37 years later, Hideo Kojima says Metal Gear was so “ahead of its time” because of its portable radio, not its stealth-action

Metal Gear director Hideo Kojima has reflected on what made the original stealth game so “ahead of its time,” 37 years after the game debuted.

July 13 marked 37 years since Metal Gear released on the MSX2 in Japan, and Kojima has done a little bit of reflecting to mark the anniversary. Metal Gear is apparently “packed with things that were ahead of its time,” according to the director, who adds that he was just 23 years old when Metal Gear released in Japan in 1987.

What Kojima’s tweet really hones in on is the portable radio transceiver, which Solid Snake uses to communicate with other characters in the game like Big Boss, who sends him on the entire mission to take out the titular bipedal Metal Gear in the first place. “Moreover, it was interactive, allowing you to send and receive comms,” Kojima writes.

The radio “moves along with the player,” Kojima adds, so that when dramatic events unfold in the game, the player feels present, and not detached from other characters. “With the transceiver, the player’s current situation can be depicted while the other characters’ story or situation can be foreshadowed in parallel,” Kojima writes.

“Most of today’s shooter games also use this gimmick of a transceiver,” Kojima also adds, stressing that the radio receiver was a crucial part of Metal Gear, even though, in his opinion, “only the stealth part was praised.” 

Metal Gear might’ve released 37 years ago, but you can play it right now on modern platforms via the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1, and it’s bundled in with Metal Gear Solid, if you’re purchasing the three games separately. 

Check out our rankings of the best stealth games ever made, to see where Kojima’s creations rank.