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Metal Slug Anthology

Posted February 22nd 2007 by Stephanie DeSiena.

For many gamers hip to the run-and-gun scene, the Metal Slug brand is one that is synonymous arcade gaming. It's been over ten years since the original Metal Slug appeared on the NeoGeo MVS arcade platform, and SNK-Playmore is celebrating by releasing Metal Slug Anthology, a collection of seven games from the series' spectrum. Seven games on one disc is nothing to scoff at, especially when you consider the hours upon hours of replay value that each installment presents. But to sweeten the deal, SNK-Playmore has included a few bonuses that might even make the most seasoned Slug veteran introduce their jaw to the floor.

In terms of raw content, Metal Slug Anthology is a beast. The disc includes Metal Slug 1-6 and X. The inclusion of Metal Slug 6 is especially significant because the game was just recently released in Japanese arcades, and it received a (Japanese only) port on the PlayStation 2 shortly before the anthology was released for the Wii. To my knowledge, the game wasn't originally intended to be released on this collection, but SNK-Playmore decided to do something unexpected and be nice to their fanbase who shells out $30-40 for discs that contain two old King of Fighters games over and over again. In fact, seven games on one SNK collection is damn near unprecedented. All of the games in the collection are 2D, as per the status quo of the makings of a successful Metal Slug title, although the absence of Metal Slug 3D is marginally disappointing. SNK went through some length to create all kinds of interesting control schemes, though, and I'd imagine Metal Slug 3D wouldn't have gelled well, what with the controlling adjustments mostly tuned for two dimensional play. The catch is, most of the included control schemes don't work well with any of the games.

Since Metal Slug Anthology is an atypical title in a next-generation sea of flashy graphics and "innovative" ways to press buttons, SNK made sure to include token control schemes that makes use of the Wii's input capabilities. There are a number of different combinations to choose from, such as bare remote play, remote and nunchuck play, and even an option to use a GameCube controller. It's a good thing they included that last option, because it's the only one that allows you to play any of the games while still being precise. Most of the other control schemes are difficult to get accustomed to and mostly just disable the player's reaction skills entirely, especially in the midst of heated shoot-outs. I have also noticed a number of issues in general responsiveness. For example, one scheme has you controlling your character's movement with the nunchuck joystick and using the remote for attacking, but the joystick sensitivity feels way off. When I try to move my character to the right while still aiming right, nine times out of ten my character will run right but aim up, causing me to shoot towards sweet nothingness while oncoming bullets and enemies rip me to shreds. The tilting schemes where you move the remote itself to control the characters have similar problems, and I'll often find myself playing with the remote tilted deep towards me in order to get my player to stop shooting upwards. And shaking your controller to throw grenades was just a horrible idea to begin with. Luckily, the GameCube controller scheme is perfect, essentially making the fact that this was even released for the Wii completely irrelevant. The GameCube controller option is the most fine-tuned, even at default, although you can remap buttons in this option in case pressing B to jump and A to fire throws you off.

Controller wonkiness aside, the games presented within are arcade-perfect adaptations. Nearly every Metal Slug title originally appeared on SNK's famed NeoGeo MVS arcade board, which fared well for the series up to the sixth entry, as that was created for Sega's Atomiswave board. This is significant, because Metal Slug 6 is the only installment of the series contained within where gameplay and graphical alterations are immediately distinguishable from the previous six games present on the collection. However, that isn't to say that all Metal Slug titles are carbon copies of each other. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Each Metal Slug game features stages that are beautifully drawn and detailed, and each title also sports entirely different settings and enemies to fight. For example, in one Metal Slug the common enemy may be a group of contra-soldiers, while the next one faces you off against aliens, yet another might put you against legions of undead. Each game also features subtle gameplay alterations and design choices. To put it into perspective, think of waiting for each of these games to reach your arcade as they were released one by one. Tired of fighting in the desert and scaling ancient tombs in Metal Slug X? Here comes Metal Slug 3 with a first stage boss that chases the player towards the right of the screen, forcing you to not only avoid the enemy's projectile attacks but also being wary of falling off the stage as the ground beneath you is destroyed.

By the way, the series is also known for its brutal difficulty, although as far as typical arcade-style games go it is certainly one of the more forgiving formulas. The anthology allows players to set the difficulty level for each game, as well as specify how many credits you're allowed to start with. Free play is available from the start. And while the first six games on the collection essentially expect the player to know a thing or two about the series before an attempt of the first stage is made, Metal Slug 6 is the most fine-tuned, polished, and friendly game in the Slug legacy, offering a standard Easy mode (it's really, really easy) for beginners to mess around with.

The anthology features de facto menus that don't serve much as eye candy, justly, because the actual content behind these menus are enough to make you want to access them as quickly as possible. The manner of unlocking remixed music and artwork is your standard game collection fare; play through game x with x number of credits on x difficulty level. And while these features are certainly nice and great for fans of the Metal Slug series, they do little to draw the casual Wii gamer in from the outside; what could be considered a fantastic piece of software for anyone to own may simply be passed off as an SNK plot to cash-in on their existing fanbase. However, as I mentioned earlier, Metal Slug Anthology is one of the most admirable collections of games I've ever seen from SNK, and it's a great game to check out if you've had even a passing interest in any of the Metal Slug titles in the past. Seriously, the best ones are here, and if you've never tried a Metal Slug then this would be a great place to start.

Steady Beat - Don't let this one tank!

Metal Slug Anthology is a collection of arcade-perfect ports of some perfect arcade games, for under the price of a standard Wii game. I don't know how else to convince readers of its worth other than by saying token things like, "Oh, and Metal Slug games are good!" or "It's SNK! Come on guys, give them a break." So I could go on and review each Metal Slug game individually, but then this review would lose its focus, and would also be over ten thousand words. But Metal Slug games are good and SNK does try this hard sometimes, so give them a break, play their games, and maybe shoot the company a friendly e-mail about how much you enjoy their work. That would be nice.

Posted in: Reviews