MSX returns to Virtual Console in Japan with ... Metal Gear!?
by JC Fletcher 
{ Oct 30th 2009 at 3:00PM }
There hasn't been an MSX game released on Virtual Console in Japan since July 2008. Konami has decided to start releasing its MSX library on Virtual Console, and as a result (should these games actually come out), the MSX selection will more than triple in November. Which just means it'll go from a whole two games to seven.One of the MSX classics planned for November? The original Metal Gear! Only available in America as a bonus with Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, the debut of Hideo Kojima's verbose series will be on Japan's Virtual Console for 800 points sometime next month.
The full list of planned releases, which doesn't include whatever arcade games Bandai Namco will overcharge for, is after the break.
Famicom
- Fire Emblem Gaiden (November 4)
- Romancing Saga
- Street Fighter II' Champion Edition
- Fatal Fury Special (November 4)
- Chotetsu Brikin'ger
- Yie Ar Kung Fu 2
- Space Manbow
- Metal Gear
- Road Fighter
- Penguin Adventure
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GewurztraminerX @ Oct 30th 2009 3:36PM
It can't be!
Covarr @ Oct 30th 2009 3:38PM
I want to see this game available in English on US virtual console. The NES version simply isn't very good.
Josh @ Oct 30th 2009 5:40PM
Same.
I either want this and Metal Gear 2 on VC in English or someone to give me disc 2 of Subsistence (or for Konami to release disc 2 of Subsistence again).
Covarr @ Oct 30th 2009 8:05PM
I'm pissed at them for not putting disc 2 of Subsistence in the Essential Collection. It said Subsistence on the box, so it damn well should have had everything that the original release of Subsistence had.
Grimcicle @ Oct 31st 2009 12:05PM
I think they omitted disc 2 because the online component was obsolete by that point.
Josh @ Oct 31st 2009 12:57PM
That excuse was always dumb. No one cares if online doesn't work, we just want the original two emulated games.
gatotsu911 @ Oct 30th 2009 3:56PM
Metal GEAR???
Anyway, that's cool. I really, really hope this could portend a remake of the original MG games, especially on Wii. Probably not, but y'know, a man can hope.
Also, one correction for the article: In addition to being on Subsistence, the MSX version of MG has also been made available before in America as a downloadable cell phone game. I should know, I bought it.
Santos L. Halper @ Oct 30th 2009 5:08PM
Last summer, I had just finished playing my friends copy of MGS3 and I went to Gamestop to buy a used copy of Subsistence just for the extra disc. Thankfully, I opened the case as I was walking out because those bastards only gave me the first disc. It turns out they didn't even have the second disc. I got my money back and walked out of the store, but not before assaulting some fellow shoppers in a fit of rage. And to this day I still haven't played the MSX version of Metal Gear.....
NintendoJunkie @ Oct 30th 2009 6:20PM
Just what is so bad about the NES version? I have played it & enjoyed it. For whatever reason that is beyond me, people seem to often rage about this game being "NOT REALLY METAL GEAR!!!".
I don't get it. It's Metal Gear. That's the name of it. That's what it is.
I understand that MGS started w/ the PS1 & it's not really part of the same storyline or w/e.
Ravnos @ Nov 3rd 2009 9:32AM
The problems is that a lot was changed in the NES version. The graphics aren't as good as the MSX version, there are some problems with the translation, some ofthe rooms are different. The MSX version is the definitive Metal Gear 1. And Snake's Revenge was not at all related to the MSX version of Metal Gear 2. It was an entirely different game, made without Hideo Kojima's oversight for the American market. That is the only game so far (aside from Metal Gear Solid for GBC) that isn't considered part of the main canon for the series. MG1 and 2 are both part of the series' main storyline, taking place before MGS but well after MGS3.
Anyways, people want the MSX version of MG because it's simply better. The NES version was fine in the 80's when North Americans (and most Europeans) couldn't even buy an MSX, but these days I can just download a translated ROM for the MSX version, so there's no need to settle. It's flat out better, there's really no other way to put it.
CLupula @ Oct 31st 2009 12:46PM
Actually, the MGS saga starts with the two MSX games. The incidents with Big Boss that Snake speaks about in MGS1, are from MG1 and MG2.
The NES one is considered bad because of the translation and changes made. For example, the giant computer you fight at the end was a Metal Gear in the MSX/PS2 version.
Covarr @ Oct 31st 2009 2:23PM
Precisely. The NES port was far inferior to the MSX version gameplay wise, and had a plain awful translation.
Jubblies @ Nov 2nd 2009 4:54PM
I didn't know Michael Biehn was the original solid snake!