'Metal Gear Solid' and other Konami classics come to GOG.com

For the longest time, it was weirdly difficult to play Solid Snake’s early outings on PC. The original Metal Gear was released for the MSX2 computer and then, a few years later, MS-DOS and Commodore 64. Few people still own this kind of hardware, so your options were emulation or one of the game’s many home console releases, including the popular NES port from 1987. The first two Metal Gear Solid titles, meanwhile, were released on PC but never available through digital storefronts like Steam. Thankfully, there’s now a convenient way to buy all three on PC: GOG.com.

These aren’t remakes or remasters. The listing on GOG.com, however, states that Metal Gear Solid has “better graphics, added features, and new gameplay modes,” and includes the VR Missions expansion released in 1999. Metal Gear Solid 2, meanwhile, is the expanded Substance edition that was released for PS2, Xbox and PC. As The Verge notes, console owners might want to consider other versions, such as Metal Gear Solid remake The Twin Snakes on GameCube and either the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (Xbox 360) or Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection (PS3), both of which contain a HD version of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

Still, it’s nice to have options. And if you only have a PC, it’s the easiest way to get caught up and truly appreciate what happens in the later games — most of which are available on Steam already. In addition, Konami has released a classic Castlevania and Contra bundle on GOG.com too. The aptly-named Konami Collector’s Series: Castlevania & Contra Castlevania, originally released for the PC in 2002, contains Castlevania, Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, Contra and Super C.