Snake's Revenge (1990). Play online

Summary

Snake's Revenge, the off‑beat NES sequel that tried to translate Metal Gear’s stealth onto a console, still feels like a hidden gem when I pull it from my collection. Konami built the game around a knife‑and‑handgun combo from the start, letting me slash guards with a single press or trade punches for occasional ammo drops. An alert mode kicks in with a lone red exclamation mark, and I can bail back to normal by simply stepping to the next screen. Between the top‑down bases—jungle, warehouse, cargo ship, even a train—and the side‑scroll Rush ’n Attack‑style segments, I’m forced to crawl underwater, managing a limited oxygen tank while planting plastic explosives.

The transceiver no longer dials frequencies; it offers three fixed contacts—John, Nick, and Jennifer—plus a radar that flashes whenever a tracking signal is nearby, though it shuts down during alerts. Promotions come from rescuing hostages and interrogating officers with truth gas, raising my rank to a six‑star maximum.

Developed by a Konami team in Kobe, some of whom worked on Castlevania III, the title was designed specifically for the Western market and never saw a Famicom version. Hideo Kojima wasn’t involved; he later used the same year to launch Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake on the MSX2, calling Snake’s Revenge “faithful” yet “somewhat crappy.” Despite mixed scores—from a 33 % on consoles+ to a 93 % in Joypad—the game even inspired a Tiger handheld electronic version, cementing its quirky place in NES history.

Storyline

Snake's Revenge picks up three years after the original Metal Gear. FOXHOUND learns a hostile Middle‑Eastern nation has seized the Metal Gear plans and is building a new model. Lieutenant Solid Snake leads a three‑man team – John Turner, a former Navy intelligence operative, and weapons expert Nick Myer – on Operation 747. Snake infiltrates the jungle base while Turner acts as a decoy, gets captured, and the team discovers the enemy is shipping mass‑produced Metal Gear tanks. After blowing up the ship’s ammunition cache, Snake learns a prototype of Metal Gear 2 resides in the main facility and contacts the inside double‑agent Jennifer. Deep inside, he defeats an impostor, regains contact with Nick, but Nick is killed and Jennifer is exposed. The commander reveals himself as a cybernetic Big Boss; Snake defeats him, rescues Jennifer, and destroys the Metal Gear 2 before its launch. The UN later declares World Peace Day.