Metal Slug Anthology

"A great addition to anyones collection"

Metal Slug Anthology, if you couldn't figure it out by it's own name, is a compilation of the Metal Slug series from Metal Slugs 1-6 and Metal Slug X (which is a remake of 2). It includes, like I said, Metal Slug 6, which hasn't been released yet, so this is the first release of that game as well. Anyway, on to what really matters...

~GRAPHICS 8/10
In case you didn't know, Metal Slug's graphics are all 2D sprites. Yeah, I know that you may think this makes or breaks a game because of its graphics, but everything in the game - the characters, enemies, vehicles, backgrounds, and little other design elements, are all animated fully, vividly, and smoothly. From what I can tell, the game keeps running smoothly as well, with no slowdown, which is how a fast paced game like this must play.

~MUSIC 9/10
I tend to really like video game music (especially Sonic the Hedgehog 1-3, now thats some cool music!) and this music doesn't disappoint. For most of the game you don't really hear too much music over all the explosions and gunfire, but it always fits well with what you're doing and at a second look in the unlockable music galleries, many of the songs are very catchy and pleasing to listen to. Expect a lot of guitar and heavy metal parts in some of the songs, but some of the more unique ones contain piano and some voice sampling which sounds great.

~STORY 5/10
Storylines... Yeah... This game really makes no effort to give any sort of storyline information other than what you see as you run and gun through each game. Yeah, I suppose that games in this genre are played for the fast paced and intense action, but they DO have a storyline behind them, so I think that they could have either kept it minimal or just outright told it. If you care to do so, read the manual guide which tells all the stories of all 6 games so far. You can kind of tell whats going on though, if you pay attention to all the characters and boss fights during gameplay, but paying attention to stuff like that is kind of hard to do when there are 20 bullets coming at you from 3 different directions.

~GAMEPLAY 10/10
Now this is what Metal Slug is here for! Metal Slug's gameplay still plays great today with the Wii controls (there are 7 different control schemes by the way), and stays fast and action packed like games of its type should be. For what the game offers, its a perfect 10 score. The great concept of the series, cool weapons, amazing enemy and boss designs, and cool weapons keep you coming back for more. Plus with 7 different games, different unlockables, and 2 player multiplayer, you can spend hundreds of hours getting anything from concept art, to game music, to the high score board, or just reading an interview with the games' creator. Since this is a port of a series that is known for its arcade games, you're also supplied with unlimited continues and lives which lets the newer players get into the series as well. For the hardcore, you can turn these settings off and chose a set number of continues, which ramps up the difficulty a good amount.

OVERALL 8/10
Overall, Metal Slug Anthology is an exciting and engaging 2D sidescrolling shooter. With time tested gameplay mechanics, fun mulitplayer, unlockable bonuses, and just a 40$ price tag (Yay! We all know that 60$ games are a total ripoff). Despite its lack of a story, its still great, and c' mon, do you really need to know why your grenading giant tanks?

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/20/06