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2006 marked the 10-year anniversary of the Metal Slug series. After a decade of Chuck Norris-style P.O.W. rescues and millions of quarters gone M.I.A. the arcade shooter has earned some much deserved R&R in the homes of American gamers. Metal Slug Anthology delivers all seven of the series' arcade incarnations, with bonus content and several Wii control schemes to sweeten the deal. This game's campaign to conquer the living room isn't a flawless victory. Glaring omissions, half-assed packaging and janky controls prevent Metal Slug Anthology from being the all-in-one collection that this series deserves.

Chew Bubblegum and Kick Ass

Let's start with the good intel. The Metal Slug games are pure, old-school awesomeness. They're shooters with a light platforming component. Simple joystick and two button controls make them easy to pick up and play, but the endless onslaught of enemies and ruthless boss battles made them difficult to conquer without giving up a pocket full of tokens. Lovingly rendered in anime-style sprites, the games are mash-ups of every over-the-top war movie ever made – like Rambo, Commando and the Dirty Dozen rolled up into a sweaty, gunpowder-scented ball. Some older ports of the individual games punished players with harsh limitations on how many times they could continue, making them near impossible to beat. This collection is much more generous, granting an infinite number of credits. Those final battles are finally within reach or mortal gamers.

Lesser of Several Evils

Metal Slug Anthology gives players a handful of Wii-exclusive control schemes, most of which take advantage of the console's motion-sensing capabilities. They're almost all more complicated and less precise than the arcade game's original configuration. Strangely, the game doesn't support the Wii Classic Controller – so unless they want to dust off their old GameCube controllers, gamers will have to wrestle with control options until they target the least offensive alternative.

Like a Rolex Gift-Wrapped In Yesterday's Newspaper

Most disappointing is the shoddy way this celebration of all things Metal Slug is presented. The menus feel thrown together with bonus content paper-clipped to the game's hind-end. For series with such cool looking character and level designs, this package feels dashed off. A lack of widescreen options hurts the game as well. With publishers like Namco filling empty screen space with original cabinet art for the Xbox Live Arcade versions of their games, we expect more from classic collections. It would take twice the laziness and rump-backwards navigation to smother the explosive action packed into these seven arcade ports. Metal Slug Anthology just isn't the quintessential way to experience one of the arcade's most enduring run and gun series. For that, you're probably going to need change for a dollar.

Article by: Gus Mastrapa
Video produced by: Eric Acasio