While it was far from his first game as director, 1998's Metal Gear Solid is the title that established Hideo Kojima as one of the gaming greats. Pioneering in its cinematic approach, playfulness and outstanding imaginative parameters, the game marked a huge leap forward for 3D action generally, and single-handedly made stealth a genre that everyone from Sony to Ubisoft would try their hand at: None of the imitators, of course, got close to the Tactical Espionage Action that inspired them.
A contemporary interview about Metal Gear Solid from 1998 in the Japanese PlayStation magazine has now resurfaced, translated by Schmuplations and spotted by GR+, in which Kojima and series artist Yoji Shinkawa discuss the game's development, and the latter's influence over not just the game's aesthetics but the core design. Kojima recalls seeing Shinkawa's portfolio when assessing job candidates, and that "I’ve never seen anyone who I immediately wanted to give an S until Shinkawa" (Konami would internally grade submissions from C to A).
