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Metal Slug Collection marching to PSP

Six gun-toting episodes loaded into one UMD

Metal Slug Collection marching to PSP

In an age of fancy, three-dimensional gaming worlds, it's often easy to forget how much fun can still be had from a good old-fashioned 2D title. And there can be far worse ways to be reminded of the glorious thrills of such games than SNK's Metal Slug series.

Boasting a worldwide army of fans, Metal Slug games feature frenzied 'if-it-moves-blast-it' style action backed up by charming, highly stylized graphics. Other than picking up weapon upgrades and occasionally climbing aboard vehicles to boost firepower (such as tanks or jet fighters), there's never much in the way of variety but that is by no means a criticism – it really is all about letting the bullets do the talking. If it's addictive old-skool arcade excitement you're after, look no further. And if you can recruit a fellow to enjoy the action, all the better.

Metal Slug Collection features a co-operative two-player ad hoc option which promises to let you do just that on any of the six games it includes. While there's nothing new here, the title does unite Metal Slug, Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug X, Metal Slug 3, Metal Slug 4 and Metal Slug 5. Aside from displaying SNK's lack of imagination when it comes to naming sequels this also provides a rather attractive package for anyone who missed out on playing these when they first appeared in arcades (or home consoles).

From what has been shown so far, the conversion process appears to be in very capable hands although there's obviously still work to go in terms of getting the games running smoothly before the planned November release – plenty of time to rifle-butt any niggles into submission. We'll post screenshots as soon as we get them but in the meantime you'll find a Metal Slug 4 arcade image above that should give you a glimpse of the visual style we mentioned – you can expect the PSP versions to look identical to their arcade counterparts. Hopefully they'll play just as gratifyingly, too.

Joao Diniz Sanches
Joao Diniz Sanches
With three boys under the age of 10, former Edge editor Joao has given up his dream of making it to F1 and instead spends his time being shot at with Nerf darts. When in work mode, he looks after editorial projects associated with the Pocket Gamer and Steel Media brands.