMG; Fio weilds the Big variant. A grenade crate appears after continuing.
The HMG powerup appears as a black crate with a yellow H in the center. The Big version appears as a black crate with a pulsating H in the center.
ocket Launcher
A weapon that fires small, slow moving rockets with great attack power. The rockets can adjust their trajectory somewhat to hit targets, on different platform levels, but they cannot turn around completely. The rocket launcher can weaken tanks and other armored vehicles much faster than other weapons and can take out groups of weak enemy infantry with a single shot. The Big Rocket Launcher fires large rockets with much greater destruction.
The Rocket Launcher powerup appears as a blue crate with a yellow R in the center. The Big version appears as a blue crate with a pulsating R in the center.
In Metal Slug: 2nd Mission, Gimlet and Tequila can use this weapon.
hotgun
A weapon that fires a short range, but incredibly powerful blast. This weapon is very effective at taking out groups of enemies, but is also dangerous as a short range. The Big Shotgun fires a larger blast with double the range of the normal shotgun. Extremely effective against infantry and vehicles, however, this upgraded one has half the ammo forcing players to use some strategy while wielding it (15 compared with original one with 30).
The Shotgun powerup appears as a green crate with a yellow S in the center. The Big version appears as a green crate with a pulsating S in the center.
In Metal Slug: 2nd Mission, Gimlet and Tequila can use this weapon.
lame Shot
A weapon that fires a large blast of flame. The Flame Shot can take out large groups of infantry with one shot, but has limited range and a slow fire rate. The waves of flame travel in a shallow parabolic trajectory upward when fired horizontally and much longer range when fired upward but has a decreased range when fired downward. At point blank, the Flame Shot can deal heavy damage to vehicles, but it loses effectiveness with distance.
The Flame Shot powerup appears as a red crate with a yellow F in the center. The Big version appears as a red crate with a pulsating F in the center.
This weapon is not available in Metal Slug 5.
aser Gun
A weapon that fires a laser that can cut down groups of infantry in rows and also can destroy large vehicles effectively. The Big Laser Gun fires a laser that's 5 times as wide as the regular laser and is much more powerful. From Metal Slug 6 onward, the Laser Gun has the ability to travel diagonally at a 45 degree angle.
The Laser powerup appears as a navy blue crate with a neon orange L in the center. The Big version appears as a navy blue crate with a pulsating L in the center.
Enemy 
haser
A weapon that fires small rockets that chase enemies. The rockets are slightly less powerful than the standard rocket launcher, but compensates with homing capability and increased ammo capacity. It is effective against infantry and not-so effective against vehicles.
The Enemy Chaser powerup appears as a yellow crate with a black C in the center.
ron Lizard
A weapon that fires remote-controlled missile cars which travel along the ground until it makes contact with a target. Upon contact, they explode and release a large blast of blue flame, giving it a chance to take out targets beyond the point of contact. It's very effective against infantry and very weak against vehicles. Looking closely, it appears as an RC/Toy car fused with a missile.
The Iron Lizard powerup appears as a yellow crate with a red-orange I in the center.
rop Shot
A weapon that fires landmines which immediately drop and bounce across the screen until they hit a target or lose momentum and stop moving. Because the bombs fired from this weapon have slow horizontal speed, it is more suitable as a situational weapon and may be potentially cumbersome or dangerous to use.
The Drop Shot powerup appears as a yellow crate with a blue D in the center.
Super 
renade
A variant of the rocket launcher that fires large RPGs rather than rockets and is very effective against infantry and light-armored vehicles. Upon contact a large plume of fire is shot straight up (much like thrown grenades), allowing a chance to take out an enemy above. The low level of ammo (even lower if playing as Ralf in Metal Slug 6 and Metal Slug 7/XX) suggests conservative use, employing melee attacks, the basic pistol, or other heavy weapons.
The Super Grenade powerup appears as a yellow crate with a green G in the center.
Two Machine Guns
A weapon that fires two streams of machine gun bullets as opposed to the single stream of the HMG. This unique weapon is fired from two SMGs instead of the AR-10. The 2MG starts with 300 ammo (200 in Metal Slug 4), the most of all special weapons, but since this weapon fires two guns at once, ammo is used twice as fast. Note that unlike HMG, 2MG cannot be fired diagonally.
The 2MG powerup appears as a black crate with a yellow 2H in the center.
antetsu Sword
This swords launches waves of energy whenever it is swung. This wave is powerful enough to kill large numbers of infantry, delete incoming bullets, and destroy armored vehicles. It has a short range and cannot be aimed vertically, however.
The Zantetsu Sword powerup appears as a black crate with a yellow Z in the center.
hunder Shot
A weapon introduced in Metal Slug 7. It starts with 20 rounds. It fires blue lightning that homes in onto the enemies. Like the Shotgun and Flame Shot, it pierces through multiple enemies at once, making it a very useful weapon for getting enemies in a line. It's also decent against vehicles. Unlike the Enemy Chaser, sometimes the Thunder Shot beam may not home, making it difficult to strike multiple enemies with some different level floors.
The Thunder Shot powerup appears as a blue crate with a glowing cyan T in the center.
Weapon Ammunition
Metal Slug: Super Vehicle-001 to Metal Slug Advance
Note: In Metal Slug Advance, all weapon ammo is halved until the player collects the respective weapon clip card.
Weapon
|
Amount
|
|---|---|
| Heavy Machine Gun | 200 |
| Rocket Launcher | 30 |
| Shotgun | 30 |
| Flame Shot | 30 |
| Laser Gun | 200 |
| Enemy Chaser | 40 |
| Iron Lizard | 30 |
| Drop Shot | 30 |
| Super Grenade | 20 |
| Two Machine Guns | 200 (MS4) 300 (MS5) |
Metal Slug 6
Weapon
|
Easy Mode
|
Hard Mode
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Others | Fio | Ralf | Others | Fio | Ralf | |
| Heavy Machine Gun | ∞ | ∞ | ∞ | 100 | 150 | 50 |
| Rocket Launcher | 20 | 30 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| Shotgun | 20 | 30 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| Flame Shot | 20 | 30 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| Laser Gun | 200 | 300 | 100 | 100 | 150 | 50 |
| Enemy Chaser | 20 | 30 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| Iron Lizard | 20 | 30 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| Drop Shot | 20 | 30 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| Super Grenade | 20 | 30 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| Two Machine Guns | 400 | 600 | 200 | 200 | 300 | 100 |
| Zantetsu Sword | 20 | 30 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
Metal Slug 7/XX
Note: Leona is only playable in Metal Slug XX.
Weapon
|
Beginner
|
Normal/Hard
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Others | Fio | Ralf | Leona | Others | Fio | Ralf | Leona | |
| Heavy Machine Gun | ∞ | ∞ | ∞ | ∞ | 200 | 300 | 100 | 240 |
| Rocket Launcher | 60 | 90 | 30 | 72 | 30 | 45 | 15 | 36 |
| Shotgun | 60 | 90 | 30 | 72 | 30 | 45 | 15 | 36 |
| Flame Shot | 60 | 90 | 30 | 72 | 30 | 45 | 15 | 36 |
| Laser Gun | 400 | 600 | 200 | 480 | 200 | 300 | 100 | 240 |
| Enemy Chaser | 80 | 120 | 40 | 96 | 40 | 60 | 20 | 48 |
| Iron Lizard | 60 | 90 | 30 | 72 | 30 | 45 | 15 | 36 |
| Drop Shot | 60 | 90 | 30 | 72 | 30 | 45 | 5 | 36 |
| Super Grenade | 40 | 60 | 20 | 48 | 20 | 30 | 10 | 24 |
| Two Machine Guns | 600 | 900 | 300 | 720 | 300 | 450 | 150 | 360 |
| Zantetsu Sword | 20 | 30 | 10 | 24 | 10 | 15 | 5 | 12 |
| Thunder Shot | 40 | 60 | 20 | 48 | 20 | 30 | 10 | 24 |
Secondary Weapons
Melee Attack
When the player's character gets close to an infantry enemy, a melee attack will be triggered. The damage from melee attack is often sufficient to kill a human enemy without a shield. Zombies, Mummies, Aliens, and other non-human enemies, as well as bosses, can take many more melee strikes to kill. The Knife's animation can be cancelled when crouching and immediately standing up after firing.
Different characters use different weapons for their melee attacks:
- Marco, Tarma, Trevor, Ralf, Clark, Leona, Walter and Roberto use a combat knife.
- Eri, Fio, Tyra and Nathalie alternate between a hatchet and a tonfa.
- Nadia uses a taser instead of a hatchet, although she still uses a nightstick. Attacks with taser, when triggered, can also damage non-human objects, such as tanks.
- Trevor uses a fearsome kick attack with a blade he conceals in the heel of his boot. This slightly hinders Trevor's movement while walking.
- Walter, Ralf, and Clark, as well as Marco and Tarma in certain games (e.g. Metal Slug 2/X), have a punching glove in their bags or neckbands and spring them out when crouching.
- Ralf uses his Vulcan Punch (and the Galactic Phantom in Metal Slug Defense.)
- Clark uses his Argentine Backbreaker, and a standard low kick.
- Leona uses her Moon Slasher.
- Alisa uses her wrench, as she wasn't properly prepared for formal combat.
- All characters in their fat form use a fork when standing and a whip when crouching.
- All characters underwater use a trident.
Melee Weapons
Knife | Tonfa | Hatchet | Tomahawk | Punching Glove | Stun Gun | Wrench | Vulcan Punch | Argentine Backbreaker | Moon Slasher
Grenade
Players can throw a powerful grenade which explodes upon contact with an enemy or when it's momentum ends. Two variants can be found to change the grenades properties:
- Fire Bombs, essentially Molotov cocktails, which can cause flames over a large area and burn enemies on contact
- Stone, which are large boulders which trade damage and explosiveness for increased range.
There are other types of throwable weapons:
- The Smoke Bomb is one of the grenades the player can use in Metal Slug 3D that creates a large smoke that blinds enemies.
- The monolith, a type of bomb in Metal Slug 3D, shoots a beam into space, and then brings down a big tablet crushing any tanks or people under it. The only disadvantage is there's a delay for it to take effect.
- The Earring Bomb is a triangle-shaped earring that Leona wears. She modified the earrings to carry a small amount of explosive, so she can throw the earring like any regular Grenade. Because it is much lighter than a common grenade, Leona can carry more of them.
In certain areas, grenades are replaced by other weapons
- In the water, grenades will turn into a sinking mine, hitting anything under it.
- In the air, it will turn into a large enemy chaser that deals enormous damage
- In space, the player can use a rectangular capsule bomb that travels in a straight line.
- In the zombie state, the bomb will change into the deadly blood vomiting attack.
As of Metal Slug 6 onward, per bomb crate, Eri receives twenty grenades, Ralf five, and Leona twelve. Eri and Leona also start each life with the same respective amount.
Throwing Weapons
Grenade | Fire Bomb | Stone | Earring Bomb | Smoke Bomb | Monolith
Other Weapons
There are also other weapon powerups given by the president or found in the field:
The AA Machine Gun is the main anti-aircraft weapon of the Regular Army. Used first by the Regular Marines, and later by the Regular Infantry, it is a typical .50 mm machine gun, firing light bullets. Its high rate of fire makes it a formidable machine gun. The blue design is used by the marines and the silver one by the Infantry.
The Thunder Cloud is a secret weapon in Metal Slug 3 and Metal Slug 4. This is an extremely rare, top secret weapon whose ammo canister is loaded with nanobots that generate an artificial thunder cloud loaded with negative electromagnetic energy. The cloud will hover over the nearest target and zap it with lightning bolts.
The Mobile Satellite (MOBS for short) is a secret weapon in Metal Slug 3 and Metal Slug XX. The MOBS is a small hovering remote control device resembling a satellite, armed with an ion cannon. It tracks down any possible target using an advanced radar system and discharges ion bolts continuously on them until they're defeated. Once it's battery runs dry (200 Ion bolts and it runs down), it falls and explodes.
Both the Thunder Cloud and MOBS instantly break once the player picks up a weapon crate.
Slugs are also weapons by the Regular Army. They can be found throughout the game. In multiplayer mode, two Slugs can be found in a single mission.
Other
AA Machine Gun | Thunder Cloud | Mobile Satellite | Vehicles
Neo Geo Pocket Color Weapons
These weapons are exclusive to Metal Slug: 1st Mission and Metal Slug: 2nd Mission.
achine Gun
The Machine Gun is basically a Heavy Machine Gun with low firepower. Unlike the heavy version, the Machine Gun can be aimed diagonally upwards or downwards while jumping. The Heroes can use this weapon.
Special Shot
A bomb/rocket that is fired straight up (or dropped) and explodes in a large radius. Everything on screen gets heavy damage and hidden items are dropped. Unlike other weapons, the Special Shot can be used by the SV-000 and Slug Flyer. The Heroes can use this weapon.
renade Gun
Fires grenades at farther distances and different directions. The Grenade Gun uses its own weapon supply separate from the player's own grenades. Gimlet and Tequila can use this weapon.
issile Pod
Shoots a spread of missiles. In Metal Slug Defense and Metal Slug Attack, it instead fires one missile at a time but has homing properties. Red Eye and Tequila can use this gun in Metal Slug: 2nd Mission. Red Eye and Lydia use this gun in Metal Slug Attack.
ire Gun
Unlike the Flame Shot, the Fire Gun fires a constant stream of flames that can arc when the gun is moved. Red Eye and Tequila can use this weapon.
azooka
Fires a single explosive shell that explodes on impact. Red Eye and Tequila can use this weapon.
Exclusive Weapon Crates
These weapons have a crate associated with it but are exclusively operated by a specific person.
nti-Tank Rifle
A large rifle used by Dragunov that fires explosive rounds capable of multiple hits per shot at a long distance.
The Anti-Tank Rifle powerup appears as a black crate with a yellow "A" in the center.
reeze Gun
A personal-sized cannon used by Beatriz that fires a very long freeze ray. Any units defeated by it is turned into either snowmen (living) or ice blocks (mechanical). Beatriz fires one continuous shot until it runs out of ammo.
The Freeze Gun powerup appears as a blue crate with a light blue "F" in the center.
| Gameplay Elements | |
| Screens | Status Screen • Continue Screen • Game Over Screen • Recaptured Prisoners • Best Tank Busters • Arcade Settings |
|---|---|
| On-Screen Elements | Missions • Items • Weapons • Slugs • POW • Characters • Enemies • Military Vehicles • Bosses • Environmental Objects • Civilian Vehicles • Rank Medal • Background Vehicles |
| Actions | Metal Slug Attack • Vulcan Fix • Transformations • Metallish System • Rush Blaster System • Weapon Stock • Deaths • Invulnerability • Canceling • Super Devil Mode |
| Modes | Combat School • Another Story • Another Mission • Storming the Mothership • Fat Island • Office |