Metal Gear Solid for PlayStation 1 was one of the first games I played for that video game console and the first title that made an impact on me because of everything this game has to offer. Metal Gear Solid is an iconic game and without at the time of presenting the idea of creating this game, Kojima was way ahead of his time. By now I had only played this Metal Gear even though there are many, including the MSX and post-Metal Gear Solid PS1 games. I know the history of all the games of the Metal Gear saga since I was so interested in the story, although I could not play it, that I dedicated myself to watch videos that explain all its Lore, however, until recently I did not know that there was a game for Game Boy Color, which when I tried it, I could appreciate a very entertaining and fun game.
Today's Retro Review is about: Metal Gear: Ghost Babel.
This Metal Gear is not considered as canonical of the saga, however it tells us again the adventures of Snake in a new mission for world salvation. This game is set about 7 years after the events of the game "Metal Gear 2 - Solid Snake", which occurred in the country and nation of terrorists "Outer Heaven" and a few years before the events of Metal Gear Solid, although I clarify again that this game does not enter the official chronology of the series. Roy Campbell again must contact Sneak and assigns him a mission in which he must rescue and recover a weapon that has been stolen by a group of terrorists, in such weapons are nuclear weapons and of course a Metal Gear, which has been built using plans that were left after the events in Outer Heaven. During this new mission Snake will have to face a new group called "Black Chamber" which will make things more difficult for our favorite spy.
For a Game Boy game and despite its limitations, this is a game that visually I think looks pretty good, as indicated by the console for which this game was developed, has a lot of colors and many of them very striking visually, which generates a great contrast when compared to the PlayStation 1 game. Logically, being a game for a portals console, the character sprites are relatively small and lack fluidity of movement, however, the character designs have enough detail to be distinguishable, that is, although the pixels that represent Snake have their graphical limitations, we must admit that it is quite easy to recognize this character.
This Metal Gear could be considered as a "graphical improvement" with respect to its MSX versions, since it is even a game that presents an aerial view like its MSX or NES counterparts. I think the best aspect with respect to graphics could be the scenery, which despite the aforementioned limitations are good representations of forests, buildings or military bases, with their respective designs and decorations. With the little they had the developers of this Metal Gear were able to create a pretty good and visually pleasing product with the few resources provided by this Nintendo console. The game also has some cinematics that better represent the characters and the essence of Metal Gear, especially at the beginning, which lasts about 10 minutes. So imagine having to be glued to your Game Boy screen watching that "cinematic" for that amount of time. There will also be other types of "cinematics" although they are a bit static and barely have any movement, but they are pretty cool.
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel is a game with a sound section that meets quite well with the standards of a Game Boy, logically being a game of an old portable console, which did not have an outstanding sound chip, it has its certain sound limitations, however and despite these technological limitations, what they achieved with the sound of this game is admirable because it manages to represent very well the essence of Metal Gear, with those mysterious melodies, action and even suspense, which intensify the moments of stealth that we will have throughout the mission of Sneak. The sound effects such as footsteps, gunshots and even the classic wall punch that Snake makes to alert and distract the enemies, are very well achieved.
Metal Gear has always stood out for being one of the most emblematic stealth games in the history of video games and this is an aspect that is present since its first games, but it was not until its first 3D game (Metal Gear Solid for PS1) that the mechanics for stealth were better developed and presented, since 3D allowed better mobility and visualization of our environment. In this particular game, it has a bit of both the old MSX games and something of the first Metal Gear in 3D (logically taking into account its mechanical and control limitations). Metal Gear, besides being an action and stealth game, has also stood out for being a game with many elements of exploration and this is an aspect that in Metal Gear: Ghost Babel we will also find, being something quite important to continue in our mission and to make the events of the game unfold.
As a good Metal Gear game we can count on an arsenal of variety at our disposal, thus being able to eliminate our enemies in various ways depending on the situation in which we find ourselves. Despite the small amount of buttons that a Game Boy has if compared to the control of a PS1, the developers of this game were able to create a fairly good and effective control over our character despite the physical limitations of the buttons, so it is not uncomfortable to play this game in this way, as it was simplified but with very effective and comfortable results. Metal Gear: Ghost Babel maintains the characteristic essence of Metal Gear Solid with respect to stealth, this being one of the most important aspects of any saga, and in this Game Boy game they managed to represent it quite efficiently.
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel is a game that despite its limitations manages to represent very well the essence of the Metal Gear saga, a game that besides being entertaining, is very well done in various aspects such as its graphic and artistic style and sound, in addition to having a more than satisfactory and entertaining gameplay.
