METAL GEAR (FAMICOM/NES VERSION)
Back Box Front Box Complete Set Konami's Famicom games always came with apparently random trading cards like this one
Game Data
Console: Famicom/NES
Maker: Konami/Ultra
Release Date: 12/22/1987 (Japan), May 1988 (America)
Original Price: 5,300 yean
Genre: Tactical Role Playing Adventure
Product ID: KDS-ME

Cool images, huh? Sadly, they're not mine. I took them from eBay and Yahoo Auctions of Japan. If anyone has a complete copy of MG1 for the Famicom for sale then drop me an offer. Back on topic.

With the cult success that was the MSX2 version of Metal Gear in Japan and certain parts of Europe, Konami wanted to reach the game to an even wider audience: the Famicom-playing Japanese schoolkids. So Konami ordered their Famicom development team at Tokyo to quickly develop Metal Gear for the Famicom before Christmas.

Six months after the original MSX2 version was released and two days before Christmas Eve, Konami finally released Metal Gear for the Famicom. The basic plot and gameplay remained the same: you controlled a "Fox-Hounder" codenamed Solid Snake who was on a mission to destroy the enemy's secret weapon: Metal Gear. Despite that, the Famicom version has several noticeable and subtle changes.

The game started at middle of the jungle (which would eventually lead to a truck that took you to Building No.1), most of the items and hostages at Floor 1 of Building No.1 were relocated, Schneider's secondary frequency was changed to 120.16 and some of the bosses were replaced. Most noticeably was the Metal Gear TX-55, which was replaced by a Super Computer which controlled all of Metal Gear's functions. Other minor changes included dumber guards (there was no Danger Level 3, they runned in single files and they barely shoot), the ability to turn dead enemies into food and ammo during stealth mode was removed and a few memory bugs were added. The Parachute was semi-useless in the Famicom version and was replaced by a completely useless Iron Glove (most of the thin walls in the FC version could easily be destryed using your bare fist thanks to a programming bug). And finally, the Basement Area was turned into the "new" Building 4 & 5 and in order to get there, you had to enter a maze during the outdoors area and take the correct directions. Since Konami forgot to put the proper directions directly in the game, this was one of the most annoying part to get through in the game. The correct directions in both mazes were (make sure to take the bottom left in maze two):

Left, Up, Left, Left.

Despite all the changes made, the game was still Metal Gear and the Famicom version was a smash hit. With the Famicom version already out, Konami had another audience in mind: the NES-playing Americans (and Europeans). Sadly, Konami of America and Ultra ruined everything for us. Konami rushed the English translation of MG1 and didn't bother at hiring a spell-checker for the game, leaving lots of grammar mistakes and unnatural dialogue. Who can forget "Uh no! The truck have started to move!" or "Attempt to contact missing our Gray Fox!"? But that was just a tip of the iceberg.

Konami didn't bother at translating the Japanese manual and hired a bunch of potheads to write an alternative one instead. In the American manual, the storyline was changed for no reason. Big Boss's name was given as Commander South and the main bad guy (who's real identity was never actually revealed until the end of the game) was given as Vermon CaTaffy, a mongolian sherdpard boy turned madman, which totally contradicts everything said in the game and in the Japanese manuals. It was quite obvious that the Manual Writing Guild of Konami of America had no respect for any of the games they were writing manuals for and only played certain parts of Metal Gear. Heck, they didn't even bothered at properly explaining the radio system. And even though this changes didn't affected the in-game dialogue, it was still too annoying to ignore. At the end, Metal Gear was somewhat of a cult success in America, mainly because Ultra was too busy hyping their Ninja Turles games and didn't bother at properly advertising Metal Gear. At the end, the NES version of Metal Gear remains as one of the worst Americanization Konami has done to a game.
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