Gamertell

I can’t wait for my copy of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots but I don’t want to say goodbye to elite agent Solid Snake, whom we’ve grown to love while following his adventures.

We pray that rumors of an end are not true and continue to pose theories about why the series could never end.  Even so, as a preemptive memorial to help cope with the denial that this may be the absolute last game for Snake, here is a look at the MGS franchise.

Baby Snake: A Very Live Birth

For those who are not familiar with the Metal Gear franchise, it is a series of stealth games, created by Hideo Kojima and developed and published by Konami, that follows the mission of special forces operative Solid Snake.

The very first Metal Gear game, developed by Konami with Hideo Kojima as top designer and published by Konami for an old gaudy looking machine that looked like a typewriter called the MSX2 or Sony MSX2 home computer system in 1987. It was then re-released by Konami’s Ultra Games Division for the North American Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988 along with a version for the Commodore 64 and PC-DOS system.

Later, in 1990, a true sequel was released on the MSX2 system but Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake would only be released in Japan. But it wouldn’t be long before Metal Gear would later be transported over to the Nintendo Entertainment System where players followed a young rookie called Solid Snake who had just been recruited into an elite special forces unit called Foxhound. But soon the MSX2 system would fade out and the new NES would take over as the entertainment system of choice and the sequel to Metal Gear would be released in North America, simply titled Snake’s Revenge. But it wasn’t a true sequel, in fact, Kojima wasn’t even involved in the making of this game and was not even considered a part of the Metal Gear series. All references of this game are completely ignored in the PlayStation Adaptation of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake eight years later, even though Snake’s Revenge did inspire Kojima to create Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, according to Kojima’s interview with Gamer’s Today.com and even confirmed rumors as to where Kojima got the idea for Solid Snake, who some say looks and acts a lot like Snake Plissken from Escape from New York (pictured). It didn’t really matter where Kojima got the character idea from, it became a big seller.

In 1998, Metal Gear would find a new home adapting the sequel for the PlayStation console.

Adolescent Snake: Gathering a Group of Friends

In 1999, Metal Gear Solid was developed and released by Konami for the PlayStation console and Metal Gear Solid: Integral was developed by Digital Dialect and released by Microsoft for the PC-Windows version of the game. Both titles received an ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) rating of M for Mature. The game itself was an expansion to the original Metal Gear where the players were introduced to Dr. Hal “Otacon” Emmerich, a geeky scientist who would rather make peace than fight even though he’s in love with Sniper Wolf (who wouldn’t blink an eye to put a bullet through Snake’s head). Players would soon be introduced to a slew of characters who have either made cameo appearances in games to come or referenced to throughout the series to come. Characters such as Vulcan Raven, Revolver Ocelot, Liquid Snake (Solid Snake’s genetic twin) and Psycho Mantis to name a few. This is where you really get some of Snake’s background and gist of the real mission. In Metal Gear Solid, you learn that the Foxhound unit is a next-generation special forces unit made of genetically enhanced Soldiers ... mostly clones of the perfect soldiers the government wants to recreate. Even Snake himself is a clone according to Liquid Snake.

Also released in 1999 was Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions which basically helped build up your stealth, sneaking and fighting skills with more than 300 stage-based missions. Those who owned a PocketStation could download and play the mini-games that allowed players to control characters including Cyborg Ninja and Meryl Campbell and even got a sneak peek at trailers for Metal Gear Solid and preview artwork for Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

In 2000, Metal Gear: Ghost Babel was released for the Game Boy Color. Totally ignores the Metal Gear storyline but uses the same familiar characters found in MGS: Integral. Using 2D overhead animations, Snake must infiltrate a base undetected with the help of Sgt. Chris Jenner, a female Delta Force agent. I managed to find a copy of this game and, believe me, it’s not easy. You can’t blend with your environment as well as you could in the current Metal Gear games. It took serious skills just to make it off the first level of the game without being spotted or caught.

In 2001, a sequel to the Metal Gear Solid series was released. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, introduces pretty boy Raiden who emerges from the ocean as Snake but had to quickly change his name to Raiden because the original Snake is rumored to be sneaking around the Big Shell tanker and may be working with the terrorists. Snake later shows up in one of the rooms as Iroquois Plissken (recognize the name?) and offers advice and tips to Raiden so he could finish his mission of locating and rescuing the President and people trapped inside the tanker.

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