Metal Gear / YMMV - TV Tropes

Adaptation Displacement: A rare subverted example. The NES version was the only one available in North America for many years and the fact that it was even a port of another game wasn't common knowledge until the release of Metal Gear Solid, due to the obscurity of the MSX platform in that market. Since then, Hideo Kojima saw fit to re-release and localize the original MSX2 games as bonus games in the Subsistence re-release of Metal Gear Solid 3, which was kept in the HD Edition in 2011 and the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 in 2023; whereas the only re-release of the NES version was in a rare limited edition of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes that was released only in Japan, and as a bonus in the aforementioned Master Collection.
Aluminum Christmas Trees: Many reviewers like to point out how Snake says that he picked up “some plastic explosive”, using it as an example of "Blind Idiot" Translation. However, the sentence “I have picked up some plastic explosive” is grammatically correct and context-wise makes more sense than the alternatives (since the explosive probably wasn’t packaged into standardized units, and even if it was, Snake wouldn’t have had the time to count them all for the sake of his internal monologue).
Anti-Climax Boss:
- Some feel that the original battle against the TX-55 Metal Gear qualifies, since you're not required to do much more than plant the aforementioned C4 on its feet, especially if you built up plenty prior to the battle. Though unlike the NES version, you at least actually see the TX-55 firsthand.
- In the NES version, Snake has to destroy a Super Computer with plastic explosive in no particular order in order to stop the TX-55, and the only enemies guarding it are four easily-disposable soldiers who don't respawn, making it a heck of a lot easier to defeat compared to the MSX2 version where you not only have to fight the TX-55 directly, but also place C4 on its feet in the order given by Dr. Madnar, while avoiding laser-shooting cameras that cannot be destroyed.
Awesome Music: See here.
Breather Boss: Big Boss is rather easy after you defeated TX-55 Metal Gear, as you can either throw remote missiles in his face from a safe spot or keep throwing regular rockets at him as he blunders into them. However, you're timed while this is happening.
Broken Base:
- The most controversial part of this is the Final Boss. As of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, it's revealed that the Big Boss you defeated was actually his Body Double, Venom Snake. Since then, many fans are split whether it's a clever twist on how Big Boss survived Outer Heaven (after all, a nuke was dropped in the ending), or it's a lazy excuse on how he survived at all. After all, Big Boss did survive three nuclear explosions. However, it's up to one's interpretation if this Plot Twist holds water.
- The NES version. On the one hand, it lacks the titular mecha, and also features different level designs, changing the layout of the outdoor segments and most of the ground floors, as well turning the basement floor connecting Building 1 and 2 into a separate building, which is preceded by a maze segment with no clue on which is the correct path to take. It also removes the Mercy Invincibility when Snake gets hit, allowing enemy soldiers to bull-rush Snake into an easy defeat. On the other hand, the high alert phase (which occurs when two exclamation marks appear over an enemy's head instead of just one) was removed from the NES version, making enemies easier to escape from by simply moving onto the next screen, while several bugs and glitches were also added that actually makes the game easier in some instances (such as the fact that the player can skip Super Computer room and go straight to the final boss). The rooftop enemies also no longer fly, which means that being sighted is no longer almost certain death, and it has some new areas and a different soundtrack that many prefer over the MSX2 version.
Complete Monster (NES version & Snake's Revenge): This non-canon version of Big Boss is lacking all redeeming qualities of his canon counterpart. Leader of Outer Heaven, Big Boss kidnapped Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar and forced him to create Metal Gear, a bipedal Walking Tank capable of launching nuclear missiles from anywhere in the world, threatening to kill his daughter, Ellen Madnar, if he refused. Solid Snake managed to destroy his Metal Gear, free his prisoners, and blow up his base, leading to Big Boss barely surviving, but needing to replace his damaged body parts with cybernetics. Desiring revenge, Big Boss started to recreate Metal Gear, planning to use it to launch nuclear strikes across the whole world, with the first targets being New York, Tokyo and Moscow.
Condemned by History: The NES port was initially well reviewed by critics and sold well enough to receive a direct sequel exclusively aimed for the overseas market, even in Europe where the original MSX2 version was released. In subsequent years, however, as international gamers became more aware of the original MSX2 version, the NES port came to be widely lambasted for its extensive cuts to the level and game design (the most infamous of these cuts being the boss battle with the eponymous Metal Gear, making it an Artifact Title) and its dodgy translation. Hideo Kojima publicly disowned the NES version and effectively buried it in favor of the original version in almost all re-releases of the game. This further damaged the reputation of the NES version. Nowadays, it is regarded as a novelty as best and an outright Porting Disaster at worst.
Good Bad Bugs: The NES version has a few bugs that can be beneficial to the player's progress. See a trapdoor opening in your path? Just switch to the transceiver screen and then resume gameplay to make it disappear.^note Reached the Super Computer without rescuing Dr. Pettrovich? Just press right when you enter the room and skip straight to the final boss.
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Big Boss's sarcastic response to Snake's use of a cardboard box in the first game becomes especially ironic when it becomes apparent that Big Boss was the one who developed the technique in MGS3. Then again, it could've been Venom Snake in the radio. However, even he uses cardboard boxes - for a wider variety of purposes than Solid Snake first did. Although, since Big Boss doesn't want his "son" to survive, it makes sense he'd react so poorly to Solid using what, to him, is the most powerful tactic ever developed. It could also have his non-canon Adaptational Villainy in the NES version ironically make more sense.
- Big Boss introduces himself to you at the end with a rather flippant "Yeah, I'm Big Boss". In The Phantom Pain, it's revealed that the Big Boss you fight in this game isn't even the real one but a body double, and he knows it.
- Snake destroys a tank in this game by getting it to drive over landmines repeatedly. This makes Otacon's gushing about his destroying Raven's tank with grenades in Metal Gear Solid 4 even funnier in retrospect. Apparently he didn't quite do his research on what hijinks Snake got up to in the '90s.
Inferred Holocaust: Although Snake does manage to destroy Metal Gear and escape Outer Heaven before the base self-destructs, the ending shows what is unmistakably a mushroom cloud from an atomic blast in the distance. The KNK radio station also mentioned that an earthquake occurred before sunrise. In Metal Gear 2, it is revealed that said mushroom cloud was actually the result of NATO's air raid that devastated both sides of the conflict, of which Snake was partially responsible for causing. It also falls into Nice Job Breaking It, Hero.
It Was His Sled: Thanks to the sequels, pretty much everybody knows that Big Boss is the enemy leader.
It's Easy, So It Sucks!: The NES version removes the high alert phases from the MSX2 (which happens when two exclamation marks appears above an enemy's head instead of just one), making it easier to escape after being discovered by simply moving to the next screen. The Super Computer boss is also a lot easier than the Metal Gear, since the player isn't required to memorize where to place the plastic explosives. On the other hand, there's no Mercy Invincibility in the NES version, and since many of the early areas (especially the Jungle and the first floor of Building No. 1) consists of really tight corridors, it's easy to be stampeded to death by watchdogs and enemy soldiers. Likewise, the NES version also feature instant shortcuts to later areas, so novices are bound to get lost if they take a transport truck without knowing where it leads.
Macekre: Konami of America had a habit of writing completely jokey story summaries in the manuals and packaging that didn't coincide with the actual game's stories, and the NES version of Metal Gear was no exception. The English manual and packaging for the NES version notably gives a completely different account towards the events of the story than what is actually shown in-game, complete with such "clever" topical references as "Commander South" (Oliver North) and "Vermon CaTaffy" (Muammar Gaddafi).
Memetic Mutation:
- "I feel asleep!"
- Since the releases of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, jokes that Big Boss staffed Outer Heaven with E-rank soldiers.
Mis-blamed: While Kojima is known for being heavily influenced by Hollywood movies, the game's boxart, which is practically traced over from a publicity still of Michael Biehn in The Terminator, wasn't his idea. It was commissioned by Konami's marketing department without his input.
Older Than They Think: The NES port is sometimes accused of introducing a bunch of glitches, including enemy units on the player's screen respawning whenever they use the binoculars. In actuality, these were already present in the MSX2 version. However, it introduced a bunch of additional glitches and outright Game Breaking Bugs all of its own.
Porting Disaster: The NES port was ported to DOS by Banana Development and it was apparently very glitchy, some of which are of the game-breaking variety. The level 7 keycard cannot be obtained normally, enemies suffer from Artificial Stupidity, a soundtrack that translates poorly to the DOS speakers, and an oversight that allows the player to bail out of the final boss fight.
Scrappy Mechanic: The dearth of checkpoints, the typos, the respawning enemies, and the text being skippable just by holding the arrow buttons. Despite being regarded as a classic, these flaws pissed a lot of players off.
Self-Imposed Challenge: Subverted with the transmitter. You can keep it in your inventory after escaping from prison and recovering your equipment for added challenge by keeping yourself in a constant alert phase, but Big Boss will eventually force you to discard it once you reach the entrance of Building No. 2, since you can't trick the guards with the enemy uniform when they're shooting at you. The NES version plays this straight, however, since the enemy uniform functions more like a glorified keycard.
Sequel Displacement: Most players began the series with Metal Gear Solid and the few who did play the original Metal Gear most likely played the NES version, unaware of its origin as an MSX2 game. This is double subverted and downplayed in select European and South American countries where MSX computers were available (there were MSX2 upgrade service available for them at that time). Some players could get a copy of the MSX2 version although most players have forgotten about it. Metal Gear Solid made an effort to avoid this by including summaries of the games in the "Previous Operations" menu at least.
That One Boss:
- Dirty Duck can be killed in seconds with the Machine Gun if you can get up close to him. The problem is not only does he try to hit you with an instant-kill pit if you rush him, but he's surrounded by three hostages. If you kill any of them, your Class will drop — and then, if there are not enough POWs left to save for restoring your Class to four stars, you'll find that you can only use 15 C4s instead of the 16 needed for the TX-55, dooming your game if you saved after Dirty Duck's fight. If you screw up and kill all three, you're back to one star and might as well reload anyway. The only hint of this is if you call Jennifer, who warns you her brother is one of the hostages and says she won't help anymore if something happens to him, though his actual survival isn't technically essential. The result is a fight that can end in several seconds requires you to know ahead of time what not to do, or be obsessive enough with radio calls to find this hint, and then not accidentally screw up and hit a hostage, or you're reloading a save.
- The TX-55 Metal Gear in its "boss room". You have to place 16 C4s into its legs while laser cameras shoot at you and they take a quarter of your life if you get hit. If you happened to remember Dr. Madnar's pattern which he provided after rescuing his daughter Ellen and are able to avoid the lasers, then it shouldn't be a problem, including with the bandana, but as Madnar forgot the last parts of the pattern, trial and error is still present.

YMMV / Metal Gear

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