Snake's Revenge

Snake's Revenge from 1990 is a sequel to the first Metal Gear for the NES, but it was made without Hideo Kojima's involvement and without his knowledge – the series creator learned of the game's existence only after it was finished and long refused to consider it part of the canon. The game was created by an internal Konami team for the North American and European markets and followed directly on from the 8-bit Metal Gear rather than the then-unreleased Japanese Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, which split the series' story continuity for many years and led to today's situation, where Snake's Revenge doesn't appear on the official timeline at all.

Gameplay-wise, Snake's Revenge is closer to a classic top-down action shooter than to the series' later stealth style – the emphasis on avoiding patrols and silent takedowns gives way to more frequent direct shooting, weapon collecting, and boss fights, including a motorcycle chase and a trek through underground bases. The level design is more linear, and the game offers cooperation with a second, AI-controlled character, an unusual feature for 1990, along with a password system for saving progress between missions. This shift toward action rather than tactical sneaking makes Snake's Revenge a gameplay-wise separate chapter, markedly different from the rest of the series, including the later Metal Gear Solid, which instead returned to and developed sneaking and stealth.

In the story, the player once again heads into a fortress full of military units to stop the threat of a new Metal Gear weapon, but along the way goes through a series of firefights and vehicle battles rather than sneaking past cameras and guards, as players familiar with the later stealth-based entries might expect. The graphics and sound match the standard of later NES games, and the game also supports a password system for continuing a game in progress after turning off the console.

Why play it: Snake's Revenge makes sense for players interested in the history of the Metal Gear series and its non-canon offshoots – it's a glimpse of how Konami envisioned the brand without Kojima's guidance. Anyone expecting the tense sneaking of the classic entries will likely be disappointed, since at its core it's a more straightforward NES action shooter.