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Snake's Revenge is a stealth-based action game developed by Konami for the NES. It was released in North America in April 1990 (under the Ultra Games label) and in Europe in March 1992 (under the Konami label). It was never released in Japan, despite the game being produced there.
Originally made as a direct sequel to the original Metal Gear, Snake's Revenge was the first game in the Metal Gear series made without the involvement of creator Hideo Kojima (although members of the developing team previously worked with Kojima with the original MSX2 version of Metal Gear). It was subsequently removed from the series' canon and is now considered part of a parallel universe.
Development history
After the surprise success the NES version of Metal Gear had in the Western market (especially in North America, where Metal Gear reportedly sold over a million copies), Konami issued the development of a sequel for the NES made specifically with the western market in mind.
Kojima, who wasn't planning on making a sequel to Metal Gear due to the relatively lower sales of the MSX2 version in Japan, ran into a member of the Snake's Revenge development staff (from Konami's Famicom division) on a train ride in Tokyo. The lead developer told Kojima that he knew Snake's Revenge wasn't an "authentic Snake (game)", and was a fan of the original game, so he made a request to Kojima for the development of a true Metal Gear sequel done by the creator. By the end of the train ride, Kojima had already developed the basic storyline for the entire game. The very next day, he went to his boss at Konami with a gameplan, and was given the go-ahead to make Solid Snake, then exclusively for the MSX2, and released in 1990.
As a result, the actual Metal Gear 2 was released exclusively in Japan for the MSX2, while Snake's Revenge became the Metal Gear sequel for the North American and European market. A Japanese version of Snake's Revenge was never released (it is unknown whether one was never planned or simply cancelled as a result of Metal Gear 2.)
Despite the fact that Snake's Revenge is generally disliked by Metal Gear fans, its importance to the series is quite essential: one could argue that without it, Metal Gear 2 and the following Metal Gear Solid series may have never been created. Kojima has also stated that he enjoys Snake's Revenge and thought it was faithful to the "Metal Gear concept" he had initially envisioned. *
The game's title is simply "Snake's Revenge" on the title screen and packaging. However, around the time of its release, many magazines (including Nintendo Power) used the title Snake's Revenge: Metal Gear II (or some variation of it) due to its connection to the original Metal Gear, unaware that there was an actual game titled Metal Gear 2 in Japan. Moreover, the Metal Gear mecha that appears in Snake's Revenge is known as the "Metal Gear 2." As a result, many people who are not well acquainted with the series often confuse Snake's Revenge as a genuine sequel to Metal Gear.
Cast of characters
- Lt. Solid Snake - The main character. In this game, Snake is still working for FOXHOUND, instead of quitting like in later installments. Rather than infiltrating the enemy's complex alone, he leads his own FOXHOUND team and starts the mission with a knife and pistol already in his equipment. He is given the title of Lieutenant and is often called "Lt. Snake" by his peers in the game, although it's important to note that within FOXHOUND's structure, "Solid Snake" is his rank, and not his name.
- John Turner - Former US Navy Intelligence officer working for FOXHOUND. He serves as an infiltration professional in Snake's mission.
- Nick Myer - African-American member of FOXHOUND. A former US Marine. Nick serves as the team's firearms and explosive expert.
- Jennifer - Former member of the resistance force at Outer Heaven. Jennifer once again assumes the role of a double agent. This time, she poses as an intelligence officer within the enemy's ranks.
- Big Boss - Snake's former commander, who turned against him in Outer Heaven. In the Snake's Revenge storyline, Big Boss suffered great injuries from his battle with Snake, resulting in Big Boss being turned into a cyborg.
Storyline
Set three years after the events of the original game, the United States government discovers that an undisclosed hostile nation is secretly developing mass-produced versions of the original Metal Gear tank from Outer Heaven. Solid Snake, the FOXHOUND operative responsible for the downfall of Outer Heaven, is recruited to lead a team consisting of himself and fellow operatives John Turner and Nick Myer, on a mission to infiltrate the enemy's base.
John lets himself get captured in the jungle, acting as a decoy that allows Snake to infiltrate the complex. The infiltration is successful and Snake learns that the enemy is deploying mass-produced Metal Gear units that were being stored in the warehouse into a ship. After overcoming all adversaries and reaching the docks, Snake receives a call from Nick informing him that John was taken aboard the cargo ship housing the mass-produced Metal Gear units.
Snake boards the ship which, afterward, immediately sets sail. John is nowhere to be found, but Snake learns that the Metal Gears have no weakness, and that he should destroy the ship instead. Snake proceeds to the cargo holds of the ship, and detonates an ammunition cache. He makes his way to the deck and is rescued by the helicopter pilot moments before the ship sinks to the bottom of the ocean. The pilot informs Snake that Nick has been captured as well, and that his last known whereabouts are the rail yards outside of the enemy's main base. The pilot tells Snake to contact their double agent, Jennifer, on the inside, and drops Snake off.
Snake locates a hidden underground passage which leads to a train station. Snake boards the train, and receives a call from a captive John, who provides Snake with suspiciously false intelligence. After making his way past the traps, Snake finally reaches John's holding area, and as he frees him, John reveals himself to be an impostor that has taken the real John's place. The impostor attacks Snake, but is defeated. The train stops, and Snake uses the opportunity to disembark. Snake then receives a call from Nick stating that the operation is still a "go" in spite of John's death. It is implied, but never explicitly stated that John was killed and impersonated by the enemy, a concept that would resurface in Metal Gear Solid with Master Miller and Liquid Snake.
Still trudging through the exterior defenses of the fortress, Snake receives a call from Jennifer, asking to meet with him inside the main base. After reaching the bridge connecting the exterior of the fortress to the stronghold of the fortress, Snake receives another call from Jennifer that she's inside. After successfully infiltrating the main base, Jennifer calls Snake yet again, telling Snake that Nick is ahead of Snake, and that the three of them should meet up somewhere. She also informs Snake that the fortress commander plans to launch a nuclear attack using Metal Gear 2, and that he's on the top floor of the fortress.
However, while reaching the heart of the fortress, Nick becomes careless and is fatally wounded by enemy soldiers. Snake finds a dying Nick, who informs that Jennifer's cover was blown by the enemy and reveals that the commander of the fortress is the same mercenary who issued the construction of the first Metal Gear, none other than Big Boss himself. He continues, telling Snake that Big Boss is being kept alive via a life support system in his lair and in order to defeat him, he must be lured out. Nick then dies.
Snake finally confronts Big Boss in his lair. Big Boss tells Snake that he wants revenge for the injuries that lead to him becoming a cyborg, and then attacks. After sustaining enough damage, Big Boss transforms into a tall RoboCop-like robot and boasts that he doesn't have any weak spots. Snake lures him away from his lair and defeats him using mines - Big Boss's soles were his weak spot.
After Big Boss's demise, an alarm sounds and an announcement is made that Metal Gear 2 is operational. Snake proceeds through Big Boss's lair and unties the captive Jennifer, who leads him to the complex where Metal Gear 2 is housed. Snake exits the top of the tower and proceeds via another gondola to the complex. The helicopter pilot destroys the reinforced door to the complex, allowing Snake passage inside.
Another set of alarms go off, and Snake hears another announcement - Metal Gear 2 is targeting New York, Tokyo, and Moscow. Snake navigates a small maze within the complex and arrives to Metal Gear 2's housing area. Snake cannot reach the autonomous bipedal tank, so he fires a series of remote-control missiles through an air duct at Metal Gear 2's undercarriage. After enough damage is inflicted, Metal Gear 2 is destroyed.
In the aftermath of Operation 747, the United Nations declared World Peace Day. John Turner was declared MIA and removed from Navy Records, and Nick Myer was posthumously promoted three ranks.
Misconception about the storyline
One aspect of the game which has affected people's perception of Snake's Revenge is the storyline as depicted by the game's instruction manual. At the time of its release, Konami of America (the game's publisher) had a habit of not taking their games seriously. This was reflected by the humorous tone of their instruction manuals, which made several jokes and puns at the expense of the game and paid little or no respect toward the game designers' original intentions. Snake's Revenge was no exception. In the manual, the main villain's name (which is actually kept a secret in the game until the end) is given as Higharolla Kockamamie, a play on Ayatollah Khomeini, and one of the main characters (Jennifer) is described as possibly being related to "Ginger from Gilligan's Island". None of these terms or jokes are actually used in the game itself, and while it's evident that they contradict the designers' original intentions, many Snake's Revenge detractors justify their dislike for the game with them.Gameplay
Snake's Revenge plays essentially like an updated version of the original Metal Gear. Aspects from the MSX Metal Gear that were missing from the first NES game (such as the ability to take food and ammo by punching enemies or the double exclamation mark alert) were restored in Snake's Revenge. The actual Metal Gear mecha (which was missing in the first NES game) makes an appearance along with a new prototype. The game also has more varied locations than the first Metal Gear, such as a jungle, a warehouse, a transport train and a cargo ship filled with smaller mass-produced Metal Gear units (a similar situation was planned for Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake but was cancelled, though Sons of Liberty and Guns of the Patriots later had mass-produced Metal Gears).
The player can now choose between punching or using a knife for a quick kill (in doing so, the player won't get food or ammo from enemies in Infiltration Mode). Many of the weapons from the original game are carried over to Snake's Revenge, as well as new weapons such as a shotgun and a flare gun for visibility in the dark. Promotions are now made by injecting enemy superiors with truth serums in addition to saving hostages. However, three of the series' trademarked items do not appear in Snake's Revenge: cigarettes (the only time Snake doesn't smoke), the cardboard box, and the gas mask (even though a gas mask was programmed into the game and the icon can be found in the game's graphical data, it was never used).
One of the most critically-panned aspects of Snake's Revenge is the addition of side-scrolling areas. At various points of the game, the action switches from the main overhead view to a side view. In the side-scrolling areas, the player can jump over booby traps or crouch and crawl to avoid being seen by the enemy. In these areas, the player can only use the knife or handgun and place plastic explosives (which cannot be heard by the enemy in side-scrolling mode). Many fans dislike these portions of the game due to their strictly linear design, making it hard for a player to avoid an enemy without killing him and easy to be discovered without the player being in the crawling position.
The transceiver mode was greatly simplified. Whereas the original Metal Gear required the player to memorize each character's frequency, Snake's Revenge has all of Snake's contacts available from the start via a menu. The radio is also equipped with a radar which detects any signal transmitted by an ally. However, the transceiver is jammed when the game enters Alert Mode and isn't used much as a result. Snake's Revenge was the first Metal Gear game in which the faces of Snake's allies are displayed when they speak.
Tiger LCD handheld
A handheld electronic game based on Snake's Revenge was released in 1990 by Tiger Electronics. The game was released under Tiger's "Game Talk" lineup, due to the fact that it featured a voice-based navigation system in which the player is given spoken hints and messages through the radio. Gameplay is similar to other handheld games, playing more like an action game with exploration elements and completely discarding the stealth elements. The player gets to fight against enemy soldiers, grenadiers and tanks using a machine gun, grenades and missiles respectively. The player can also open doors and passages using plastic explosives and keycards. In later stages, the player will fight against mass-produced Metal Gear 1 units. In the eighth and final stage, the player will fight against Metal Gear 2.
External links
1990 computer and video games | Metal Gear games | NES games
"Snake's Revenge"