Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake’s defining attribute is texture. Metal Gear shaped an initial world, and Metal Gear 2 embellishes on that world by adding frictions that complicate the player’s previous relationship with the series. The results are often inconsistent; Metal Gear 2 is a game with a reach that exceeds its grasp but, also, an intoxicating and undeniable confidence.

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake came out in 1990 in Japan on the MSX2 home computer, three years after the original Metal Gear. During those three years, a different sequel called Snake’s Revenge came out in North America. Series designer Hideo Kojima claimed that he was unaware of the game until one of its developers told him about it, and according to him, they said Snake’s Revenge was “not the authentic Snake” and that he should make his own sequel. At that time, Kojima said he had enjoyed Snake’s Revenge, but later, he described it as “crap.”