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Metal Gear Solid (PS1) vs. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GameCube Remake) | Side by Side

mango drank

Member
Played a few hours of it again for the first time in ~15 years, because of this thread.

I barely remembered any of it, but seriously, wtf @ the watered-down voice acting? What happened? Was something wrong with the original PSX voice tracks? Why does almost literally no one have an accent anymore? Were the accents deemed problematic, even back then?

The cartoonishly over-the-top cutscenes, those I remembered from my original playthrough. LOL @ Snake doing ballet in every other cinematic. Dude should've been wearing pink tights instead.

Other than that, I like it just fine. Nice nostalgia trip. Though for some reason it didn't hit me in the feels nearly as much as playing the Shadow Moses area in MGS4 did, long long ago.
 

Blond

Banned
I still don’t understand why this version never left the GameCube. The controls were so limiting!
 

Thaedolus

Member
Played a few hours of it again for the first time in ~15 years, because of this thread.

I barely remembered any of it, but seriously, wtf @ the watered-down voice acting? What happened? Was something wrong with the original PSX voice tracks? Why does almost literally no one have an accent anymore? Were the accents deemed problematic, even back then?

The cartoonishly over-the-top cutscenes, those I remembered from my original playthrough. LOL @ Snake doing ballet in every other cinematic. Dude should've been wearing pink tights instead.

Other than that, I like it just fine. Nice nostalgia trip. Though for some reason it didn't hit me in the feels nearly as much as playing the Shadow Moses area in MGS4 did, long long ago.

Regarding accents: it never really made sense for Mei Ling to have an accent since she was American IIRC. But the overall voice direction is really lacking compared to the original. Everyone sounds like they’re phoning it in
 

cebri.one

Member
They cut a lot of soundtracks in TS which completely ruins the experience for me. Like in the Sniper Wolf death scene.
 

Bridges

Member
I've had a copy of Twin Snakes sitting around for years and still haven't played because people keep insisting I should play the original instead.

Only ever played MGS4, MGSV and Rising but really enjoyed what I played of all of them
 
I love both.

I think one does things better than the other: OG has better music and Twin Snakes is more funner to play (OG hasn’t aged the best). Original has better cinematics while a majority of Twin Snakes was pretty awful (except the Ninja and final Grey Fox showdown).

I prefer the OG for nostalgic purposes.
 
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Pidull

Member
I was a huge fan of Ryuhei Kitamura back in the day when he worked with Tak Sakaguchi but when he decided that Snake should surf the rocket, Kojima and the devs should have told him that's beyond retarded.

Though the influence on crazy cutscenes can be seen in MGS 3 and beyond.
Kojima wanted them to go over the top with the cutscenes, originally they were going for basically the same content, he told the director to do more.

I love Twin Snakes for what it was. After MGS2, Snake's image turned into something legendary and larger than life. Twin Snakes took that impossible image and rolled with it, making Snake do ridiculous anime superpower shit.

I prefer playing the original, but still love the remake.
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
I’m shocked at how much better the art is in the PS1 version. And I played and loved Twin Snakes.

Look at that first area coming up from the water, and how much more detailed it is, from lights everywhere, to the cargo containers. The remake looks so flat and soft in comparison.

Edit: It does balance back out as the video goes on
 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
The original is probably the game I've replayed the most (by such linear story driven games), but as Kojima got too full of himself and totally jumped the shark with the series after that, Twin Snakes sort of fits in better with the sequels (though it's not as impressive as MGS2 despite borrowing much from it, you can tell it wasn't given the same AAA budget or anything like that for the assets and attention to detail to reach that lofty level, but the studio did pretty well in this 1:1 remake style - much like the new Demon's Souls - rather than a complete overhaul that would fully bring it on par with the sequels) and is pretty great. No clue why you feel compelled to post every random gaming related video you come across on youtube, old or new, for old games or new games, regardless of quality or any particular insights they may have or lack, but whatever makes you happy.
 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Tbf every piece of media during that period was trying to mimic bullet time from The Matrix.
Matrix was pretty old by then (Reloaded too close to the launch to have affected it). I can see it for games like Max Payne (2001 so in development close to The Matrix's 1999 release) but Twin Snakes came out in 2004. Dude just liked that shit (Kojima probably too, he's got worse in sequels).

People always say Kojima wouldn't do this or that seen in Metal Gear games he didn't direct but somehow he always seems to adopt everything in his games to some degree, heh. Peace Walker definitely takes elements from Portable Ops too (and would be better if it had taken far more tbh).
 
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A.Romero

Member
This was the only GC game I played, I borrowed one from a friend to do so.

If Twin Snakes was a stand alone game where the original MGS didn't exist, it would be a great game. However, compared to the original it's not as good. It did have some improvements like the graphics but it doesn't compensate to everything that was missing from the original.

Whenever there is an option, the best bet is the original as long as you can deal with obsolete controls. At least until another remake comes out.
 

CJ_75

Member
Nothing touch the original. Remember Solid Snake backflipping and missile surfing? It was just plain silly.
As much as I like David Hayter, it was not his best performance in The Twin Snakes. Gameplay was great though.
I almost forgot MGS: TTS, but the original MGS stays in memory forever.
 
I remember Twin Snakes being pretty good. From what I remember, Kojima wanted the cutscenes to be done again to be more over the top. It had his blessing (correct me if I'm wrong).
 

ExpandKong

Banned
If it bugs y'all that much someone came up with some fan canon years ago that Twin Snakes is the events of MGS1 as experienced by Raiden in VR training before MGS2, hence the overblown grandiosity of everything Snake does.

Of course it's doubtful that Raiden or anybody would be allowed to see the truth of what happened during Shadow Moses.

Listen just don't think about it all that much okay the snowfield sniper cutscenes were pretty good but I think there might have been an unnecessary backflip there too.
 

sephiroth7x

Member
Honestly - prefer the original on nearly every level.

This is purely my opinion (and of course there could be an element of nostalgia) but:

Graphics - of course Twin Snakes looks better BUT I don't see it as better. Due to the story of MGS, I felt it needed a really gritty atmosphere and the way in which the PS1 polygons looked and were designed gave it that look naturally. Everything was filthy whereas Twin Snakes felt so sterile - much like MGS2. I didn't like it personally.

Score - the original score is an ambience masterpiece. It doesn't have many stand out tracks (Discovery/Enclosure etc.) but as a single combined soundtrack it is masterful.

Voice Acting - this had to be mentioned as I massively prefer the original. I just cannot get over how badly they re-recorded the Twin Snakes version. It is such a shame they couldn't just tidy up the original audio.

Cut Scenes - hated the new cut scenes but I am not a fan of Ryuhei Kitamura so that would more than likely have a lot to do with that.

Gameplay - the single most important part of the game and I honestly prefer the original. The reason? Simply because the original's world and gameplay were designed concurrently. The remake rightly kept the same areas, but all the MGS2 type controls allowed were shortcuts and new ways through but it wasn't designed for it. It made the game really easy but again, no doubt about it, Twin Snakes does have objectively better game play, I just don't feel it suits the original game.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
The problem I had with Twin Snakes was, that I just came down from MGS2 on PS2 (could even have been Substance). And the game looked and performed worse than that one.

There were dog tags I think, but for what? There wasn't VR training at all wasn't there? Even the PS1 had that.

I didn't like the remixed soundtrack and the MGS2 perks kind of ruined the games balance. I ended up playing the original via BC afterward again and I must say I liked that more despite being older and less advanced. There was one improvement I remember, with the card key. They removed backtracking.
 
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deriks

4-Time GIF/Meme God
Mixbag. Twin Snakes has better gameplay and well deserved graphics that is not that bad today. Original has way better sound and better cinematics

It's like to compare the original Castlevania with IV. While they're the same, they're also different games
 

Business

Member
Looking at that MGS1 footage one can't help but marvel at the scope and ambition, what an achievement that was on PS1.
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Metal Gear Solid is one of the games that made me as a gamer. This is the title I will alwas refer to as the best gaming experience I had during my teen years. It received a remake released exclusively on Nintendo Gamecube and beside huge graphics improvement it also got greatly expanded cutscenes. Here's a side-by-side comparison of all real time cutscenes. I skipped all codec dialogues and focused only of animated clips. I hope you'll find it interesting, especially that some characters had different voice actors in both games - I also tried to compare them. I'm curious which VO do you like better.
Enjoy!

Metal Gear Solid vs MGS The Twin Snakes - All Cutscenes Comparison
 
I love Twin Snakes, it’s great but watching the comparison I’m surprised it isn’t a little closer to the original in terms of cutscene camera angles and timing.
 

Gambit2483

Member
twin snakes is alright why do so many people dislike it?
It was a Gamecube exclusive and many people cited that the cutscenes were too "wacky" even though the MGS series has had many "wacky" cutscenes...also they complained about the updated gameplay making some sections easier to play.

I liked it. The enhanced visuals and some of the newer music tracks were really good.
 
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Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Kojima wanted them to go over the top with the cutscenes, originally they were going for basically the same content, he told the director to do more.
Such a Sony fanboy, pulled a fast one on Konami and ensured PS supremacy on MGS would go unchallenged once more ;).
 

Otre

Banned
-Had MGS2 mechanics that broke the balance of the game. Made Bosses trivial.
-Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was famous at the time so of course we have to remake the cutscenes. In shittier form.
-The excuse that MGS always had that level of silliness and special martial arts moments is stupid. Its all in the balance. MGS TS treats the original like dumping 10 tons of sugar into a recipe that required a spoonful.

Its an awful remake. Its still a competent game. Inferior to the PS1 version in all but Graphics and loading times. Only defenders of Twin Snakes are people that played this first, probably in their childhood so they have nostalgia attached or those that have erections or wet themselves during Michael Bay films.

Metal Gear Solid on the playstation is still a classic. Better on Duckstation without loading times. Probably on a CRT or a good CRT royale / DrVenom shader with BFI on the TV.
 

Pidull

Member
-Had MGS2 mechanics that broke the balance of the game. Made Bosses trivial.
-Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was famous at the time so of course we have to remake the cutscenes. In shittier form.
-The excuse that MGS always had that level of silliness and special martial arts moments is stupid. Its all in the balance. MGS TS treats the original like dumping 10 tons of sugar into a recipe that required a spoonful.

Its an awful remake. Its still a competent game. Inferior to the PS1 version in all but Graphics and loading times. Only defenders of Twin Snakes are people that played this first, probably in their childhood so they have nostalgia attached or those that have erections or wet themselves during Michael Bay films.

Metal Gear Solid on the playstation is still a classic. Better on Duckstation without loading times. Probably on a CRT or a good CRT royale / DrVenom shader with BFI on the TV.
It's possible to like the game for what it was: an intentional embellishment of Solid Snake's legendary role in the Shadow Moses incident.

When looking back to the original MGS, even though a little campy, Snake didn't feel like some untouchable "legendary soldier", but after MGS2, the perception around how amazing Snake was completely changed with the fans. By taking away the ability to play as Snake, his legendary status launched into the stratosphere.

Twin Snakes takes those new rose-tinted glasses and makes a spectacle out of it. It's basically a satire and I personally love it for doing something so completely different.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Original always has better music and cut scenes.

Obviously Twin Snake’s MGS2 mechanics are gonna be better, but some of the cut scenes are so different to MGS its not even a comparison for me. MGS was way better in that regard and felt more epic
 

93xfan

Banned
It's possible to like the game for what it was: an intentional embellishment of Solid Snake's legendary role in the Shadow Moses incident.

When looking back to the original MGS, even though a little campy, Snake didn't feel like some untouchable "legendary soldier", but after MGS2, the perception around how amazing Snake was completely changed with the fans. By taking away the ability to play as Snake, his legendary status launched into the stratosphere.

Twin Snakes takes those new rose-tinted glasses and makes a spectacle out of it. It's basically a satire and I personally love it for doing something so completely different.
Cannot agree. It’s not some clever satire.

Really wanted to love it. There were some things in it I actually liked, but overall it was disappointing
 

Kokoloko85

Member
-Had MGS2 mechanics that broke the balance of the game. Made Bosses trivial.
-Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was famous at the time so of course we have to remake the cutscenes. In shittier form.
-The excuse that MGS always had that level of silliness and special martial arts moments is stupid. Its all in the balance. MGS TS treats the original like dumping 10 tons of sugar into a recipe that required a spoonful.

Its an awful remake. Its still a competent game. Inferior to the PS1 version in all but Graphics and loading times. Only defenders of Twin Snakes are people that played this first, probably in their childhood so they have nostalgia attached or those that have erections or wet themselves during Michael Bay films.

Metal Gear Solid on the playstation is still a classic. Better on Duckstation without loading times. Probably on a CRT or a good CRT royale / DrVenom shader with BFI on the TV.
Totally agree
 

Synless

Member
As usual, remakes lose the original vision and end up looking bland and uninspired. This isn't even to touch on the more subjective nature of music and cinematic direction, which IMHO the remake lacks entirely.
Not to mention the original voice actors were superior.
 

yansolo

Member
i think while some of the complaints do exist they are to me a bit exaggerated, the new mechanics do make it easy but the og was already pretty easy to begin with, if i remember correctly you never had to deal with more than 2-3 guards max. in an area at a time. The cutscenes and audio are also different but i wouldnt say they are worse or better than the original.

i love the original but if i was to suggest a version to somebody who never played it i would suggest twin snakes, the ps1 version is maybe too old at this point
 
This is fairly off topic but I didn’t want to make a new thread and thought it’s relevant enough.

Prices on the MGS Collection and the 3DS Snake Eater have gone up like crazy.

I picked up a copy of 3DS Snake Eater for $2 a year ago, just sold it to some sucker for $100 on eBay. It sold within 3 minutes of listing, I put it up way lower on auction and that offer was made to me. It’s crazy how stupid game prices have gotten in general, not even with the recent delisting. I’ve got the nice PS3 collection and don’t really like playing handheld. 🤷‍♂️
 

Otre

Banned
It's possible to like the game for what it was: an intentional embellishment of Solid Snake's legendary role in the Shadow Moses incident.

When looking back to the original MGS, even though a little campy, Snake didn't feel like some untouchable "legendary soldier", but after MGS2, the perception around how amazing Snake was completely changed with the fans. By taking away the ability to play as Snake, his legendary status launched into the stratosphere.

Twin Snakes takes those new rose-tinted glasses and makes a spectacle out of it. It's basically a satire and I personally love it for doing something so completely different.

Thats just making excuses for a medicore developer trying to lazily phone in current trends and not respecting a game because they feel its old. Hell, would not be surprised if Kojima himself did want those changes. You can bring interpretations or feels into this but at the end of the day, cramming MGS2 mechanics into MGS broke the game making it stupidly easy in the worst way posible.
 
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