Snatcher (video game)
Hideo Kojima stood in a Konami office in 1987, staring at a blank document. He wanted to make a game that felt like a movie. The year was before the release of his first Metal Gear title, yet he already dreamed of cinematic storytelling. Kojima pitched the project as a cyberpunk adventure to Konami's trademark department over the phone. He struggled to explain what "cyberpunk" meant to the executives on the other end of the line. The team eventually settled on the name Snatcher after rejecting Junker and New Order. They treated the development process like making an anime rather than building a video game. Character designer Tomiharu Kinoshita joined Kojima to create the visual style. Their small team worked closely together, about half the size needed for a typical Famicom game. This allowed them to move quickly despite the complexity of the project. Kojima instructed Kinoshita to model characters after those in Katsuhiro Otomo's manga Akira. The team never intended to create a mature atmosphere, but the story naturally evolved into one. Science fiction culture references filled the game while skirting copyright laws. Kojima once proposed printing heat-activated scents on floppy disks to be noticed by players warming them up. Konami rejected this idea immediately. Development took around 18 months, lasting two to three times longer than average games of the era. Memory constraints forced Kojima to cut five planned acts down to just two. The original PC-8801 version released on the 26th of November 1988, followed by the MSX2 version on December 13 that same year.
Gillian Seed stands alone in Neo Kobe City, his memory wiped clean by decades of cryogenic sleep. He cannot recall who he was before waking up fifty years after the Lucifer-Alpha biological weapon killed most of humanity. The city sits on an artificial island in eastern Asia, quarantined from the outside world by the government. Humanoid robots called Snatchers roam the streets, killing humans and replacing their bodies with artificial skin. Gillian joins JUNKER, a task force dedicated to hunting these dangerous machines. His only hope is that hunting Snatchers will reveal his forgotten past. He meets Mika Slayton at headquarters and receives a robot navigator named Metal Gear Mk. II from engineer Harry Benson. A distress call comes from Jean-Jack Gibson, the only other agent, but Gillian finds him beheaded by a pair of Snatchers. The factory explodes as they escape, leaving Gillian to search for the killers. He investigates Jean-Jack's house with help from his daughter Katrina and speaks to an informant known as Napoleon. Random Hajile saves Gillian when he nearly dies during the hunt. Random joins the group as they travel to a hospital Jean-Jack identified as suspicious. They discover skeletons of victims in a secret basement and find Chief Cunningham among them. The chief is actually a Snatcher. Gillian kills him after Mika is taken hostage. A phone call from Jamie tells him she has regained her memories and is being held in the Kremlin. Gillian travels to an abandoned church resembling the Kremlin where scientist Elijah Modnar holds Jamie captive. Modnar explains that Gillian was once a CIA agent spying on a Soviet experiment to create Snatchers. The Soviets designed the robots to kill world leaders and gain power. Gillian and Jamie were placed in cryogenic sleep when Modnar released Lucifer-Alpha into the atmosphere. They lost their memories due to the long freezing period. Modnar reveals his plan to use Snatchers to study suspicion within human society and achieve world domination. Random reactivates and holds Modnar at bay while Gillian and Jamie escape. Metal Gear activates an orbital weapon that destroys the base, killing both Modnar and Random. Gillian prepares to go to Moscow to destroy the factory and rekindle his marriage with Jamie.
Players began asking for a home console version soon after the 1988 release. CD-ROM systems were the only option because the game required several floppy disks. Konami chose the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² System to host the port. This became known as Snatcher CD-ROMantic and marked the first time Konami worked with CD technology. Artist Satoshi Yoshioka created new graphics for this version using a custom drawing application. He pulled inspiration from Blade Runner, The Terminator, and Alien to replicate Hollywood-style special effects. A trial version called the Pilot Disk appeared on the 7th of August 1992, covering the beginning of the first act. The full version released on the 23rd of October 1992, and reportedly sold well for a PC Engine game. Konami later localized and ported the game to Sega CD for Western markets in December 1994. Several scenes were censored or altered for this release. The breasts of the deceased Lisa Nielsen Snatcher were covered up while Katrina Gibson's shower scene was obscured. Her age changed from fourteen to eighteen years old. Options allowing Gillian to engage in sexual behaviors were removed or toned down. Audio where a robot becomes aroused watching pornography was cut entirely. Violence remained mostly unchanged except for one scene where a partially dead dog twitching innards was made completely dead. Fearing copyright issues in the United States, bar patrons changed from Kamen Rider and the Alien to generic Konami characters. The translation took about two to three months and involved seven voice actors recording two and a half hours of dialogue. Scott Hards translated the text under supervision from Jeremy Blaustein and Konami of Japan. The game released in Europe in December 1994 and North America in January 1995. It only sold a couple thousand copies in the United States before becoming a commercial failure. A PlayStation version arrived on the 26th of January 1996, followed by a Sega Saturn version on March 29. These versions reused the voice track from the PC Engine edition without new recordings.
The PC-8801 and MSX2 versions received positive reviews in Japan but failed to sell well commercially. Famicom Tsushin reviewers commended its cinematic quality and kept it on their Reader's Best 20 list two years after release. The PC Engine version also gained a following in Japan partly due to its gore content. When Snatcher arrived in the West on the Sega CD, critics praised its story and mature themes. Mean Machines Sega called it one of the most involved storyboards and backgrounds of any video game. VideoGames noted that juvenile humor sometimes conflicted with the serious tone, writing that it suffered from Japanese cuteness. GameFan described it as one of the longest, most involving games played in a long time. Dave Perry of Games World said interaction was varied enough to prevent linearity while Ultimate Future Games felt the game leaned too heavily on the illusion of choice. Computer and Video Games compared it favorably to Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction for its clever, atmospheric storytelling. Some magazines criticized the graphics as dated or generic despite praise for the anime style. GamePro liked the music while others found it old-fashioned for a cyberpunk adventure. Critics felt the game moved slowly at times but rewarded patient players. Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked the Sega CD version the 69th best console video game of all time in 1997 based solely on story content. Waypoint wrote that its narrative and visuals hold up better than most other Sega CD titles. Kotaku called it a science fiction cornucopia exploring human existence and fear of machines replacing humans. Retro Gamer found irony in how the game was more cinematic than full motion video games.
Critics have discussed Snatcher as setting the stage for Hideo Kojima's later works including Metal Gear Solid. Game Informer wrote that the game foreshadowed his use of science fiction to explore philosophy, sex, and the human condition. The game remains one of Kojima's most renowned titles yet is often overshadowed by the Metal Gear Solid series. It has obtained a cult following and influenced other science fiction works like Project Itoh's novel Genocidal Organ. The 2015 adventure game 2064: Read Only Memories drew inspiration from the original title. Kojima expressed interest in reviving Snatcher in some capacity but explained he lacks time to work on the project himself. He stated in 2011 that a sequel would need to sell over half a million copies to make financial sense. Kojima left Konami in 2015, leaving the game as company property with no plans for revival. The lack of availability on modern platforms surprised industry analysts given its legacy. Some believed it would play well on Nintendo DS or 3DS systems following successful graphic adventures on those consoles. The Sega CD version remains the sole release in Western territories driving up secondary market prices. Japanese copies are far cheaper but difficult for non-Japanese readers due to text-based nature. Fans have experimented with porting the game to other systems including a Virtual Boy demo released in 2015 with stereoscopic 3D effects. An episodic radio drama prequel called Sdatcher appeared in September 2011 through collaboration between Kojima and Goichi Suda. Scriptwriter Suda credited Snatcher along with Yu Suzuki's works for igniting his interest in video games.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When was the original PC-8801 version of Snatcher released?
The original PC-8801 version of Snatcher released on the 26th of November 1988. This release preceded the MSX2 version which arrived later that same year.
Who directed the development of the video game Snatcher in 1987?
Hideo Kojima directed the development of the video game Snatcher while working at a Konami office in 1987. He pitched the project as a cyberpunk adventure to Konami's trademark department over the phone before the team settled on the final name.
What happened to Gillian Seed after he woke up from cryogenic sleep in Neo Kobe City?
Gillian Seed woke up with his memory wiped clean by decades of cryogenic sleep following the Lucifer-Alpha biological weapon attack. He joined JUNKER to hunt humanoid robots called Snatchers and discovered Chief Cunningham was actually one of these machines.
Which console received the first CD-ROM port of Snatcher known as Snatcher CD-ROMantic?
The PC Engine Super CD-ROM² System received the first CD-ROM port of Snatcher known as Snatcher CD-ROMantic. This version marked the first time Konami worked with CD technology for this title.
When did the Sega CD version of Snatcher release in North America?
The Sega CD version of Snatcher released in North America in January 1995 after localizing the game for Western markets in December 1994. Several scenes were censored or altered for this specific release including changes to character ages and sexual content.