Metal Gear (history and reception)

Konami's MSX2 original came out in Japan in 1987, at 5,800 yen. Famicom Tsūshin covered it in its issue of 30 October 1987 and wrote in late November that it had come out about half a year earlier. metal-gear-history/release-msx2

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The Famicom version came out in Japan on 22 December 1987, a Konami cartridge at 5,300 yen. metal-gear-history/release-famicom

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The NES version came out in North America in June 1988, published by Ultra Software Corporation under its Ultra Games label; the manual credits the Metal Gear trademark to Konami. metal-gear-history/release-na

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Ultra Software Corporation was a wholly owned but independent subsidiary of Konami that held its own Nintendo license. Computer Entertainer named Metal Gear one of Ultra's first two titles in January 1988 and, in August 1988, called it the first Nintendo game from Ultra Games. metal-gear-history/ultra

Computer Entertainer's May 1988 note on Ultra's first games (computer-entertainer-7-2, p. 1) called Metal Gear "based on a Konami coin-op game"; the Japanese magazines of 1987 describe an MSX2 game ported to the Famicom.

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In the North American NES manual, Colonel Vermon CaTaffy has taken control of Outer Heaven, a small nation on the outskirts of South Africa, and built a super weapon called Metal Gear; the player is Solid Snake of Fox Hound, sent to find and destroy it. The manual makes Snake a Marine recruited after the Grenada invasion, and his contact at headquarters is Commander South. metal-gear-history/premise-us

Japanese coverage of the Famicom version tells the story differently (premise-japan).

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Japanese coverage of the Famicom version tells a different story: Outer Heaven is an armed fortress state that a heroic mercenary built in the depths of South Africa, Solid Snake is a new recruit sent in to find comrades who have gone missing, and the voice on his radio is the commander-in-chief, Big Boss. metal-gear-history/premise-japan

The North American manual instead makes Snake a decorated Marine and names his contact Commander South (premise-us).

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Famicom Tsūshin presented the Famicom version as a "tactical RPG and adventure", a new genre, and as the hugely popular MSX2 game reborn on the Famicom; its 25 December 1987 issue ran a guide to it, to be continued in the next. metal-gear-history/genre-japan

The magazine prints the genre name in quotation marks.

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The Famicom version opens with a stage of its own that the MSX2 original lacks. metal-gear-history/famicom-opening

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Famicom Tsūshin's October 1987 page on the MSX2 game presented it as more than an action game: Snake goes into the enemy base without weapons, keeps out of the enemy's sight, gets information from allies over the radio, and does best to find Metal Gear quietly, without being noticed. metal-gear-history/msx2-stealth

The page is unsigned and gives no score.

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On the NES, Outer Heaven holds five fortified strongholds of one to three floors, linked by elevators, each surrounded by guards whom Snake has to slip past without setting off hidden alarms. Weapons and equipment are found in enemy trucks and storehouses or taken from certain enemies, and rescued hostages give clues to where Metal Gear is. metal-gear-history/structure

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Rescuing a set number of prisoners promotes Snake, and each rise in rank raises his Vital Sign; a hostage killed demotes him at once. Rank shows as stars, and 4 stars is the highest rank in Fox Hound. metal-gear-history/rank

The manual names the top rank "The Honor of Royal Dragoon". The Vital Sign is the life gauge, which promotions and rations raise.

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A flashing Call Sign on the NES screen means the commander is calling, and Snake answers on his transceiver, the only link to the outside world, which needs its frequency set right to send or receive. metal-gear-history/transceiver

The manual adds that even on the right frequency the Commander may not answer ("out to lunch").

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Snake punches with B and collects weapons, among them a handgun, a submachine gun, plastic explosives, a remote-control missile, mines, and a silencer, and equipment from body armor and a gas mask to keycards numbered 1 to 8, each opening the door with its number. Weapons and equipment are chosen on a sub-screen opened with Select. metal-gear-history/arms

The manual spells the handgun "Baretta" and gives body armor as halving enemy damage. Its p. 9 also lists grenade and rocket launchers, which the text layer garbles.

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The NES version saves progress with a password, shown on the transceiver when the player ends a game, which returns Snake to the same place in Outer Heaven. metal-gear-history/password

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Nintendo Power's January/February 1989 issue gave the NES version a feature. It opens on Agent Grey Fox's last message, "Metal Gear", before he went silent, and praises guards who patrol rooms and see in the direction they face, so the player can sneak up behind them. metal-gear-history/np-feature

The feature runs on printed pp. 74–77.

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Computer Entertainer's August 1988 review of the NES version gave it 3½ of 4 stars for graphics and 3½ for play, and recommended it. It found the game more than point-and-shoot, needing strategic planning and careful thought; its one small complaint was the blank screen of a couple of seconds between areas. metal-gear-history/computer-entertainer-review

{
 "review": "Computer Entertainer",
 "of": 4,
 "scores": {
  "graphics": 3.5,
  "game play": 3.5
 }
}

The review is unsigned.

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Famicom Tsūshin's four reviewers scored the Famicom version 6, 6, 7, and 5 of 10, 24 of 40. One found it a game of endurance rather than exhilaration, since Snake can't attack early on; another found its small devices elaborate and fresh; a third was relieved that a war game doesn't aim at killing and liked the radio and the trucks; the fourth called it a war action game in the line of Green Beret, at heart a game of tag played so the enemy doesn't find you, and judged the MSX2 version better made. metal-gear-history/famitsu

Value: review Famitsu · of 10 · reviewers 6, 6, 7, 5

The scores are the large numerals printed behind each reviewer's box. By the portraits on p. 18, the reviewers in order are 東府屋ファミ坊, 水野店長, 森下万里子, and ガスコン金矢.

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Nintendo Power's Top 30 put the NES version third in its November/December 1988 issue, eighth in January/February 1989, and 23rd in March/April 1989. metal-gear-history/chart-nintendo-power

The Top 30 ranks games by points; it is a poll, not a sales chart.

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Computer Entertainer's Top Fifteen Videogames list had the NES version 10th in September 1988, 7th in October, and 5th in November. metal-gear-history/chart-computer-entertainer

In October 1988 Computer Entertainer reported that Konami would convert Metal Gear, with Castlevania and Life Force, from the NES to MS-DOS, Commodore, and Amiga computers within several months. metal-gear-history/computer-ports

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In November 1997 Electronic Gaming Monthly's 100th issue put the NES Metal Gear on its list of the 100 best games, calling it "one of the most innovative games ever". metal-gear-history/egm-100

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