Bringing all the Metal Slugs together in one package!
In commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of the Metal Slug series, SNK has released what we all have been hoping for, all 7 games are included in this collection. That’s right, 1-6 and then Metal Gear X also. Before this, it was actually impossible to play all of these games outside of an arcade, which most of no longer exist. If you were questioning as you should be if these games are all in tact and faithful to the originals, I can safely say that, yes they are pretty much dead on as far as graphics, speed and sound go. But there are also some issues that really hamper this game from being the best launch title on the Wii.
First things first. All the games are here, they play great with the Wiimote and using the Wiimote horizontally almost as a NES controller works very well for this collection. If you have ever played Contra back in the day and liked them, you will love this game even more with 10x more craziness and 10x the fun. Getting into this collection is easy and makes for a great time with a few friends. And for $39.99, you cannot go wrong. Especially when Metal Slug 3 & 4 or 4 & 5 on the Xbox was 39.99 each. Well that was the good, now for the bad…
The first thing you will notice when starting up Metal Slug Anthology is that well, the game select screen is quite bland and looks like they forgot it the day before it went gold and needed something to throw in there. They could have made it so much more nostalgic to the seasoned players as well as more inviting and to get a new player jazzed up about how this game still holds up today, and is just as fun as it was back in 1996. It would have been nice if they would have actually put an extra couple of minutes just to flesh it out a bit more.
Next is me asking the question; “Who came up with these controller configurations”? The default controller set up with the single Wiimote isn’t bad. But then they have where they want you to use the Nunchuk only, or be tilting the Wiimote to move your player left or right, or the worst is the one where they want you to use the Wiimote and the Nunchuk. They are over complicating the control schemes here and they seem quite forced overall. And then there is the GC controller, but you are still better off going with the horizontal Wiimote. My one question is…why didn’t they include support for the Classic Controller? Wouldn’t of that made the most sense? All they really needed was the default Wiimote horizontal mode and then they Classic controller mode. That’s it. I mean someone there had to think about using that classic controller for this game. It couldn’t of been that hard to put it in. I mean they put all the effort into making crappy controller schemes, 2 good ones would have been fine by me…
Next, no extras. For a 10th anniversary, come on, not much extra here? I mean I know its not quite a popular game 10 years later in 2006, but man, for fans of the series, this would have been a real bonus to see some developer interview videos, a little mini documentary on this series and then just some fanart or something. And then even a cooler box or something would have made it extra special, but there is nothing here…
Here is the real kicker. You know how when you went to the arcade or played games before dinner at a restaurant, how you used to ask your parents/girlfriend/boyfriend for quarters to keep pumping into that machine before the 10 seconds ran out. Yes, you all remember that adrenaline rush. Well in this game, there is none of that. You can die infinite times and just keep restarting and restarting. There are no limits, even you cant set any limits to try and break them, or if you want you and a friend to have like 8 quarters each or maybe have each only play on one quarter. So now, you can just sacrifice yourself to get through a really tough area really quickly by just dying. Along with that, there are no new modes or any type of multiplayer other than the standard classic in the orignal games, and no online like the Xbox versions that came out a few years ago. I am aware its prolly half nintendo’s fault with Nintendo having no online plan and just flying by the seat of their pants again…GC 2.0? Who knows, but some online would have been nice, even if it were only with the craptacular friend codes system.
Alright, my rant is now over. This is a great game if you are looking for all 7 original games perfectly emulated and all together in one package. But there are some real short comings that don’t make this game stand out like it could of. I think with a bit more elbow grease, this game could have went from being good to superb and actually get new players hooked on an old classic.
Controller, no support for classic controller
Crappy title screen
No extras, developer interviews, history, fan art
No quarters option, makes the game much too easy
No competition or time attack sorts for gameplay with friends
No online
7/10 or 3/5 stars.