Long revered or formerly-known as a benchmark for side-scrolling shooters in the heyday of coin-op arcades, the Metal Slug franchise has made its way to Xbox in a double dose.

Also released for PS2 earlier this year, Metal Slug 4 & Metal Slug 5 is a faithful translation of the last two outrageously over-blown, gloriously excessive, 2D, left-to-right, running & gunning, jumping & gunning, gunning & gunning cult-classic action titles.

That said, the "faithfulness" of the aforementioned translation includes mostly retro graphics, which are, as always, hugely imaginative, but hopelessly homely pixels and sprites just the same (though Slug 5 does contain some freshly minted supplemental art and sound). Seems a shame considering the graphical horsepower of the Xbox.

Too, you might recall that neither of the two games actually lasted more than an hour each from start to finish, as befitting the presumed balance of addictive play vs. number of quarters in the average player's pocket. They don't here, either, so not exactly dripping with "depth."

Still, no-quarters required in console form, so you can play them though repeatedly at whim. If you're looking for a flashback to your button-mashing glory days, this is it.