25 Gaming Experiences You Must Have Before You Die - Part III: The MSX Metal Gears

Metal Gear (MSX, 1987)

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (MSX, 1990)

Why You Should Play It

As you can see, Konami was a major player in the development of the games industry in the early years after the Atari Crash in 1983.

But where Castlevania provided the foundation for many action games that followed it, Metal Gear's contributions toward advancing the industry are much more meaningful and important, particularly in regards to games as a storytelling medium, something that has only come to true fruition very recently. That's not to say that games before Metal Gear didn't have stories to tell, rather, it's the way the story is told and the dynamics involved that make Metal Gear monumental.

Recent games like Uncharted, some of the newer Final Fantasies, and oddly enough, Metal Gear Solid, have drawn a lot of attention with their cinematic aspects, warranting comparisons to Hollywood films. These games accomplish this by marrying the story with the gaming experience itself rather than having the plot revealed with dialogue, text boxes or cutscenes. Of course, many of these games still have these artifices of yesteryear's storytelling conventions, but the ones that do it right make the story speak to and affect the playing experience, and vice versa. Metal Gear championed this idea in an era when it was almost unheard of, when all that was expected was a dozen or so levels with a boss at the end of each, bookended by a few still images with text pasted over them, where “Our princess is in another castle” was the only running narrative we needed. Metal Gear, in 1987, was already looking for that experience games like Uncharted provide so expectantly now, that feeling that you're playing a movie. There was espionage, double and triple-crosses, poignant messages about war, politics, and conservation.

There's also a level of tension not often present in its contemporaries. Apart from the obvious, which is that you're a black ops agent sneaking into a military zone, Metal Gear pits you against foes you have meaningful relationships with. Take a second and think about how many games in the 80s where your enemies were more than just aliens or monsters you've randomly encountered while walking to the right or exploring an overworld. Not only are the enemies in Metal Gear not these things, they're often former allies and/or mentors. That's a lot of baggage for a pair of games as long in the tooth as Snake's first adventures, and it's elements like that which make them milestones in video game storytelling.

Potential Barriers

Not many. Metal Gear 1 and 2 are surprisingly smooth operators even today. The visuals hold up pretty well, as they present a high level of detail for their day. If you've played the Metal Gear Solid franchise, take comfort in knowing that apart from the obvious benefits the proceeding technological advances have given, they really are the same games underneath it all, offering the same thrill of avoiding detection and some really fun boss fights.

Current Availability

Let's be clear. We're talking about the MSX games, here. If you played Metal Gear on NES, good for you, but you haven't really experienced Metal Gear. That said, MSX computers aren't exactly prevalent outside Japan or Brazil, but thanks to Kojima Productions, the original two MSX Metal Gears are readily available for just about any gamer of today. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence came packaged with a bonus disc that includes retranslated versions of the MSX Metal Gears, and these versions are also available with the edition of MGS3 packaged in the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection recently released on PS3 and XBox 360. Grab it, as it's bargain at $30 and includes a couple games that'll appear much later on in this list anyway.

If You Really Dig It 
While lots of games use stealth sequences, stealth as a sub-genre didn't really hit it big until Metal Gear Solid. Until then, there were a few sporadic releases here and there, but for the most part, Metal Gear ran a monopoly on the market until Tom Clancy showed up, with a few quite notable exceptions.

NES Metal Gears
Metal Gear (NES, 1987)
Snake's Revenge (NES, 1990)

It may have sounded like I was slamming the NES version of Metal Gear earlier, and while there's no doubt that it's inferior to Hideo Kojima's original version on MSX, it's still a legitimate classic and more than worth experiencing in its own right. That said, the game is very different from the original, to the point that it's almost unrecognizable and making it a very distinct experience. Nevertheless, this is the Metal Gear most American fans grew up with, and understandably so considering the MSX's obscurity here. The parallel team that developed the NES version of Metal Gear went on to develop a Western-market-exclusive sequel called Snake's Revenge. Snake's Revenge is often unfairly compared to Solid Snake, which actually didn't come out until later. In fact, the development of Solid Snake is SR's claim to fame, as it has been said that Kojima was inspired to make a sequel to Metal Gear only after hearing about SR. Beyond that, Snake's Revenge is a decent game, though thoroughly dumbed down from either Metal Gear experience. The NES Metal Gears are, oddly enough, less accessible these days than their once impenetrably obscure MSX counterparts. The first game is available on Wii's Virtual Console, while Snake's Revenge has never seen a rerelease and is only available on the NES.

Metal Gear Solid (PSOne, 1998)

Regardless of how strongly anyone felt about Metal Gear, be it on MSX or NES, I don't think anyone was expecting quite the game we received in 1998 in the form of Metal Gear Solid. After nearly a decade of silence, Solid Snake returned in what would be one of the most important games of the 90s, a game that would leave an immense mark upon all those that followed it. While at its heart, MGS isn't all that different from MG1 and 2, it floored the gaming community with its Hollywood blockbuster presentation, high-octane action, and overblown, twist-laden plot. Metal Gear Solid wasn't just a game, it was an event that has been galvanized in the minds of an entire generation of gamers. Copies of MGS are easily available for PSOne or through Playstation Network. The game was rereleased for Japanese PCs as Metal Gear Solid Integral, and despite the interface, this version is easily playable in the west since it uses the English voice acting tracks. MGS was also remade in the style of MGS2 as The Twin Snakes for GameCube in 2004.

Thief Series
Thief: The Dark Project (PC, 1998)
Thief II: The Metal Age (PC, 2000)
Thief: Deadly Shadows (PC/XBox, 2004)

I'm somewhat trepidatious about adding a nod to Thief here since it's so far removed from the Metal Gear experience, but at the same time, it's a pretty great series and there's not really anywhere else I can squeeze in a mention of it. As much of a fanboy of Metal Gear as I am, I can't deny that Thief outclasses the entire Metal Gear franchise in the field of stealth games. Thief is an exceptionally well-made series that is much more nuanced and serious in its approach to stealth gameplay. If you're looking for a pure adrenaline rush brought on by sneaking around in the shadows and masterfully executed infiltrations, Thief is hard to top. Sadly, getting a hold of Thief is a bit rigid, as the first two games are only available for Windows PCs and the third is available for Windows and XBox (the XBox version is supported on the 360).

WinBack (N64, 1999)

Heavily inspired by Metal Gear Solid, Koei tried to strike while the iron was hot and capitalize on the success of MGS with its own entry to the stealth espionage canon. While it has some issues, it's a pretty decent game, and it's cover-based shooting system would influence an entire generation of game development in 3rd person shooters. The game was later touched up and ported to the PS2. Also, a sequel was released in 2006 for PS2 and XBox, but the general consensus is that the sequel was a bit shit.

Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (Game Boy Color, 2000)

This is probably the most relevant recommendation for fans of the MSX Metal Gears that I can make. Ghost Babel takes the framework of the MSX games and expands on them greatly. It also has a surprisingly engaging story for a non-canon, side-story entry to the otherwise tightly-wound Metal Gear mythos. Sadly, it's never been released outside of its original handheld appearance.