Community Notes

The final boss encounter against the Martian Mothership (Rugname) directly parodies the climax of the 1996 film Independence Day. A Rebel soldier sacrifices himself by flying his plane into the alien ship's laser cannon port to open a weak point for the player.

This entry shifted the series' tone from grounded military action to sci-fi by introducing the squid-like Mars People aliens. The Martians would go on to become one of SNK's mascot characters, later appearing in crossover fighting games like SVC Chaos and Neo Geo Battle Coliseum.

Metal Slug 2 expanded the roster beyond Marco and Tarma by introducing Eri Kasamoto and Fiolina "Fio" Germi. This made it one of the earliest arcade run-and-gun titles to feature a balanced 50/50 male-to-female playable roster