Metal Gear

Absolutely no lead in to:

Starring Kyle Reese! Wait...

Metal Gear is the less-known first installment that began the more well-known and acclaimed Metal Gear Solid series. It stars beloved main series protagonist Snake as an operative for Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND. Set during 1995, Snake is sent in to Outer Heaven, a well-fortified fortress established in Southern Africa, to seek out fellow agent Gray Fox, whose final transmission before contact was lost was "METAL GEAR..." It's up to Snake under the command of the legendary soldier Big Boss to infiltrate Outer Heaven, retrieve Gray Fox and decipher the meaning behind Metal Gear.

Thus began one of gaming's most influential series, though the effects would not be greatly felt until the third installment when the series transitioned into 3D with Metal Gear Solid. Regardless, Metal Gear helped establish the basic framework the series is known for: promoting sneaking to straight-up confrontation, complicated storylines and solid (HAH!) production values. Boasting a deeper narrative than most 8-bit games of the time, Metal Gear is known for its procure-on-site gameplay flow. The game teaches players to say hidden, avoiding firefights with foes and to gather most equipment during the mission, true to a stealth mission.

The game operates in Alert Phases when caught, symbolized by the now iconic "!" and accompanying sound effect. (A simple search for 'Metal Gear Alert sound' will make an excellent alarm ringtone.) When seen by the enemy, one of two symbols will sound. When a single "!" is shown, only the enemies on the current map will attack Snake, and can easily escape pursuit by exiting the current screen. If "!!" shows up, soldiers will continue to hunt Snake unless he defeats a certain amount of soldiers or change floors. The enemies also spot Snake in the four Compass Directions, cuz this is a game from 1987.

Just wait until bi-pedaled, walking nuclear-
equipped tanks running around is normal.

Along the way, Snake can rescue POWs and upgrade his Class, granting him more ammo for weapons and health. Keycards are used to progress to acquire new weapons to advance through gas chambers, dark rooms, breakable walls, etc. Another series staple, imaginative and varied bosses, also debuted here. Though not as crazy and memorable compared to their MGS counterparts, they serve their job as keycard holders and to gauge Snake's progress. The music is thumpy, the graphics are decent, and the gameplay is an adequate first step.

The gameplay, if played in reverse, will be familiar to MGS fans. The gameplay is very old-school and fringe-centric, as Metal Gear Solid fans will recognize. The Codec conversations are very vague and non-descriptive, the advice in general relies on 80's sensibilities, which means a guide may be required to fully enjoy Metal Gear. Granted, I'd imagine only curious 8-bit and Metal Gear fans would go hunt this game down to play. The story isn't as intricate as further titles, but these original MSX games are canological to the series and are an interesting look back at Metal Gear's foundations.

On its own merits, you'd be hard-pressed to find 8-bit titles this deep and expansive outside of the point-and-click genre. It helps if you're already a Metal Gear fan before diving into the series' origin, and even then you might need a guide, but as long as you realize its fringe-mentality going in, anyone could have a blast from the past. In fact, this and its sequel are definitely the reasons I even know of the MSX's existence. The NES version many of us in the States were first aware of, myself included, is in reality a very gimped version of the original classic. I never realized how different and, comparatively put, bad the game was until I played the original. The NES version isn't horrible, it's just not as good nor canological as the MSX version is.

The eponymous TX-55 Metal Gear. Fun fact: it's only fought in the
riginal MSX version! The NES got a.. supercomputer. Yeah.

The best way to play Metal Gear would definitely be on the HD Collection, which holds not only MGS2, MGS3 and Peace Walker, but also Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 as bonuses in MGS3's menu. The translation is cleaned up, meaning the hints and conversations are more clear, yet still vague. A solid first effort (c wat i did thar?) for one of my favorite series.

-Main Series-
1. Metal Gear

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Fun fact: I had never completed MG until this playthrough. I've finished the sequel, but it was nice to play this one, as I appreciate history lessons and how much better the series has evolved into.

Ciao!