How Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Changes the Psycho Mantis Fight

Metal Gear Solid is one of the crown jewels of the original PlayStation. The game was one of the very best games on the system, and featured several moments that have since become iconic. One of these moments is the fight with Psycho Mantis, a villain that could read the player's mind. The villain rattled off video games the player had spent time with, and could decipher the player's moves ahead of time. In reality, Mantis was reading the game's memory card and controller inputs. The game has recently returned as part of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1, and Konami has found ways to keep that fight just as memorable. 

Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear Solid Master Collection

When playing Metal Gear Solid in Metal Gear Solid Collection Vol. 1, players can create a "virtual memory card." Several Konami games and franchises can be added, and those will later be mentioned in the Psycho Mantis fight. These include titles like Castlevania, Suikoden, and Azure Dreams. Across social media, that inclusion has come as a nice surprise for a lot of players! It's not as cool as it was in 1998, as players will now see it coming, but it does show that the developers put a lot of thought into how they could retain that moment. 

In the original Psycho Mantis fight, players had to switch their controller to the second port on the PlayStation system, in order to prevent Psycho Mantis from "reading their mind." In the 25 years since, most players have stopped using wired controllers, so Konami was also forced to come up with a workaround. In Metal Gear Solid Collection Vol. 1, players can go into the pause menu where they can virtually "change the controller slot." 

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection on Nintendo Switch

While gamers have praised the changes to the Psycho Mantis fight, Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 has gotten a lot of negativity from the Nintendo Switch community. The game's physical release on Nintendo's system contains just four older games: Metal Gear (MSX2 version), Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear (NES version), and Snake's Revenge. Basically, that means players will have to download Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. 

Throughout the Switch era, there have been countless video game compilations released, many of which have come from Konami. Those collections have featured significantly more material on their cartridges, without any download being required. It's unclear why this happened with Metal Gear, but it's disappointing for those that care about physical media; at the very least, the cartridge should have included Metal Gear Solid! For whatever reason, the physical release on Switch is definitely lacking, and anyone planning to purchase it should be aware ahead of time. 

Have you picked up Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1? What do you think of these Psycho Mantis changes? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

[H/T: IGN]