Metal Slug marching to PSP

Before The Outfit arrived on Xbox 360, there was Metal Slug - a healthy mix of ridiculously explosive action, action-movie posturing, and go-right, blast-everything gameplay. The side-scrolling shooters made great co-op fun in arcades from 1996 up through 2003's Metal Slug 5, so we're thrilled to hear that the entire series is headed to the PSP on one UMD.

Metal Slug Collection will contain Slugs 1 through 5 as well as the remix/bugfix of Metal Slug 2 dubbed Metal Slug X. The games are loved by action fans not only for the intense (and often difficult) bullet-dodging, but also the detailed, downright funny animations and subtle jokes sprinkled around the levels. Most games feature our militaristic heroes stomping off to depose a ruthless dictator, but the endings rarely end up where the stories begin.

Metal Slug Collection was shown at the Game Developers' Conference in a very early, very slow-running state, but the fact that it was already partly operational on a PSP gives us faith that the collection will be ready by its proposed fall release date.

March 30, 2006