Hideo Kojimahas always been associated with trailblazing, and games likeMetal Gearhelped popularize new gameplay styles, codify genres, and push the heights for what video game storytelling and presentation could be. It’s easy to think of his works as wholly original, but that isn’t always the case. While the originalMetal Geardid some things that had never been done before, it was conceptualized in the shadow of an already-popular arcade game, and some of its biggest innovations simply came from its inability to achieve some of the same feats.
The originalMetal Gearhit the market in 1987,two years after the release of the run-and-gun arcade titleCommando. At a glance, the games might not seem much alike, withCommandofocusing on more of a guns-blazing approach to the action. The top-down infiltration concept provides a reasonably similar foundation, however, and Kojima has actually confirmed that borrowing that foundation was the original underpinning ofMetal Gear’s creation.
Metal Gear Was Made As A Commando Competitor
An Action-Packed Arcade Game Caught Konami’s Eye
Metal Gear’s box art was also more or less acopy of an image fromThe Terminator, albeit with its own flair.
UnlikeCommando,Kojima was working with consumer hardware, which tended to have significant limitations compared to what arcade machines were capable of at the time. Rather than this turningMetal Gearinto an inferior competitor, however, it ultimately led to some of the game’s best ideas. Before receiving ports to game consoles,Metal Gearwas released on the MSX2 home computer, and the system proved incapable of handling the amount of enemy movement and bullet spray that gave Commando its high-octane appeal.
Metal Gear’s Limitations Helped Make It Great
The MSX2 Was The Perfect Home For Metal Gear
Kojima has always been known for taking advantage of all that hardware has to offer, fromMetal Gear Solid’s obsession with rumble toDeath Stranding 2’s benchmark-setting graphicson PS5. It’s interesting to think about how different things might have been if the MSX2 were more powerful, though. If Kojima could have recreatedCommando’s intensity without running into hardware limitations, he might never have produced something as memorable asMetal Gear, andthe game could have been a comparative footnote in history.
The relative unpopularity of the MSX2 market also worked to Kojima’s advantage. While the directive to make a game likeCommandowas handed down to Kojima, strict guidelines as to what it needed to look like weren’t, and that might not have been the case if Konami had been more focused on the MSX2.Kojima details that the “company didn’t interfere with us too much,“as the MSX2 team was “selling less than the other departments.” He also notes that the five best-selling games for the MSX2 all came out of Konami, so this hands-off approach was clearly successful.
Kojima Games Have Inspired Countless Others Since Metal Gear
A Long Legacy Of Trailblazing
These days, it’s usually Kojima’s titles that are spawning the imitators.Metal GearandMetal Gear Solidserved as foundational games for the entire stealth genre, which has seen no shortage of masterpieces over the years.P.T., a demo for his canceledSilent Hillgame, has spawned completehorror games likeVisage.Kojima confidently declaredDeath Strandingthe first “strand-type” game, and while it hasn’t spawned a genre in the same way, theDeath Strandinggames stand apart as an experience that can’t really be found anywhere else.
That’s not to say, however, that Kojima abandonedMetal Gear’s strategy of remixing inspirations. In the same interview, he shares thathis next game,Snatcher, was inspired by an adventure game calledPortopia Serial Murder Case.This time, he didn’t necessarily turn the core gameplay tenets on their head, but he injected everything with a healthy dose of cyberpunk sci-fi that bears obvious similarities to films likeBlade Runner.
Sometimes, the key to originality isn’t ignoring what’s been done before, but taking a strong predecessor and finding an interesting way to subvert it. That worked forMetal Gear, and whileCommandoremains a classic, it lacks thelegacy that theMetal Gearfranchise ultimately accumulatedover the years. WhenCommandowas released, there were already plenty of great arcade action experiences, butwhenMetal Gearfollowed two years later, there still wasn’t anything that had embraced its unusual takeon the concept.
I’m often cynical about games that lean too heavily on their inspirations, whether that’sPalworld’s survival-crafting take on Pokémon, the glut ofLethal Company-esque games, or even the rapid oversaturation of genres like hero shooters. A few unique ideas can make all the difference, however, and Kojima might know that better than anyone.Metal Gearwas born as aCommandoknock-off, but decades later, it’s proven that it became so much more than that.
Source:MSX Magazine(viathearkhound/Tumblr)
Metal Gear
“Metal Gear” is a renowned stealth action video game franchise created by Hideo Kojima and developed by Konami. The series debuted in 1987 with the release of “Metal Gear” for the MSX2 platform. Over the years, it has evolved to include multiple sequels, prequels, and spin-offs, expanding its intricate narrative and gameplay mechanics. The franchise is celebrated for pioneering the stealth game genre and integrating cinematic storytelling elements into video games. As of December 2023, the series has sold 61 million units worldwide.
