Reviewed by Paul Stuart

Oh, the guilty pleasure that is reviewing ‘Metal Slug Anthology’ for the PSP. The trip down memory lane which accompanies it finds me pumping hundreds of dollars in quarters into Neo Geo arcade kiosks, forsaking yet another lunchtime meal for a couple minutes more of Metal Slug gaming glory.

The original ‘Metal Slug’ (circa 1996) is all that was right with the Neo Geo; cutting-edge graphics, uncanny attention to detail, and an insanely high level of difficulty to keep you addicted just e-n-o-u-g-h.  There’s no wonder SNK produced an astonishing 6 Metal Slug titles to continuously feed this quarters-based, pixel obsession.

METAL SLUG VETERANS

If you’re looking to recreate the magic of quarters passed, disappointment is nowhere to found within Metal Slug Anthology. The game includes all 6 versions of the title in meticulous fashion, down to original artwork and full-fledged audio-visual chaos. A quick firing up on the PSP power button is all it takes to relive the insanity of flying bullets and endless array of enemy soldiers. Be lucky enough to find a platoon buddy wirelessly online, and the insanity quickly doubles.

As with most titles on the PSP, the control scheme is clever by necessity. The analog nub fares surprisingly well in controlling your mercenary, the 4 main face buttons conquer basic functions with ease. A glaring flaw, however, is the inability to fire upwards and/or downwards on angles. The opposition consistently exploits this flaw, with a barrage of attacks seemingly custom-made for such a geometric glitch. Careful jumping and/or positioning can compensate; it simply takes some time to adjust accordingly.

Moreover, Metal Slug Anthology does suffer from the occasional ridiculously long load time plus expected slowdown when all hell literally breaks loose on screen. Metal Slug versions 3 and 6, in particular, are the greatest culprits, the former grunting and grinding through load sequences, the latter sometimes overcome by all the chaos amok within a robust graphic engine.

METAL SLUG NEWBIES

For ‘Metal Slug’ virgins, imagine the original NES version of Contra…on crack cocaine. It’s still 2-D, side scrolling lone gunman against the world, except this time you’ll encounter: a) ride-able donkeys strapped with turrets; b) enemies who literally point and laugh upon successful kill; c) rescued POW hippies that bequeath magic mushrooms; d) giant crabs armed with machine guns; e) flying trains with heat-seeking bombs, and f) the ability to turn enemies into t-bones via laser cannons. Akin to Contra, however, Metal Slug Anthology is a title ready to picked up and played right out of the shrink-wrap. Take that, doctor’s office waiting room.

In terms of game dynamics, in exception to the original Metal Slug (with literally one lone gunman), versions 2-6 contain 4-6 playable characters, each with a unique skill set. This diversity in character selection surprisingly adds decent depth to the game. Related, all of the Metal Slug titles – including the original – are both long AND challenging; there’s no ugly stepsister in the batch to speak of. Other than the useless addition of coins and bonus objects (for points) in versions 5 and 6, there appears little quality differential between all six Metal Slug titles. In sum, a great deal of playability to be had by all.

Summary

Still – and as alluded to above in regard to control, load time and slowdown issues – Metal Gear Anthology is not a perfect game by any means. It’s a darn good shooter and then some, but does not forge any new ground in PSP gaming in doing so. For Metal Slug fans of arcade and/or consoles past, consider this $30 well spent. Newbies looking for a quick, side scrolling shooting fix, consider Metal Slug a great place to start. It truly is hard to argue with an ever-present ability to portably annihilate hundreds of enemies in minute’s time.

Finally and worth noting, leave it to SNK to kick political correctness upside the head. For those seeking catharsis from wartime preachiness on either ends of the political spectrum, here’s your chance to snicker along with the graphical mayhem and humor that is Metal Slug Anthology. The game doesn’t take itself seriously…and might offend some in the process. While not ‘Grand Theft Auto’ or ‘The Warriors’ by any means, Metal Slug is certainly no ‘LocoRoco.’

Final Thoughts

Metal Slug Anthology is a faithful representation of arguably one of the greatest series of action games in recent history. Not a perfect title, but bang for the buck is certainly to be had.

RATING: 7.5 [DONKEYS PACKING HEAT] out of 10.