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Good: Hilarious over-the-top action, six full games, price

Bad: Not much in the way of extras, some entirely disposable control schemes

Best vehicle: Camel

I'd imagine that if game developers snorted about four pounds of cocaine, watched the first scene of Saving Private Ryan repeatedly, and played Contra for a week, something like Metal Slug would be the result. An arcade classic for a decade, the series packed ridiculous amounts of over-the-top action into every single second of gameplay. It's a fantastic formula that's still fun as hell to play:as long as you pick the right Wii control scheme.

Metal Slug certainly seemed like a curious pick for a Wii title, as the series' control has always been extremely simplistic. Your armed-to-the-teeth character can jump, shoot, and throw grenades not something you really need motion control for. There are several different options to choose from, ranging from manageable to downright unplayable.

One of the worst requires you to hold the Wiimote vertically like a joystick, and tilt it to move. Another is a one-handed Nunchuk method, and it controls as awkwardly as you could expect. The best is easily the sideways NES-style method, which omits the Nunchuk entirely. Just like an old Megaman game, you simply run, jump, and shoot with the d-pad and two buttons. Grenades are tossed with a simple flick of the Wiimote.

Each individual title in the Anthology can be blazed through fairly quickly, especially considering that it features unlimited lives. Stages feature a ridiculous amount of chaos and general mayhem, with fighter planes, tanks, soldiers, POW's, and giant bosses constantly assaulting you. Hilarious events happen all the time, with my favorite being the giant killer whale randomly jumping out of the ocean and eating an enemy.

It's not all in a generic wartime setting, as different titles will take you through a huge variety of locales. One stage is zombie-based, and you can actually turn undead if attacked (which grants you a great blood-vomiting move). Another features a Flinstones-esque terrorist outfit that runs fighter planes along strings and carries their tanks.

While the individual games are a blast, there isn't much of anything in the way of extras. As you play through the series, you'll earn tokens that unlock concept art and a text interview with the creators. That's pretty much it, so replay value is determined exclusively by how many times you can play through the six games without getting tired of them.

Metal Slug is a series that has never really been a polygon-pusher. Rather, it relies on a hilarious art style and fantastic animation to give it it's unique look. Explosions are gigantic, and everything moves in a very interesting fashion. The music and sound effects fit right in with the theme as well, down to the over-the-top announcer.

At $39.99, Metal Slug Anthology is certainly worth picking up for fans of the series. The ports are faithful and (more importantly) still fun, so it's a good purchase as long as you don't expect too many extras.

Graphics: 8.0

Sound: 7.5

First Play: 8.5

Replay Value: 7.5

Gameplay: 8.0

Overall: 7.8