Metal Slug Anthology Review

Metal Slug Anthology

Publisher: SNK  Developer: SNK PlayMore Platform: Wii Players: 1-2 Release: 2006 Genre: 2D Shooter / 2D Platformer Rating: 9.1 \ 10.0: Excellent

Above is a scene from Metal Slug 4
 

As its title implies (and its release date, too), Metal Slug Anthology is a collection of the seven home console and arcade Metal Slug games released 1996 through 2006 that celebrates the tenth anniversary of the series.. Those seven games are Metal Slugs 1 through 6, and Metal Slug X, MS 2's improved remake. The Metal Slug series tells of a military called the Regular Army and there war against the evil General Morden and his army, the Rebellion to foil his plot to rule the world. All seven playable games are pixel-perfect ports of their arcade counterparts, so the main differences are the control scheme and the adjustable difficulty, which can be modified from the game-selection screen. Since these differences are so small, players of the arcade versions of the games should already know what to expect. Pure, intense, action fueled by waves of military vehicles, destructive weapons, and plenty of other militaristic aspect. I once struggled to beat even the first stage of a Metal Slug game due to my limited quarters, but you now have the option to play with unlimited lives. This allows you to see how good you really are at the game, due to the complete lack of the stress of coin-deprivation, for that made me nervous when playing the arcade versions. You'll otherwise have to spend virtual credits. Better yet, you're actually still rewarded for beating a game even with unlimited lives. Completing the game on Easy mode rewards you with three virtual tokens. Completing the game on Normal mode gets you four tokens. And beating it on Hard mode gets you five. But what are the tokens for? For purchasing in-game memorabilia! All this adds up to a very good collection, but as much as I've enjoyed the Metal Slug series, none of the games have been perfect, which is about my only reason not to give Metal Slug Anthology a perfect score! Either way, I highly recommend  Metal Slug Anthology to anyone who has the slightest interest in action games.

Ups
Nonstop intense action
Awesome weapons
In-game memorabilia store
Adjustable difficulty level

Downs
No Metal Slug game is perfect

ESRB: T Content: Blood and Violence Price: $49.99 (Retail)