If you were a gamer during the 80s you probably remember how much of a stranglehold that Nintendo had on the gaming industry. I was young, I was born in 1976 but an avid gamer. I remember thinking that the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was just that much better than the Atari 7800 and the Sega Master System and gaming companies were putting their money on Nintendo. I had no clue about restrictive contracts and such till around 1991 or so when it went to court and gaming magazines started covering it. Konami was one of those early publishers on the NES that was obviously held back due to Nintendo’s questionable business practices. Metal Gear was one of the titles they released that could easily have been better on the Sega Genesis when it came out. Thanks to a fan, we can now experience what might have been.
Right off the bat, I can tell you, this port of Metal Gear is not based on the NES version. This could be most fans first time playing this version. The Sega Genesis port is based on the Commodore Amiga version both by the same developer, Hoffman on itch.io. Interestingly, I covered their port of Golden Axe to the Neo Geo a few months ago on YouTube.
Their Commodore Amiga port is further based on the MSX2 version of Metal Gear. A nearly completely different game than what we got here in the United States on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
This being based on a version of the game we never got in North America makes it likely to be a new game to most fans reading this.
Hoffman has gone and added a few quality-of-life improvements with their port. You can play with 3 and 6 button layouts depending on which controller you have available.
If you are a fan of Metal Gear, then you need to check out where the franchise started. Just please be aware, this is not Metal Gear Solid. It is an overhead action adventure that favors stealth and cunning taking out of enemies or avoiding them entirely. If you attempt to treat this as an overhead Contra game you will fail miserably, and quickly.
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