What do people on here think of the NES Metal Gear games?...

[ataridave]

I've never played them, but ever since the MSX Metal Gear games have been available through Metal Gear Solid collections, I've noticed that people have been a LOT more critical of the NES Metal Gear games.

[Giltygear]

Metal Gear NES played well enough for a lot of people to like it - even if it BUTCHERED the source material.

 

Personally, I like Snake's Revenge. Konami NES soundtracks are great.

 

I think its better that Metal Gear 2 stayed in Japan - you wouldnt have been able to put that type of game on a console, even during the 16-bit days, and if it were released for DOS PCs during that time it wouldve been laughed at.

[Seob]

One of the biggest differences in the NES version is that Metal Gear isn't present to battle. Instead you have to blow up a super computer. After killing the guards it's easy to blow up, but in the MSX version you have to place charges in a specific order while being under continuing fire. Making it much harder to beat.

[+wongojack]

I played the NES game when it released. I didn't even know the MSX existed until a few years ago, so I have no comparison. I remember being disappointed with Metal Gear because of the lack of replay value. This was also the only game I ever called in and paid to get a hint for. They had to tell me that my rank was too low to progress in the game. I had to grind a little - grrr.

 

This is one of the games that actually turned me away from the NES. It was expensive and had all this great hype in Nintendo Power, but in the end, it was an unchallenging game with unfair puzzles and a cast of characters and settings that you immediately forgot about once you turned off the NES. I don't have it any more - I think I returned it, but I'm not sure what happened to it exactly.

 

I did recently purchase the Metal Gear Legacy Collection for PS3. One of the reasons I bought it was to have easy access to the MSX versions. Its in the queue . . .

[Cynicaster]

I don't know... I feel asleep.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

I have the first one and Snake's Revenge. I really like them. Snake's Revenge is my favorite. Games are very hard and challenging. Konami/Ultra have killer soundtracks on the regular NES.

[82-T/A]

I haven't heard any complaints about the newer Metal Gear games... but Metal Gear, the original on the NES, was easily one of my favorite games growing up. I bought it when I was a kid, and I LOVED it... I thought it was awesome. I liked Snake's Revenge too, but kind of felt that it wasn't as good as the original... there were some side-scroller scenes in Snake's Revenge that I just wasn't a huge fan of. What I really liked about the original Metal Gear is that it felt like it was strategy based, more than anything... even if, for the most part, you were being directed from one screen to the next.

 

I loved both those games, but I've never played any newer ones.

[CGQuarterly]

I played the first Metal Gear sometime around when it came out. I just didn't really get it. I feel like that game needs to be played with a guide, but maybe that's just a dumb 11-year-old talking. The game was so different from anything else I'd ever played at the time, that I was just confused.

 

Maybe I should give it another go? Pretty sure I have the cart...

[ataridave]

I have the first one and Snake's Revenge. I really like them. Snake's Revenge is my favorite. Games are very hard and challenging. Konami/Ultra have killer soundtracks on the regular NES.

Yeah, Konami always had great music in their NES games! Contra and Super C are both great examples of this.

[atarilovesyou]

Metal Gear was so hyped up in the mags, adverts in comics...then you played it. We rented it, had no instructions and were clueless about what to do. What good was all these cool items you could get when you were basically unarmed for such a long time? Anytime you did pull the trigger, you'd regret it. We played it a lot that weekend; along with Rambo and Double Dragon. But once we figured out the key card thing, we had to bring it back. There was a lot of game left to play, of course.

 

The game was really a computer type game that I'm sure was a far better experience on the MSX. Had we not gotten the butchered version, it could have been a masterpiece. I remember being really let down by the whole lack of Metal Gear, the robot, at the end. I don't even think the MSX version had that, but what got me interested in the Metal Gear series was when Metal Gear Solid was released for Playstation.

 

THEN, and only then, did I realize what the original Metal Gear was trying to do, and it's importance to the stealth genre. Teen-me wanted those guns to blow the shit outta the enemies. MG wanted me to sneak around. The very concept was novel...but it wouldn't have been, had I had access to the all important map that came with the game, and...if I had played games like Castle Wolfenstein back on the Apple 2.

 

Metal Gear, if there was a way to get the extras added back in, would be great. It's basically the same story as the Playstation version, even a lot of the same characters. I look at it now with a lot different expectations.

 

The sequel was, from what I recall, kinda bunk. The side-scrolling action sequences...meh. But we still had fun with it.

 

There was a Metal Gear 2 that was released for MSX, though, I think. That game looked fantastic, and I think there's a rom of it somewhere for the NES. I might be wrong. Satoshi Matrix had something to say about it a few years ago, which got me back into the series.

 

Anyways, just make sure you have the map and instructions and you should be ok. It's not going to blow your mind, but you should have some fun.

[BassGuitari]

Metal Gear on NES is a pretty good game, but you'll need a strategy guide. I played through it once and that was enough for me; these kinds of games get tedious for me after a while.

Snake's Revenge is a decent game in and of itself, but it's kind of strange and IIRC isn't even canon in the Metal Gear/Solid lineage. I understand Metal Gear fans generally hate this game. I actually have a friend who is a big MGS fan who gets pissed any time I bring up Snake's Revenge (granted, I do it just to troll him) because he hates the game that much...even though he's never played it.

[Austin]

I played the first Metal Gear sometime around when it came out. I just didn't really get it. I feel like that game needs to be played with a guide, but maybe that's just a dumb 11-year-old talking. The game was so different from anything else I'd ever played at the time, that I was just confused.

 

Ditto. Never really got into it myself, I just found it confusing as a kid. That, or I didn't have the patience for it (something it did require from what I can tell). I should probably give it a try as an adult and see how it goes, but honestly I've never had the urge to.

[+jeremiahjt]

My step-brother had the first game and we beat the game together. I enjoyed it enough that I bought the sequel for myself, but I never really got into it. I seem to recall thinking it was too hard and different from the first.

 

I remember we did not write down the code for the end of the game so we had to get the code from a codebook we had. Unfortunately the code in the book was wrong, but fortunately I entered the code wrong and it actually worked the way it was supposed to.

[+thegoldenband]

One of the first two NES games I owned, along with Castlevania, and IIRC it was one of the first ones I beat too. I don't remember if I used a strategy guide or Nintendo Power, but I probably had at least some help.

 

I enjoyed it quite a bit at the time, and I think the stealth-oriented gameplay felt familiar and comfortable, though I'm not sure how: maybe there's something in a VCS game I played, like the spider scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark? Whatever it was, it made sense to me.

 

Not sure what I'd think of the game now, but since then I've played tons of NES games with weaker presentation and design, so I'm sure it holds up well next to the likes of Platoon and Total Recall.

 

Oh, and I've never really played Snake's Revenge. I should give it a shot sometime.

[high voltage]

Played it through on NES with my mate, swapping controllers/advice, it was fun.

Great game.

[carlsson]

There was a Metal Gear 2 that was released for MSX, though, I think.

Absolutely. It is called Solid Snake - Metal Gear 2: http://www.generation-msx.nl/software/konami/solid-snake---metal-gear-2/release/1248/

 

According to Wikipedia, Solid Snake for MSX2 was released in Japan only a few months after Snake's Revenge and Kojima developed his sequel after he found out the NES game was about to be made. Later on Kojima has admitted it to be faithful to the MG concept.

[Eltigro]

One of my best birthdays ever.

 

We had recently been victim to a house fire (that destroyed my beloved Atari 2600) and were living with my grandmother. I had rented NES systems before (remember when you could rent systems?) and loved the games. I finally got my own on what was probably about my 12th or 13th birthday. I got an NES (with SMB/Duck Hunt), Castlevania, 1943, and some game called Metal Gear. I had played all the other games before and liked them. I had never even heard of Metal Gear. I didn't get past the first building before giving up. I was stuck. I let a friend from school borrow it and about a week later, he returned it saying he had beaten it. Apparently, the TV I was playing it on (an old crappy black and white that I nicknamed Bert) was stretching the screen out vertically just enough that I couldn't see a door on the bottom of the screen that led to the elevator. From that point, it took me about a week or so to reach the end. (I just had to keep checking the walls on the bottom of the screen for doors. Damn you, Bert.)

 

But enough about that...

 

As far as the game goes, I really did enjoy it and still think it's a pretty good game. There are a few grammar mistakes (the infamous "I feel asleep" and "The truck have started to move.") but it wasn't that uncommon for these to be in games back then. There was so much to find and explore with a little backtracking. Using items from an invenory, waiting on guards to leave or turn around... it was a pretty fun game. I don't know how it compares to the MSX version, but I've watched videos of that version and it seems very similar as far as gameplay goes. Although there may be differences in item location or end boss battles or whatnot, overall, it's very similar.

 

I played Snake's Revenge when it came out, but I never really liked it as much. Not sure why. I just couldn't get into it and never got that far into the game.

[ataridave]

One of my best birthdays ever.

 

We had recently been victim to a house fire (that destroyed my beloved Atari 2600) and were living with my grandmother. I had rented NES systems before (remember when you could rent systems?) and loved the games. I finally got my own on what was probably about my 12th or 13th birthday. I got an NES (with SMB/Duck Hunt), Castlevania, 1943, and some game called Metal Gear. I had played all the other games before and liked them. I had never even heard of Metal Gear. I didn't get past the first building before giving up. I was stuck. I let a friend from school borrow it and about a week later, he returned it saying he had beaten it. Apparently, the TV I was playing it on (an old crappy black and white that I nicknamed Bert) was stretching the screen out vertically just enough that I couldn't see a door on the bottom of the screen that led to the elevator. From that point, it took me about a week or so to reach the end. (I just had to keep checking the walls on the bottom of the screen for doors. Damn you, Bert.)

 

But enough about that...

 

As far as the game goes, I really did enjoy it and still think it's a pretty good game. There are a few grammar mistakes (the infamous "I feel asleep" and "The truck have started to move.") but it wasn't that uncommon for these to be in games back then. There was so much to find and explore with a little backtracking. Using items from an invenory, waiting on guards to leave or turn around... it was a pretty fun game. I don't know how it compares to the MSX version, but I've watched videos of that version and it seems very similar as far as gameplay goes. Although there may be differences in item location or end boss battles or whatnot, overall, it's very similar.

 

I played Snake's Revenge when it came out, but I never really liked it as much. Not sure why. I just couldn't get into it and never got that far into the game.

 

Yeah, people seem to rant too much (AFIK) about the Engrish in Metal Gear. Not to get too off-topic, but even though I'm no "graphics whore", I would love to see Metal Gear Solid redone in HD. AFIK, the Gamecube port is the best-looking one.

[Cynicaster]

I remember there was this neighborhood kid who really wanted to trade us for one of our games (can't remember which one), and the only thing he had to offer in return was Metal Gear. I remember quickly trying Metal Gear and thinking to myself, "what the hell am I doing here?" Ultimately I agreed to the trade, mostly out of pity, because I was not intrigued by my quick trial of the game.

 

But, as things tended to go back then, I played the game because it was available. I started to enjoy it and actually managed to finish the game before returning it to its rightful owner.

 

I was in little league baseball at the time. I remember one summer evening at baseball practice we were doing some infield ground ball drills and such; I was at shortstop and this kid Shawn was at third. We were close enough that we were able to talk to each other, and I remember spending the whole practice picking his brain about how to get through the end of Metal Gear. That night I vaguely remember him explaining some "trick" that you can use to take a short-cut to what I think was the final boss. Something weird, like you go off the screen and then press some button combo. I went home that night and tried it, and it worked. It was about 25 years ago so I really can't remember the details.

 

tl;dr version: I really enjoyed the game at the time, but I think it's one of those games that, for me, is just best left in the past. I can't see myself getting into something like that now.

[asponge]

I played the first Metal Gear sometime around when it came out. I just didn't really get it. I feel like that game needs to be played with a guide, but maybe that's just a dumb 11-year-old talking. The game was so different from anything else I'd ever played at the time, that I was just confused.

 

Maybe I should give it another go? Pretty sure I have the cart...

 

I really enjoyed playing through the game as a kid, but I also had the articles from Nintendo Power at the time. About six months ago I replayed this for the first time in about 25 years. It had been on my list for a while. I think it was definitely worth playing again. My thirty-something year old self had a much easier time with it than my 12 year old self. You should give it another whirl.

[Rhomaios]

Metal Gear Solid was amazing, and still is. It and VR Missions I played the hell out of back in the day. When I got to Metal Gear Solid 2, while I beat it, I hated it. I only then went back to play the NES games, and though I'm more an 8bit gamer than a modern gamer, I just couldn't get into them. I waited a couple years and tried again, and I still am not a fan. I don't know what exactly it is about them, but they do nothing for me. Recently they went on the chopping block. Only the two PS1 games I've decided to keep. The rest of the series is too unappealing or too bizarre for me to want to play.

[Giltygear]

Metal Gear Solid was amazing, and still is. It and VR Missions I played the hell out of back in the day. When I got to Metal Gear Solid 2, while I beat it, I hated it. I only then went back to play the NES games, and though I'm more an 8bit gamer than a modern gamer, I just couldn't get into them. I waited a couple years and tried again, and I still am not a fan. I don't know what exactly it is about them, but they do nothing for me. Recently they went on the chopping block. Only the two PS1 games I've decided to keep. The rest of the series is too unappealing or too bizarre for me to want to play.

 

Metal Gear 4LYFE

[7800fan]

I remember playing Metal Gear the first time. I had the instruction book and the fold out map to help with but it was still meh for some parts. And very anti-climatic when all I had to do was to blow up a computer to finish the game.

[Lost Dragon]

Dabbled with the MSX games back when i 1st had my Dreamcast as mate gave me a MSX Emulator disc, but never gave them much, if any real playtime as after PSone MGS...well, just was'nt going to happen, was it?.

But, having said that, i did pick up the GBC game, Babel (off top of my head) put some time in with that, liked it, seemed ideally suited to handheld play, but for whatever reason, put it in a drawer somewhere, from the drawer it and GBC got boxed up, never been taken out since.

[Gabriel]

I never heard anything good about it back in the NES days. When people mentioned it, they referred to it as one of those games they rented and felt they wasted their money because it was so bad.

 

Then during the PS1 era Metal Gear Solid came along. I remember how big the magazines hyped the thing. I also remember the same exact people who had said the NES game was horrible suddenly remembered some alternate reality where the game was a classic which they loved playing.

 

That was the moment I realized the power of the videogame press on the casual gamer.