All Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater ports ranked

Metal Gear Solid 3 is a very popular game that started its life back on the PlayStation 2 in 2004. The game sold well and is loved by the fanbase even today because of its hyper-realistic focus on stealth and the development of Snake as a character. Being much ahead of its time in terms of storytelling and level design, it has received many ports over the years since its release.

Every port of Metal Gear Solid 3 tries to be a better version of the first release by improving the control scheme and updating the resolution and framerate. However, many of them fail at giving the classic game a polished treatment. With the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater coming out soon, now is a good time to rank all the ports of Snake Eater from worst to best, and this article does just that.

Note: This article is subjective, reflects the writer's opinions, and is ranked.

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Metal Gear Solid 3 ports ranked from worst to best

5) Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D (Nintendo 3DS)

Snake Eater on the 3DS allowed 3D functionalities (Image via Konami, LongplayArchive)

The release of Metal Gear Solid 3 on the Nintendo 3DS was a big deal at the time as it allowed the players to experience the game on the go. You could take your 3DS anywhere you want and play as Solid Snake without requiring a television set. This port was released in 2012 for the console and it added many features that made it unique and better than the original PS2 game.

MGS Snake Eater took advantage of the 3D capabilities of the Nintendo console and offered 3D visuals for the game which was considered the next big evolution at the time. It also featured touchscreen controls which enhanced the overall experience of the game. While these features sound good, they also drain the battery of the 3DS quickly and suffer from performance issues and lack of a right analog stick.

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4) Original Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)

Metal Gear Solid 3 on the PS2 doesn't hold up by today's standards (Image via Konami, World of Longplays)

Metal Gear Solid 3 on the original PlayStation 2 was where the game's groundbreaking storytelling and the stealth system with a fixed camera perspective blew everyone's minds. This release was quite advanced for its time, given the impressive graphical fidelity of MGS3. However, with the massive technological advancements in gaming over the years, it's easy to see why today's generation might not jump with joy for the PS2 version.

You can use a third-party HDMI cable to upscale the game to 1080P, but the control scheme and the fixed camera still hold the game back by a mile. While the PlayStation 2 version of MGS3 was revolutionary, it doesn't feature high-quality audio, resolution, or controls to have an optimal experience. In fact, a PS2 emulator can give the players a better experience than the original hardware.

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3) Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2)

Subsistence was a decent port for the PS2 (Image via Konami, LongplayArchive)

Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence was released in 2006 as an expanded version of the original Snake Eater which focused on improving various aspects of the game. These improvements included replacing the fixed camera perspective with a third camera perspective and adding more content by offering the first two games on the disk as well. While these sound great at first, it was still on the PlayStation 2.

This means that this expanded version was still being limited by the capabilities of the PS2 as the console was 6 years into its lifecycle. The resolution and the audio quality remained the same which wouldn't have been the case if it was instead released for the PlayStation 3, also launched in 2006. While it didn't offer many significant changes, it still was an improvement over the original release.

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2) Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1

This port felt like a cheap cash grab (Image via Konami)

The Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 was supposed to be the celebration of the retro MGS titles from the PlayStation 2 era on modern consoles including the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch. However, when launched in 2023, it didn't provide any significant improvements over the HD collection version of the game from the PlayStation 3 era.

The MGS Master Collection Vol. 1 promised better performance and improved graphics on the modern consoles but the fans found the quality of this port to be very similar to the HD collection. Many consumers were even caught off-guard by its outrageous $80 price tag as there was not a lot being offered here when a cheaper alternative was available through emulation and the HD collection.

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1) Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (PS3, Xbox 360, PS Vita)

MGS HD collection is the best port out there (Image via Konami, SuperJumpReviews)

The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection has the best version of the trilogy including Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater and the first two games of the series which were released in 2011 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. This port of the classic trilogy enhanced the visuals by providing HD resolution and detailed character models that made the games look better than they ever did on the original hardware.

This port became a go-to collection for many players of the franchise as it felt like the definitive way to experience the Metal Gear Solid series. It was also ported to the PS Vita in 2012 which took great advantage of the dual joysticks for the gameplay. The MGS HD Collection was received positively across all platforms and didn't suffer from any major performance issues, making it a fan favorite.