As of late, Konami has become known mostly for falling from grace with many fans after suddenly cutting ties with Hideo Kojima, the creator of the acclaimedMetal Gear Solid series, and even barring him from attending the 2015 Game Awards, but it's important to remember all the amazing games the company has provided us over the years.
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Whatever your feelings toward Konami, the company has put out some spectacular games, and it wouldn't be unfair to say that they helped shape the gaming landscape. With a little help from Metacritic, here are the 10 best Konami games, ranked.
10 World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International (93)
Starting off this list isWorld Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International, a mouthful of a name for a soccer game for the PS2, but it's commonly known asPro Evolution Soccer 3out of Japan.
The third entry in the long-runningPro Evolution Soccer series,Pro Evolution Soccer 3 featured better gameplay, graphics, and animation, and it was the first in the series to include a Shop Mode, where players could trade points in exchange for hidden items.
9 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (93)
Castlevania Symphony of the night
Talk about a game that has aged like a fine wine.Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is over twenty years old and remains a timeless masterpiece that set the bar for allCastlevania games to follow.
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Beloved by fans and critics alike,Symphony of the Night pushed the limits of the original Playstation. It features a huge castle with multiple routes to explore, fantastic boss fights, a soundtrack you'd want to listen to on repeat, and a healthy length that never feels like it drags.
8 World Soccer Winning Eleven 6 International (93)
Next up isWorld Soccer Winning Eleven 6 International (Pro Evolution Soccer 2), the predecessor ofPro Evolution Soccer 3.There are quite a few fans that argue thatPro Evolution Soccer is better thanFIFA, and these early titles prove their point.
This Playstation 2 classic is often regarded as the best sports game on the system, so it's no surprise to seePro Evolution Soccer 2 on this list. Even though this entry and its sequel have a score of 93 on Metacritic,Pro Evolution Soccer 2 just edges out.
Spoiler alert: most of the entries on this list are going to beMetal Gear Solid games, but let's not pretend that's not whateveryone expected. And the first of that franchise to make this list isMetal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection.
The Legacy Collection has so much to offer fans of the series. It includes every single mainlineMetal Gear game directed by Hideo Kojima from 1987 all the way through to 2012. That's eight full games perfect for fans of the series that hadn't been able to play the earliest entries, as well as a booklet and two digital graphic novels.
6 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (94)
The Playstation 3 had scores of amazing games but perhaps the one that sits at the top isMetal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, which has a Metacritic score of 94. Set 5 years afterMetal Gear Solid 2,Guns of the Patriots features an aged Solid Snakegoing on one last mission to eliminate his nemesis Liquid Snake.
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Not only isGuns of the Patriots considered to be one of the best games of the seventh console generation, but it's also recognizedas one of the best games of all time. It was so popular that it even caused a boost in PS3 sales.
Most people are familiar withMetal Gear Solid 3as Snake Eater, but it'sSubsistence that finds its way onto this list with a Metacritic score of 94.Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence is actually just an expanded version ofSnake Eater, featuring a new 3rd person camera modeand the first incarnation of the now discontinuedMetal Gear Online.
Going by the story's chronology, the events ofSubsistenceactually takes place before any of the otherMetal Gear games, serving as a prequelto the whole franchise. Depending on who you ask,Subsistence is considered to be the best game in the series.
4 Metal Gear Solid (94)
The game that started it all, well sort of. While there were two releases in theMetal Gear franchise beforeMetal Gear Solid, most fans turn to this game as the one that truly started the series. Released for the Playstation,Metal Gear Solid has a comfortable spot near the top of this list with a score of 94.
Sure, a lot of elements in this game feel enormously outdated by today's standards, butMetal Gear Solid deserves such a high spot simply on the influence it had on the franchise and on the gaming landscape as a whole.
3 ISS Pro Evolution (94)
While a couple of Konami's soccer games have made this list, those entries belonged to thePro Evolution Soccer series. That's not entirely the case for this entry.ISS Pro Evolution, released in 1999 for the Playstation, is something of a precursor to thePro Evolution Series, defining what it would become.
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What makes Konami's soccer games so special is how they approach gameplay as a simulation of the real sport, rather than games like FIFA, which takes an arcade-like approach to gameplay.ISS Pro Evolution is obviously dated now, but at the time it was regarded as the best soccer game ever made.
The latest release in theMetal Gear Solid series (Metal Gear Survivedoes not count) isThe Phantom Pain, earning the second-place spot with a Metacritic score of 95. It's also the last game Kojima worked on at Konami.
Despite a few controversies, like the game's portrayal of Quiet,The Phantom Pain garnered near-perfect scores from just about every outlet, and it was praised for its compelling but convoluted narrative. It seems that whenever a newMetal Gear Solid game is released, it's called the best stealth game ever made.The Phantom Painwas no different.
1 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (96)
Taking the number one slot of Konami's best games isMetal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty with a score of 96. Not only is it the highest-rated Konami game on Metacritic, but it's also one of the highest-rated video games on the site period.
Even though fans were thrown for a loop when they discovered that Raiden was the protagonist for most of the game instead of Solid Snake,Sons of Liberty received well-deserved acclaim. It's widely regarded as the first example of a postmodern video game, and as one of the most influential games of all time.
NEXT: Every Major Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Spoiler, Explained
