If you can cast your mind back about six weeks, you'll remember that The Warp Pipe ran a three part retrospective on the Grand Theft Auto series. It was a pretty exhausting task, but the three parts were the most popular Warp Pipe columns to date, so we're going to continue to deliver the odd retrospective article. Since Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is less than two weeks away, I thought we'd spend the next two weeks looking back at the last 21 years worth of Snake's adventures.

This week, we'll look at the events leading up to the conception of Metal Gear, and examine each game in detail up to and including Metal Gear Solid on the Game Boy.

Stealth Espionage Action: A Metal Gear Retrospective

Snake came from humble beginnings

From an early age, Hideo Kojima always wanted to create stories. He had spent much of his youth watching movies with his parents and writing short stories (which he never managed to get published). His interest began to shift towards making movies, as a close friend owned a Super 8 camera. Kojima entered college around the time video games broke into arcades and homes, and could often be found spending his free time playing Super Mario Bros. on the Famicom. In his fourth year of college, he surprised his friends by announcing that he would pursue a career in the video game industry.

In 1986, Kojima accepted a job with Japanese publisher Konami in their MSX division. The MSX was a type of standardised home computer created by Microsoft and popular in Japan and parts of Europe. It was inspired by VHS cassette players, which were made by several different manufacturers, but conformed to the same standard. Konami was one of the leading software publishers on the system. The early years at Konami were difficult for Kojima; with little programming knowledge, he was snubbed by his colleagues and superiors, and his game design ideas often went ignored.

The MSX was a notoriously limited system with capabilities below the Famicom (few on screen sprites and very limited scrolling), but many developers persevered with the system. To make an effective action game on the system, Kojima had to think outside the box; he needed a concept that involved limited numbers of soldiers and bullets on screen. He was initially inspired by The Great Escape, but felt that the concept of escaping was kind of boring and that sneaking in might be more exciting. Another element Kojima felt important was story; most games at the time simply involved saving a princess or killing all of the aliens on a screen – he wanted people to care about their character, and give them a strong reason for partaking in the mission. The game was titled Metal Gear, and was set to be released on the MSX2 (a newer version of the MSX with more RAM, a larger ROM and a different video processor) in July 1987.

Infiltrate Fortress Outer Heaven

Snake's Revenge is not as widely loved now that people know the truth

In 1995, the world discovers that a new type of weapon is under development at the fortress Outer Heaven, a fortified state founded by a legendary mercenary, located somewhere in South Africa. The US sends in Special Forces unit FOXHOUND's top soldier, Grey Fox, into Outer Heaven to assess the situation and neutralise the threat. Contact is lost, with Fox's last message simply reading "METAL GEAR..." FOXHOUND commander Big Boss decides to take a gamble, and send in his newest recruit, rookie soldier Solid Snake. Snake is ordered to infiltrate Outer Heaven, procure equipment and meet with the resistance soldiers who will help him find Grey Fox – then he must complete Fox's mission. After rescuing Fox, Snake learns that Metal Gear is a new type of weapon, a bipedal nuclear equipped tank adept in all forms of combat and capable of launching an attack anywhere on the globe. Outer Heaven plans to use Metal Gear to help it become the dominant world power. It's up to Snake to destroy Metal Gear and take Outer Heaven down with it.

In a time where many action games revolved around shooting things in the least subtle of ways, Metal Gear promoted stealth over confrontation. Snake's combat capabilities are limited to encourage players to take the most peaceful path, but he gets a hold of some more destructive weaponry when the time calls for it. Being caught by the guards or security cameras resulted in the alert mode being triggered – players would have to hide until the clock ran out. The game takes place in and around three multi-floored buildings, and multiple keycards or other unique items are required to progress. Getting a hold of these items usually requires fighting one of the game's many bosses, or contacting your support team via codec. Metal Gear was pretty difficult, but a good story and enjoyable action kept players glued to their screens.

Metal Gear was not a big success in Japan, but was released elsewhere on a number of different platforms. The MSX version was released in Europe shortly after the Japanese release, but the translation is incomplete. The NES port, produced without input or consent from Kojima, is the most popular version. Released in 1988, it sold over a million copies in America alone. Kojima felt that the NES version cut too much content (especially the fight with Metal Gear), was too difficult, and was not in line with his original vision. Ultra, the American subsidiary of Konami, took a lot of liberties with the game's plot in the manual and packaging, which earned the ire of fans many years later. The NES version was ported to DOS and the Commodore 64 in 1990 with a few minor changes. An updated port of the MSX version was released for mobile phones in 2004, with new features such as a boss rush mode. This version was included as a bonus in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence for the PlayStation 2, complete with an all new English translation.

Revenge of the Snake

Does limited hardware encourage better design?

With the success of Metal Gear in America, Konami wanted a sequel. They rounded up the members of the NES Metal Gear team and started work on Snake's Revenge: Metal Gear II. Three years after the fall of Outer Heaven, the US discovers that another (unnamed) hostile nation has acquired the plans for Metal Gear, and plans to build a newer, deadlier version. Solid Snake is recruited to lead a team into the enemy base to confirm these reports. Everything goes wrong, with one of Snake's team captured, while the other is killed shortly after discovering that Metal Gear has entered mass production, and can no longer be destroyed with conventional weapons. It gets worse; the base is home to a new prototype, Metal Gear II, and the leader of Outer Heaven, thought to have died in the fortress's destruction, is very much alive. Once again, Snake's got to save the day.

Snake's Revenge is considered the bastard child of the Metal Gear franchise, due to Kojima not being involved in the project, but until the release of Metal Gear Solid, few people knew that Snake's Revenge was not the true sequel, and it was not until after this was revealed that the game's fanfare vanished. Kojima originally had no interest in pursuing a sequel to Metal Gear, due to the game's moderate sales, spending his time working on Snatcher and Policenauts instead. It was not until a chance meeting with a member of the Snake's Revenge team (who expressed desire for a true sequel to Metal Gear) that he decided to go ahead with making Metal Gear 2. Kojima has professed to liking the game, and it was a fairly successful release for Konami at the time. It did a good job of building on concepts found in Metal Gear (it was based on the MSX version), but introduced a few annoying elements, including action-oriented side scrolling sequences, which many felt cheapened the game.

Invade Zanzibar Land

Metal Gear Solid blew away everything else on the PlayStation

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake takes place in 1999, when the world is in the midst of an oil crisis. Nuclear disarmament had promised a peaceful future for the world, but the shortage of oil spurred on the development of new alternative and high-tech fuels. Czech scientist Dr Kio Marv discovers a breakthrough by developing OILX, a bioengineered algae than can produce petrochemicals with little effort or expense. While on his way to present the discovery to the United States, Marv is kidnapped by soldiers from Zanzibar Land. The leaders of Zanzibar plan to hold the world hostage by controlling the flow of oil, and reintroducing the nuclear threat via a stock of missiles they've raided from nearby facilities.

Solid Snake, having retired after the events of Outer Heaven (in his 20s at that), is brought back into the field of action by new FOXHOUND commander Roy Campbell. He is sent to Zanzibar to rescue Dr Marv, but during his infiltration of the base, Snake runs into Dr Pettrovich Madnar, the scientist responsible for the development of Metal Gear. Pettrovich reveals to Snake that he has been kidnapped again and forced to work on a new model of the bipedal nuclear behemoth, as well as oversee mass production on the older Metal Gear model. The doctor also informs Snake that the man behind the kidnapping and the rise of Zanzibar Land is the very same "legendary mercenary" from Outer Heaven. Snake must rescue Dr Marv and ensure the destruction of Metal Gear, and ultimately, the fall of Zanzibar.

The main challenge for Kojima's team in developing Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake was squeezing more out of the aging MSX2 hardware. They were lumped with the same hardware restrictions as before, so they had to rely on ideas to make Metal Gear 2 a more compelling game. They wanted more realism; soldiers now had a "vision cone" rather than only being able to see what was in front of them, and the player had radar so they could see other soldiers. Sound is also a major factor – enemies can be tricked into moving with a tap on the wall, but can also recognise footsteps and gunshots. Snake can now kneel and crawl, allowing him to hide behind and underneath objects. The game's puzzles are more much more elaborate, including wiretapping to figure out codec frequencies.

Despite the popularity of Metal Gear in the West, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake did not receive an English translation until its release as part of Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence on the PlayStation 2. This version was based on the 2004 mobile phone remake, which added new difficulty levels and a boss rush feature. The most notable change in this version was to the character portraits; in the MSX2 original, every character in the game is modelled after a famous actor or figure from history, whereas in the remake, they take on the designs drawn by Yoji Shinkawa for the Metal Gear Solid games.

In the Darkness of Shadow Moses

It didn't quite have the same impact on the PC, though

Metal Gear 2 was not a great success, but Kojima wanted to the series to continue. He started planning Metal Gear 3 for the 3DO Multiplayer in 1994, having released remakes of Snatcher and Policenauts on the system. The demise of the 3DO forced production onto the PlayStation. Full production started in 1996; the team's goal was to produce the best game ever. Kojima wanted the game to be very cinematic, but also very immersive, while the team focused on accuracy and realism, but ensuring that the game was fun and intense. The project was renamed Metal Gear Solid to reflect the game's 3D nature, and downplay its connection to Metal Gear 2. The team squeezed everything they could out of the PlayStation, but some features had to be axed. The debut trailer blew audiences away at E3 1997, and Konami started a massive hype campaign, making Metal Gear Solid the must-have game of 1998.

Six years after Zanzibar, Snake is pulled out of retirement by Colonel Campbell to participate in a top secret mission. FOXHOUND and soldiers from the Next Generation Special Forces have led an uprising in a nuclear disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island off the coast of Alaska. As a result, the terrorists have access to hundreds of nuclear warheads. Their demands are simple; turn over the remains of legendary soldier Big Boss in 24 hours, or face a nuclear strike. To make things more complicated, they have two hostages, the DARPA Chief Donald Anderson, and the President of ArmsTech, Kenneth Baker. Snake's mission is to infiltrate Shadow Moses, find the hostages and investigate the terrorists' capability to launch a nuclear weapon. The mission changes when Snake discovers the real reason the VIPs were at the base – the testing of a new Metal Gear, dubbed Metal Gear REX. Snake must defeat the six members of FOXHOUND and destroy REX.

Metal Gear Solid sticks closely to the series' classic gameplay; your aim is to sneak through the base, avoiding confrontation where possible. The extra dimension added a great deal of atmosphere, and allowed for many new features, such as peering around corners and seeing the room from a first person perspective. VR training was added to help players with the newer features. Story is just as important as the action, and is told through a number of powerful cinematic cut-scenes and codec sequences. There are many twists and turns, and the overall theme concern genetics is pretty thought-provoking. The game includes a back-story option, that allows you to read through the events of Metal Gear, and Metal Gear 2.While combat is discouraged, it is handled very well and the game has a number of epic action sequences – the fights with each member of FOXHOUND are particularly memorable.

Metal Gear Solid was launched in Japan in July 1998, America in October, and February 1999 in PAL regions. It was an instant hit, and went on to sell over 6 million copies. It received unanimous praise from critics, though some players felt the game focused too much on its cinematic presentation, and featured too little gameplay. Premium versions were released in Japan and PAL regions, which included a t-shirt, soundtrack, artbook and dog-tags. As compensation for a lengthy delay, PAL gamers were rewarded with an extra difficulty mode, boss rush mode and the demo theatre.

The game has received two major revisions in the years since its release. The first of these was Metal Gear Solid Integral, released in Japan in 1999. This game took all of the things added to the PAL version of the game, and added over 300 new VR missions, a very easy difficulty, and a PocketStation game. The new VR missions were a mix of serious training and Kojima's team's sense of humour, which had you solving murder mysteries and fighting gigantic genome soldiers. The Ninja was also playable for a few of these missions. Integral's VR missions were released as a standalone pack outside of Japan. A port to Windows was released in 2000 in conjunction with Microsoft, and despite critical praise, fans generally stayed away due to a large number of glitches. The second major revision is 2004's Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, which we'll look at next week.

Pocket-sized Snake

Ghost Babel is a great game that far too few have played

With the success of the PlayStation game, Metal Gear was one of the hottest properties in the industry, and Konami wanted to reap in as much cash as it could. They quickly commissioned the release of a new Metal Gear game for the Game Boy. Development was handled by Japanese code shop TOSE, a developer noted for producing titles for large companies without claiming credit. Shinta Nojiri, who would later handle the Metal Gear Ac!d games, served as director. It was released in Japan as Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, and elsewhere as Metal Gear Solid.

Ghost Babel is another side story in the Metal Gear continuity, set after the events of the original Metal Gear. Snake is brought back into action when the Metal Gear prototype Gander is stolen by the Gindra Liberation Front, a central African guerrilla group working from the ruins of the Outer Heaven Base. A Delta Force team sent in before Snake has not reported in. Snake must infiltrate the base, find out what happened to the Delta Force and destroy Metal Gear. The game plays much like Metal Gear 2, but with a few extra abilities from Metal Gear Solid. The game is stage based, unlike other Metal Gear games, making backtracking impossible. Missions can be replayed through VR simulation (with some subtle references to Metal Gear Solid 2. 180 VR missions from the Integral release are packed in for a bit of extra gameplay.

While it wasn't as big a retail success as the PlayStation game, Ghost Babel was a big hit with the critics, and is remembered as one of the best games on the Game Boy Colour.

Next Week

The second part of our Metal Gear retrospective will cover from Sons of Liberty through to the series' uncertain future.