Metal Slug: Anthology

The Good
I love Metal Slug, I used to play them in the day and the simple idea of just shooting and killing numerous enemies, blowing them up with grenades and running them over with tanks are always fun. This games are no different, it's still the shoot-em-up style of gameplay you expect from SNK.

The graphics may be 2-D, but they are incredibly bright and very sharp, the backgrounds are very animated and the sounds are incredible, nothing like hearing the sound of a tank blowing to pieces with that satisfying explosion and even see the beautiful explosion as well. There are few spoken words, which doesn't bother me, since the storyline is easily followed without any speaking to it.

The storyline may be simple, but is very fun. Even though they are almost technically the same over and over, just seeing the familiar cast of characters makes you feel at home with the games. Each game has something new to offer, some offer zombies and you can actually be turned into one as well, you fight off an invasion of aliens, fight off the familiar rebels you are constantly at war with among other crazy enemies this game will throw at you.

The Bad
Well, there are a few things that bothered me. There is a little bit of lag, but it is very rare, I've had it happen to me twice, but that was about it, so it's not an issue.

The controls are simple and effective, except for the aiming of the gun, it wasn't designed for the D-pad. You can use the analog stick, but it still feels out of place, it would have been nice if SNK would have actually made a joystick for these games, but it still works out.

I do love Metal Slug, but at the same time, it is basically just an updated game from the last time. The storyline for each is almost the same from game to game and so is the gameplay: shoot enemies, collect power-ups, release captives, destroy massive boss, repeat.

The game can be very frustrating at times, I can tell you this, no one has ever accused this game of being too easy. The game can throw an insane amount of enemies and firepower at you at one time, there is no way of avoiding getting hit. You can put the free play on this and just keep going and going, but it gets very annoying to get killed every 15 seconds.

You would think that there would be new content for the games since it was a 10 year anniversary game, but it just is nothing but a compilation of past games, actually would have been nice if there was a new game or even a taste of a new game, it does have images and interviews, but there really is nothing to it.

The Bottom Line
All in all, it's still a very fun game. I've loved Metal Slug for years and when the game first came out I was very excited, but when I saw the $50.00 price tag, I just laughed and went about my way. Fortunately, I waited long enough for it to drop to a very respectable price, I paid $17.99 for a used one, but there are new ones out there for $20.00. If you loved Metal Slug and want to relive old memories, then go out and buy this game, but a warning, it can be very repetitive and you may get bored too fast. You can beat this game in a day and a half or a day if you have nothing else better to do.