The 35th anniversary of the Metal Gear franchise was marked not with a new game, but with a digital time capsule that would eventually become a technical nightmare. In May 2023, Konami announced the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1, a compilation designed to celebrate three and a half decades of stealth gaming history. This announcement came immediately after the reveal of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, creating a stark contrast between a modern remake and a nostalgic collection. The collection was split across volumes, with Vol. 1 comprising the first five main entries in the franchise, including the original 1987 Metal Gear, the 1990 MSX2 sequel, and the PlayStation classics from 1998 through 2004. It also included the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Metal Gear and its standalone sequel Snake's Revenge, which had been largely forgotten by the general public. The release marked the first time Metal Gear Solid appeared on Xbox, the first time the original version and Sons of Liberty were available on a Nintendo console, and the first worldwide release of Metal Gear Solid: Integral outside Japan. The collection was released on the 24th of October 2023, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, with a second volume currently in development.
A Technical Odyssey Unfolds
The technical execution of the Master Collection Vol. 1 was a journey from promise to controversy. Before release, Konami announced that all featured games would be presented at a resolution of 1080p with a maximum performance of 60 frames-per-second on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. The Nintendo Switch version retained a native 1080p resolution in TV Mode but dropped to 720p in Handheld Mode, running at 30 frames per second. However, after release, it was discovered that the games were actually locked to 720p on all platforms, a significant deviation from the initial marketing claims. The Switch version's 30 frames per second cap was noted as bizarre since the Shield version, which the Switch version is derived from, manages to run at 60 frames per second using the same Tegra X1 chip. The PC version lacked any graphics or audio options, leaving players with a bare-bones experience. Despite these issues, the collection included the ability to create virtual save data for other Konami PlayStation titles and virtually swap controller ports from Player 1 to Player 2, features relevant to the boss fight against Psycho Mantis in the original Metal Gear Solid. A digital replica of the game's original retail packaging was included to aid players in obtaining Meryl Silverburgh's Codec frequency number to contact her later in the game.The Hidden Treasures Within
Beyond the core games, the Master Collection Vol. 1 included a wealth of additional content that transformed the compilation into a museum of the franchise's history. The collection featured the motion comics Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel, originally released in 2006 for the PlayStation Portable, and Metal Gear Solid 2: Bande Dessinée, originally released exclusively in Japanese on DVD in 2008. These were previously included as extras with full English voice acting in the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection, released in 2013 for the PlayStation 3. Other extras included strategy guides, screenplay books, and an in-game sound selection of twenty tracks curated from each game in the collection. Remixes of the vocal tracks The Best is Yet to Come from Metal Gear Solid, Can't Say Goodbye To Yesterday from Sons of Liberty, and the titular Snake Eater from Metal Gear Solid 3 were made available as pre-order bonuses. The additional content for each game consisted of digital copies of the respective games' boxes and instruction manuals, associated Master Book dossiers that divulge details on characters, narrative, and their place in Metal Gears in-universe canon, as well as the corresponding screenplays for each game. This depth of material provided players with a comprehensive understanding of the series' narrative and design philosophy.