Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Released for the NES in North America in 1988, Metal Gear was developed and published by Konami under its Ultra Games label. Based on Hideo Kojima’s 1987 MSX2 original, the NES adaptation was produced by a different team without Kojima’s direct involvement and significantly redesigns the game. The result is an imperfect but historically important action-adventure that introduced many Western players to Solid Snake and the concept of stealth-based gameplay.
Rating: 7/10
Metal Gear immediately distinguishes itself from most late-1980s action games by encouraging you not to fight. Solid Snake infiltrates the military fortress of Outer Heaven with almost no equipment, and guards patrol each area according to predictable lines of sight. Being spotted raises the alarm and brings additional enemies, so observing patrols, slipping through blind spots and avoiding unnecessary confrontation is usually the safest approach.
It was an unusually sophisticated idea for an NES game. Although Snake eventually acquires pistols, machine guns, explosives and other weapons, equipment is just as important. Gas masks protect against poisoned rooms, infrared goggles reveal otherwise invisible hazards, binoculars let you inspect nearby screens, and the famous cardboard box can provide temporary concealment.
Progression revolves around exploration. Rescuing prisoners increases Snake's rank, boosting his maximum health and ammunition capacity, while keycards gradually unlock additional parts of the fortress. Radio conversations through the transceiver provide hints, mission updates and story development without interrupting the basic structure of the game.
Unfortunately, some of these systems have aged poorly. The most notorious is the keycard system. Doors require specific numbered cards, forcing you to repeatedly enter the inventory and cycle through them until you find the correct one. Later areas contain enough locked doors that this becomes tedious rather than challenging.
Enemy placement can also undermine the stealth mechanics. Moving onto a new screen sometimes places Snake directly within a guard's vision, triggering an alarm before you have a realistic opportunity to react. Enemies respawn after screen transitions, and certain traps, hidden passages and maze sequences rely heavily on trial and error. Playing completely blind can therefore become frustrating.
Difficulty is inconsistent as well. The opening portion is surprisingly punishing when Snake has little health, few weapons and limited supplies. Once several prisoners have been rescued and the inventory fills with equipment and rations, much of the middle and later game becomes considerably easier.
Where the NES version becomes especially controversial is in how dramatically it changes the MSX2 original. The opening infiltration is relocated to a jungle, large sections of Outer Heaven are redesigned, and several encounters are altered. Most famously, despite the game's title and constant references to the weapon, Snake never actually confronts the Metal Gear machine itself. The final objective instead involves destroying the supercomputer controlling it.
This makes the NES release a strange adaptation. The core ideas survived, but much of Kojima's original structure did not. The MSX2 version is consequently the more coherent and definitive interpretation.
Presentation is functional rather than spectacular. Character sprites are small and animation is limited, but guards, cameras, doors and environmental hazards are usually easy to identify. The military environments have an appropriately muted look, while the soundtrack creates a surprisingly effective sense of tension. The alert music in particular makes being detected feel immediately dangerous.
The English localization is considerably less polished. Metal Gear became famous for awkward lines such as "I feel asleep!!" and "The truck have started to move!" While these mistakes have become charming pieces of gaming history, unclear dialogue occasionally makes already cryptic objectives harder to understand.
Despite these shortcomings, Metal Gear remains impressive for what it attempted. In an era dominated by straightforward platformers and shooters, it offered infiltration, exploration, inventory management, rescuing hostages, radio communication and a surprisingly elaborate military storyline.
The MSX2 original is the better Metal Gear, but the NES adaptation remains worthwhile on its own merits. Its uneven difficulty, tedious keycards and occasionally unfair enemy placement prevent it from being an unquestioned classic, yet its core stealth mechanics still provide genuinely satisfying moments. As both an ambitious 8-bit adventure and an important step toward one of gaming's most influential series, Metal Gear is flawed, fascinating and still enjoyable today.
Released for the NES in North America in 1988, Metal Gear was developed and published by Konami under its Ultra Games label. Based on Hideo Kojima’s 1987 MSX2 original, the NES adaptation was produced by a different team without Kojima’s direct involvement and significantly redesigns the game. The result is an imperfect but historically important action-adventure that introduced many Western players to Solid Snake and the concept of stealth-based gameplay.
Rating: 7/10
Metal Gear immediately distinguishes itself from most late-1980s action games by encouraging you not to fight. Solid Snake infiltrates the military fortress of Outer Heaven with almost no equipment, and guards patrol each area according to predictable lines of sight. Being spotted raises the alarm and brings additional enemies, so observing patrols, slipping through blind spots and avoiding unnecessary confrontation is usually the safest approach.
It was an unusually sophisticated idea for an NES game. Although Snake eventually acquires pistols, machine guns, explosives and other weapons, equipment is just as important. Gas masks protect against poisoned rooms, infrared goggles reveal otherwise invisible hazards, binoculars let you inspect nearby screens, and the famous cardboard box can provide temporary concealment.
Progression revolves around exploration. Rescuing prisoners increases Snake's rank, boosting his maximum health and ammunition capacity, while keycards gradually unlock additional parts of the fortress. Radio conversations through the transceiver provide hints, mission updates and story development without interrupting the basic structure of the game.
Unfortunately, some of these systems have aged poorly. The most notorious is the keycard system. Doors require specific numbered cards, forcing you to repeatedly enter the inventory and cycle through them until you find the correct one. Later areas contain enough locked doors that this becomes tedious rather than challenging.
Enemy placement can also undermine the stealth mechanics. Moving onto a new screen sometimes places Snake directly within a guard's vision, triggering an alarm before you have a realistic opportunity to react. Enemies respawn after screen transitions, and certain traps, hidden passages and maze sequences rely heavily on trial and error. Playing completely blind can therefore become frustrating.
Difficulty is inconsistent as well. The opening portion is surprisingly punishing when Snake has little health, few weapons and limited supplies. Once several prisoners have been rescued and the inventory fills with equipment and rations, much of the middle and later game becomes considerably easier.
Where the NES version becomes especially controversial is in how dramatically it changes the MSX2 original. The opening infiltration is relocated to a jungle, large sections of Outer Heaven are redesigned, and several encounters are altered. Most famously, despite the game's title and constant references to the weapon, Snake never actually confronts the Metal Gear machine itself. The final objective instead involves destroying the supercomputer controlling it.
This makes the NES release a strange adaptation. The core ideas survived, but much of Kojima's original structure did not. The MSX2 version is consequently the more coherent and definitive interpretation.
Presentation is functional rather than spectacular. Character sprites are small and animation is limited, but guards, cameras, doors and environmental hazards are usually easy to identify. The military environments have an appropriately muted look, while the soundtrack creates a surprisingly effective sense of tension. The alert music in particular makes being detected feel immediately dangerous.
The English localization is considerably less polished. Metal Gear became famous for awkward lines such as "I feel asleep!!" and "The truck have started to move!" While these mistakes have become charming pieces of gaming history, unclear dialogue occasionally makes already cryptic objectives harder to understand.
Despite these shortcomings, Metal Gear remains impressive for what it attempted. In an era dominated by straightforward platformers and shooters, it offered infiltration, exploration, inventory management, rescuing hostages, radio communication and a surprisingly elaborate military storyline.
The MSX2 original is the better Metal Gear, but the NES adaptation remains worthwhile on its own merits. Its uneven difficulty, tedious keycards and occasionally unfair enemy placement prevent it from being an unquestioned classic, yet its core stealth mechanics still provide genuinely satisfying moments. As both an ambitious 8-bit adventure and an important step toward one of gaming's most influential series, Metal Gear is flawed, fascinating and still enjoyable today.
