Metal Gear Solid

"For those who want to go old school..."

Snake returns to the Nintendo platform, the Game Boy Color. Its the first time in 12-15 years that Metal Gear was on a Nintendo platform. And times did change.

This game is also known as Metal Gear: Ghost Babel in Japan, but then changed it's brand name to Solid for the North American release for marketing reasons. I personally liked the name Ghost Babel, and has a nice ring to it. This version is separate from the PlayStation version of Metal Gear Solid, and the story is 2 years earlier, but not relating or referring to the PlayStation version itself. A sort of a mirror universe between the two games, and a separate sequel from the previous story of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Now on with the review.

Story: 9/10

The story takes place in an armed fortress nation of the jungles of Galuade. The story is about when a C-5 Galaxy gets hi-jacked full of parts of a nuclear weapon. Snake, along with Colonel Campbell, Mei Ling, and others found out that he has to stop a known terrorist/mercenary group from launching that nuclear weapon before it's too late. Snake has to sky dive in front of a military base and extract information about the nuclear weapon.

Now, the story of this game was excellent. Though it's "feel" was similar in comparison to the PSX version, and to the original Metal Gear, therefore making it a classic epic of storytelling. The plot of the story was somewhat twisted, and had a few surprises along the game.

Gameplay: 8/10

The game overall was challenging, yet easy enough to get through. The controls are basic, and been condensed to basic moves like kick/punch combos, and choke holds. There is even the Codec Mode screen in this game. But to get to it is kind of tedious, and over time, a little repetitive. Even getting your weapons and items from the menu. It takes a little common sense just to get to them. Moving Snake around was pretty simple. Going around traps and lasers was pretty straight forward. However, the guards Artificial Intelligence are tougher than the ones in the PlayStation version. They are harder to evade, and after Evasion Mode, the guards stick around longer in the area you are hiding in, to quietly search for you until they give up.

One of the coolest things in this game is when Snake is by or in front of a wall, you can make him lean his back to the wall, similar to the PlayStation version pressing one of the directions on the directional button. Even crawling when you press the crawl button. Though obviously, the game does not zoom in to first person view, thanks to the limitations to the Game Boy Color.

Also, when you complete the game itself, you unlock special features in the game, like alternative missions of objectives you have to complete from parts of the game. For example, going backwards from the ending point of the stage to the beginning. The VR Missions is also thrown into this game, once you beat the campaign. It consists of about 200 Missions that you can play through.

Graphics: 10/10

One of the best 8-bit graphics I've ever seen on the GBC. There are great colors to see in game, and detailed objects and movements, like Snake's bandanna waving when he moves, or the soldiers moving there heads. It's really awesome in my opinion.

Audio: 8/10

This one is really tricky in some way. Depending on how you look at it, it could either get annoying, okay, or doesn't even matter. To me the music is okay. Though, some of the soundtracks came from the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake games, for those who are hardcore fans and are nostalgic about those days. The sound effect are "limited" since this game is on an 8-bit handheld gaming device. I don't know how to describe it, but it tends to lag a bit in some ways, like when you punch a guard, it's like punching someone who is sleeping or something. I don't know, but that's my opinion. Overall, I think the sounds and music for the game is good.

Replayability: 8/10

Well, I think playing the game over again wouldn't hurt if your really liked it. But another thing is that you can play the VR Missions or Alternate Missions again and again, to keep your skills up... well, at least for this version of Metal Gear Solid. For those hardcore fans who like to go "old skool", this is the game you want to get.

Overall: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/17/02, Updated 01/26/05