Virtual Vox Pop is a weekly open mic in which we ask you, the reader, to sound off on a particular topic. This week, it’s your favorite Metal Slug game.

Metal Slug XX, the upgraded multi-player version of the underrated Metal Slug 7, is headed to the Japanese XBLA sometime next year as SNK Playmore’s 2010 offering to 2D lovin’ gamers. A conversation with a friend regarding where we would rank its quality in comparison to the other entries in this long running- series sparked this week’s topic.

Sam held aloft the banner of Metal Slug X, but I had to give props to Metal Slug 3. Yes, I know, its a pretty cliched response, but it contained a solid mix of hardcore military action and absolutely bonkers in-game features. When I first realized that an attacking zombie doesn’t kill you, but turn you into a zombie ( a zombie that spits a stream of what appears to be acid-laced blood), well, I just knew it was meant to be. It was one of the final games that the old SNK developed before its bankruptcy, purchase, and then rebirth as SNK Playmore, and you can see all of the loving care (the trademark of the old SNK), that was poured into the title.

So, as always, what say you?