Better than the PlayStation game (Metal Gear Solid (GB))

Member Name: ben_83

Product:	Metal Gear Solid (GB)
Date:	06/04/01 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent graphics, control and presentation, the story and levels are all new

Disadvantages: Weapons, training missions and concepts have been seen before on the PlayStation

Metal Gear, Hideo Kojima's vision of an IRBM-firing walking mechanoid which would be more than a match for anything pasty, bearded 'Robot Wars' contestants could ever come up with, is on the loose again and guess what the American government have done to stop it. Pre-emptive nuclear strike? Full ground invasion? Nope, they send one bloke. Of course, that bloke isn't just any old schmo picked off the street, he's Solid Snake, the most deadly assassin in the world (unless I'm controlling him in which case he's a bumbling fool).

Kudos to Konami. Too many Game Boy developers see the machine as a second-class console where poor conversions and shoddy production values are acceptable. Not the Japanese giant. 'Metal Gear Solid' for Game Boy Color is not a conversion of the seminal PlayStation version, its a totally unique game and one which has that feeling of class and solidity so sorely lacking in the handheld market.

The first thing you notice is the quality of presentation. The cut scenes and menu screens are in no way inferior to those of its PlayStation big brother and are charged with the same 'feel' and atmosphere that went towards making the 32bit version so unique.

The in-game graphics are also excellent. Although they are no more spectacular than any other Game Boy Color game, they are clear and crisp and, surprisingly, offer a better view of the area surrounding Snake than PlayStation 'MGS'.

The control system, too, is better than the PS version. Any of you who have read my opinion on Snake's previous outing will know that I found its analogue control rather awkward but this has all been fixed for the Nintendo version. Praise must also go to Konami for condensing a four button control system into two buttons without any loss of functionality.

As always, though, it's not all good. Although the story and levels are new, most of the other aspects of this game (
weapons and training missions for example) have been seen previously on the Sony version.

Despite this, 'Metal Gear Solid' on Game Boy Color is an excellently implemented game which actually manages to improve on its predecessor. This is nothing short of amazing when you compare the technical specs of the two machines. Even if you weren't a big fan of 'MGS' on PlayStation (like me), you must buy this game if you have a Game Boy Color. In fact, I'd go as far to say that it's worth buying a GBC for this game alone. One of the top five Game Boy games of all time.

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