Unused Graphics

There’s barely anything unused graphic-wise in Metal Slug 3, which is a shame.

source: ?

This lift appears in an unused area in Mission 2. Not much to say about it, really.

source: 91784

Not actually unused, but an uncommon sighting - thanks to Division 六 for this find. The mini-gun soldiers will jump over the player if they're backed into a corner, using these rarely-seen animations.

source: 156011

Bonus icons exist for the Slug Mariner, Slug Copter, Slug Drill, Elephant and Ostrich... and the Slug Flyer and Camel, leftovers from Metal Slug 2. Using the level select you can complete a stage with the Slug Mariner and Slug Copter, but no such luck for the rest. Thanks to Ernesto Aguirre for the corrected palettes for the Elephant and Ostrich Slugs!

source: 186651 (Marco), 196792 (Tarma), 203365 (Eri), 210305 (Fio)

A variant of the underwater death animations, only without the oxygen tank on their backs.

source: 279176 (Marco), 283095 (Tarma), 286818 (Eri), 290254 (Fio)

The player characters walking and jumping in their diving gear, carrying Heavy Machine Guns. Since you don't carry weapons across from the previous stage, this can't be seen in-game.

Source: 278500

It appears that once, the CEO/president guy, actually RAN. He didn't get carted off by the men in black, but he RAN. Shocking. Palette unchanged from the tile viewer.

Source: 118148

Not unused but merely obscured, as the Japanese soldiers carrying the tanks have full sprites and everything.

Source: 118148

An unused idle animation for the Japanese soldier, similar to the pose used when they turn.

Source: 121103

Division 六 found these crawling animations for the Japanese soldiers! There's no crawl-spaces in their hideout, nor any reason for them to crawl, so... they're unused!

Source: 144324

The large Rebel U25U submarine opening its side hatches, with additional animations for its top hatch open or closed. Presumably for a torpedo or bomb attack, but none of the graphics located near it hint at what exactly. Thanks to Division 六 for finding and ripping these!

Source: 297272 (Marco), 298772 (Tarma), 300690 (Eri), 302387 (Fio)

Zombie players warping down a warp tube. There's no warp tubes in Mission 2, though it seems there was meant to be. Cheers to Division 六 for this!

Source: 293293

Another finding by Division 六: an alternate sign for the Japanese teleport chambers. It reads "exit" (出口), natch, but you're never seen teleporting out of their area.

Source: 308315

Here's a curious one pointed out by Division 六: you can make the zombie soldiers fall down or turn around, but they never stop advancing... in Metal Slug 3. In Metal Slug 4, however, they can't walk through item boxes so this animation can finally be seen!

Domino, Spriterminator, Ivo and Division 六 found these on the 10th Anniversary site; they're not all strictly graphics from MS3, but I'm grouping them as such.

• dotgraphic7: A frame of zombie Eri that was blown up and used in a screensaver, and I presume it was a turning animation at one point; not found in the graphic data.
• dotgraphic14: A pipe grenade wielding soldier from MS1's unused graphics.
• dotgraphic15: Captive soldiers from MS1's unused graphics.
• dotgraphic21: A Japanese soldier taking a piss, apparently, and a crawling frame.
• dotgraphic25: A mini-gun soldier jumping. The gun is also tinted blue?
• dotgraphic26: An awesome looking, possibly Arabian soldier with a big ol' pack on his back. Completely unused, not found in any game's graphic data.
• dotgraphic28: A tarman zombie in a strange frame of animation? Doesn't appear to exist in the graphics data.
• dotgraphic44: A humongous personnel carrier.
• dotgraphic45: The large submarine with its side hatch open.
• dotgraphic46: A Melty Honey without spikes.
• dotgraphic47: That little bug from MS2.
• dotgraphic48: A strange red rectangle among the item graphics. A prototype battery?

The personnel carrier from dotgraphic44 later made its debut in Metal Slug Attack as "Rebel Van +". Notably, the sprite on the 10th Anniversary site appears to be a work-in-progress version; its door is a flat-shaded rectangle, whereas the sprite here is fully shaded and detailed.

There's a fair amount of leftovers in the graphics data, though.