Summary
TheMetal Gearseries has not received that many remakes but it has had a lot of remasters. On the remake side, the GameCube got the exclusiveMetal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes. That game still hasn’t left the system much to the chagrin of many fans.
Then of course there is the upcomingMetal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eaterwhich may or may not release in 2024. Past that game, the rest of the franchise is a mystery.If Konami wantsto pump up fans, they can remake the following entries from obscure titles to some of the more obvious ones.
Metal Gearwas first released in Japan in 1987 for the MSX. North America got a truncated version thanks to the 1988 NES port. Western fans couldn’t play the game in its original form until 2006 with the release ofMetal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. It had the MSX versions ofMetal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snakeon the disc.
That was the first time players in the West playedMetal Gear 2: Solid Snakebecause instead,Snake’s Revengewas the exclusive Western NES sequel. History aside, it seemedlike Hideo Kojimawas leading up to aMetal Gearremake followingMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Painbased on where that game ended. The world will never know since he left but Konami can still try their hand at a remake of one of the most important stealth games of all time.
Metal Gear Solid: VR Missionswas not an ambitious game for the PS1 or at least it wasn’t next toMetal Gear Solid. It had some good ideas as a pure video game devoid of a story though. The missions were bite-sized and thought outside the box.
There were VR missions included in other games but this is the one that felt most pure. A sequel VR game may be what fans crave the most but remaking and adding to this original game would also be interesting. Konami could frame it like the NES Remix games from the Wii U era of Nintendo. Maybe other Konami characters could get into the stealth-based gameplay including theBelmonts from theCastlevaniaseries.
Metal Gear: Ghost Babelis the cooler, Japanese name for this late Game Boy Color adventure but North America knows it simply asMetal Gear Solid. It’s an odd name considering it is not a port of the PS1 classic. Instead, it is its own top-down stealth game that goes level by level which is a bit different from other entries.
It’s an alternate take on what Solid Snake did after being in captivity in Alaska following the events ofMetal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Even though it is a level-based game, there are still wild bosses including Marionette Owl whouses puppets as weapons. The portable entries were seemingly fascinated by puppet masters as there was also a puppeteer inMetal Gear Acidwhose identity is a bit of a spoiler.
AfterMetal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eatergets released, it seems like a no-brainer to go afterMetal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Libertynext. It has been remastered several times and these HD versions play well and helped the controls feel a bit less dated. Remasters of PS2 games are great but a full-on remake would be miraculous.
The remake could make the Raiden sword parts more intense likeMetal Gear Rising: Revengeance. They could even add somecut content fromMetal Gear Solid 2from supporting characters to bosses. The first Metal Gear Solid was remade on the GameCube, and the third Solid game is currently being remade, so it just seems odd that this hasn’t happened yet forMetal Gear Solid 2. Also on the subject, that GameCube remake,Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, should get remastered or ported as it has never left the GameCube since 2004.
Metal Gear Acidis more than a game about puppeteer killers although it does have that and more fun boss battles. It, and its sequel, were two of the earliest entries on the PSP.Metal Gear Acidisa card-based tactical RPG. Players could collect cards and when on a mission, cards would dictate moves from firing at enemies to healing to actual movement.
It worked well for a spinoff as the stealth was still solid. It’s a shame both of these games are trapped on the PSP and a remastered collection would be appreciated by fans. Remaking the whole first game would be even better. The developers could make it more action-based like turning the grid into a more open style of movement similar to theValkyria Chroniclesseries.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Opsis the first sequel toBig Boss’ originsinMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Big Boss is tasked with taking down the Fox Unit he served in. To do that, Big Boss had to recruit random soldiers for missions which were played out in squads of four.
Players would go into a map, switching off between characters as they set up traps and snuck past security. The recruitment method was less sophisticated than the Fulton system in its sequel,Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Still, it is an important game in the franchise and it has not got as much attention as its sequel, which did get a remaster. AllMetal Gear Solid: Portable Opsgot was a re-release on PSP that took out the story in favor of doubling down on multiplayer.
