Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
Encyclopedia
Metal Gear Solid, released as in Japan
and Asia
, is a 2000
stealth action game produced by Konami
for the Game Boy Color
. Based on the PlayStation
game of the same title
, the Game Boy Color version of Metal Gear Solid (or Ghost Babel) is not a conversion of the previous game, but an original game produced specifically for the portable platform. The story of Ghost Babel is not set in the same continuity as the original Metal Gear Solid, but instead serves as an alternate sequel to the events of the original Metal Gear
, set seven years after Solid Snake
's mission in Outer Heaven.
Ghost Babel follows the overhead 2D format previously used in the 1990 MSX2 game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
while adding a few new elements introduced in the original Metal Gear Solid. As with previous games in the series, the objective is to infiltrate the enemy's stronghold while avoiding detection from guards or surveillance systems. The player can acquire numerous items and weapons to help them fulfill their mission. One difference from the MSX2 games is that the screen now scrolls when Snake moves throughout a single area instead of using flip-screen
s. Moreover, all the characters in the game now move in eight directions, allowing both, the player and the enemies, to move diagonally in addition to the four cardinal directions. Snake now has the ability to flatten himself into walls like he does in Metal Gear Solid. By flattening himself, Snake can move across the wall (allowing him access to tight passages that are not accessible by walking), scroll the camera behind his position to scout the area ahead, or knock the wall to lure nearby enemy soldiers. Depending on the difficulty, the number of punches required to defeat an enemy soldier differs and in the higher difficulty levels, the enemy soldiers will be knocked unconscious for a while after the first series of punches instead of simply being defeated. Crawling is now assigned to the Start button (instead of pressing two buttons simultaneously) and the changing of weapons and equipment is done on the main game screen rather than on separate sub-screens. Like in previous installments, the player communicates with various allies via a wireless communication device (the Codec), which is also used to save the player's progress.
Unlike the console installments, Ghost Babel uses a stage-based structure, with a total of 13 stages. After completing a stage, the player's performance is graded from "Terrible" to "Excellent". Previously completed stages can be replayed to improve grades. After the Story mode is completed, a "Special" game mode becomes available where the player can replay these same stages, but with new objectives (such as collecting FOXHOUND emblems or completing the stage without being seen). Other additional game modes includes a VR Training mode, where the player can test their sneaking and shooting skills in over 180 missions (some of them based on missions featured in Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions), and a 2-player Vs. Battle mode accessible via the use of a Game Link Cable and another Game Boy Color with its copy of the game.
, who was once a legendary hero following the events of the Outer Heaven mission in the original Metal Gear but has since left unit FOXHOUND and is now living in retirement in Alaska. He is brought back out of retirement by former FOXHOUND commander, Roy Campbell, who serves as Snake's commanding officer in his new mission. The rest of Snake's radio support crew includes Mei Ling (the only other character from the original Metal Gear Solid besides Snake and Campbell), a communication expert who saves the player's progress; Ronard "Weasel" Lensenbrink, a mercenary who provides information about the weapons Snake uses and the enemy he faces; and Brian McBride, a CIA agent who provides information about the geopolitical environment of Gindra. Snake is also assisted on-site by Sgt. Christine Jenner, a surviving member of the Delta Force unit sent to Galuade before Snake, and James "Jimmy the Wizard" Harks, a teenage prodigy involved in the development of the new Metal Gear project.
Snake's main adversaries are a separatist guerrilla faction known as the Gindra Liberation Force, led by a mercenary named Augustine Eguabon, also known as "The General". His second in command is a woman known as Sophie N'dram. The GLF are assisted by four surviving members of Black Chamber, a defunct special forces unit whose members are given animal-themed codenames similar to FOXHOUND. Black Chamber are led by Black Arts Viper, a boobytrap specialist who wields a prosthetic left arm. The other three members are Slasher Hawk, an Australian Aborigine armed with two giant boomerangs who is accompanied in battle by a hawk, a guardian deity in his tribe; Marionette Owl, a former serial killer endowed with owl-like nocturnal vision and attacks with his two bunraku puppets named Osan and Kohal; and Pyro Bison, a pyromaniac armed with a specially prepared flamethrower and fuel pack.
. The group, known as the Gindra Liberation Front (or GLF), plans on using the prototype as a means of achieving victory in an ongoing civil war. Solid Snake, the FOXHOUND
operative responsible for the destruction of the original Metal Gear seven years before, is brought back from his retirement in Alaska
. His mission is to infiltrate the group's headquarters Galuade, the fortress that was formerly Outer Heaven
.
During the course of his mission, Snake teams up with Chris Jenner, a surviving member of the Delta Force
that was sent before him to retrieve Gander. His main adversaries are Black Chamber, a group of mercenaries with abilities and codenames resembling those of FOXHOUND. In the end, he uncovers a conspiracy involving the GLF and US Government.
In the Japanese and European releases of the game, the CODEC frequency 140.07 (a frequency that was also used in Metal Gear 2 and the Japanese PlayStation version of Metal Gear Solid: Integral) is included next to Shuyo Murata's entry in the credits. Calling this channel in-game launches Idea Spy 2.5, a comical radio play. Murata would go on to write a similarly styled extra in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
, before co-writing Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
and becoming co-director of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
. In 2006, Idea Spy 2.5 was adapted into an actual radio drama streamed on Konami of Japan's website, with Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima playing the title role. Shuyo Murata also plays one of the boss characters. The full drama was released on CD in Japan on February 14, 2007.
. It is the 12th best-rated game on the site.
It achieved a perfect 10/10 on video game website IGN
. Nintendo Power
listed it as the 11th best Game Boy
/Game Boy Color
video game, praising it for successfully bringing elements from the three dimensional games. GamesRadar
listed Metal Gear Solid as one of the titles they want in the 3DS Virtual Console
.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, is a 2000
2000 in video gaming
-Events:* May 11–13 — 6th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo ; the 3rd annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³* June 26 — International Game Developers Association renamed from Computer Game Developers Association...
stealth action game produced by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
for the Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
. Based on the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
game of the same title
Metal Gear Solid
is a videogame by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Kojimas early MSX2 computer games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake...
, the Game Boy Color version of Metal Gear Solid (or Ghost Babel) is not a conversion of the previous game, but an original game produced specifically for the portable platform. The story of Ghost Babel is not set in the same continuity as the original Metal Gear Solid, but instead serves as an alternate sequel to the events of the original Metal Gear
Metal Gear (video game)
is an overhead military action-adventure video game originally released in by Konami for the MSX2 computer standard in Japan and parts of Europe. Considered to be the progenitor of the stealth game genre, it was also the first video game designed by Hideo Kojima, who also directed many of the...
, set seven years after Solid Snake
Solid Snake
Metal Gear, initially released in 1987, introduces Solid Snake, the rookie recruit of the elite special-forces unit FOXHOUND. Snake is sent by team leader Big Boss into the rogue nation Outer Heaven to rescue his missing teammate Gray Fox and discover who or what the "METAL GEAR" mentioned is, and...
's mission in Outer Heaven.
Gameplay
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
is an overhead stealth action game that was originally released by Konami in for the MSX2 computer standard exclusively in Japan. Metal Gear 2 was directed and written by Hideo Kojima, who also designed the MSX2 version of the original Metal Gear...
while adding a few new elements introduced in the original Metal Gear Solid. As with previous games in the series, the objective is to infiltrate the enemy's stronghold while avoiding detection from guards or surveillance systems. The player can acquire numerous items and weapons to help them fulfill their mission. One difference from the MSX2 games is that the screen now scrolls when Snake moves throughout a single area instead of using flip-screen
Flip-screen
In video games, flip-screen is a principle whereby the playing environment is divided into single-screen portions...
s. Moreover, all the characters in the game now move in eight directions, allowing both, the player and the enemies, to move diagonally in addition to the four cardinal directions. Snake now has the ability to flatten himself into walls like he does in Metal Gear Solid. By flattening himself, Snake can move across the wall (allowing him access to tight passages that are not accessible by walking), scroll the camera behind his position to scout the area ahead, or knock the wall to lure nearby enemy soldiers. Depending on the difficulty, the number of punches required to defeat an enemy soldier differs and in the higher difficulty levels, the enemy soldiers will be knocked unconscious for a while after the first series of punches instead of simply being defeated. Crawling is now assigned to the Start button (instead of pressing two buttons simultaneously) and the changing of weapons and equipment is done on the main game screen rather than on separate sub-screens. Like in previous installments, the player communicates with various allies via a wireless communication device (the Codec), which is also used to save the player's progress.
Unlike the console installments, Ghost Babel uses a stage-based structure, with a total of 13 stages. After completing a stage, the player's performance is graded from "Terrible" to "Excellent". Previously completed stages can be replayed to improve grades. After the Story mode is completed, a "Special" game mode becomes available where the player can replay these same stages, but with new objectives (such as collecting FOXHOUND emblems or completing the stage without being seen). Other additional game modes includes a VR Training mode, where the player can test their sneaking and shooting skills in over 180 missions (some of them based on missions featured in Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions), and a 2-player Vs. Battle mode accessible via the use of a Game Link Cable and another Game Boy Color with its copy of the game.
Characters
Like in the original Metal Gear Solid, the main character in the game is Solid SnakeSolid Snake
Metal Gear, initially released in 1987, introduces Solid Snake, the rookie recruit of the elite special-forces unit FOXHOUND. Snake is sent by team leader Big Boss into the rogue nation Outer Heaven to rescue his missing teammate Gray Fox and discover who or what the "METAL GEAR" mentioned is, and...
, who was once a legendary hero following the events of the Outer Heaven mission in the original Metal Gear but has since left unit FOXHOUND and is now living in retirement in Alaska. He is brought back out of retirement by former FOXHOUND commander, Roy Campbell, who serves as Snake's commanding officer in his new mission. The rest of Snake's radio support crew includes Mei Ling (the only other character from the original Metal Gear Solid besides Snake and Campbell), a communication expert who saves the player's progress; Ronard "Weasel" Lensenbrink, a mercenary who provides information about the weapons Snake uses and the enemy he faces; and Brian McBride, a CIA agent who provides information about the geopolitical environment of Gindra. Snake is also assisted on-site by Sgt. Christine Jenner, a surviving member of the Delta Force unit sent to Galuade before Snake, and James "Jimmy the Wizard" Harks, a teenage prodigy involved in the development of the new Metal Gear project.
Snake's main adversaries are a separatist guerrilla faction known as the Gindra Liberation Force, led by a mercenary named Augustine Eguabon, also known as "The General". His second in command is a woman known as Sophie N'dram. The GLF are assisted by four surviving members of Black Chamber, a defunct special forces unit whose members are given animal-themed codenames similar to FOXHOUND. Black Chamber are led by Black Arts Viper, a boobytrap specialist who wields a prosthetic left arm. The other three members are Slasher Hawk, an Australian Aborigine armed with two giant boomerangs who is accompanied in battle by a hawk, a guardian deity in his tribe; Marionette Owl, a former serial killer endowed with owl-like nocturnal vision and attacks with his two bunraku puppets named Osan and Kohal; and Pyro Bison, a pyromaniac armed with a specially prepared flamethrower and fuel pack.
Story
A new Metal Gear prototype (codename Gander) has been stolen by a separatist guerrilla group in the region of Gindra in Central AfricaCentral Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
. The group, known as the Gindra Liberation Front (or GLF), plans on using the prototype as a means of achieving victory in an ongoing civil war. Solid Snake, the FOXHOUND
Foxhound
A foxhound is a type of large hunting hound. Foxhounds hunt in packs and, like all scent hounds, have a strong sense of smell. They are used in hunts for foxes, hence the name. When out hunting they are followed usually on horseback and will travel several miles to catch their target. These dogs...
operative responsible for the destruction of the original Metal Gear seven years before, is brought back from his retirement in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. His mission is to infiltrate the group's headquarters Galuade, the fortress that was formerly Outer Heaven
Metal Gear
Metal Gear is a series of video games.Metal Gear may also refer to:*Metal Gear , bipedal tanks appearing in the Metal Gear series-Metal Gear video game series:...
.
During the course of his mission, Snake teams up with Chris Jenner, a surviving member of the Delta Force
Delta Force
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...
that was sent before him to retrieve Gander. His main adversaries are Black Chamber, a group of mercenaries with abilities and codenames resembling those of FOXHOUND. In the end, he uncovers a conspiracy involving the GLF and US Government.
Production
The game was produced under the request of Konami's European division to release a Game Boy Color version of Metal Gear Solid.In the Japanese and European releases of the game, the CODEC frequency 140.07 (a frequency that was also used in Metal Gear 2 and the Japanese PlayStation version of Metal Gear Solid: Integral) is included next to Shuyo Murata's entry in the credits. Calling this channel in-game launches Idea Spy 2.5, a comical radio play. Murata would go on to write a similarly styled extra in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
is a stealth action video game directed by Hideo Kojima, developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 in 2001....
, before co-writing Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
is an award-winning stealth action video game directed by Hideo Kojima. Snake Eater was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2, and was released on November 17, 2004 in North America; December 16, 2004 in Japan; March 4, 2005 in Europe; and on...
and becoming co-director of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
is a video game developed by Kojima Productions for the PlayStation 3 console. The game was directed by Hideo Kojima and made its worldwide release on June 12, 2008, ten years after the release of Metal Gear Solid and twenty years after the North American release of Metal Gear.Guns of the Patriots...
. In 2006, Idea Spy 2.5 was adapted into an actual radio drama streamed on Konami of Japan's website, with Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima playing the title role. Shuyo Murata also plays one of the boss characters. The full drama was released on CD in Japan on February 14, 2007.
Reception
The game was extremely well received by critics, achieving an average of 95.92% at Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
. It is the 12th best-rated game on the site.
It achieved a perfect 10/10 on video game website IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
. Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
listed it as the 11th best Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
/Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
video game, praising it for successfully bringing elements from the three dimensional games. GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
listed Metal Gear Solid as one of the titles they want in the 3DS Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
.
Further reading
- Metal Gear Solid Game Boy Color review, from ConsoleDomain.co.uk