Metal Gear on the NES is where stealth games started—though honestly, it feels more like sneaking past guards while holding your breath than the polished stealth we’re used to now. You play as Solid Snake (yes, that name), a rookie FOXHOUND agent sent into this fortress called Outer Heaven to blow up a walking tank called Metal Gear.

The first thing you notice? The guards have these weird cone-shaped vision fields, and if they spot you, the whole base goes nuts. No fancy takedowns here—you either hide in cardboard boxes (classic) or punch them out before they raise the alarm. The levels are maze-like, full of hidden rooms and keycards that make backtracking a thing, but there’s something weirdly satisfying about memorizing guard patterns and slipping past unnoticed.

It’s janky by today’s standards, but you can see the roots of everything that made the later games legendary. Just don’t expect cutscenes or deep storytelling—this one’s all about tense, barebones infiltration.