There are few gaming franchises more dear to me than the Metal Slug series. Between the addicting run-and-gun, arcade action and the iconic art style, I just never tire of Metal Slug. I could play these games for hours on end. Unfortunately, the series has largely been on ice for quite some time, except for the recent grid-based strategy title, Metal Slug Tactics. We heard a few years back about this game in early development, Black Finger JET, that was supposed to be a spiritual successor of sorts to the Metal Slug series. The major headline surrounding the game was that many developers from Nazca Corporation, the original creators of Metal Slug, were the key forces driving Black Finger JET.
Through our friends, Red Dunes Games, I was granted the unbelievable opportunity to interview the director of Black Finger JET, Shinano Ishiguro. I should mention, my questions were written and sent off to KOHACHI STUDIO before I knew who my point of contact would be. You'll notice that my questions were very Metal Slug-centric, given the history of many of the developers working on this title. Mr. Ishiguro graciously answered all of my questions, and actually revealed a great deal of previously unknown details about Black Finger JET.
*Please keep in my mind that these responses were translated from Japanese.*
Hello, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I’m familiar with some of your work, namely from your past, working on the Metal Slug franchise. For those who might not be familiar with you or your work, would you mind introducing yourself and your studio?
Hello!
My name is Shinano Ishiguro, and I am the representative of KOHACHI STUDIO.
On Black Finger JET, akio serves as the core creator, responsible for the game’s concept and worldbuilding.
My role is to coordinate and support the development team around him, handling project management, team communication, and implementation direction.
I’m a massive fan of the Metal Slug series, and I can’t wait for Black Finger JET. In my opinion, your team makes some of the very finest run-and-gun games ever. What made you decide to finally get back together after all these years and make this game? I have to imagine the excitement from the industry and fans has been overwhelming.
I grew up deeply influenced by games like R-TYPE and Metal Slug, and during my time at SNK Playmore, I had the opportunity to work in the same environment as the developers who originally created those titles.
At the same time, I also witnessed the reality that many of those creators had already stepped away from the front lines of game development.
I kept a quiet personal goal in mind:
“Someday, I want to create an opportunity for these people to make games again.”
Without making it public, I continued preparing for that day.
Then, through a series of fortunate coincidences, the timing finally arrived—
a moment where we genuinely felt, “Now, this can be done.”
That is how this team came together once again.
After the team was formed, Red Dunes Games expressed strong interest in the project and stepped forward as our publisher.
Today, they are our partner, walking alongside us toward the same goal.
We are truly grateful for their early support and for their deep understanding of what this project represents.
We really haven’t seen or heard much about Black Finger JET yet. Would you mind elaborating on what exactly this game is? What is the story about? I’m assuming Jet is the protagonist. What is he like? It looks like he has a bionic arm of some sort.
Black Finger JET is an action shooter built on the foundation of classic run-and-gun gameplay, while introducing its own unique world and narrative.
The protagonist, Jet, was bitten on the finger as a child by a demonic dog that had been abandoned on the roadside.
From that moment on, his fingers began to harbor a dangerous magical power that would spiral out of control regardless of his own will.
Recognizing the severity of the threat, SMS (Special Monster Slayer) made a painful decision:
to sever all ten of Jet’s fingers in order to separate the demonic power from his body.
Those severed fingers were secretly sealed away across different parts of the world, and for a time, the crisis appeared to be resolved.
However, years later, the evil secret organization RABBIT—who had long been searching for Jet’s fingers—broke the seals and reclaimed all ten.
The stolen fingers were then repurposed as enhancement components for ten powerful monsters, becoming the core threat that drives the story forward.
Jet himself now serves as an agent of SMS, dispatched around the world to recover the stolen Fingers.
He is a quiet and composed character who faces his harsh fate without turning away, carrying out his missions with calm resolve.
What may appear to be a bionic arm is in fact a pair of gauntlets developed by SMS.
These gauntlets are equipped with a Ghost Trap system that allows Jet to capture and control monsters in combat.
They also contain a built-in Finger Radar.
When one of his stolen fingers is nearby, Jet quietly mutters lines such as,
“My thumb… it’s close.”
Jet has given each of his ten fingers a nickname, and these names are deeply intertwined with the game’s story structure and boss encounters.
From the gameplay that we have seen, Black Finger JET appears to be a spiritual successor to Metal Slug in many ways. I see several different guns and some different power-ups. Can we expect to see rideable vehicles like in the Metal Slug games? I see something mentioned on the game’s Steam page about the “JET car.” Are there any major departures from the Metal Slug gameplay style that we can expect to see here?
Weapons, power-ups, and vehicles are all important elements in Black Finger JET.
The game features a vehicle known as the JET CAR, but it is not limited to a single fixed form.
It is designed to transform into various forms depending on the situation and intended use, allowing it to adapt to a wide range of environments, including land, sea, and air.
Our goal is not to simply recreate past titles.
The entire team shares the belief that repeating the same approach is not enough.
By using classic run-and-gun action as a foundation, we aim to deliver an experience that feels fresh and engaging for modern players.
I have so many fond memories of playing Metal Slug with friends. I saw another playable character briefly featured in one Black Finger JET trailer. Will this title have cooperative multiplayer?
We fully recognize that there is strong demand for cooperative play.
While we are currently designing the game with multiple playable characters and a character selection concept in mind,
cooperative multiplayer has not yet been finalized as a confirmed feature.
Our highest priority at this stage is to deliver a single-player experience that remains engaging and satisfying from start to finish.
That said, co-op is naturally one of the concepts we are actively considering.
It is an element we continue to keep in mind as development progresses, with the goal of realizing it in a way that truly enhances the overall experience.
The Metal Slug games have always struck a funny balance between being violent military shooters, yet with that charming, almost cute art style. And many of the games introduce myriad supernatural threats like aliens, zombies and yetis. Can we expect to see this same sort of tone in Black Finger JET? I see some wild looking enemies in the TGS 2024 trailer, so I’m expecting to see more of this in the full game. Also what is the inspiration behind having all these funny supernatural enemies in your games? I love it, personally. It lends such a unique tone to your games.
Black Finger JET is a hard-hitting action game with the scent of gunpowder,
yet it features a wide variety of eerie and sometimes subtly humorous monsters as enemies.
This is not a game grounded in realistic military themes.
Its world is strongly rooted in science fiction and fantasy,
where surreal beings and extraordinary events are presented as a natural part of the setting.
All of the creatures that appear in the game are born from the imagination of our lead designer, akio.
Their designs are rich with strong individuality and creativity, allowing players to immediately feel,
“This is unmistakably his work.”
I have a question on the design philosophy of Black Finger JET. When revisiting a classic genre like the “run and gun,” are you looking more to recapture your iconic feel from Metal Slug or are you seeking to elevate the genre and make it feel new and unlike anything we’ve ever played before? On that same note, are there any modern “run and guns” that you’ve enjoyed or have potentially inspired your work on Black Finger JET?
Our goal is not to recreate past works.
Instead, we aim to inherit the spirit and philosophy of the original creators,
and rebuild those ideas into a form that resonates with players today.
By using the appeal of classic run-and-gun action as a foundation,
we are striving to create an experience that feels both familiar and genuinely fresh to modern audiences.
As for modern run-and-gun titles, there is no single recent game that directly inspired us.
However, we actively study what kinds of action games are being embraced by players today,
and we carefully observe how those experiences are evolving.
We reflect those insights into our design process,
while remaining true to the core principles of the genre.
Are you anticipating Black Finger JET being a new franchise for your team? I think I speak for the world’s Metal Slug fans when I say that we’d welcome a new series.
We are creating this game with a strong hope that it can grow into something lasting.
That said, we are not approaching it with the assumption of a franchise from the very beginning.
Above all else, our priority is to make Black Finger JET stand on its own as a complete, high-quality experience—one that players can truly embrace as a single work.
By doing so, we believe it can naturally lead to a future beyond this title, and we are giving it our full commitment with that vision in mind.
When can we expect Black Finger JET to release, and what platforms are you aiming for?
At present, development is focused primarily on PC (Steam).
The release timing has not yet been decided.
We will make an official announcement as soon as we are able to share more concrete information.
My last question is one that I ask of every studio that I get the chance to interview. Where did you get the name of your studio? And on that note, where did the name Nazca Corporation come from? I assume it has something to do with the Nazca Lines.
The name “KOHACHI STUDIO” comes from the name of my pet hyacinth macaw.
I wanted the studio to be a place that could raise its voice boldly and spread its wings far—just like a bird—and that image is what inspired the name.
As for Nazca Corporation, I’ve heard stories within the team that it was named after the Nazca Lines, and that there was once an internal logo design competition.
However, the exact reasoning behind the name has been lost over time, and even our staff no longer knows the full details.
Black Finger JET has a Steam page where you can wishlist the game. We'll be keeping an eye out for more details on the game, and will share any relevant news once we can.
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