Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom builder masterfully recreates the tank from 1996's Metal Slug to devastate Hyrule

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Close to a year since its proper release, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's vehicle construction tools are still inspiring unbelievable creations, most recently with a recreation of Metal Slug's iconic tank.

Metal Slug is the 1990s series that began life as a run 'n' gunning arcade machine, before dabbling in the tower defense and third-person shooter genres. No matter what shape the series takes, what immediately makes it stand out like a tank bulldozing through lush greenery is, well, the series' signature tank bulldozing through lush greenery.

That same tank has enjoyed an almost one-to-one recreation in Hyrule's sandbox thanks to master builder saiotoko002, who shared their destructive hunk of junk in the tweet embedded below.  

Not only does the nintendoified Metal Slug have the same oddball proportions as its source material, but it naturally comes with an explosive shooting warhead and a sidearm that provides an ultra-precise laser. Really, those bokoblins never stood a chance. The Metal Slug chiptune and "Mission Complete!" pop-up is just the cherry on top of one of the most faithful recreations I've seen come out of Tears of the Kingdom's toolbox. 

The creator spilled some information about their process in the comments, too, explaining that they wanted the tank to be faithfully covered in black rather than the glowing Zonai green, so the steely cover on top is made from "a minecart and iron plates."

Tears of the Kingdom players are still coming with wild new stuff, such as a sick hoverboard that almost puts Breath of the Wilds motorbike to shame. Another engineer also patched together a tree-cutting machine that we'd kill to have in any survival game. Seriously, think of all the time we could save not fist-fighting trees.

A “critical problem” led to one of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s wildest building tools.

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.