Land of the cows

  • Psycho Mantis reads your mind in MGS1
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The whole of this section could be called, ‘isn’t Metal Gear Solid awesome because of how many tiny references, in-jokes and hilarious Easter eggs it has’, but I thought it may have been convoluted so I kept it a bit snappier. However, what I’m trying to get at is that the MGS series has probably the most quirky moments and brilliant developer-left hidden jokes in any series. From receiving moody responses from the colonel on the codex because you called him up too many times, to shooting Mario and Yoshi dolls to hear their signature cries; MGS has it all.

My personal favourite moment (and a long-lasting fan favourite), comes from the first instalment of the series. In between facing the boss Psycho Mantis, you are treated to a great looking cut-scene (a cut-scene in MGS!?!). In the video, Psycho Mantis tries to battle you psychologically; he did this by reading the data from your memory card. Mantis would come out with comments about what you had stored on your memory unit, such as, ‘you like adventure games do you!’ and ‘So... you like games from Konami!’ This was enjoyed by the fans so much, that on the later released Gamecube version, the developers added in dialogue to match, ‘So you have been playing Mario Sunshine have you!?’ Oh Mantis you really know how to get right to my core! In the end, the only way to beat Mantis was to switch your controller into port 2, a fantastic smashing of the fourth wall.

  • Meeting Yoshi in Mario 64
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The ultimate reward for getting all of the stars in Mario 64, was meeting Yoshi on the castle roof. After you got star number 120 (no mean feat I assure you!), the green pipe in the castle gardens would open up and shoot you onto the top of the castle. Here you would meet the otherwise absent Yoshi, who would give you a hundred lives, a nice little message from Shigeru Miyamoto himself, and to top it off add a sparkle to your third jump. What more could a Mario fan boy want?

Chilling with Yoshi

Female First Edward Lewis


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