Metal Slug Ultimate Collection targets 2027 with 10 games and modern features

Metal Slug is getting a sizeable new collection next year. SNK has announced Metal Slug Ultimate Collection for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2 and PC via Steam, with a 2027 release planned across each platform. There’s plenty packed in. Ten versions from across the series are included, covering the original arcade releases, later numbered entries and Metal Slug Advance. SNK has paired them with modern conveniences such as rewind, quick save and quick load, plus online rankings and multiplayer support. There’s another piece of news here, too. SNK has a completely new Metal Slug game in development. Details are scarce for now, with no confirmed platforms, release date or gameplay format. So, for the moment, Ultimate Collection is the one with a firm shape.

Ten Metal Slug games in one collection

The collection starts with the original Metal Slug and runs through much of the main series. Metal Slug, Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug X, Metal Slug 3, Metal Slug 4, Metal Slug 5, Metal Slug 6 and Metal Slug 7 make the cut. Metal Slug Advance joins them, giving the Game Boy Advance entry a place in the package. The final inclusion is a more unusual one. SNK is releasing the original Metal Slug location test version, making this early arcade build officially available as part of Ultimate Collection.

It’s a broad selection. Most players will probably recognise Metal Slug through its Neo Geo arcade entries, yet the series moved across several formats during its run. Putting Metal Slug Advance and Metal Slug 7 beside the arcade games gives the collection a wider scope than a straightforward Neo Geo bundle. SNK is presenting the release as part of Metal Slug’s 30th anniversary.

Rewind, quick saves and online play are included

The games aren’t arriving untouched. Ultimate Collection adds quick save and quick load options, useful for a series built around short stages, limited lives and increasingly hectic enemy patterns. A rewind feature lets players roll gameplay back by several seconds after a mistake.

Score attack and time attack modes are included, with online leaderboards recording results. Online co-op is planned too. On Steam, the game page lists shared-screen multiplayer support alongside online multiplayer features.

Feature availability can vary between individual games in the package, so each entry won’t necessarily offer an identical set of options. Combat School Mode is making an appearance as well. It adds missions based around Metal Slug’s mechanics and gives players another route through material outside the standard campaigns. There’s a museum section too, collecting artwork, logos and other material from across the franchise.

Metal Slug has been running since 1996

Metal Slug began life in arcades in 1996 on SNK’s Neo Geo MVS hardware. It quickly became one of the company’s recognisable action series, sitting beside a catalogue dominated by fighting games such as The King of Fighters, Fatal Fury and Samurai Shodown.

The basic setup has remained remarkably consistent. Pick a character, run from left to right, shoot almost everything on screen and rescue prisoners along the way. Weapons range from heavy machine guns to rocket launchers and flamethrowers, with tanks and other vehicles breaking up the action.

Its animation became one of the series’ defining features. Characters react to explosions, enemies scramble around stages and vehicles break apart piece by piece. The games can become extremely busy, yet their mechanical structure stays simple enough to grasp within minutes.

Metal Slug 2 arrived in 1998, followed by the revised Metal Slug X in 1999. Metal Slug 3 came in 2000 and introduced branching routes alongside a much larger collection of vehicles, transformations and enemy types.

Metal Slug 4 and 5 continued the arcade series. Metal Slug 6 moved to Sega’s Atomiswave arcade hardware before appearing on PlayStation 2, and Metal Slug 7 reached Nintendo DS in 2008. Metal Slug Advance had already brought a dedicated entry to Game Boy Advance in 2004.

The franchise has since appeared through ports, compilations and spin-offs. Metal Slug Tactics took a very different route, turning the familiar cast and visual design into a turn-based tactical game.

SNK has another Metal Slug game in development

Ultimate Collection isn’t the end of SNK’s current Metal Slug plans. A separate new game is in production, though SNK hasn’t revealed much beyond its existence. There’s no title yet, no platform list and no release window. We don’t have confirmation on whether it uses the traditional side-scrolling run-and-gun format either.

For now, Metal Slug Ultimate Collection is the concrete release to watch. It’s heading to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2 and Steam in 2027, bringing ten versions of Metal Slug together with rewind, quick saves, online features and extra modes. Pricing hasn’t been announced.

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