So, in yet another moment of desperation, I plunked down a few $$$'s for Metal Slug 3 (Cellular, Verizon).
First impressions...
I have to say that the graphics on cellular games are friggin' nice. Seriously. Metal Slug 3 looks sweet, with many layers of parallax and some really nice, big sprites (bosses, + the occasional tank / plane).
Unfortunately, the same problem that plagues nearly all mobile games rears its ugly head: controls. I suppose that folks who are used to playing MAME with a keyboard will have no problem playing mobile games. Unfortunately, for everyone else, many cellular versions of games are poor imitations of the original game that inspired them.
Jump up AND shoot? (press 2, then 5)
Jump forward / backward? (press 2, followed quickly by 3/4)
Jump forward / backward AND shoot? (press 2, followed quickly by 3/4, followed quickly by 5)
Turn around and shoot? (press 4/6, followed quickly by 5)
Duck down, then turn around? Forget about it!
All of these basic maneuvers require a "keyboard shortcut" combination of buttons on the keypad (the direction pad is worthless, by the way). Simply turning around to slash someone is annoying, and then you have to go through the sequence again to turn back around.
You feel as if the cell phone is incapable of registering 2+ buttons being pressed simultaneously. Of course, pressing 2+ buttons simultaneously is a hallmark of video game mechanics.
I have already gotten pretty good playing Metal Slug 3 on my phone, despite the horrible controls. It plays like "Kung Fu" or "Vigilante" -- but with guns -- most of the time because I can't be bothered to jump up and explore the platforms unless a worthwhile power-up is there.
I can't properly judge this game until I've spent more time with it. Stay tuned...
UPDATE: NEO GRADIUS (Cellular) Ha! So after playing Metal Slug 3, I'm appreciating Neo Gradius a lot more. I really like the "Score Attack" mode where you can unlock extra weapons. I don't give a damn about unlocking weapons (though I tend to use "double shot" a lot), but the minimum target scores you have to earn are set at a nice difficulty level, IMO. It's really addictive to just play this mode. In fact, I spend most of my time doing this since it is a shorter, self-contained mini-game.
I actually like some of the music in Neo Gradius, though I usually am not able to listen to it w/o annoying everyone else on the subway.
I've beaten Neo Gradius a few times, but I have yet to play it on the highest difficulty level. Overall, despite the sloppy controls in this game, I have actually had a lot of fun playing it. The direction pad is glitchy at times (unresponsive), but it feels like a temporary hiccup in a "relatively smooth running game" * , unlike, say, Bonk's Return, which is impossible to play with the direction pad because the direction pad registers things inconsistently and prevents you from executing pixel-perfect jumps (that the keypad allows).
* I'm using the term "smoothly-running" loosely here. This is a mobile game, afterall. GUTS teases me for playing these cellular games, but I honestly don't want to buy/carry another electronic device with me. Playing on my phone is fun and convenient. The problem, of course, is finding a game that complements the cellular platform.