Many people all over the world are being changed by the growing popularity of Metal Gear Solid. Any fan will tell you that there is more to the series than meets the eye. Metal Gear Solid (1996) made the Debut on Playstation, starting the success of the series. Afterward, more gaes were released in addition to it. What a handful of people DON'T know is that "Metal Gear" was actually the 1st game in the series.

WARNING: I have not played through the entire game, but I still know just about what happens. Most players of Metal Gear Solid will know what happens as well, because they can read summaries of the events. If you are new to the series you may want to stop reading. If you start from here in the series, it may be "okay," but you will hear most of the storyline. It is probably easiest if you begin with MGS anyway.

Overview

Metal Gear was the first game to introduce the concept of Sneaking over Fighting. It was released on the MSX, which unfortunately was a computer only sold in Japan. For Europe and the U.S., A ported version was made for the Nintendo Entertainment System. However, the NES remake is much different. The only thing similar is plot and gameplay. Everything else is quite different. Metal Gear was not as popular in its time, but hopefully with the growing interest of people in the series it will be re-released fully ported and translated to new systems.

Story

In a word, simple. The beginning of the game introduces that Solid Snake, a rookie agent of FOX-HOUND, must infiltrate the enemy fortress "Outer Heaven". He must first rescue FOX-HOUND agent Grey Fox, who was sent in earlier but captured. His last transmission was "Metal Gear...." The commander of FOX-HOUND, codenamed Big Boss, instructs Snake to infiltrate and destroy Metal Gear. From here on, Snake sneaks past enemies and battles henchmen, until he destroys the Supercomputer controlling Metal Gear. He then Discovers Big Boss was the real person behind Outer Heaven. He used Snake to come back with False information, but instead underestimated him. Big Boss set the self-destruct on outer heaven, but Snake escapes.

Gameplay

Gamers will find it is quite annoying to go into another area and be spotted by a guard. I find it hard too, especialy because playing Metal Gear Solid games first. You can see little story, but plenty of action. I wish it were a little better, but it's a pretty simple game. If you enter alert mode, you can either leave the area or kill all the enemies after you. I wish there were more, but all you really can do is punch and shoot weapons. Controls take some getting used to, but aren't too hard once you know them. It isn't as fun or me, because I can't save the game. The emulator I use doesn't support tape-emulation needed to save the game. Other emulators can, but the sound support is terrible.

Music

The music is very nice. If you've played VR Missions of MGS Integral or the Playstation game VR Missions, you will recognise some of the music. VR Missions featured Remixed music of the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Some of the tracks here were not used, but still sound good. I admit some of the music can lack, but most of it fits well. The Alert music is well done, and some people actually get into alert mode to listen to the music. If you like it, you can get the CD "Metal Gear >> Solid Snake" Which features remixed sounds. Otherwise you have to rip them yourself.

Availability

Yes, I am serious. The game was ported only to the NES, but if you want to play it, you can get the ROM file from MGS online. The actual site with the downloads is here. You can download both Metal Gear versions (MSX and NES) and the two sequals (Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake and Snake's Revenge). If you have any questions you can read the Rom FAQ at MGS online or Email me.

Recap

Okay, Metal Gear wasn't the best. It had some special parts to it, but it wasn't the best Metal Gear game there is. I found little dialogue, and a lack of plot twists (Okay, there was the big one at the end, but what else?). I think the music was well-done, and the graphics were fair. Other than that, the game was just about normal.

Final Score: 9/10

Official/Unofficial links:

Guide Entry links: