Metal Gear Solid Background Data

Published By: Konami	Developed By: Konami	Released: October 21st, 1998
Barcode: 0 83717 17031 0 (Original Release)	PSRM: 11520, 011530 (Original Release)	ID Tag: SLUS - 00594, 00776 (Original Release)
CDs: 2	Players: 1 Player	ESRB: Mature (Animated Blood & Gore, Violence, Mature Sexual Themes)
Accessories: Memory (1 to 15 Blocks), Analog, Vibration	Size: ? Megs	Digital Press Rarity: 1 out of 10

Description You are Snake, a government agent on a mission to regain control of a secret nuclear weapons base from terrorist hands... Review Ask every gamer who owned a PlayStation during the 1998 to 1999 era what was a game that caught their attention, and you’re more than likely to get the words Metal Gear Solid as a very common answer; second only to disc read error. Kidding aside, the Metal Gear legacy went way back to the original Nintendo NES, and even further to the Japanese MSX system. The main character, Solid Snake, was of the secret government operations type who needed to find weapons, kick some ass, sneak around in a cardboard box or two, and then save the world. While everything mentioned could be done easily in the classic versions, there was something missing that would end up being an atom bomb to the video game industry’s standard operating procedures. Simply put, it was a video game written for adults. Now I don’t mean ‘adults’ as in stupid humor and crude language – I mean Hideo Kojima and his crew made sure they knew what they hell they were talking about when it came to story telling. Like a military Role Playing Game without the random bottles, MGS weaved a story full of proper military terms, real world weapons, real world situations, and most importantly, if over dramatically, death.  A year earlier, Final Fantasy VII shocked everyone with the visual presentation of someone’s murder; Metal Gear made sure you truly understood the ramifications. Even more shocking is the sheer amount of back-story and in-game history presented. There are short novels that sum up the events of the original MSX Metal Gears, while cut-scenes in the game allow for serious character development and exposition. Solid Snake set a new standard in being stealthy; hiding in corners, under vehicles, inside cardboard boxes, knocking on walls to divert attention, even sneak attacks that allowed him to choke an enemy from behind. He had access to weapons ranging from your standard pistols and grenades to stinger missiles and claymores. The cast of characters was second to none when it came to originality – including two boss fights that redefined how a video gamer looked at both his controller ports and turbo buttons. After all this, and almost 10 years later, after two very successful sequels and a myriad of other side projects on the PSP, how does a phenomenon hold up? Almost perfect, except for now ungodly amount of text you must sit through. 10 years ago, the explanation and baby steps in the game seemed fine; now you realize just how much the game lead you in the right direction, sometimes to the point of force feeding you. This is nothing new however, since MGS2 suffered from the same problem. Years from now, when the Top 10 discussions are laid bare once more for the 20th and 25th anniversaries of PlayStation, you can bet Metal Gear Solid will always be in them.

Trivia The first and only PlayStation game (if not first game ever) to make the game's retail packaging part of the game. In the middle of your adventure, you're told you will need a character's Codec signal. The character tells you that he, "Doesn't have it, but check the back of the box." This was the point where the game player, in real life, would need to flip over the actual retail game case to find the image of the Signal. This caused quite the problem as many people mistook it for an in-game box!   Even more interesting, is that Konami of America took the trick a bit further, and made sure a specific page in the manual had the image as well, since they realized there would be a lot of people renting the game, sans case. Much to say, those that got rentals without the manual were quick to call into stores (like the one I worked at) and plead to know what the number was.   Besides the case trick, Hideo Kojima planted quite a few other tricks, many concerning the Dual Shock controller, the system ports, and even the rumble itself into the game. To explain them in detail would ruin it for the newcomers, but rest assured they're a fun time.   Deep within one of the computer laboratories, you'll find a PlayStation console chilling on a desk. This was changed to a GameCube in the Twin Snakes GC remake.   Late in the game, a battle will ensue against a helicopter and its pilot. After the sequence when you're back in the snowfield, if you look out in the non-playable area, you'll see the pilot's parachute.   The separate released MGS: VR Missions was actually part of a Director's Cut release of the Japanese Metal Gear Solid dubbed MGS: Integral.   Of all the details that Hideo Kojima thought to put into the game, there is one glaring flaw that was not addressed. During the opening of the game, it is drilled into your brain that you have 18 hours before the end of the world happens. Well, for the hell of it, I let all 18 hours tick by; nothing happens! The game continues as normal.   One of the game's hidden items, the Bandana, allowed Snake to have unlimited ammunition. In the 2nd game, Sons of Liberty, the non-playable Snake uses it as a 'real world' object to help out the playable character.

Variants This game has the honor of being the first ever cross-platform game released on the same media! Metal Gear Solid: Essential Collections for the PlayStation 2 contained the original Metal Gear Solid, and then the PS2 versions of  MGS2: Substance and the first disc of MGS3: Subsistence. Interesting to note that the game still retains it's PSX SLUS numbers, and is released on black PS1 media. Metal Gear Solid - "Metal Gear Solid: Essential Collection" Version - SLUS-00594P3, 00776P3 / PSRM - 026310, 026320 / SKU = 0 83717 25078 4 Supplemental Images

Greatest Hits This game has two known Greatest Hits releases. Interestingly, both GH versions and the regular release have different SKUs! Normally re-release shares the same SKU barcode. the Konami treated each version as if it were its own release. Game Rave is currently researching to see if there is a SLUS-00594GH version. Metal Gear Solid - Greatest Hits "GH" Version - SLUS - 00594, 00776 / PSRM - 011520, 011530 / SKU = 0 83717 17063 1 Metal Gear Solid - Greatest Hits "GHA" Version - SLUS - 00594, 00776 / PSRM - 011522, 011532 / SKU = 0 83717 17129 4

Misprints / Errors There are two known misprints to the game.   Our first misprint is a fairly easy one. Several pages in the booklet were cut wrong. About a half inch is missing off the bottom of the sheets, and then they were misaligned within the booklet. The other involves a curious culprit that is currently not known if it was intentional or not. Basically the front insert is missing the foil text; it's literally just a white canvas. Game Rave currently has no personal pictures of the beast.

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