Probably like many people, I always thought of Metal Gear as a NES game, but this blockbuster of a game got its start on, and was a premium title for, MSX2. So that got my gears turning and made it understandable now why they made you play one screen at a time, and why having binoculars in the game was such a fitting piece of equipment. The NES didn't need to have a static screen, but changing to a scrolling screen would have changed the feel of the original game, for sure.

That's not to say they did nothing to the original during the porting process. The whole way you enter the enemy stronghold is different. In the NES version, you had to infiltrate your way through enemies in an outdoor world, whereas in the MSX version you are automatically swum there. But the items you must collect in the outside of the NES game and the early sections of the enemy base are similar, I don't think one version is particularly easier or has less to do than the other, and I'm not sure if there was a particular reason why this change exists. But it's interesting.

Some screens look like they have nearly identical counterparts between versions, others seem quite different. But there is the whole gamut of items to collect and dangers to traverse.

F1 pauses, while F2, F3, and F4 bring up your weapons, equipment, and the transceiver, respectively.

Although they may look more or less fine in the photo, the box and manual had both definitely seen better days. The box is warped on the side, and cover from the manual had been completely removed. The cartridge was really nice, though.