It’s about damn time that I got around to playing Solid Snake’s original adventures, Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake for the MSX system. I don’t actually have an MSX, obviously. By now those things are harder to find than God, and a working one with legitimate Metal Gear 1 and 2 Cartridges would likely cost a fortune. No, I didn’t bother tracking them down, but what I did do is download fMSX for the PSP. The fMSX is a software emulator designed to play MSX computer games. I downloaded MG 1 and 2 despite the fact that I actually do own both of them due to having the Persistence disc of the MGS 3 Subsistence edition. Let’s just say that playing those type of games on a big TV screen just isn’t my thing. I prefer them on a portable system. Actually, I’d prefer all my games on handheld devices, but that’s another topic for another day.
Let’s get down to it.
Metal Gear 1:

The Story
The year is 1995 and the United States received information that a Metal Gear was being produced within Outer Heaven. In response, the High Tech Special Forces Unit: Fox Hound, led by Big Boss, sent agent Gray Fox. Some time after he successfully penetrated the fortress’ outer walls, contact with Gray Fox ceased. His final transmission was, “Metal Gear”. Big Boss then sent in rookie agent, Solid Snake. His mission was to rescue Gray Fox and find out whether or not the enemy had a Metal Gear, and destroy it if they did.
Gameplay:
Compared to other games in the series, Metal Gear 1 is pretty simple. Solid Snake doesn’t have any neat tricks here. All he has are his guns, and a punch that comes in handy. Of course, there are also a nice array of gadgets, but he isn’t able to crawl, or make noise to attract enemies.
The bosses in Metal Gear are straightforward. None too challenging, although I do remember having a bit of a rough time against the Bulldozer. This giant machine is just coming towards you, and you have to throw bombs at it in rapid succession. I think ten was the number of hits it required to fall, but I was having a hard time getting them all in before it crushed me. Eventually though, it I destroyed it. The rest of the bosses, including Big Boss, were also extremely easy. It’s also nice to see that many of the bosses in recent MGS games have been around since the beginning. There’s a Tank, a Hind, and a nut case with a flamethrower. The fight against Metal Gear was pretty lame to be honest. It isn’t even activated. Your only threat comes from two cameras with death beams that kill anyone in the room. What you have to do, while avoiding the camera’s line of sight (which is incredibly easy) is plant (or throw? I forget) a crap load of bombs by Metal Gear’s legs. And they have to be planted in the correct order or else it won’t work.
I can’t say I enjoyed Metal Gear 1 all that much, though I did like it. The sneaking was pretty difficult this time around, but that was only because sometimes when you exit one screen and enter another, you’ll end up right in front of an enemy guard. It’d be almost impossible to beat the game without a guide. It was that damn confusing to me. I hardly ever knew where I was supposed to go, so I always kept a Gamefaqs tutorial handy.
Metal Gear 2 – Solid Snake:

The Story:
Well, here’s the gist from what I can recall. It was 1999 and the Cold War was over. The nuclear powers of the world had agreed to disable their nuclear weapons. Oil was at an all time low and on the verge of completely disappearing. That’s when Dr. Kio Marv developed Oilix, an algae capable of creating oil. Dr. Marv was kidnapped not long after publicizing his creation. Zanzibar Land, a country for soldiers, was soon implicated in his disappearance. Their plan was to use Oilix to become the world’s top Oil supplier, and then acquire WMDs and become the only Nuclear power. Solid Snake is then called in to fix the problem, just as he had done 4 years earlier during the Outer Heaven uprising. That’s when your mission starts.
Gameplay:
Actually, it was today, November 24 of 2011, Thanksgiving day, that I finally completed this game. It was here where many of Snakes’ trademark abilities first came to light. In Metal Gear 2, Solid Snake can punch walls to make noise and attract enemies and either lure them near his location for an easy kill, or to divert their attention elsewhere to create an opening and proceed unseen. Snake can crawl, and there is even a rather creative section in this game where you must crawl in a room full of sleeping enemy guards, to avoid walking on the noise amplifying tiles (?). It sort of reminded me of the section in MGS2‘s Tanker Chapter, where Snake had to crawl carefully to avoid being seen by the crowd of Marines. I was actually surprised at how much Metal Gear Solid 1 took from Metal Gear 2. If you’ve played MGS1, you will definitely recognize these sections:
1: Meeting a female operative in the ladies’ room.
2: A long, and I do mean long, section where you have to run up a flight of stairs while enemy troops chase you. I think this is even longer than MGS1‘s stair sequence.
3: Having to ‘cool’ and ‘heat’an object vital to the mission, so that it changes shape.
4: A fight against several armed goons in an elevator.
Some of the boss battles were challenging and fun. The first that comes to mind is The Running Man. The running man’s primary ability is his running speed, hence the name. The fight takes place in several screens as the room is quickly filling up with toxic gas. Because the Running Man is so fast, you will never be able to catch up to him. So what you have to do is equip your mines and place them in the areas that you know he will run through. But you have to be quick or else the gas will eat away your health bar until you’re dead. My personal favorite boss battle in Metal Gear 2 is the fist fight against Gray Fox. This was the most challenging moment in the game. You’re confined to a very small room full of mines. Throughout the fight, Fox will run around like a bat shit crazy idiot and try to punch you. You’ll have to run around quite a bit while being careful not to step on the mines. That’s easier said than done. Eventually, Gray Fox fell.
I’d say few of the bosses in this game were very memorable, though they may have been exciting back in 1990 when the game first released. The Hind D was disappointing, as was the fight against the supposedly super high tech mega nuke launching killer mech called Metal Gear D. I admit, I died perhaps 2 times and it was tougher than MG 1‘s Metal Gear model, but it became too easy once I figured out a sound strategy. Big Boss… oh how disappointing were thee. Wow. The supposed greatest soldier of the 20th century, The Boss’ most beloved apprentice, the man who destroyed the Cobras, killed Colonel Volgin, destroyed the Shagohod, killed The Boss, refused the DCI’s handshake and took down Peace Walker was killed by a lighter and a little fire. Fuck… You’d have to be an awfully inept gamer to lose against Big Boss in this game. He’s that easy to beat.
Yeah, I know the game is old and I should cut it some slack, but I just can’t picture Big Boss going out like that. It was just such a simple and appallingly easy fight. The Big Boss I know from Snake Eater and Peace Walker deserves better than that
If there is one thing to hate about Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear series, it’s the constant back tracking, and it is at it’s worst in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. I know you folks who played MGS 1 probably can’t believe anything is worse than having to backtrack through Metal Gear Rex’s lair several times, or having to go all the way back to the Tank hangar for the PSG1, but MG 2 beats it by a long shot. Having to go back and forth from the Tower Building to the Zanzibar Building was so frequent, that sometimes I just felt like quitting the game altogether. But alas, I stuck it through to the end and the fight against Gray Fox made it all worthwhile.