Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

1990 · Stealth / Action · MSX

Overview

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990) is Hideo Kojima's Japan-only MSX2 sequel, whose radar, hearing guards and crawling set the pattern for Metal Gear Solid.

Deep Dive

In 1999 Snake infiltrates Zanzibar Land to rescue Dr. Kio Marv and destroy Metal Gear D. Guards now patrol across screens, see farther and hear gunshots and footsteps. Snake can crawl into tight spaces, and a radar shows nearby enemies until an alert switches it off. He finds that Big Boss survived the first game and must face him and Gray Fox.

Developer Story

Kojima designed and wrote it, and Konami released it on the MSX2 in Japan in July 1990. It topped MSX Magazine's best-seller list that October. Jeremy Parish later called Metal Gear Solid "basically a high-spec remake of Metal Gear 2".

Did You Know?

Kojima made it in response to Snake's Revenge, the NES sequel Konami was making for Western markets.
It had no official English release until Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence in 2006.