Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is an overhead action-adventure stealth video game, with the tagline "Tactical Espionage Game", that was initially released by Konami in 1990 for the MSX2 computer platform. Metal Gear 2 would only be officially available in Japan until the North American and European release of Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence for the PlayStation 2 in 2006, which included full ports of the MSX2 Metal Gear games as additional content. It was also included in the HD remastered ports of Metal Gear Solid 3 released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PlayStation Vita and was given a stand-alone re-release in Japan as a downloadable game for mobile phones and the Wii Virtual Console.

Why It's Solid (Snake)

 * 1) Great graphics that have a much more vibrant color palette compared to the more murky look of the original.
 * 2) Good story that improves on Metal Gear 's story by having a lot more depth in both story and characters.
 * 3) Good bosses that fit in more with the kind of bosses the series would come to be known for.
 * 4) The difficulty is toned down and isn't as cryptic or unfair like the original.
 * 5) The transceiver has been greatly revamped from the first game as well. Messages the player receives are now based on their current situation and mission objective, rather than the room they're currently in, making them more dynamic. The transceiver screen now displays Snake's face as well as the face of the character he's currently communicating with.
 * 6) The game's areas are more varied than in the first game and a number of puzzles must be fulfilled to complete the game, such as luring a carrier pigeon with a ration, waiting for a female spy to enter the women's bathroom, or deciphering secret tap codes to gain vital information
 * 7) Some things require the use of an operator manual that comes with the game, which is pretty innovative for its time.
 * 8) Great soundtrack.
 * 9) The player has new maneuvers and tools to help them remain undetected. For example, the player can now kneel and crawl in addition to walking, allowing them to avoid making noise. Players can also pick up land mines and hide in tight spaces such as under desks or inside air ducts. A radar with a 3x3 grid on the upper right hand screen shows Snake's current position in the center screen (as a red dot), with enemy soldiers as white dots, allowing the player to determine what's ahead. However, the radar is disabled when the game enters Alert Mode. The radar can also be used with the mine detector equipped to determine the locations of any placed mines or fire Stinger missiles on an airborne target.
 * 10) Many weapons and equipment from the first game are brought over as well as new items such as robotic mice used to distract enemies, a camouflaged mat, and three different types of rations with their own attributes.
 * 11) The player no longer needs to rescue POWs to increase their rank; instead their life energy and carrying capacity is increased each time they defeat the game's bosses.
 * 12) This game introduces Roy Campbell and thoroughly introduces Gray Fox as an actual character instead of a minor character that only existed to give Snake intel.
 * 13) It introduces the radar, which allows you to see the enemies and their field of view. Something that would be a staple of the franchise.
 * 14) Later releases made changes to modernize the game.
 * 15) * New game modes and items - All the new game modes (Easy Mode, Boss Survival) and items (Infinite Bandana) introduced in the mobile phone version.
 * 16) * Revamped character designs - The character portraits shown in the game's Transceiver mode, as well as the opening intro and ending, were redrawn by Metal Gear Solid character designer Yoji Shinkawa. While most of the portraits in the MSX2 version resembled actual people, the portraits in the new version are brought more in line with Shinkawa's designs.
 * 17) * The text is easier to read.
 * 18) * Name changes - Some characters' names were changed or updated.
 * 19) * Modified items - Some of the items were modified, graphically and functionality, to parallel their usage in the Metal Gear Solid games:
 * 20) ** The graphical icons for each of the three ration types are now colored differently to tell them apart.
 * 21) ** Equipping the cigarettes will now drain the player's life bar. Moreover, the graphical icon was changed to no longer resemble a package of Lucky Strikes. Similarly, one of the stills in the intro of the game was edited to have the cigarette pack be of the fictional brand of "Gators" instead of "Bal Mal," presumably due to copyright issues with the real life brand Pall Mall.
 * 22) ** Thermal goggles are now available to see through infrared sensors as an alternative to cigarettes.
 * 23) ** In the MSX2 version, the player could only place six landmines per screen. In the mobile phone version, this was increased to sixteen.
 * 24) ** The time it takes for Gustava's brooch to change shape was shortened slightly.
 * 25) ** The time for an egg to hatch was shortened as well.
 * 26) * Modified play mechanics - Certain aspects of the gameplay were changed to make the game easier for the player:
 * 27) ** The game features smoother controls.
 * 28) ** The crawl ability now has its own button. In the MSX2 version, the player had to press the punch and weapon buttons at the same time in order to crawl.
 * 29) ** The tap codes were changed.
 * 30) ** Certain bosses were given less life.
 * 31) ** A mark will appear on the player's feet when making a noise while walking on certain types of terrain.
 * 32) ** If a hollow wall is punched, a question mark will appear over it.
 * 33) ** Elevators no longer have a display above the door to show which floor they are currently stopped at or the direction in which they are moving. Also, it's no longer possible to skip any floors by rapidly pushing the button.
 * 34) ** Frequency numbers are now saved under a memory window after dialing them the first time.
 * 35) ** Campbell's second frequency, which originally could only be learned by checking the rear side of the MSX2 version's packaging, is now given to the player instead.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Just like the original, most of the story has been retconned and this game also retconned elements of the original. This includes adding the fact that Grey Fox and Snake are rivals in FOXHOUND and had previously fought together.
 * 2) The swamp path can be pretty annoying as you have to rely on trial and error to find your way across, which can take a long time without a guide. Fortunately, people have made a map for it.
 * 3) Tedious backtracking.
 * 4) The images of the faces of the characters are just edited versions of screenshots from movies, which can be seen as lazy. This was changed for the better with re-releases.
 * 5) While the use of the instruction manual is innovative, it doesn't help if you bought the game digitally, meaning the only thing you can do is look it up online.
 * 6) The Running Man boss fight is kinda dumb since all you have to do is place mines for him to run into.
 * 7) Just like the original, the doors still don't have numbers on them, meaning you have to guess what card goes to what door.
 * 8) The Green Beret part can be kind of a pain in the ass, as you have to follow him without getting caught, otherwise, you have to start it all over again.
 * 9) The game didn't see a release to America until Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, mainly due to the conflicting release of Snake's Revenge.

Trivia

 * The aforementioned Running Man boss is Kojima's favorite boss in the Metal Gear Franchise.
 * One of Kojima's early plot ideas for Metal Gear 2 involved a terrorist takeover of a nuclear weapons testing site within the United States. This idea would later recycled for Metal Gear Solid.
 * Two other vehicular bosses were planned in addition to the Hind D and Metal Gear D. The Goriate (a tank) and Metal Gear Gustav (a smaller non-nuclear armed model of Metal Gear). There are actually various Goriate tanks inside Zanzibar Building in the final version, but they're just scenery. The concept for Metal Gear Gs was later recycled into the Walker Gears in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.