| Famicom Tsūshin's release schedule put the Famicom cartridge in February 1988 with its price not yet set (27 November 1987), then in late February 1988, price not yet set, with its own controller (25 December 1987). | p. 124 (image 122), release schedulep. 124 (image 122), release schedule | Magazine |
| 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. | printed p. 122 (scan image 120), Metal Gear preview | Magazine |
| The Famicom version came out in Japan on 22 December 1987, a Konami cartridge at 5,300 yen. | printed p. 122 (scan image 120), Metal Gear preview | Magazine |
| 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. | printed p. 122 (scan image 120), Metal Gear previewprinted p. 122 (scan image 120), Metal Gear previewprinted p. 122 (scan image 120), Metal Gear preview | Magazine |
| 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. | printed p. 122 (scan image 120), Metal Gear preview, deck | Magazine |
| The Famicom version opens with a stage of its own that the MSX2 original lacks. | printed p. 122 (scan image 120), screenshot captionprinted p. 122 (scan image 120), footnote | Magazine |