On November 14, 1995, the Tora video game "Gloomy: Land of Happiness" was released. Kevin, who had been living in Tokyo for three years, was eager to buy it.
Being a devoted fan of video games, Kevin was intrigued by the latest Tora release, "Gloomy: Land of Happiness."
Despite having played only a few Tora titles and casually enjoying the Happy series, Kevin's interest was piqued by "Gloomy: Land of Happiness," where the protagonist was actually the antagonist from the Happy series.
The prospect of playing as an antagonist captured the attention of gamers who had read about it in magazines.
"Have you heard about the latest Tora game, Gloomy? You get to play as an antagonist. Pretty interesting, right?"
"Yeah, I played the Happy series, Gloomy was one it's antagonists, and Gloomy being the protagonist this time got me curious. I wonder how the game will turn out..."
"True. Only by playing it ourselves can we really understand how the game is..."
As Kevin browsed video games in the store, he overheard discussions among a group of high school young men.
"I guess I'm not the only one curious," Kevin thought, smiling.
After purchasing the KiShin video game "Metal Gear Solid I," Kevin returned home with a handful of video games.
Upon arriving home, he inserted the CD of Tora's game, "Gloomy: Land of Happiness," into his other console, the TSX Fusion.
Typically, he didn't use the TSX Fusion as much as the KS1, but this time, he intended to play "Gloomy: Land of Happiness" extensively, especially if it lived up to the descriptions in the magazines.
Soon, the TSX Fusion intro featuring Tora and Suzuki began, followed by the introduction to the video game's story.
The story kicked off with the usually joyful Happy consistently defeating Gloomy, who was eventually fully defeated and banished to a distant place, far from the Elemotion people and the Elemotion land (Elemotion being the species of Happy and Gloomy, along with other creatures in the Elemotion lands).
Gloomy, bound by a curse restricting his powers, was cast out by Happy and the other Elemotions, sent through portals to random lands in the Galaxy.
Upon landing in the land of Magic, inhabited by magical beings and humans, Gloomy eventually managed to lift the restriction curse placed upon him after residing there for a considerable period.
From that point onward, Gloomy sought a way to return to the land of Elemotions. Observing the happenings in Elemotion lands through a magic orb, Gloomy discovered that Happy had become the King and established a Land of Happiness.
Feeling quite gloomy upon seeing this, Gloomy's mission became clear – to defeat the bosses of the magic world, level by level, and return to the lands of Elemotions.
After the video game's introduction story, Kevin finally started playing. His in-game character, Gloomy, found itself in the magic world, and Kevin took control to defeat monsters and bosses, each level with its own difficulty, as outlined in the manual.
Controlling Gloomy brought a refreshing feeling, with Gloomy's dialogue consistently negative, in contrast to the positive dialogue of Happy.
"Life is a never-ending storm..." Gloomy's voice, tinged with sadness, echoed.
Kevin couldn't help but chuckle wryly, "Indeed, a true antagonist."
Gloomy's voice sounded again as Kevin guided it through the grassy forests, "I see shadows even in the brightest moments..."
Kevin found Gloomy's quotes rather cool.
As Kevin guided Gloomy, he encountered monsters, directing Gloomy to attack them with his icy skills.
Following that, an enemy boss resembling a wolf, witnessing Gloomy defeat its forces, fled. Kevin maneuvered Gloomy to pursue the mini-boss. Upon catching it, Gloomy faced off against the mini-boss, and after a while, Kevin successfully defeated it, leading to a scene change.
The transition resembled a rough 3D animation, similar to the game's introductory story.
After vanquishing the boss, Gloomy observed the mini-boss begging for its life. Gloomy noticed a glimmer of hope in the mini-monster boss's eyes.
"Hope feels like a distant memory..." Gloomy's cute Japanese voice sounded, its tone tinged with sadness, delivering quotes that were truly depressing.
"Spare me!" pleaded the wolf boss as it kneeled.
But Gloomy responded mindlessly, "Sunsets are just reminders of inevitable darkness..."
"What?" The wolf boss looked at Gloomy with confusion, then noticed the sun setting.
While the wolf boss remained kneeling, rain started to pour, and Gloomy stared at the sky, saying, "Raindrops are echoes of tears we hide within."
Upon hearing this, the wolf boss found Gloomy to be really cool and expressed a desire to become an underling of Gloomy. Gloomy seemed to grasp the wolf boss's willingness, but cared little, and so the wolf boss followed Gloomy without receiving much attention.
"Gloomy... You're truly a broken villain..." Kevin sighed upon hearing Gloomy's dialogues, acknowledging the antagonist's charisma in gaining loyal followers.
Similar to the antagonists in famous KiShin franchises like Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, Gloomy seemed to be the most serious and darkest. Bowser, the antagonist in Super Mario Bros., had gained popularity for his funny looks and dialogue in the latest Super Mario video games for KS1. Likewise, Dr. Robotnik, the antagonist in Sonic the Hedgehog, despite being a funny character, possessed a charismatic villainy.
In Kevin's view, Gloomy appeared to be more serious and darker than them all. Given that popular KiShin video games were family-friendly, their antagonists were not as deep and serious as Gloomy was portraying.
With that, Kevin continued to play, acknowledging that Tora's video games, in collaboration with Suzuki, had indeed improved significantly, earning the title of a very good video game.
After hours of playing the game, Kevin began to feel a bit bored. While the game's concept was refreshing and the gameplay was satisfactory, he found the levels to be both too easy and dragged out as he continued playing.
Despite investing three hours, he had yet to return to the Elemotion Lands. Feeling the need for a break from the game, Kevin switched the TSX Fusion console to the KS1 to try out the latest KiShin video game, titled "Metal Gear Solid I."
As soon as Kevin connected the KS1 to the television, and the KS1 and KiShin intro played out, the video game introduction story started.
It began with the intense soundtrack. In the deep sea, a submarine can be seen. The scene changed to the inside of the submarine, with people operating it and high-tech equipment visible.
[Ohio Class Nuclear Submarine Discovery]
The location of the place was labeled.
And then, a middle-aged man's voice sounded.
"The nuclear weapons disposal facility on Moses Island, in Alaska's Fox Archipelago, was attacked and captured by next-generation special forces, being led by members of FOX-HOUND."
The camera zoomed in on the submarine's screen, and the scene turned white before zooming towards the radar screen in the sea.
"They're demanding that the government turn over the remains of Big Boss, and if their demands aren't met within 24 hours, they'll launch a nuclear weapon."
As Kevin watched the scene and listened to the dialogues, he grew curious.
Continuing the scene, Solid Snake was assigned a mission to infiltrate Moses Island and FOXHOUND organization to prevent the nuclear weapon launch.
FOXHOUND's special forces unit comprised experts specializing in various tasks: Revolver Ocelot, Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, Psycho Mantis, Decoy Octopus, and the leader, Liquid Snake.
After the video game introduction, the scene shifted to the main menu. Kevin selected the options, chose "new game," and initiated the game.
The game commenced with an animation, featuring the protagonist swimming in the water to a choir-like soundtrack, creating a layer of mystery and suspense. The animation continued, revealing the credits.
The protagonist emerged from the water, sat on the land near a set of stairs.
As the protagonist removed his swimming fins, a voice declared, "Stay alert! He'll be through here... I know it."
"I'm going to swat down a couple of bothersome flies."
In the scene, the voice emanated from a man in the elevator, blond and directing men in white protective suits.
Following that, Solid Snake and the Colonel engaged in a conversation, with the Colonel instructing Kevin, the player, about using the "Select Button" for codec contact.
The game finally commenced, and Kevin observed his in-game character, Solid Snake, in the area where he emerged from the water.
Stairs and a lake-like water body were nearby. As Kevin guided his in-game character downstairs toward the floodwater, the camera zoomed closer to Solid Snake running through the flood.
"I've got to admit, the graphics are much better than the first Resident Evil game they released..." Kevin couldn't help but exclaim.
Compared to Resident Evil 1 with blocky 3D character models, limited animation, static environments, and less interactive pre-rendered backgrounds, Metal Gear Solid I impressively addressed those issues.
Not only did Metal Gear Solid I's graphics overcome the shortcomings of Resident Evil 1, but they also marked a significant leap in graphical improvement. Most of the 3D attempt gameplay problems in Resident Evil 1 were effectively solved, and in fact, Metal Gear Solid I even improved upon the positive aspects of Resident Evil's graphics.
Metal Gear Solid I featured cutting-edge polygon counts for characters and environments, creating a more detailed world compared to Resident Evil 1's pre-rendered backgrounds. The game boasted smooth character animations and more.
"As expected of KiShin... They improved the graphics so much in just a little over a year..." Kevin couldn't help but sigh.
With that, Kevin accidentally acquired a "RATION" in the floodwater, and then he walked upstairs.
Having read the video game story manual and control manual for "Metal Gear Solid I" in KiShin Power magazine before heading to the store to buy it, Kevin found the controls simple. He guided his in-game character to crawl down and navigate through a blocking pipe.
A map displayed in the corner of the screen helped Kevin track his in-game character's location. The gameplay involved Kevin controlling his character to stealthily move past patrolling soldiers in white suits.
Spotting a patrolling soldier in a descending elevator, Kevin patiently waited until the soldier wasn't looking before stealthily entering the elevator.
As Kevin successfully avoided the soldiers and sneaked behind them, he felt a rush of adrenaline. (Although the patrolling soldiers' AI wasn't very complicated and was easy to fool, Kevin remained unaware of that fact.)
Having played "Metal Gear Solid I" for quite a while, Kevin found the game to be quite enjoyable. In fact, he was more entertained by this game than the one he had played earlier, "Gloomy: Land of Happiness."
--
After a few days, many gamers in Tokyo purchased the latest video game from Tora-Suzuki, "Gloomy: Land of Happiness." However, after spending some time playing it, they noticed that, while the game was fun and the protagonist Gloomy was cool, clearing levels was too easy, and these easy levels were excessively prolonged. Even after hours of gameplay, Gloomy was unable to return to the Elemotion Land.
Despite varying opinions on "Gloomy: Land of Happiness," KiShin's latest video game, "Metal Gear Solid I," garnered significant attention.
Compared to "Gloomy: Land of Happiness," "Metal Gear Solid I" excelled in graphics and presented a more compelling storyline for most gamers.
While "Gloomy: Land of Happiness" had an interesting concept and a refreshing idea, "Metal Gear Solid I" was more mature and appealed to boys or men, tapping into the fantasy of being a legendary soldier, a concept cherished by many men worldwide, embodied in the protagonist, Solid Snake.
The game received praise for its cinematic cutscenes featuring impressive lighting and camera work, immersing players in the story. Professional video game developers also commended "Metal Gear Solid I" for its significant graphics leap, including smooth character animations, especially facial expressions and lip-syncing, which were groundbreaking at the time.
