Metal Gear: Snake's Revenge
System: NES (released 1990)
Please note that Snake's Revenge is a Metal Gear game by association only. Although it bears the series' name and main character, it was not developed under Hideo Kojima's auspices but instead by a separate Konami team, and it was only released on the NES to an American audience. Due to this fact (not to mention the game's irreverent storyline), it has thankfully been excised from the Metal Gear canon. Konami no longer refers to the events depicted in Snake's Revenge in its official Metal Gear literature (like Metal Gear Solid's instruction manual).
The Story
Snake's Revenge actually takes place sometime between Metal Gear (1995) and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1999), but for reasons of continuity we've placed it outside the two. The plot, like most of the game, bears only a passing resemblance to the "official" Metal Gear games. A presumably wealthy terrorist named Higharolla Kockamamie (try not to laugh) has stolen a cache of nuclear weapons and plans to use these weapons to take over the world. Solid Snake must, of course, make his way inside Kockamamie's stronghold and stop whatever evil machinations may be going on. Surprising no one, Kockamamie has control of a new model of Metal Gear, and Snake takes it down before stopping the madman for good.
The Game
Snake's Revenge isn't divergent in plot only; its gameplay also branches off rather severely from that put forth by the original Metal Gear. The game featured a lot more action than its predecessors, and some of it even took place from a side-scrolling perspective (a real Metal Gear no-no). For the first and only time, Snake was at the head of a group of commandos whom he could rely on and meet up with during the mission. Thanks to the un-Metal-Gear-like gameplay and the shoddy storyline, Snake's Revenge is generally regarded today as the Metal Gear series' bastard stepchild.
Soundtrack: "SR Main Theme"
