Something about Iron Meat will just make you hungry, maybe even for meat. This well-crafted, enjoyable homage to the Contra series is a traditional run-and-gun affair. You’re playing a soldier who has been sent in to fight off a variety of enemy forces that appear to be very fleshy (meaty) in nature.
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Since they’re meaty, they bleed and that means they can be killed. As a soldier, you’re fairly skilled in that regard, but who says you have to be a soldier? The game offers a lot of skins to unlock and try out with some of them being clear winners.
8 POW
He Wants To Break Free
When you’re trying to make a run-and-gun game, it’s always nice to pay tribute to one of the series that dominated the arcades and then went on to dominate the couch co-op world. Yes, the Metal Slug titles are veterans of old-school gaming and have tried to stay relevant with even more recent releases like Metal Slug Tactics.
It felt good to run around a battlefield shooting all the bad guys and rescuing those bearded POWs who were more than happy to thank you. This time the POW is joining the fight against the meat with this skin. He’s a POW no longer! He may end up absorbed by the meat though.
7 Franklin
The Other Purple Dinosaur
Out in the far reaches of internet fan-fiction that hasn’t been written yet, Barney The Dinosaur has a cousin. This cousin is looked down upon by the rest of the purple dinosaur family for pursuing a life of action rather than children’s entertainment.
He is Franklin, a purple dinosaur who turned his body into a weapon so that he could wield bigger weapons. By putting on this skin, you are showing that dinosaurs can be more than just mindless beasts or affectionate performers… they can be soldiers ready to shoot and then eat the meat.
6 Power Suit
Borrowed It From A Friend
If there was a game that helped make the idea of a run-and-gun adventure more sophisticated, it was Metroid. Not only were you a tough interstellar bounty hunter with a cannon for an arm, but you had a sweet futuristic suit too. It wasn’t just about running around and shooting everything that moved, it was about navigating, choosing the right places to run to, and picking your shots.
But even Samus deserves to let loose and have fun with her weapons, so that’s why this skin is a cool-looking way to let her do it.
5 Gorilla
Going Primal
What do you call it when you send a small group of elite soldiers to scatter themselves behind enemy lines and fight individually and strategically from cover? If you don’t know, that’s okay, check out this gorilla. Gorillas haven’t always had the best reputation in gaming, but thankfully, Donkey Kong has had a long and popular career in platforming and adventuring.
This Gorilla is no Kong though, he’s a tough and trained elite fighting unit. He’s got the Rambo look and is ready to tear through the meat with more than just his bare hands. This guy is getting ready for some Gorilla warfare. Oh!
4 Buff Shark
Fins That Wins
Sharks are awesome and if you don’t think so, well, that’s probably because you haven’t gotten to know them. These eating machines tend to get a bad rap since films have spent years establishing their reputation as eating machines.
Sharks are intelligent creatures who play a vital role in the natural world and, yes, it does involve eating. They do have an aggressive streak and that’s probably why Buff Shark was put into action. This genetically enhanced shark has evolved to fight the meat with a grin on his face and a bubble helmet to boot.
3 Flame Skull
Truly Hot-Headed
It’s not Marvel‘s Ghost Rider, and we all know how cool it would be to have Ghost Rider in this game but come on. Flaming skulls have been a thing since before we started thinking they were cool to slap on our schoolbooks and body parts.
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They have a power and in this universe, where the meat seems to be able to travel across dimensions, it’s not unlikely that it opened rifts between them. That’s probably how the Flame Skull came through and decided to join the rest of the soldiers in their fight. Why it doesn’t use its natural firepower in battle is a mystery.
2 Poochie
Rockin’ On!
If you don’t get this reference, well here you go: The Simpsons in-show cartoon show Itchy & Scratchy was losing viewers, so the creators decided to add in a new character, Poochie The Rockin’ Dog, voiced by Homer. Unsurprisingly, the character was hated and abruptly killed off via animation cell shifting.
The episode was mocking how so many shows introduce new characters with little tact or consideration for the established dynamic. Well, tired of being mocked and hated, Poochie has gotten a makeover and is taking out his rage on the meat.
1 Meat Soldier
In The Flesh
If the meat can spread so easily across the universe, across dimensions, and incorporate everything into its mass… Is it inevitable? Are these soldiers fighting a battle that they are destined to lose? Would it not just be better and more peaceful for everyone to just accept the meat?
Perhaps not, as there seems to be some hope. The hope is that those who are consumed by the meat can still maintain their identity and free will. The meat soldier may look like a meaty foe, but it’s still choosing to fight the mass that gave it a new fleshy form.
