Played on Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence for the Playstation 2.

Head and shoulders above its more janky counterpart on the NES, Metal Gear for the MSX is a solid, inventive (for the time) title that - unlike the rest of the series it spawned - is heavy on gameplay and bereft of story. It's pretty clear that Kojima never intended to do more with Solid Snake beyond this game, the narrative only ever amounting to "go here, shoot this guy" until the last act, where a single twist that defines so much of the later entries amounts to a couple lines of dialog. Big Boss is a bad man and he's here to kick your ass, that's about it.

There's an undeniable charm to its simplicity when compared to the overwrought drama of Metal Gear Solid or even its direct sequel Metal Gear 2, refreshing after being steeped in a multi-generational story of clones, fallen mentors, and nuclear armed superweapons for so long. That said, I don't know anyone who would count this among their favorite Metal Gears. It's the kind of game you throw on to burn a couple hours with, but is otherwise unlikely to really stick with you. And hey, that's fine.