Metal Gear (MSX2) Playthrough

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Published on September 1, 2023 7:34:46 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVqZ4YMV2wE

Game:

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 1:44:57

3,630 views

182

A playthrough of Konami's 1987 action-adventure game for MSX2 computers, Metal Gear.

This playthrough is of the original PAL-exclusive English version.

Metal Gear for the MSX2 line of home computers was the first entry in Konami's long-running "tactical stealth action" series that now spans nearly two dozen titles, and it was the first game to be produced under the direction of Hideo Kojima.

The 1988 million-selling NES adaptation (https://youtu.be/kQkITK5zCrg) was the series' first point of contact for much of the western world, but the English version of the MSX2 game, sold only in Europe, predates the North American NES release by a full year.

Though the NES game is often celebrated as a classic in its own right, it deviates from the design blueprint of the MSX2 original in some important ways, and as such, it's rarely considered the definitive way to experience Metal Gear.

I already spoke about the core game at length in my review of the NES version (linked above), so please check that out if you'd like a general overview.

As for the major differences between the two:

-The layout of the game world and the order in which events take place is different between games. For example, the MSX2 game begins with Snake entering Building 1 from an underwater channel, while the NES game has Snake making his way to Building 1 after parachuting into the jungle. In another example, following the rooftop boss battle, Snake parachutes into a courtyard to continue his search for Dr. Petrovich on the MSX2, whereas on the NES, he merely enters a door behind the boss.

-On the MSX2, when Snake is spotted, there are two distinct alert states. If a single exclamation point appears above a guard's head, enemies will stop coming for you once you've left the screen, like on the NES. If two exclamation points appear, enemies will pursue you across multiple screens, and the alert won't end until you evaded them long enough for the cooldown timer to run down.

-The state of a screen's enemies and hazards reset whenever you use the transceiver, the binoculars, or enter the menu screen on the NES. This is not an issue on the MSX2.

-There are differences in the boss battles between games. Most notably, on the MSX2, Snake fights a Hind D instead of a pair of machine gunners on the roof of Building 1, and he has to destroy Metal Gear itself in the finale.

-The graphics are generally much nicer on the MSX2. The backgrounds are better detailed, there's a better use of color, and you can see Snake's face on the transceiver screen. The NES version looks better in the outdoor areas, though. The NES game's soundtrack also sports more variety and arguably sounds better overall. ("Theme of Tara" is a fine track, but you hear it waaaay too often on the MSX2!)

-The placement of enemies in the MSX2 version changes based on which direction you enter a screen from, so you're far less likely to trigger an alert the instant you enter a new area.

-The MSX2 version features a save option instead of relying on passwords like the NES one, but with one major caveat: it only saves to cassette tape. There is, however, an unofficial patch that enables support for floppy disks, though the patch increases the game's base memory requirements.

Finally, it should be noted that a lot of text is missing from the English version of the game. Over a third of the Japanese game's tranceiver messages were cut in order to make the translated version fit on a 128K cartridge. Nothing that's crucial to the gameplay is missing, but it is a shame that they decided to sacrifice content instead of shipping the international version on a larger ROM.

But regardless, if you're a Metal Gear fan, the MSX2 game is worth checking out. The NES game was great, but this one is unquestionably the better of the two.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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