What is Snatcher?
A: Snatcher is an adventure game set in a Cyberpunk environment directed and written by Hideo Kojima.
I thought it was the video I found in my dads desk.
A: That is most certainly not what I was talking about.
HOW DOEZ I PLAY IT?
A: There are 6 different versions of Snatcher. 5 of which are in Japanese. (Descriptions shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia's Noggin.)
PC-8801 & MSX 2
The first version of the game for the NEC PC-8801 computer is also the most obscure. This version lacked the spoken voiceovers of the later versions. Instead, all the dialogue was displayed in text, with each character having a unique sounding bleep when they spoke. The game ended prematurely at Act 2. Although Kojima wrote the entire script when the game was made, the developers were pressured to finish the game earlier due to time constraints. As a result, the game concludes with a much darker ending than what was originally intended and with various loose ends. Kojima therefore has said that this version is not "complete". This version makes beautiful use of the PC-88's internal FM chip for its music, which was considered to be one of the most powerful PC sound chips of its time.
The MSX version of Snatcher was released a month after the PC-88 version and is virtually identical. The game came packaged with a proprietary sound cartridge that allowed for enhanced music and sound effects (played along with the MSX's internal sound hardware) to match those of the PC-88 version. However the MSX version also suffered from long loading times (as a result of bad coding due to the rushed release) and the size of the visual window was a bit shorter than the PC-88 version. A Brazilian fan named Daniel Jorge Caetano used the existing English translation by Takamichi Suzukawa and Artemio Urbina to release Snatcher in Brazilian Portuguese and English, nearly rewriting most of the (badly-written) machine code, and also allowing it to run on hard-disks. This has been said to solve the loading time problem; however, the loading problems involve the game's graphic decompression routines, so running it from a hard disk will not improve speed.
PC Engine
Dubbed Snatcher CD-ROMantic, the PC-Engine version was the first CD-ROM version of the game (as well as Konami's first CD-ROM game) and is considered by some to be Snatcher's "director's cut", since it was the last version of the game designed by Kojima himself. Japanese voiceovers (performed by popular seiyū) were added to several key scenes in the game and Act 3 was added, giving the game a much bigger sense of closure.
In addition, some of the game's pre-existing scenes and dialogue were altered, a few minor scenes were added and the opening theme was changed from Twilight of Neo Kobe City to One Night in Neo Kobe City.
Prior to the release of the full game, Konami issued a Pilot Disk edition of the game featuring a demo of the game, a trailer, a glossary with character and item descriptions and an interview with a video game critic.
Sega CD and Mega-CD
The first and only official English version made, the Mega CD (Sega CD) version was made specifically for a western audience in North America and Europe and was never released in Japan. The game is mostly identical to the PC-Engine version in terms of graphics and contents. The game's script was translated by Scott T. Hards and localized by Jeremy Blaustein (who later translated Metal Gear Solid). Changes were made to the storyline (the date of the Catastrophe was moved five years ahead to keep the story fresh for English-speaking players unaware of the previous Japanese releases and several keywords were changed) and some of the graphics were altered as well. The character Katrina Gibson was also made to look a little older (she is 18 in the Mega CD version and 14 in the PC-Engine one), mostly so that Gillian doesn't appear to be a paedophile, especially with one certain scene where he catches her naked in his shower. You can also snatch her underwear (temporarily) in the PC Engine version. Overall, the game is only lightly censored, the most prominent change being some nudity: in the Japanese version, players actually saw Katrina naked when Gillian "caught" her; in the U.S. version, we hear her scream off-screen, then she sprays Gillian in the face with hot water. Another scene in Plato's cavern was censored; Gillian can find a porno video in the market, and when he watches it, moaning can be heard and Metal Gear flips out. This was in the PC Engine version but not in the Mega CD version. Also, in one scene where Gillian kills a female snatcher is censored; in the Japanese version, her dress rips when she lands, exposing her breasts. This doesn't occur in the U.S. version; her dress stays put. One other mildly censored scene was when Katrina's dog Alice was disembowelled and hurled through the window of her house; in the PC Engine version, she bleeds out onto the carpet and is twitching. In the Sega CD version, the graphic was made static.
It has been speculated that entering "KONAMI" at the "Enter Name" prompt in the JORDAN computer will completely uncensor the game, as JORDAN emits a chime and does not specify that the name could not be found. However, it has been ascertained that this code does nothing.
This version also includes two exclusive scenes (including an extended ending sequence) recorded specifically for the English version which serves to cover some of the loose ends left by the Japanese version. It is also the only version to include light gun support.
Despite this, the game did not enjoy the same success outside Japan and was considered a commercial failure, selling only a few thousand units in North America according to an interview with Blaustein. The failure is mainly attributed to a lack of promotion from Konami's part and Sega's waning support of the Mega CD add-on in favor of the then recently-released 32X and the forthcoming Saturn. Despite this, the game became the most sought after title for the platform since its release, usually scoring up to hundreds of dollars on eBay.
PlayStation & Saturn
Released as a forerunner to the PlayStation release of Policenauts, this version of Snatcher was essentially a port of the PC-Engine version, but also included a few minor elements from the Sega-CD version. The game's graphics were upgraded to full 32-bit color; however, some of the game's most violent contents were toned-down or completely censored (for example; the disembodied head of a corpse in Act 1 is omitted from view after a brief second, and the sliced open belly of Katrina's dog Alice is omitted from view by showing her from the back instead). Many fans do not appreciate the redrawn artwork and remixed music, and as a result prefer the older versions.
A Saturn version was released that was nearly identical to the PlayStation version, but with slightly less censorship (no mosaic when a rotting corpse is shown).
Story
Watch this Movie. Its basically the same.
I am currently playing and enjoying the English Sega CD version of the game. Just finsished Act 1. Tell me, how many acts are there? And does Metal Gear get any less annoying?
Obviously hide your spoilers, I'm still playing.
EDIT: Thanks to titmouse (Wait, isnt titmouse a company that has its logo at the end of Metalocalypse?) I was reminded to mention
SD Snatcher. which is basically Snatcher, but with Cutesy Super Deformed Graphics and Dungeon Crawler gameplay.
Posts
http://www.mobygames.com/game/super-deform-snatcher
Ah crap! I thought I forgot something, thanks for the heads up.
EDIT: Hey ZackSchilling, I'm only playing because I found a Sega Mega Drive with Sega CD and 32x addons at Goodwill. 25 bucks.
I also always thought Harry's explanation for Metal Gear was hilarious, "I designed it after the battle machine that was causing all that trouble back in the 80s." It's like making a tiny robot Hitler or something.
Fuck, now I have to reinstall that.
I could borrow it from a friend right this second tho. really ought to play it.
Thats actually a really good idea, that or a full 3D remake.
Ah, Snatcher. The atmosphere of that game was unbeatable. Gillian stands as one of the best, womanizing video game heroes to date.
Anyway, there is talk of some sort of new game being pitched taking place in the Snatcher universe, so that's a start. I don't think anyone knows if it will happen for sure at this point though, nor for what system it will be for. What I would really hope for is for an American release of Policenauts. Granted, this will never happen at this point. Also, not knowing if someone answered your first question or not, there are 3 acts in the game, the third being significantly shorter than the other two though. It should take about 8 hours to beat roughly.
You could also watch the LP of it.
http://www.nwlwrestling.com/
Metal Gear got pretty endearing, or at least to me he did. Of course, the voice acting made all the difference in this game (and it was surprisingly good considering the time it was made).
There are a few easter eggs with phone numbers and such in the game. The infamous "Konami" code that supposedly uncensors the game doesn't work, though...if the kinda-nudity in this game turned into real nudity it may have exploded my head (more so) when I first played it as a teenager.
It's like less serious version of blade runner that is also sometimes more serious. I hope Project Snatcher leads to a new Snatcher game because this is a series thats dieing for a resurrection.
I never asked for this!