Battle of the Ports - Snatcher (スナチャー) Show  

Truly an excellent achievement in gaming. I’ll gladly take the 16-Bit versions over the 32-Bit. Call me crazy but the sprite work and art just seems vibrant and appropriate for this game.

Have this on PC Engine CD, Mega CD and Sega Saturn. The best game ever created by Hideo Kojima by far.

The Sega CD version holds up so well. In scenes like 20:39 it has the best artwork.

Great video! One correction though - The MSX2 version doesn't complete the story, it's unfinished just like the PC-88 version. The story was finished in SD Snatcher and then parts of that were re-tooled for the Act 3 in the PC Engine version. There is however a fan-made Act 3 that backports the ending to the MSX2 version.

300 episodes is one hell of an achievement. Well done Mark! I have only seen the last year’s worth, so maybe my New Year’s Resolution should be to start at the beginning and watch every one.

Love this game, still have my Mega CD copy, there was no way I was getting rid of it after playing it back on the day, one of my favorite games ever. Awesome vid, cool to see the different versions!

Forget about Metal Gear... this is the real Hideo Kojima's masterpiece!!! Played the Mega CD version back in the day and it was one of the best games I've ever played.

A friend of mine showed the SegaCD version to me and at first I was pretty hesitant towards it. But after some gaming moments it sank in and I was hooked - one of the all time greats.

Such an amazing game, a great choice for the 300th episode. Probably the best Kojima game of all time. A real scifi interactive movie, amazing plot, graphics, music... A milestone.

Glad i didn't waste my time patching the PS version!

Your channel is one of my favourites. Absolutely brilliant stuff mate.

The MSX2 version is also lacking act 3 and has the long-ass ending sequence. It also got a fan translation version. I remember people said it was impossible to translate it, because it has a shitload of text, graphics that are written in japanese and its code it's a big mess (It seems it was made with some script-language, which usually results in confusing compiled code). The first translation was actually made by brazilian mate Daniel Caetano to Brazilian Portuguese, I remember he had a diary detailing the HUGE work to make that translation and not break anything in game, and it took a few years to be finished. The later english and spanish translations that came were all based upon his work. The MSX2 version won't boot without a SCC+ cartridge plugged, but of course there are versions of the game floating around that will work with a simple SCC cartridge or even without any SCC at all (With a normal SCC the difference on sound is very minimal... without any SCC cart you obviously will lose a LOT in the sound department), and those versions were around since back at the day, I can guarantee you ;) I remember I waited so long to be able to play the MSX2 version in a language I could understand, I was very hyped for it...... but then found the game to be very boring and completely not my cup of tea. I find funny how Kojima wasn't involved on so many of those ports.... I remember back im 98 or 99 Konami used to have a web forum on its site where uses could interact with Konami staff and a LOT OF PEOPLE were there asking for a Policenauts translation, and the excuse was always the same: "Mr. Kojima won't authorize a translation not under his supervision and he doesn't have the time to do it

A truly master piece of game for a master piece of show. Best Mega CD game for most people. Great 300th BotP!

I love Snatcher. Its such a great story. Policenauts is just as good. These 2 are definitely Kojima's best work.

This is one game I wouldn't mind having a complete compilation containing all the different versions made of the same game on one disc/cart. If I had to pick one, Mega/Sega CD it is. Please re-release this on current gen already Konami!

The sad thing about Snatcher is that it supposedly sold under 10,000 copies total. It’s an exceedingly rare game in the States. Jeremy Blaustein headed localization for a few of Konami’s games in the ‘90s, and Snatcher I think was his first project. He was the first guy to show us what localization of games could be like. I personally love how he handled the fourth-wall busting that Kojima is notorious for. Also, Neo Kobe Pizza. That’s a hilarious bit of localization scrambling.

I absolutely love this game. I played it soo much and loved the story. I still have it to this day for my MegaCD. I dont normally play these sorts of games but this had me hooked. Defo a Blade Runner feel to it.

Congratulations on 300 episodes!

Its offerings like Snatcher is why I enjoy narrative rich games. I know that Hideo Kojima is never lazy in his craft and still doing the damn thing all these years later.

I feel like Christmas has arrived earlier this year. Thank you so much for this episode.

Your battle of the ports videos are awesome!

Congratulations on the 300th show Mark! A great game to celebrate it with. I just wish they would put an English translation of Snatcher in the upcoming PC Engine Mini!

I regret selling my SEGA CDX and my Snatcher CD... oh the memories! BTW Gillian in Japanese sounds so MACHO and in English sounds... well twangy.

Great video mate. Snatcher is an excellent game

Definitely one of my favorite Kojima games ever, and I like playing this game frequently or regularly. Great video and great job 👍

Have this on Saturn, given to me by a friend, it serves as just a centerpiece, or curiosity to the collection due to the language barrier.

Will never forget those late nights playing SNATCHER on my sega cd! One of my best gaming experiences, i still have it unscratched on its box in my closet, a true treasure!

Great choice for a birthday episode. Congrats on 300 episodes.

This is a timeless gem. Sega versions for the win. One of the best titles in the Mega-CD and Saturn library.

Perfect for the 300th show!! congratulations man!!

Congrats on making it to show 300! Definitely a special game to mark the occasion too. I actually managed to pick up a copy of the game earlier this year, so it's particularly great to see. I'd say the intro is one of my all time favourites too. LOVE that opening credits theme! Once again, congrats on the 300th episode, and here's hoping BotP keeps going for some time yet!

Congrats on your 300th video Mark!! Stumbling upon your channel has been one of the best online experiences I've come across so far. Thanks for doing what you do and here's to the next 300 videos!! Cheers buddy!

Thanks for the video. was really helpful.

happy 300th botp vid, now for the next 300 🎂

Can't get over that opening theme. Epic!

The Mega CD is known as the Sega CD in the United States and it is definitely the best version especially for English speakers.

A great video, thank you! I LOVE Snatcher, one of Kojimas' best work & I still have it for my PAL Mega CD

Fantastic video! OMG those delicious PC88/MSX pixel graphics.

One of the proofs that Konami used to be a beast back in the day... So sad that my age make me not able to live it when it was new. I was playing the PS1 version on the Vita and oh my godness is precious, I really love when a game can be this "simple" in gameplay, but so deep in history and things like that, I'm becoming one of those cult fans! Also, little curiosity (Because I like to make the theory of every Konami game being conected to each other), did you know the main city in Contra is called "Neo Kobe" too? That could mention Snatcher and some Contra games could be connected and probably happening at the same time! Great video as always!

The Mega CD version looks so clean, the colours pop, its not washed out or too dark - Shame its about £1000. Of all the rereleases that get made, why not this?

May have to get this for my Japanese Saturn!

Thank you! Snatcher is still my most favorite game ever! When i bought it for my Mega-CD all those years back, i didn't know what to expect. I wasn't used to play games like this and it blew me away! Great graphics (for it's time) fantastic music, very good written characters and a great story. I remember that a gaming magazine at the time stated that "you can only play it once" (storywise) but i play the game every 2 years or so from start to finish, it is awesome!!! Also, i don't understand Konami, this game would have been perfect on the Nintendo DS with touch controls. Maybe they could release it on the Switch? (probably won't happen, but i've heard stranger things!)

I have not used my MSX computer for a while and it has been safely hiding in the closet for the last couple years, but I do remember it was also possible to install Snatcher to hard disk.

13:52 lolz that fourth wall break... 300 weeks, eh? Cool. Gratzos. Sadly, this is a game I've never played. Ah, well, it is what it is.

Just got my Mega SD in the mail yesterday, hells yea! Gonna finally try out sum Snatcher. Not that I haven't been using burned discs on my original Sega CD but just never did try out Snatcher believe it or not.

Congrats on 300 Battle of the Ports! I've never played Snatcher; it's just not my type of game. I like the visual style and audio, but I've never had the urge to seek out a way to play it.

If only this and policenauts were remade for US release. I could see a switch release if the joycons could do the light gun part.

This 13 year old sad act at the time drew a tear at the end on the mega cd version...ahh good times.

Love the work you do Mr. Mark, i had dreams since 2016 of you, doing this Battle of the Ports, and finally it exists!!! 🖤💀 Thanks a lot.

Congrats for the 300th! never played any versions, but the hype is real around this game.Dont know if it is for my taste

In the olden days the japanese where the best of the best when it comes to consoles and games! Lovely

Congrats on the big 300!!! That’s a whole bunch of work my friend.

It's about time Konami re-release this game for newer platforms, hopefully with better english voice acting!

Amazing video.I did not know that the MSX version started production first ,in a way it was like Ys IV (with the PC Engine version starting development way before the SFC version but was released after it).

Excellent video! Great timing too since the Sega/Mega CD version is about to reach its 25th release anniversary in just a few days.

When I was at the uni I did an internship at the Caribbean branch of NEC here in Puerto Rico and in the main lobby they had a huge poster of this game also I was lucky enough to get a sega cd as a hand me down with this game sadly either the time or the weather hasn't been kind to the CD and it developed some spots 😭

Great video! I played the Sega CD/Mega CD version back around 1996, and was really impressed by it, despite knowing that it was heavily influenced by Bladerunner (one of my favorite 80s anime series, Bubblegum Crisis, was too). I didn't have a Justifier at the time; definitely could have beat those shooting sections easier. I notice that, in the scene with the guy in the red cap, if you look at the poster on the wall, every version has Marilyin Monroe...except for the Mega CD version which has Madonna. Guess the creators thought Marilyn wasn't as well known to the cool early 90s kids in the US :) Later on int he late 90s I traded Snatcher off to a guy in Hong Kong, receiving in exchange Air Zonk for the TG-16 (PC Engine) and the Japanese Saturn version of Dark Legend. Yeah, if I had known then what I know now, I'd have hung onto it :)

Nice one, thx for all your work! 👋🏻

I tried out Snatcher a few years ago and discovered that it's not really the type of game for me. And that happens. I do like the overall style of the presentation. The music and visuals look quite nice. It's a stylish package and I can see the appeal. I'd like it if I could just sit back and watch the story play out. I didn't enjoy all the menu navigating and reading stuff that didn't seem important. But I have no negativity toward this game's fans. I do think the game makes for an interesting comparison video, though. There seems to be a good bit of difference between most of them. I can imagine the MSX version would be painful to play at such slow speeds. I know someone else mentioned the possibility of playing it from a hard drive. If so, that sounds like quite an improvement in speed if that's the case. I don't know enough about MSX to know how common a setup like that may have been, even if it was possible. Hard drives back in the day were not exactly common or large. I can also imagine that Snatcher would have been a cool game for those old home computers compared to the overall libraries, though MSX wasn't bad. Anyway, happy 300th!

For me the Sega CD version is the best!, I love this game, Great video!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! EPISODE 300!!! Woah! Snatcher seems VERY interesting. It definitely is one of those games that was not only ahead of its time, but is an example of one of the games of its genre done right. I can easily see why this was a cult classic for everyone in Japan. Now onto my opinions of the ports! Very interesting the MSX2 version was designed first. Unfortunately the load times do get in the way with that port. It's almost Sonic 06 bad, by how you described them. The PC Engine CD version really enhanced a lot of the graphics and I like the details they put into it as well. The Mega CD version I MUST try for myself, especially since it's the only English version of the game and that it made a lot more cinematic additions. Quite surprising too since Kojima wasn't involved with it. The PlayStation version.... just looks wrong. The censored graphics hurt a lot of what made the original interesting.... And of course, the Saturn version fixed it up (and gave us the added bonus of higher audio quality!) It's amazing how far you have come since then, and I'm glad that this series is still going too! And with that, I shall keep on gaming and take it easy ;) Happy 300th episode, Mark.

Would love Strictly Limited Games or similar to release the Mega CD version on the PS4 , I would be all over that

Great 300th episode =D Love this game (despite the fact I've not played much into it)! Konami produced such great games!

In fact, Game Sack has some skits about Mega CD version of Snatcher.

This is a well deserved 300Th episode!! Metal Gear MK2, was actually considered cannon for a while...after Metal Gear 2. Making Snatcher like a later sequel if makes sense Is even goes far, as being referenced in MGS4 (What is NOT referenced on MGS4 anyway?)

Great video! So sad the saturn version never came to the west, looks really cool too.

Mark,you are amazing. This is one of the best things you could have done for a 300th episode. Could be Kojima's best game along with Policenaughts. I have the Sega CD one and want to replay it with my cousin I told you about. Thank you for your hard work. I'm sure all your viewers appreciate it. On a another note I told you that my niece was watching me play Civilization 6 for the PS4. The funny thing is since she plays Clash of Clans on her tablet she was kind of getting into watching me play since, superficially,they look kind of similar. Well the PS4 version has local multiplayer and I started showing her the basics as we play together. She's 10 and it's crazy how fast kids can pick up on things if you help them out.

Man, the PC8801 was kick ass.

That's a great game. I'm glad the better version is the one that got officially translated English and that I got to play

As poor as the voice acting for the Western Sega CD release may seem now it really was quite an achievement back then. I had never seen anything like this game before. I'm very partial to the PC Engine and own that version of the game now. It has a beautiful case and is still quite affordable. Although, unless you know Japanese you're out of luck finding your way with it. On a side note, despite the extra content in the Mega CD version a few scenes in it were censored which remain uncensored in the PCE version. The PS1 version looks like it doesn't have animated sprites because they're basically images in that version. the CG has also not aged well. As far as remaining true to Kojima's original vision the PCE CD version seems like the way to go.

Retro. Will Policenauts be next? Snatcher's spiritual sequel.

300 Battle of the Ports. How time flows when your having fun doing so Mark. Well Done on your accomplishment for sure Mark. 8^) Anthony..

Notice that in Harry's (the tech specialist) room, the poster in the Japanese versions was of Marilyn Monroe, while in the US/Euro versions it was a poster of Madonna.

Awesome

Very interesting game choice. I have the Sega CD, PC-Engine and Saturn versions of Snatcher, but as someone with limited Japanese comprehension (it was my minor in college, but that's not enough to become fluent) the Sega CD version is really the only choice for me to fully enjoy the game. It's very interesting to hear the pros and cons of all the other versions.

Snatcher...? YEAH ... excellent choice May even the gods praise Yakumo-sama for bringing us this glorious gift (hope he doesn't end up like Prometheus or Sysiphus or Tantalus ).

I wish we got the PC engine release because I love the colors on it but I play the Sega Cd emulated because it’s the only one in English and it’s sadly super expensive. I would love to see a fully animated remake like what was done with Policenauts

Wow the pc engine version looks and sounds incredible!!

Great video. I think there's something wrong with your PS1 emulator tho? I've seen other playthroughs and the mouths DO move when characters talk.

I kind of like the 16 and 8bit non CD gfx more on the scenes and mood

I think I recognise the name Naoki Matsui, I believe he did a lot of Konami’s early GameBoy games including Nemesis and Ninja Turtles (and possibly Operation C). It’s good to know he wasn’t shackled to the humble GB for all of his work! ;) Also, I noticed you said Kojima Hideo instead of Hideo Kojima and I have often noticed in the credits to some Japanese games they seem to switch the name order. Are Japanese first names and surnames normally reversed compared to the West?

I find it odd how the introduction of Metal Gear Mk. II in the PS1/Saturn ports, compared to the rest of the game, uses a recording of the FM music in the Sega CD version despite that one never being available in Japan.

I am perhaps in the minority in finding this to be a pretty lousy game with a pretty impromprehensible plot when you get down to it but the music and graphics are top tier, especially on the mega-CD version. Atmosphere is great and easy to see why people are pulled in, it just so well combines a grungier palette with that cyberpunk aesthetic. I'm hoping Illusion City has a more meaty plot, though still waiting on a full translation for single language scrubs like me. T_T

loved this game when i was young, STUPID THAT I SOLD IT WITH ALL OF MY GAMES AND CONSOLE FOR THE SEGA SATURN. this game is worth a lot of money

I remember finding the Mega CD UK version boxed without a manual for literally a couple of quid ages ago in a crappy local 2nd hand shop. Many years later i sold it on for hundreds. I did play it when i bought it of course and thought it was bloody excellent.

Congratulations on 300! Great job. But 'who knows if the Metal Gear series ever existed if it wasn't for Snatcher'? Maybe I don't get it, but Metal Gear was released in '87. So that timeline already existed, or am I missing your point? I never played the original Snatcher, but I played SD-Snatcher to death on MSX2. Some hate it, I thought and still do to date it's one of the best games ever.

Nice!

wish i still had my original mega cd copy

I would like to address your message at the beginning. How dare you express a different opinion than I have. You like what I like or...Im'a get really angry! You must implicitly agree with me that Pit Fighter for the Snes is one of the greatest pieces of entertainment to ever grace us with its presence. Actually, what I meant to say was- this is an excellent showing of Snatcher. Even if I hated Snatcher, I still respect the skills it takes to build a video like this. Fantastic video, nice work, and I'm looking forward to seeing more. My God man, this game for its time was jaw dropping. I obviously played it on the Sega CD, the only version released in the US. We were playing the Nes and Sega Master System back then...holy shit.

I Heard that Konami ending up losing money on the English version because it sold poorly. Which is probably why they didn't bother bringing over Policenauts.

💛 this game

Forever mystery how is this game rated T

Man, i never played the game but i do admit i would like to try it out. Some say the PC Engine CD version is the best one,but sadly,i can't quite play it because language barrier.

6:40 WHAT?! Now I love those graphics even more! That kinda surpass Mark Ferrari amazing art on Loom EGA

just curious... did u know there's SD Snatcher as well? if does, was the exclusion coz of different gameplay aside for similar premise?

This is my game or games! 😎

And this is one of the reasons I feel like we have been really lucky to have a port to Sega Mega. Otherwise it would have been yet another great game that would have been JDM only. Im not really sure what purpose did it serve to keep such gems unobtainable for the most people over here. Especially during the times when Saturn and PS was widely avaiable. I guess other factors played a role too ...

Press F to pay respect to Konami, damn you Konami first you kill Castlevania, make horrible contra game (the new one) and make 2 legend Hideo Kojima and Koji Igarashi sign out.

Whats the best way to play this and Policenauts on today's systems? Also Retro Core, in the intro to this video, you say: .."Kojima Hideo..." but correct me if I am wrong but it is Hideo Kojima?

another top job Mark 👍 PS : *SD Snatcher* is also a great game.