Metal Gear

Metal Gear is one of the most pivotal games in the history of the medium, this is where Hideo Kojima laid the foundations of the entire stealth genre and launched the legendary series that made him famous around the world. The original game from 1987 came out on the MSX2 computer, and its vision was revolutionary for its time: you're not meant to overpower the enemy by force, but to avoid him.

As soldier Solid Snake you infiltrate the fortress of Outer Heaven to destroy the walking war machine Metal Gear. Instead of shooting mindlessly, you sneak through the shadows, dodge the guards' lines of sight, hide behind walls and look for ways to slip past unnoticed. You collect weapons and equipment gradually and have to think about whether to get into a fight at all. This emphasis on stealth, tension and planning was utterly groundbreaking in an era of mindless action shootouts. The 1987 NES version reached the West as most players' first encounter with the series, but it was adapted without Kojima's oversight and carries its flaws: altered levels, a weakened finale and the infamous line about contacting your commander. Even so it remains historically hugely important: for retro gamers it's a fascinating look into the cradle of a genre from which one of the most acclaimed stories in gaming later grew.