With Metal Gear Solid 4 having hit stores earlier this month, we took a look at Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel, which was a Metal Gear game set outside of series continuity. This week’s lost classic will take a look back at another non-canon Metal Gear game. Snake’s Revenge, developed for the NES by Konami under its Ultra Games label, can be considered the red-haired stepchild of the Metal Gear franchise. It was developed without the involvement of series creator Hideo Kojima. After the original Metal Gear was successful in the U.S., Konami commissioned its developers to create a sequel. After meeting one of the developers and being told that Snake’s Revenge wasn’t meant to be a true Metal Gear game, Kojima was inspired to create the true sequel, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Surprisingly, despite hating the NES Metal Gear game, Kojima has stated that he likes Snake’s Revenge, saying that it’s in the spirit of the Metal Gear series. If one gives this game a shot, then it’s easy to see why.

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We love SNK and Capcom for their contributions to the 2-d fighting genre, but right now, it’s Sammy’s Guilty Gear series that is the reigning champion. While SNK continues to make use of its aging Neo-Geo hardware and Capcom continues to remake versions of Street Fighter II, Sammy’s Guilty Gear sets itself apart from the pack with its cast of zany characters, beautiful graphics and animation, unique fighting system, complex backstory, and 80s Rock ‘n’ Roll inspired atmosphere. Guilty Gear XX, which is the third game in the series, is no different. However, Guilty Gear’s developers share one unfortunate aspect with Capcom and SNK; namely the tendency to re-release versions of their games which add just a few small tweaks. In fact, there are currently 5 iterations of Guilty Gear XX, and #Reload is only the second. #Reload adds several tweaks and alterations to character’s move lists in order to balance the gameplay. This entry is also notable for the fact that it’s the first appearance of the series on Xbox, and this version of the game is the first entry in the series to feature online play. Online play is also available on the PC version thanks to fan-created modifications.

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This right here is mid to late 80’s shoot-em-up action at it’s finest. Like Contra and Heavy Barrel, Jackal was one of those games that didn’t need any big gimmick to be innovative, but at the same time it had its own little quirks which set it apart from other games during that era. Taking control of a jeep (or two if playing two player), you make your way through an unidentified country (which was called Vietnam in the instruction manual from the NES version) and take out any opposition in your way. You mission was to rescue captive POWs and get them to the helicopter. You would them be rewarded with various weapon upgrades, which you use to defeat the enemies. Similar to other Konami games during this period, this game features some neat, even if somewhat outlandish boss designs. You’ll encounter Medusa statue heads that shoot missiles, a fortress gate with turrets, and a command HQ which turns into a giant tank. This is an awesome top down shooter to play, and of course it’s even better if you bring along a friend. Seeing as how Konami is a big supporter of the Wii virtual console, I have no doubt that this will be hitting the VC’s lineup sometime in the future. In fact, I’m surprised that it hasn’t already. For now however, you’ll have to do some hunting for the original cart.

A few months ago, I did a special on the first half of the Final Fantasy series, where I briefly touched upon this iteration of the series. With Final Fantasy IV hitting the Nintendo DS shortly (as evidenced by aDam’s video review of it below), hardcore FF fans will want to check out its predecessor as soon as possible. This remake is the first and only international release of Final Fantasy 3. It blends together what made the original version of the game unique with some new innovations that help keep it fresh for today’s gaming audience.
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Sean Orange and Zac Shipley ponder the future of Marvel entertainment after being blown away by the new Hulk!
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Metal Gear Solid 4 was released earlier this week, so this week’s $20 Game of the week and Lost Classics will spotlight 2 entries from the series. So once you get done with 4, seek them out if you haven’t played through them already! Despite the similarity in names, this is not the Playstation smash hit, but it’s the American release of what is known in Japan as Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel. Ghost Babel exists outside of series canon, and contains a new plot, new characters, and new enemies.
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This week, Metal Gear Solid 4 hits the Playstation 3. As Metal Gear Solid 3 was a tale set in the past, this makes MGS 4 the long awaited follow up to the events of MGS 2, which was released almost 7 years prior! As such, series newcomers will want to check out the franchises past entries. While Metal Gear Solid 2 may have gotten a bad rap for a few key issues, (most notably the complex plot and the fact that you play as someone other than Solid Snake for a majority of the game) Metal Gear Solid 2 is still every bit a classic as any other game in the series. While the original version is still available, players will want to grab this special edition which contains several hours of new content and marks the first and only time that Metal Gear Solid has appeared on a Microsoft console.

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This is not to be confused with the fan favorite PC and Dreamcast game Soldier of Fortune. Soldiers of Fortune is the name given to the USA Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis release of the Amiga cult hit The Chaos Engine, which was developed and published by UK developers The Bitmap Brothers. It was also ported to the RISC OS, the Amiga CD32, and the Atari ST. Soldiers of Fortune is a 2-player top-down shooter in the vein of Ikari Warriors with a few elements borrowed from Gauntlet, and some alternate history science fiction thrown in for good measure.
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