Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake -- Final Impression.

It took me 8:47:11 to complete Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. The game is superior in every regard compared to Metal Gear. The most overriding impression I took from the game was just how much MG2 means to the Metal Gear Solid series. Just about every aspect of the MGS series originates in Metal Gear 2. I've already described how the graphics and sound are vastly superior to the original. The gameplay provides far more depth than the original game. The radar, crawling, sound detection, and story all come into play to provide everything MGS offered without the 3D and polygons. MG2 is so impressive in that regard it would have dulled the shine of MGS had we been given the chance to play it back in 1990. The story, with its dramatics and heavy-handed preaching, is right on par with the MGS series. MG2 was everything one would hope for in a sequel. Everything was improved upon. The game is still fun to play today. I'm giving Metal Gear 2 and 8.5. There were some flaws in the presentation of Metal Gear 2 by Konami though. There are a couple of instances in the game where you need to refer to the instruction manual. The instruction manual Konami didn't provide. Those people who will play this without access to the Internet are going to have one bastard of a time getting by a couple sections. That's not the game's fault or Kojima's, it's purely Konami's fault with trying to save money. Kojima was going outside the game all the way back in 1990. His wacky storytelling and concept based bosses were also well in place with Metal Gear 2. To the point that Metal Gear Solid would have seemed tame, and Metal Gear Solid 2 wouldn't have seemed so insanely out there. Kojima's blatant thievery from Hollywood was also well in place by Metal Gear 2. Bosses straight out of movies like Predator and The Running Man among others all make appearances. Although Big Boss no longer looks like Sean Connery in his character portrait. It's cool to finally have the main story. We're still missing one part of it though. We're missing Policenauts. The Metal Gear series, Snatcher, and Policenauts all are connected. Maybe someday...