Of the entire list of programmers, developers, game directors, and creators that have sparked the history of video games over the past 45 years, one of the most well-known and influential names is that of Hideo Kojima, a 58-year-old Japanese man who has an infinite list of best-sellers behind him and the protagonist of not a few discussions on social networks and the media on account of his particular vision of what a video game should be. So now he has to review his game-by-game trajectory.
Hideo Kojima, from the worst to the best
Born on August 24, 1963 in Setagaya City, Hideo Kojima owes practically his entire career to another illustrious name in video game history: Konami Computer Entertainment. The Tokyo-based company was his main supporter for nearly three decades, starting in 1986 when he hired him to make the first Metal Gear of MSX, until their last work in 2015 when they parted ways, precisely, with another Metal Gear Solid, in this case the fifth in the series (the 23rd in the franchise) and that to this day remains his official testament in what is his most prolific saga (if we exclude the MGS Survive 2016).
So after 36 years of non-stop work, It's time to review all the games that Hideo Kojima has developed, ordered from worst to best from the PlayStation era (which is what we can consider modern), and according to the valuation they currently have on Metacritic. A thermometer that can give an idea of ​​the level that the Japanese have always shown in all their productions and that, unfortunately, leaves out some jewels that belong to their early days, such as the aforementioned Metal Gear and its continuation, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Or the Snatcher late 80's and early 90's, plus that policenauts which is a complete unknown to many players.
Here you have them:
17. Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django (2004)
Metacritic Score: 78/100
This cartridge for Game Boy Advance had the direction and design of Kojima himself, who was in charge of designing a game in which dungeons alternate in which our character must move stealthily and solve a whole series of puzzles that end with a whole battery of difficult final enemies. Although it may not seem like it from his appearance, he hides many role-playing elements, which makes it easier for our hero to improve his abilities as we win battles. This is a little gem from Hideo that you can enjoy on the original console, or through emulators.
16.Zone of the Enders (2001)
Metacritic Score: 78/100
We are in the years in which Kojima feels better, with a new console to exploit, PS2, with greater potential than the original PlayStation and after having hallucinated the entire world with its Metal Gear Solid. This Zone of the Enders is another of those marvels that the biography of the Japanese guards us, with a development focused on the mythical Wick, those combat robots so popular in Japanese culture. To bring these titans to life, Kojima turned to the same designer as Metal Gear and its launch was a success since it included, exclusively, the demo of Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty. You can imagine how much it sold...
15. Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel (2006)
Metacritic Score: 78/100
Sony wanted from the beginning that its PSP was not just a video game console. That's why he added the ability to watch movies (on UMD) and also read comics. Konami decided to launch, along with Hideo Kojima, these visual novel that are so popular in Japan, and that told the story of the first Metal Gear Solid by PlayStation. In addition to turning the pages and immersing ourselves in a spectacle of panels and dialogues, we also had sound elements, special effects and a whole catalog of wonderful scenes set in the universe of Solid Snake.
14. Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D (2011)
Metacritic Score: 78/100
Nintendo 3DS hit the market in 2010 with a Solid Snake under its arm, since in the months following its launch a sensational 3D version landed, prepared for the new Japanese console. The game is pretty much the same as on PS3. as far as development is concerned and there are only a few variations in the aspects in charge of taking advantage of the console hardware: the gyroscope to include new dynamics of gameplay, as well as taking advantage of the touch screen to save time when performing certain actions. A must if you have the old Nintendo laptop.
13. Metal Gear Acid 2 (2005)
Metacritic Score: 80/100
We are facing a genius that came in the early days of PSP. Both the first title and this one Metal Gear Acid 2, has a development of cards where our Solid Snake (or the character we carry) moves from the hand we draw. Before, we will have to design our deck and adapt it to what we need in each phase: weapons, armor, attack power, explosives, powerups, correturnos… Even though it might look extraordinarily different from any other Metal Gear Solid, actually maintains the essence of stealth with pinpoint precision, the hallmark of the always perfect Hideo Kojima.
12. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (2014)
Metacritic Score: 80/100
The fifth (canonical) installment of Metal Gear Solid it had an original release because it was torn in two. Although the game itself arrived in stores a year later, Ground Zeroes It works like the prologue that showed us the physical changes of the old Solid Snake on the (at that time) new generation consoles: PS4 and Xbox One. A greatly improved Fox Engine and a preview of what history could bring us with Kojima setting fire to social networks with a tweet in which he praised the talent of Rockstar developing sandbox. Everything, while he prepared his own and that we would soon know as The Phantom Pain. Despite everything, and being a playable advance, we are facing one of the most interesting installments due to its rarity. If you haven't tried it, you still have time.
11.Death Stranding (2019)
Metacritic Score: 82/100
We come to the game that defines the Kojima style. His first development after his traumatic departure from Konami which provoked as many reactions for as against. The story of a world devastated by terrifying creatures, capable of absorbing the soul of any living being, meant that many users did not properly perceive the depth and monumentality of everything that happened on the screen. A sandbox with capital letters, with infinite resources to entertain us and with a practically perfect story and staging. Who subscribes, without a doubt, I would place this title as one of the two best of the prolific career of the Japanese.
10. Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand (2003)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mToXtQIKGjs
Metacritic Score: 83/100
Kojima shows once again that he thinks differently and that his creative resources are available to only a few. And it is that this Game Boy Advance cartridge came to the market with a curious photometric system that was capable of measuring the intensity of the light that surrounded us in order to condition the gaming experience. And why do something like that? Because its argument is carried out by a certain Django that he has nothing better to do in this world than hunt vampires and, as we all know, vampires don't get along especially badly with daylight. Thanks to this sensor, the weapon can be reloaded to be effective, although if we do not have enough light, we will have to retreat or resort to stealth. One of the words that Hideo Kojima is most passionate about.
9. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (2006)
Metacritic Score: 87/100
We are facing a true wonder that came to PSP to allow users to relive the glories of the games of the major consoles and in which Hideo Kojima served as producer, overseeing the studio's work. On this occasion, the story continues some of the events of Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater and how the legendary Big Boss founds Fox Hound. For many players, we are facing one of the most remembered titles in the franchise, although Kojima delegated a good part of his functions.
8. Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (2002)
Metacritic Score: 87/100
After the enormous success of the sequel to Metal Gear Solid In 2001, Kojima and Konami, in the first person, received a lot of criticism for not including Solid Snake in their story as a playable character throughout the story. That marked many gamers who, despite the non-existence of social networks, sent their enormous disgust to the Japanese. So a year later, in 2002, came the version Substance with more than 700 missions to handle both Snake and Raiden in a title that has been gaining popularity over the years.
7. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010)
Metacritic Score: 89/100
Four years after portable operations came one of the most valued titles by fans which, in turn, also narrated plot events with the same temporal distance. This time we moved to Costa Rica, specifically to Puerto Limón, where a Big Boss (Naked Snake) lives and is in charge of his own company that, surely, you all know: Millitaires Sans Frontières or MSF. Although the game repeats mechanics and game modes seen in other Metal Gear Solid, its plot arc justifies playing a few games on PSP or any of the HD versions who arrived in the following years.
6. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)
Metacritic Score: 91/100
We entered the hot zone of the best valued games by Hideo Kojima and, how could it be otherwise, we find ourselves before a new Metal Gear Solid. In this case the 3, a Snake eater which is considered by many fans as the best and which came to PS3. Here we meet again with Naked Snake, or Big Boss, in full conflict within the Soviet Union, in a Cold War that was at its peak. Thanks to his story we will be able to locate his protagonist in the events of Portable Ops y Peace Walker, forming between all the games a truly gripping and transcendental story arc for the franchise.
5. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015)
Metacritic Score: 93/100
Today, it is the last Metal Gear Solid signed by Hideo Kojima and, without a doubt, the most ambitious. His, her nature sandbox, which the Japanese had been trying to develop for many years, was not as round as we could imagine and although very good manners were pointed out, it was generally a bit confusing. Arguably, it shows us an aged Solid Snake, in the middle of the events that take place in Afghanistan and other African settings, as well as the Mother Base where we must send resources and equipment. If you have not tried it, it is an unprecedented formula that, due to the cost of its development, surely accelerated the divorce between Kojima and Konami.
4. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)
Metacritic Score: 94/100
Also released for PS4, the fourth installment of Metal Gear Solid, surname Guns of the Patriots, returns to the plot line of the second game, specifically until the year 2014 (where will it be!), five years after the incidents at the oil plant in sons of liberty. Hideo Kojima, here, shows us Solid Snake again, who has aged considerably due to FOXDIE, the retrovirus that he was injected with in the FOXHOUND assault on Shadow Moses. As usual, Hideo Kojima puts all his talent at the service of some cinematographic sequences of a high level, brimming with that lyricism that the Japanese like so much.
3. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (2005)
Metacritic Score: 94/100
The expansion of Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater It does not add excessive novelties as far as the development of the game is concerned, but it does incorporate some new features. For example the 1987 and 1990 MSX versions of Metal Gear y Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Also narratively we won with new cinematographic sequences enlarged, a theater mode to see trailers and promotional of the game in a comedy key and slight modifications in the control of the camera thanks to the PS3 Dual Shock 3. Finally, competitive online features against other players begin to appear. Hence, it has an even better rating than the original title from 2004.
2. Metal Gear Solid (1998)
Metacritic Score: 94/100
We reached the Top 2 of the best rated games on Metacritic by Hideo Kojima and, of course, the first of the Metal Gear Solid, the one that started one of the essential franchises of the last 25 years. This title is surely one of the peak moments of the generation of the first PlayStation and the turning point that shocked players who had just discovered video games. In Spain, the complete dubbing of his dialogues with Alfonso Vallés at the helm, the film style and his extraordinary narrative did the rest to make it one of the Japanese masterpieces.
1. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)
Metacritic Score: 96/100
And we reached the Top 1 of the best Hideo Kojima games. The title that surely we all gave as the best of his career and that meant the confirmation of the franchise Metal Gear Solid as the most important in the world. Not in vain is it one of those games that if we all close our eyes, we feel the rain fall in that starting sequence in which Solid Snake assaults the USS Discovery in search of Metal Gear RAY, before transporting us to the events of the oil platform where We'll take command of Raiden now. This game definitely marks the evolution of the franchise, both in the playable and in the plot and points the way for all the deliveries that Hideo Kojima will put in our hands over the next 14 years.