Metal Gear
Introduction
Metal Gear began life as Hideo Kojima’s directorial debut, originally released by Konami for the MSX2 computer in Japan and parts of Europe in 1987. The NES version that followed, reaching Japan in December 1987 and North America the following June through Konami’s Ultra Games label, has a notably messier history: a separate Tokyo-based Konami team was handed the MSX2 source code, reportedly without Kojima’s knowledge or consent, and rushed out a port in roughly three months with substantially reworked level layouts and other changes Kojima has publicly said he was unhappy with. Regardless of which version players encounter, the core idea was groundbreaking for its time: rather than fighting through enemies head-on, players guide covert operative Solid Snake through the fortress Outer Heaven using stealth, sneaking past or around armed guards, using disguises and items to avoid detection, and only resorting to combat when necessary, all in pursuit of shutting down the titular Metal Gear superweapon. That stealth-first, avoid-rather-than-fight approach was highly unusual for an action game in 1987 and laid the groundwork for what would eventually grow into Kojima’s long-running and hugely influential Metal Gear Solid series.
