Metal Gear — stories left

Kojima designed the game so that, when Snake is discovered, the gameplay changed to become a puzzle video game "like Pac-Man" (1980) where the enemy guards behave like Pac-Man ghosts that Snake needs to avoid.

Masahiro Ueno, who worked as a programmer for the NES version, has stated that the staff who worked on the port were given a three-month deadline and were ordered to make the port as different as possible from the MSX2 version.

They stated that the "initial impression of disdain at this non too-impressively animated macho man may rapidly change on delving deeper.

They praised the graphics and the size of the game area, underlining the fact that it ensured "the action and suspense never wanes".

They concluded positively on the quality of the game, saying that if "this standard of Konami software is maintained then maybe more people will think hard about joining the other 200,000 MSX owners".

They noted that there was no information regarding the game's Japanese author at the time, but stated that "whoever they may be they certainly seem to know their business.

Game Players reviewed the NES and Commodore versions, stating Metal Gear "out-Rambos" Rambo and is a "fearsomely challenging" game that "takes place in an elaborate maze-like setting and has plenty of room for strategy as well as stamina.

Computer Gaming World also reviewed the NES version, praising its "strong concept" but stating it was "something less than a total success".

They called the graphics "acceptable" and praised how it requires the "player to acquire newer, deadlier technology through the course of a game" but criticized the control system and the player's great vulnerability when unarmed at the start of the game.

They nonetheless stated that Metal Gear "shows great promise for future Ultra Games entries" as it "attempts to move beyond the standard run/jump/shoot format" of most NES games, concluding the game to be "a potential super-hit that, unfortunately, is sabotaged by its own weaknesses".

Splinter Cell and Far Cry 2 designer Clint Hocking stated that every stealth-action game "owes its existence to the success of Metal Gear" and that, "Without Metal Gear, there would be no stealth games.

In 2008 it was recognised in Guinness World Records "GAMER'S EDITION 2008" as "the first video game to fully incorporate stealth elements".

The original plan aimed at a game along the lines of "blasting away at enemies as you advance", but the MSX2 was not a machine of very high performance as a game console to begin with. Its sprite function alone could not display a large number of enemy shots on screen, so an action game that had to handle many operations at high speed could not be developed.

Originally released in Japan and parts of Europe in July 1987, it is the first mainline game in the Metal Gear series, the fifth chronologically, and the first video game developed by Hideo Kojima.

This was the first version of Metal Gear that was released in North America, since the MSX2 platform was never released in that market.

Its success led to the creation of two separately produced sequels; the first one, Snake's Revenge, was produced specifically for the NES in North America and Europe in 1990 and the other, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, was the sequel developed by Hideo Kojima and released in Japan for the MSX2 during the same year as a response to the former's creation.

The port to the FC (the NES outside Japan) was developed by a team devoted to the FC, and Hideo Kojima was not involved at all.

The packaging illustration used for the retail releases of the game, drawn by Akira Nishimura (a freelance artist who drawn the key artwork for other Konami titles such as Gradius, Castlevania and the Japanese version of Contra), depicts the protagonist Solid Snake holding a gun right next to the titular Metal Gear weapon itself.

This was followed by an English localization for the Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES) released in North America in June 1988 (published by Konami's Ultra Games division) and in Europe and Australia sometime in 1989.

The game book Bishoku Club Bakage Senka Gaiden: Nazo no Game Makyo 3 (2002, Kill Time Communication) gave it a personal rating of 70 out of 100. It pointed out that "at the time of the first game, perhaps because the content was too novel, it had not yet become much of a topic", and it also rated the game positively, saying the MSX version was more polished than the Family Computer version.

In the "Cross Review" feature of the magazine Famitsu,the game scored a total of 24 out of 40. In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by Family Computer Magazine,it scored 18.19 out of 30.

This was the first version of Metal Gear that was released in North America, since the MSX2 platform was never released in that market.

It was canceled on June 3, 2014.

They praised the graphics and the size of the game area, underlining the fact that it ensured "the action and suspense never wanes".

They called the graphics "acceptable" and praised how it requires the "player to acquire newer, deadlier technology through the course of a game" but criticized the control system and the player's great vulnerability when unarmed at the start of the game.

The MSX2 also had limited scrolling capabilities, which made it difficult to produce a smooth scrolling shooter, like Konami's arcade hit Scramble (1981).

Metal Gear was originally released on the MSX2 home computer in Japan on July 13, 1987, with an English version released in Europe during the same year.

The MSX2 version of Metal Gear was ranked on MSX Magazines top 20 best selling MSX games in Japan for five months, debuting at no. 4 on the October 1987 issue and peaking at no. 3 the following month.