Metal Slug Anthology

Though I'm old enough to have had a mis-spent youth hanging out in arcades, I never actually did. Aside from the odd game of Centipede or Asteroids at the corner store, I avoided arcade gaming (probably because I sucked at the games). By the time Metal Slug came out, I was happily addicted to Zork and the like on my home computer. So for me, the nostalgia element of arcade ports is mostly missing, yet I still had a load of fun playing the Metal Slug games on my PSP. I still suck, but now I can fail over and over in privacy instead of in an arcade where everyone can see my lameness.

I didn't play any of the Metal Slug games in their original arcade form, but SNK has produced what looks like a perfect port from arcade to PSP. It's very much a stripped-down interface, with only very basic screens for choosing which game to play, saving, and so on, but the games themselves are all there. Even the "Press Start" and "Insert Coin" prompts appear on the screen (which may cause momentary confusion for some players). There aren't a whole lot of extras included, but the ability to unlock art, PSP wallpapers, music and an interview by collecting tokens (awarded each time you complete a game) is a nice addition and provides a bit of incentive to keep playing.

Options

Both single and two-player games are possible, and SNK has added the ability to choose between a few different display ratios - the original one, full screen, and 4:3 (except in MS6, where you have to settle for the default ratio). You can also choose to set your weapon to autofire so you don't have to keep pressing the button (again, except in MS6), there are various difficulty modes, and you can choose between limited and unlimited continues.

Looks

The PSP screen seems perfect for these games. The small size of the handheld keeps the graphics from looking too pixelated, and the cartoony look just works. The sound also suits the games well, though I did get a little tired of the girly shriek when the female characters died.

The main drawback of this collection is load times. You wait for the UMD to load. You select a game and wait for it load. There are loads between levels and loads when you die (and an extra load if you switch characters when you die). Sometimes there are loads between screens. Granted, most of the loads are short, but the accumulated lag time may turn some players off. I thought it was worth the wait.