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To celebrate Metal Slug's ten year anniversary, SNK has put together the biggest collection of Metal Slug games ever to be available at one time. Seven Metal Slug titles; Metal Slug, Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug X, Metal Slug 3, Metal Slug 4, Metal Slug 5, and Metal Slug 6 come to you in one complete, bloody and riveting package. While the game will be coming sometime this year for the PS2 and PSP, the Wii has the first crack at giving fans a taste of nostalgia at its most delicious point. What's more, the game has been devised to take advantage of the new Wii control system and offers 5 ways to find your comfort zone and/or play Metal Slug in a new manner.

For the unfamiliar, Metal Slug is a fantastic 2D action war shooter set in the 21st century. This pick up and play title which originated on the Neo Geo arcade machine, not only provides fantastic pick up and play ability, but instant fun and gratification as well. Each version offered here is an arcade perfect port of each title with all the hilarity, exhausting pace, and enough saluting captives to fill anyone's appetite for a hardcore 2D side-scroller.

What the Wii brings to the table is new control schemes that suit the new Wii-mote and nunchuk attachments quite nicely. There is an Arcade setting, which allows you to hold the Wii controller upright like an arcade stick to move your character around. The nunchuk attachment provides the firing, jumping, and grenade flicking with the analog stick. Second, you have the Wii-mote configuration that has you turning the controller sideways and treating it like an old school controller. The Tilt Wii-mote configuration also allows you to use just the controller and turning it sideways, while tilting your controller moves your character left and right and also for jumping. The nunchuk-only option puts most of the controls in the nunchuk controller including movement, jumping, firing, while only air attacks and weapon changes are made on the Wii-mote itself. Lastly, the Nunchuk Control Stick option, which is my personal preference, moves you about with the nunchuck along with changing weapons and air attacks, while the Wii-mote handles the rest.

On top of a great collection with multiple control configurations and difficulty settings, there is a ton of bonus features for the Metal Slug fan. These features are only available once you have earned enough tokens to unlock items in the Metal Slug Gallery. These tokens can be earned by completing each game on a certain difficulty, with each difficulty giving a different denomination. In the gallery are artwork, music, and even an extensive interview with the game's creators providing great incite on the trials and success of the series.

I for one am happy to see that after 10 years, SNK has the foresight to know there is still a fanbase for these great titles and to give them all to us (minus the mobile and Neo Geo pocket versions) in one great package. If you are a fan of the series, by all means show the love and pick up this compilation. If you have never played Metal Slug but love 2D games like Contra, this title will provide unlimited game play for you too. Wii owners get the first crack, so get out there and show developers that 2D is not dead and buy Metal Slug Anthology.