After SNK went bankrupt in 2001, many of its developers moved to Sega Sammy-related companies. One of the games created by that talent on the Atomiswave platform was Dolphin Blue.
One of the biggest differences from Metal Slug is its combination of 2D characters and 3D backgrounds, which blend together surprisingly well without feeling out of place. As for the soundtrack, this might just be my impression, but it feels like it borrowed a lot of the spirit of Metal Slug.
Unlike Metal Slug, Dolphin Blue has a much brighter and more cheerful atmosphere, and the music fits the game perfectly. The gameplay is fast-paced and fun, but after a short while the difficulty spikes dramatically, and there are quite a few sections where the game slows down, which can hurt the overall experience.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t commonly seen in arcades and was never ported to home consoles, so most people have probably never heard of it. It’s a solid game with a lot of charm, which makes it all the more disappointing that it never got the recognition it deserved.