[FooFan]

10 years ago, back in 1996, the first ever Metal Slug arcade game was born on the NEO-GEO MVS arcade System. The military themed Side-Scrolling platform game known for it's sense of humour and very funny cartoon style, mixed with extremely fluid hand-drawn animation and seriously fast paced two-player action proved to be popular to a very wide audience.
Since then, SNK have gone on to develop and publish seven more Metal Slug sequels.


This Anthology is a collection of all of them (Except Metal Slug [3D]). That's right, all 7 Metal Slug games!

The chances are you would've seen a Metal Slug arcade game in your time, if not then perhaps now is when you should get your first experience!


The story lines for all 7 games are pretty similar. It's good vs bad in the Regular Army (Used for various tasks such as Peacekeeping and fending off terrorism) against the Rebellion Army (Formed by a group of people whose wishes are to change the world government into a military controlled one)... It couldn't be more simpler!

Controls

The Wii offers several different control options (A total of 8! Including one for use with the GC controller). Metal Slug was a game designed for the arcades and in the Arcades it used a joystick and 3 buttons. One of the most interesting control types (Arcade) is where you hold the Wii remote vertical, Like a joystick, and then use the Nunchuck for all the buttons.
I started off using both the Remote and Nuchuk is a control style that had all the movement done by the Nunchuk and then the Button bashing on the remote! Since then, however, I have changed to holding just the remote sideways. It feels much more comfortable and really adds to the arcade feel of the game.
Overall you are sure to find a control type that will suit you here! The game utilizes the Wiis motion sensing with grenades being thrown with a flick of the wrist! Or, in some cases, the whole movement of your person.

Graphics


Let's get one thing straight here. Metal Slug is a Hand Drawn Arcade game... Graphics are not top of the list here! Having said that, the animations are very impressive and the levels are always colourful and smooth. As you progress through the years you will see improvements on the overall smoothness of the game. The fact that the graphics are identical to that of the Arcade versions mean that the feel of the game is not lost and you are playing the game as it was designed to be played

Gameplay


Any side-scrolling 2D Platform/Shoot em Up is going to need decent gameplay to be a success... I'm pleased to say that Metal Slug has that in abundance!

When you start the game you can chose from any of the 7 different games to play. Although there's no storyline as such, I would recommend you go through them in chronological order as you will see how the games have improved over the years. You can chose to either play with unlimited continues or limited (30, 20 or 10). You're going to need a lot of them so on your first go through I would definitely go for unlimited! Luckily you're not at the arcade, so a pocketful of 50p's isn't needed either!

After that, you're straight into the game! Your mission is to basically shoot everyone and everything in your path while staying alive yourself! Each game is divided into about 6/7 missions that all end with some kind of boss at the end. It's a classic structure that is perfect for the game.

While going through the missions, you will pick up various weapons such as: Heavy Machine Gun, Rocket launcher, Shotgun, Flame Shot, Lazer and some very funny ones later on Your primary weapon is your pistol and this has unlimited ammo, unlike the others. You also have several grenades which you will be needing! I've always loved the gameplay of Metal Slug, it's so face passed that you really need to be looking everywhere as there will be enemies appearing from left, right, up and down! Standard enemies are fairly easy to kill but you will soon find yourself up against tanks, snipers and a whole range of other weird creatures including Zombies, Mummies and Aliens!

At the moment, Metal Slug doesn't sound too different from any other Side Scrolling Platform/Shoot Em Up... And this is where I mention the vehicles you can use! That's right! expect it all from the Metal Slug itself (A Type of Tank) to a heavily armed camel!

With unlimited machine gun ammo, it's always a pleasure to see a vehicle waiting for you to jump in!

Overall, expect Fast, Frantic gameplay that will keep you entertained for ages and always begs for that 'One more go'

What is a bit disappointing is that the frame rate will often slow down when there is a lot going happening on screen at once I've only played the first 2 games so far, so I'm not sure if this is resolved in the later games... It doesn't happen too often though and doesn't affect gameplay too much, it's just a shame that it does happen.

Sound

The sounds of soldiers dying, tanks exploding and blood splattering fill the room on every mission! the sounds can get repetitive, but you'll be too engrossed in what's happening on-screen to worry about it! You could quite easily mute this game and have some music on if you fancied as the sound isn't necessary to play the game.

Multiplayer


Multiplayer comes in the form of 2-player Co-Op modes on every game. This is where the game becomes superb fun! When you have a mate over you are really experiencing Metal Slug at it's best! The Co-op mode is also a drop in/out affair so your friend can join in at any point during the game just by pressing '+'

Summary

What makes Metal Slug Anthology such a great buy is the price. I managed to pick up a copy for £9.95 That's 7 games for under a tenner! I've had a quick look around and the cheapest I can find it currently is £14.96 at Gameseek. That's still a bargain!
If you have every player Metal Slug before and enjoyed it, then definitely pick this up. If you think it might be something you would enjoy then it's cheap enough to give it a go! It may not be anything new, but it will keep you entertained and give you a good few hours of gameplay.

Pros

The Value
Excellent Gameplay
2 Player Co-op
Range of Controller Styles
Easy to pick up and play
Good sense of humour throughout

Cons

Frame rate can drop if a lot if happening at once
It's not as Innovative as the Wii
Can get repetitive if you don't enjoy the gameplay

Overall Score: 85%

The price of this game makes it one of the best budget titles available for the Wii (Second only to Endless Ocean, but the 2 would go together very nicely ). For 10 years SNK have been producing metal slug games and this is why... Simple, Fast and addictive gameplay.

Any comments/questions are welcome