Metal Slug Anthology Review

A nice anthology of the most famous scrolling shooter in the world.

PlayStation 4 tested version.

1996: an extraordinarily fun and noisy title arrives in the arcades, Metal Slug. As four unlikely special forces soldiers in a future where the Army has taken control of everything and everyone, we blast our way through mountains, lakes, huge bosses and poor unfortunate soldiers. The price of each game is 50 cents, each of which guarantees us three lives inside the cabinets. The sound of the powerful "heavy machine gun", the bright square that, if collected, gave the protagonist the heavy machine gun, still resounds in our heads.

It's been a while since 1996. Enough for them to pile up, one after another, at least six official followers of that first Metal Slug. We are talking about Metal Slug 2, X (an updated variant of Metal Slug 2), 3, 4, 5 and the little known Metal Slug 6, published exclusively on PlayStation 2 then translated elsewhere by SNK. There would also be Metal Slug 7, but it came out exclusively on Nintendo DS and practically nobody knows about it. A pity, because it is fun like its predecessors. The collection we are about to tell you something about collects all the chapters up to and including the sixth, including some goodies for enthusiasts.

Please note: Metal Slug Anthology was published in 2006, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the saga. Today is the year 2017, which means that another eleven years have passed. And no, it hasn't been updated. This version recently released on PlayStation Store is the same as it was eleven years ago. Get over it. The fun does not age.

An Anthology to play them all

The proposed versions of each chapter of the Metal Slug saga are practically the original ones that ran on cabinets. Nothing has been touched, revised, altered or updated, for better or for worse. These are the same and identical games that you have come to love in the arcade, but reproposed on your home television, with the foresight of a couple of black bands on the sides to maintain an acceptable resolution without the image being conspicuously crumbling (bands which, however, can be safely removed so that the view can flood the entire screen). It is an anthology that is eleven years old: and eleven years ago the title was born ten years earlier. On balance, twenty years have passed and it passes from the first Metal Slug. One wonders why a little bit, anything, hasn't been retouched. A few small details that justified the new purchase on PlayStation 4 for those who had already enjoyed the title on PlayStation 2 or Nintendo Wii. But SNK Playmore docet, and that's it.

In addition to the canonical 7 chapters of the historic series, you will be able to access a series of fairly interesting additional contents: in detail, at the end of each episode the game assigns "tokens" that will be used to unlock some extras. There is a beautiful image gallery full of concept art from the first episode to the last, or a similar gallery focused on the sound sector in which all the music of all the episodes are collected. And again, among the game options it is possible to select some exclusive peculiarities: the game difficulty, the number of lives of each player, the possibility of setting automatic fire for weapons. All this was obviously not possible on the cabinets or on similar emulated versions of the chapters of the series. Last but not least the presence of the interviews, made with the creators of the series and concerning the various games collected in the anthology.

Metal Slug never gets old

It seems trivial, but it is: twenty years later all the titles of Metal Slug manage to offer the same constant dose of fun for all ages. Maybe, due to blood and gutted enemies, keep the children away. But the charisma of the hugely popular SNK Playmore saga certainly doesn't need to be underlined. Really does anyone not remember Marco, Tarma, Fio and Eri? Is there anyone who does not remember the funny verses of the old men freed in the levels, those who gave bonuses for scores and the very powerful weapons to use against the enemies? We still manage to remember every single detail of at least the first three chapters of the saga. The writer really grew up on "bread and Metal Slug", and he is also modestly the right person to tell you that this collection, proposed for around 20 euros, is worth all the ticket money. Man, he's worth it. The titles offered have marked an era and a videogame genre. But beware: it's worth them if of course you don't already own this anthology on PlayStation 2 or Nintendo Wii or somewhere else. Because, we repeat once again, in 11 years nothing has been added, not even Metal Slug 7.

For those who do not know the saga at all, however, we do not have any punishment ready in particular. Suffice it to say that it is one Side scrolling action shooter, with some little platforming mechanics to serve as a condiment. Many levels are based on jumping from platform to platform up rather than to the right, but these are really isolated cases. The protagonist is part of the Rebel army and must thwart the threatening plans of conquest of the Regular Army or of invading aliens from time to time. To do so, he will collect devastating weapons and powerful Slug vehicles, tanks, helicopters but also simple 500s equipped with machine guns or ostriches capable of jumping incredibly high along the way. There is everything and more in this videogame saga, between intelligent choices and crazy mechanics mixed in titles that are impossible to forget even for those who are in the first game. Of course, we recommend that you go in order, playing Metal Slug 1 first and then the subsequent titles. One caveat: Metal Slug 2 and Metal Slug X are essentially identical, but choose Metal Slug X. This is its "updated" version and it will save you from getting bored (assuming you can get bored with this series) twice with the same game.

Don't steal my laser!

How many times have you lent 50 cents to a friend of yours in the arcade to get him to fight alongside you, against that final boss impossible to annihilate by yourself? We many times. The fun in Metal Slug does not double but quadruples in the company of a friend. And this time you just need to have a second controller at hand and press the “start” button, without even using real cash. Of course, apart from the help against the enemies, you can delight in seeing which of the two players at the end of the game will have obtained the higher score (indicated in the upper right and left of the game screen). Each collected object confers a certain amount of points, also the weapons donated by the characters released in the levels will always remain those, they will not be provided in ra
double action only because you are playing in two. This means that if there is a Laser or a Heavy Machine Gun on the screen, the first one who arrives keeps it! Mechanics that led to the conclusion of the most solid of friendships.

If, stylistically and musically speaking, the confusing and at times tamarro charisma of Metal Slug is unparalleled, a nice upgrade from the point of view of the uploads would certainly not have hurt on the PlayStation 4. It is ultimately an emulated version of the same. title proposed on PlayStation 2: after twenty years, do you really have to wait a few seconds to go from one scenario to another of the same level? Couldn't you really speed up the main menu a bit? Let's say the truth: no one has had the desire to fix something that is sold at a budget price and we already know that it will have fun. But the truth must be told: even a minimal technical update was more than necessary to re-propose this collection at a distance of years for 20 euros.