Konami Classics: GOG is full of Metal Gear, Castlevania and Contra

Contents

The birth and legacy of Metal Gear The three dimensions of Metal Gear Solid The expressive research and symbolism of Metal Gear Solid 2 Konami Classics It is difficult to talk about the history of Konami without dividing one's emotions between joy and pain. The first is linked to a glorious past and made up of a multitude of masterpieces; the second instead dictated by a recent management that has abandoned quality videogame production forever.

Despite this, it is not possible to forget how much the Japanese developer has marked the medium and, right now, a collection of extraordinary pearls. We went back to try them again, to fall in love as always with their atmospheres and the brilliant ideas that have been the progenitors for some of the most iconic genres of the industry. This net of direct, no-frills ports, which require a decent leap of faith to be digested even today.

The birth and legacy of Metal Gear

It was back in 1987 when a very young Hideo Kojima, lover of cinema and intrigued by videogame technology, churns out a particular game called Metal Gear for Konami. Initially available only on MSX and for several years only in Japan, the little boy of the newcomer Kojima turns out to be an extraordinarily original game, which does not invent in all respects the stealth genre, but which characterizes it like no one before.

Able to combine the Eastern authorial vision with the great Western and purely American storytelling experience, Metal Gear is still a milestone today. Probably more talked about than played, but certainly among the most talked about titles in the history of the medium. The ability to tell a probable spy story but full of elements, situations and characters at the limit of the absurd will forever remain a trademark of an infinite author, stolen from the art week and lent body and soul to the eighth.

On GoG the very first Metal Gear performs well, if not for the usual and irritating question of controls. The situation with the pad is not amazing and the whole thing certainly does not improve with mouse and keyboard. It certainly remains usable, but the courage and determination to digest its thirty-year-old gameplay also applies to the difficulty in managing menus and commands. It makes us very strange to believe that thirty-three years have passed. What a scare!

The three dimensions of Metal Gear Solid

Eleven years later and a couple of chapters later comes to PlayStation Metal Gear Solid. Although everyone initially thinks that the title change refers to the name of the protagonist: Solid Snake, in reality it is the first of the so-called "kojimates". The transition to three-dimensionality gives the suffix "Solid" to the new experience that emerged from the mind of Hideo Kojima and, as expected, it is destined to leave its mark again.

Three years of development, a change of hardware and a few million ideas later, what comes to light will forever remain in the heart of every gamer who considers himself such. Together and even more than the first Resident Evil marks the first real step of the video game in the direction of storytelling, cinematic, refined and quality acting. For the first time the psychology of the characters plays a key role, the plot has its own "regular" development and the gameplay begins to serve the plot. For some this will forever mark the direction taken by the video game in the negative, for others the exact opposite, but the fact remains that its legacy will remain forever.

The biggest mistake that is committed when talking about Metal Gear Solid is precisely to believe that it is all storytelling and little interactivity. On the contrary, Metal Gear Solid is full of gameplay, seasoned with the right dose of madness, a level design of the highest caliber and some of the most iconic boss fights ever. It is a title that has all the passion, direction and authorship of its author inside, and sorry if it's little.

The arrival on GoG is an important moment for a market that has orphaned a native version and digital of this masterpiece. The Italian is missing, everything has remained in 4/3 and the commands have to be totally remapped, but if you don't know every single bar by heart the problem is yours!

Expressive research and symbolism by Metal Gear Solid 2

Years pass and the spasmodic desire of the sequel to Metal Gear Solid becomes unbearable. A few months after the release and a few weeks after the fall of the Twin Towers, Kojima makes a crazy choice: he changes everything during the race and almost seems to make fun of his loyal fans.

Metal Gear Solid 2 hits the market, intoxicates everyone's spirits with an initial sequence that is technically crazy and then surprises and stuns, changing protagonist after a scarce hour of play. In a world still far from connection, from social networks, from the current lack of internet, Kojima still manages to get people talked about, to be hated, to "disappoint".

Those few who understand the true essence of that choice and of the whole work are those who are a little "ahead" like its author. Metal Gear Solid 2 is today, twenty years later, universally recognized as a post-modern masterpiece, capable of anticipating some of the main themes of our time and probably still unattained in terms of the level of intrinsic symbolism.

The concept of meme, declined in the perspective of the militarized and warmongering universe of Metal Gear Solid, was able to teach a lot to anyone who had the desire and the ability to analyze it. It is a treatise on philosophy and even more a sociological reflection. Declines Jack, Raiden, the protagonist, in each of us and makes us relive, as if it were a simulation, the birth, growth and awareness of the hero. We've talked about it a million times and will continue to do so. Far from being a perfect video game in its repetitive and cyclical structure, it is on the contrary a work that uses all its playful construction to intort us and then slap us. An author's masterpiece in no uncertain terms. Also in this case, finally having a native version on PC, via GoG, is a joy that is difficult to replicate and that all great enthusiasts should exploit. Italian is present and the Substance version allows you to fully enjoy its qualities. To add a further degree of satisfaction there is a technical level that, seen today, is still difficult to believe can go back to 2001.

Konami Classics

To close an imperfect circle, not remodeled but equally splendid there are some extraordinary classics. Castlevania and Contra have marked the video game in their own way. The first has even "donated" its name to one of the oldest and healthiest genres still protagonist of many productions: Metroidvania.

In this new issue on GoG it will be possible to find some of the main chapters of both series: the first three Castlevania, as well as Contra and Super C. Five titles at just over one euro each that tell the story of this industry and how it has evolved over time. We do not hide the fact that returning to those steps is feasible only for the true nostalgics, or for those who have a considerable fortitude in digesting experiences among the most woody and dated still available on the market. Despite this, however, it is still a move dedicated to extreme collecting for which we cannot fail to praise GoG.

Any video game lover should hope to one day see the same expressive and innovative power that Konami had in his golden years, before becoming a shadow of itself. We miss it so much.