Guide/FAQ to Metal Gear Solid (a.k.a. MG: Ghost Babel) on Game Boy Color
Version 0.2
6/23/00
written by `Xenocide 
 
Caution - This FAQ contains words that may be considered vulgar and offensive to some people,
mostly the same that find running around shooting people in a game vulgar and offensive. 
 
[Quick Note: This guide was not written to be a walkthrough of the game, because such material
can ruin the point of playing a game. You will find that it reads more like an instruction 
booklet than a walkthrough, though I have included some strategy in this. I hope those of you
who rented the game, borrowed it, bought it used without an instruction manual, etc. can 
appreciate this. Plus, a walk through takes a long time to write ;)]
 
Version History
v0.2 - Added the rest of the items and weapons, added "solid tips," added boss tactics, 
added enemies, and added Ending Rankings and stats
v0.1 - The first write up!
 
==================
Table of Contents
==================
 Introduction
 Story
 Controls
 Characters
 Items
 Weapons
 Stealth
 Solid Tips
 Enemies
 Boss Tactics
 VR Training
 Multiplayer
 Ending Rankings
 Thanks
 Legal 
 
=============
Introduction
=============
 Metal Gear was a really interesting and popular game on the NES. several years later, Solid 
Snake's popularity was revived when Konami released Metal Gear Solid. Metal Gear: Ghost Babel,
also known as Metal Gear Solid, returns to the series' roots with its over head steath game, 
while integrating the most interesting parts of Solid into it. There is a sort of "Alert" 
status and timer, Training VR Missions, coloful cut scenes and even a multiplayer mode where 
you race your linked opponent for the secret data disks. As far as replay value goes, this 
game uses every trick I can think of: Ratings for beating the game, time trials, VR missions, 
secret modes, varying difficulties and multiplayer. Lets just say if you like the game, there 
is an ASSLOAD of things to do. Metal Gear Solid is one of the top games out there, and I feel 
theres play time involved with MGS than in Link's Awakening DX. 
 If you liked Bionic Commando, Winback, Heavy Barrel, Ikari Warriors, or of course 
Metal Gear or Snake's revenge you might like this game. And if you liked Metal Gear Solid 
on the PSX, you might want to try this one too, though the perspective greatly differs.
 
======
Story 
======
 Solid Snake returns from his solitary retirement in Alaska to revisit Outer Haven, where he 
destroyed the Metal Gear seven years ago, to investigate and neutralize a revolutionary force in
South Africa. The rest of the plot reveals itself through the game, and I don't want to write a 
spoiler guide. 
 
=========
Controls
=========
 
While in the main game screen:
Joypad - Run/crawl around.
B - Fire your selected weapon(the top icon) when you have one with ammo.
A - Punch. Use this on buttons or guards.
Start - Toggle crawling on/off.
Select - Bring up menu. 
 
While in the menu:
Up/Down  - Scrolls through your items list (bottom of the two).
Left/Right - Scrolls through your weapons list (top of the two.
Start - Go to radio screen(which almost makes this FAQ irrelevant).
A,B,Select - Exit menu.
 
While in radio screen:
Left/Right - Decrement/Increment the frequency by .01 Hz
Down - Bring up list of known communication frequencies.
Start - Exit to main game screen.
A+B+Select+Start will reset the game.
 
===========
Characters
===========
 
 
Solid Snake - "The Legend." You were retiring in Alaska, when you are contacted yet again 
to enter the battlefield. You play as Solid Snake, an elite forces dude from Fox-Hound. 
Thats you in the title screen.
 
Brian McBride - The CIA director of South Africa. Has a rather bland personality. All he 
does is spout useless facts.
 
Mei Ling - Another face devoid of personality, this one spouting quotes that are supposed 
to be relevant. Fortunately, this one actually serves a purpose: saving the game.
 
Roy Campbell - The guy in charge of this covert operation. He's the one that tells you 
what to do next. Old fart.
 
Chris Jenner - The sole surving member of the first strike force, Delta Force. Obligatory
hot chick to keep guys interested, that the designers can claim to use as a "cross gender"
reach...
 
Weasel - Mercanary soldier on your side, it seems. He sorta gives advice on controls, and new
weapons.
 
Slasher Hawk - Boss guy who uses a hawk and a boomerang.
 
Marionette Owl - Illusionist Boss guy who hides in the dark.
 
Pyro Bison - Boss guy who uses a flame thrower.
 
Black Arts Viper - Head boss guy.
 
James Harks - "Jimmy the Wizard." This is the head scientist in charge of designing Metal Gear. 
Reminds me of Piggy from Lord of the Flies.
 
======
Items
======
 
 The bottom icon in the lower right represents the item currently equipped. You are not able
to control their use other than selecting it, they're used as needed. If you desperately need
more information about these, talk with weasel while its equipped.
 
 Rations - It looks like a canteen thingy. If you run out of Life while this is equipped, 
rather than dying, you'll lose one and your life bar refills. You can carry a maximum of 
two at the start of the game. "Keep one handy." To use one without losing all your life, 
press B in the Menu. 
 
 Gas Mask - Equip this to prevent losing life in zones with poisonous gas (you'll know by the 
odd coloring and waviness) . While in use, an oxygen meter will appear. When the oxygen meter
is out, the gas mask is useless, so hurry through gas zones.
 
 Fogger(Cigarretes) - When this is equipped, little animated puffs of smoke rise from your
character. I think we all know what the "fogger" really is. When this is equipped you can see 
lasers. I guess they're military output smokes.
 
 Key Card - This icon sorta looks like a video tape. The keycard comes in several levels of
access, the higher the better. Used to open certain doors. 
 
 Mine Detector - Icon looks like a pair of 3d glasses sorta. When equipped, mines will be 
displayed on the radar as enemies.
 
 Thermal Goggles - Icon looks like one of those eyedoctor masks. It changes the pallete 
to redscale, with enemies displayed in white. Works in the dark, but if its exposed to
a flash, it will be inoperative for a short period.
 
Night Visions - Icon looks like a pair of glasses. Enables sight in the dark, complete 
with color. Disabled if exposed to light flashes. 
 
 Cardboard Boxes - Icon looks like a disk with a letter on the lower right. Comes in three 
flavors: red(R), blue(B) and yellow(Y). Useful for hiding from cameras and traveling over 
conveyer belts.
 
 
=======
Weapons
=======
 
 Punch - Knocks out guards in any mode other than easy. Kills them in easy difficulty. Handy 
for stealth movement.
 
 Five-seven - Icon looks like a handgun. Holds twentyone bullets. Pretty damn loud, unless you 
find the suppressor.
 
 C4 - Icon looks like a rectangle. Set it down to set it, then press A to explode it. 
 
 R5 - Icon looks like an assult rifle. Hold down fire to keep shooting. Its real loud though,
so its best use is on the bosses.
 
 Grenade - Icon looks like a cherry bomb. Thrown, and explodes on contact. Dont throw it at the
walls without a deathwish. 
 
 Chaff Grenade - Icon looks like a canister of spraypaint with a line in the bottom half. Used
for disabling visual electronics. 
 
 Mine - Set it down and it'll dissapear pretty quickly. Dont set it too close to an enemy, or
you wont get out in time to avoid the blast. Crawl over a mine to pick it up.
 
 Nikita - Icon looks like a chaingun. But its a rocket launcher. This one's special though,
since you can guide the rocket after you shoot it. 
 
=======
Stealth
=======
 
 Theres about a million soldiers in this complex. Theres one of you. The odds of you coming out
on top in a full out assult is pretty slim (read: nonexistant). So why bother. Your job is to 
take out the metal gear. So now we come to the other tactic: stealth. 
 The basics of stealth is to avoid being noticed by the guards, cameras and guard dogs. 
When you are noticed, an alarm sounds, and the whole goddamn base is mobilized to kill you. 
You'll notice that the map and radar are replaced with a red alert symbol and the number 999. I 
guess this is supposed to represent red alert. That number will count down to zero, provided
you dont screw up avoiding the million or so guys(read: three) out for your blood. When it hits 
zero, the camp will go to yellow alert. Rather than running after you, the guards no longer
know your location, and start looking for you. Once again the timer counts down from 999. When
that hits zero, the guards return to their posts, and you're fairly safe. 
 The trick to avoiding red alert is punching guards in the back. Not very honorable, but
you don't have much choice. Firing guns is in general a bad idea, as they're too loud. So get 
behind them and shoot them with a suppressed 5.7 But how do you know when the guards arent 
looking? By walking up to a wall, and keep walking. You'll lean with your back against the 
wall. Now you can press A to slap the wall, and b to scroll the screen in the direction you're 
still holding. Why slap the wall? To get the guard to leave hispost to investigate. Run back a
ways, and returns to his post go run and assult him from behind.
 
  List of things that cause alert
  -------------------------------
 
 1. Firing a gun near a guard.
 2. Walking in front of a guard.
 3. Walking over metal grating.
 4. Tripping lasers.
 5. Causing birds to fly up in panic.
 6. Explosives
 
============
Solid Tips
============
 
1. If you've never played Metal Gear before, learn this quickly: the game is not about action.
Firefights raise alarm, which disables your map, not to mention sends more guards after you.
 
2. Treat rations like the fairies in a bottle in Zelda: let them heal you after you die. That 
way you dont "waste" some of the life regeneration. Just make sure its equipped or its useless.
 
3. Crawling over mine zones can save life and net you some ammo. 
 
4. Observe enemy patterns from a save place. That way you can plan an attack without 
raising alarm.
 
5. Conserve consumables. Especially in the harder difficulties, conserving ammo and rations
is a good idea. Generally save them for bosses.
 
6. Save often. You dont want to have to beat Marionette Owl twice on Very Hard mode. Trust 
me on that...
 
7. If you're working on one of the game's puzzles(e.g. the five door gate) then the 
handiest thing you can have around is a pencil and paper.
 
8. Tapping walls can do more than just attract guards. Walls that you can bomb sound differant
than normal. 
 
9. Sometimes when moving from room to room, the alarm will reset without counting down all 
the way. If you can remember where this happens, it may be useful when evading guards.
 
10. Never rely on instructions alone. Think for yourself and be creative. Otherwise you're never
gonna enjoy the game. 
 
=======
Enemies
=======
 
There are only a few variations of enemies, but they provide enough variation to make the levels
interesting. There are guards, dogs, cameras, and the bosses. 
 
Guards
 Guards come in two flavors: green and grey. The green ones take less hits to kill than the gray
ones. They patrol a designated area and sometimes they're useful for gleaning information.
 
Dogs
 More sensitive than the guards, but they don't come pouring out the walls like guards do. Just
try and avoid them, since they can't be sneaked up up from behind.
 
Cameras
 There are four types of cameras: stationary, roving, stationary gun, and roving gun. 
Cameras also work better when under alert, shown by their changing to red. It would be hard
to sneak a missile past a gun camera while under alert, since their reaction time is faster.
You can sneak missles past them while not under alert however, by flying those Nikitas real 
close to the camera. Cameras are diabled with EM grenades, which can come in handy.
 
Bosses
 There are Five bosses: Haker Slash, Marionette Owl, Pyro Bison, Black Arts Viper and the 
Metal Gear. Bosses have a life bar shown in the same spot as your oxygen bar. They usually
take several hits to kill. Fortunately theres regenerating ammo boxes located near them. 
I've outlined general strategies for beating them below.
 
 
 
============
Boss Tactics
============
 
 Taking cue from almost every 2d game, Metal Gear Solid features "Bosses" now. They
are Hawker Slash, Marionette Owl, Pyro Bison and Black Arts Viper. Plus theres the matter of
dealing with Metal Gear. For all bosses, just make sure to have plenty of ammo and rations to
make things easier on you. I've written this part aimed at the "Very Hard" diffilcutly, so 
some of the boss attacks may not be present in the mode you are playing at. On to the 
specific advice.
 
Hawker Slash
 
 Just leave rations equipped. This guy throws two boomerangs. The green one zigzags 
across the screen, and the yellow one goes like an arrow at you. Avoid the green one by 
running back, and avoid the yellow one by moving left/right out of its way. Attack him 
with grenades as his boomerangs return. If you run out of grenades, more will appear at 
the bottom of the map. After you've halfway killed him, his hawk attacks you as he runs 
back and forth. 
 
Marionette Owl
 
 Its, dark so you're gonna want to equip some night vision. This guy has two dolls 
you dont want to shoot, so just fire at him. When you run low on life, use some rations. When
Owl lobs something besides a knife, take off the night vision, or it will screw up for a while.
Just assult him with your gun or assult rifle until he's dead.
 
Pyro Bison
 He's got a flame thrower, so watch out. It has three attacks for differant ranges. At 
close range he sweeps it in a 90 to 180 degree arc several times. This is really dangerous
because it can hit you multiple times and flatline you. Avoid it by backing off. At a long 
distance, he shoots fire up high and it lands on the ground napalm style. Avoid it by watching 
the ground for shadows. In between those distances is a medium attack which sorta sends a 
fire beam at you. Avoid this one by side stepping it. When you take off half his life he starts
to move faster and attacks more often. When he's really running low, Bison starts to use his
flamethrower as a jetpack. Watch for the shadow that indicates where he will land, then throw
a well timed grenade to hit him, and he's toast.
 
Helicopter 
 You catch a glimpse of the pilot boarding, who looks suspiciously like one of your allies.
The helicopter kicks your ass in three forms: machine gun fire, missles, and bombs. Whats
worse is it can only be damaged while using its machine gun. Basically, don't waste those nikita 
missles in earlier levels, so you can nail it from a safe distance, and get all the rations you
can. If you run out, switch to grenades. Once you're down to grenades, just damage it when its
on the sides, after it stops shooting the machine gun. While it is shooting, hide up against the 
rock pillars to avoid getting hit. Should it fly to the other side, watch the radar for help on
dodging the bombs it drops at you. Using this technique you can actually beat the copter without
getting hit.
 
 
Black Arts Viper
 This guy is seriously hard. He stands around in this room with a ton of poles in a grid. Turns 
out these poles create a lazer like grid that forms for a while, preventing you from moving much.
Whats worse is while you're stuck these bombs appear outta nowhere. When i beat him ill post some
strategies on how to beat him.
 
Metal Gear
 When i get that far, ill write some stuff down. Until then check out the message boards...
 
===========
VR Missions
===========
 
 VR Missions are designed to help acquaint a new player with the control setup and game
mechanics. They are seperated into Stealth, Weapon and Advanced modes. Then these three modes are
seperated into groups as well. Stealth has two groups, no weapons and suppressed 5.7. Weapon 
features the 5.7, R5, C4, Mine, Grenade, and Nikita. The advanced mode features the same weapons.
 All missions are seperated into practice and time attack. You'll have to beat all of the
levels in a group in practice to make it to the time attack. It is rumored that beating all the
time attacks nets you a sound test mode.
 
===========
Multiplayer
===========
 One of the few games to feature a multiplayer aspect, metal gear solid has you competing
to collect three disks. You then have to make it to one of the 4 exits, hoping not to find a 
decoy exit. If you do find a decoy exit, then an alarm sounds. Killing your opponent returns 
their haul to the enviroment. The game is over when you find the correct exit while carrying 
all three disks.
 
===============
Ending Rankings
===============
 
After you beat the game, you are given a code name based on performance in the levels.
This ranking is based on time, enemies killed, number of times spotted, and number of rations 
used. Anyways, here's what I've found and what I've seen on the Boards. Feel free to submit your
own rankings, and ill add you to the thanks section.
 
Rankings
--------
Big Boss
PLAY TIME:
BEING FOUND:
ENEMIES KILLED:
RATIONS USED:
 
Fox
PLAY TIME:
BEING FOUND:
ENEMIES KILLED:
RATIONS USED:
 
Mongoose
PLAY TIME: 2:32:04
BEING FOUND: 27
ENEMIES KILLED: 102
RATIONS USED :07
 
Pirana
PLAY TIME:
BEING FOUND:
ENEMIES KILLED:
RATIONS USED:
 
Tarantula
PLAY TIME:
BEING FOUND:
ENEMIES KILLED:
RATIONS USED:
 
Bat
PLAY TIME: 3:54:14
BEING FOUND: 61 
ENEMIES KILLED: 52 
RATIONS USED: 21 
 
Pidgeon
PLAY TIME: 1:29:46
BEING FOUND: 17 
ENEMIES: 2 
RATIONS: 9 
 
======
Thanks
======
 Alterboy - for the pidgeon ranking and stats
 mgsnake - for the mongoose ranking and stats
 snake78 - for the bat ranking and stats
 
======
Legal
======
This work of art is copyright. Do not distribute without permission.
Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid, and Metal Gear:Ghost Babel, and any other names in this guide are 
probably trademarked by Konami.
No monkeys were harmed in the writing of this guide.
You should have found this FAQ at www.gamefaqs.com or www.oocities.org/ash32309