Snatcher (video game)

Plot

In 2047, more than fifty years after the Lucifer-Alpha biological weapon leaked across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East and killed half of all people, only the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom remain as major powers. On Neo Kobe City, a man-made island in Japan, the government has quarantined the city after discovering humanoid robots called Snatchers that murder people and take their places. These robots wear artificial skin nearly impossible to distinguish from real skin. To fight them, the government creates JUNKER, a special task force. The player controls Gillian Seed, an American living abroad who has lost his memory. He only knows that his past and his wife Jamie's past are linked to the Snatchers. Hoping to recover his memories, he joins JUNKER. At headquarters, he meets Mika Slayton and Chief Benson Cunningham, and receives a robot navigator called Metal Gear Mk. II from engineer Harry Benson. Metal Gear picks up a distress call from the only other JUNKER agent, Jean-Jack Gibson. Gillian and Metal Gear go to help, but find that Snatchers have beheaded him. They try to chase the Snatchers, but the factory explodes, forcing them to flee. Gillian then investigates who killed Jean-Jack. With help from his daughter Katrina at Jean-Jack's house and from an informant named Napoleon, he identifies two suspects. While hunting them, he is almost killed but is rescued by Random Hajile, a bounty hunter who also targets Snatchers.

Development and release

Hideo Kojima developed Snatcher while at Konami, drawing heavy inspiration from Blade Runner and other films to craft a game with a cinematic feel. He pitched it as a "cyberpunk adventure," though explaining that term to Konami’s trademark department over the phone proved tricky. The project was first called Junker, but that name was too close to an existing mahjong game; New Order was another candidate. Kojima disliked the final title because his earlier game, Metal Gear, had also been named after an in-game enemy.

Work began with Kojima and character designer Tomiharu Kinoshita, who approached the project as if making a movie or anime rather than a game. They built a small Konami team, roughly half the size typical for a Famicom title, which let them collaborate closely and move fast. The game packs in science-fiction cultural references that push close to copyright boundaries. Kojima instructed Kinoshita to model characters after those in Katsuhiro Otomo’s manga Akira. The team didn’t set out to create a mature atmosphere, but the game naturally grew in that direction. Besides breaking the fourth wall in dialogue, Kojima wanted to hide a secret message and a heat-activated scent on the floppy disks—detectable after warming them in the drive—but Konami vetoed the idea.

Development of the original versions took about eighteen months. Kojima initially plotted the story across five acts, but memory limits forced him to cut it to two, ending on a cliffhanger. A sequel that would have covered acts three through five plus an extra act was abandoned because the first game’s development dragged on. The project took two to three times longer than the average game. Frustrations with memory constraints led the staff to take a break, during which Kojima started exploring ideas for his later title, Policenauts.

Reception

The original Japanese releases of Snatcher for the PC-8801 and MSX2 earned good reviews and a devoted fanbase, but they did not sell well. The PC Engine version also attracted a following in Japan, partly due to its graphic violence. Critics at Famicom Tsushin praised its cinematic feel, and the game remained on the magazine's "Reader's Best 20" list two years after it came out. Sega Saturn Magazine later described the Sega Saturn port as a faithful copy of the PC Engine version.

When Snatcher reached Western audiences on the Sega CD, it was applauded for its story, movie-like presentation, and adult themes. It offered a more cinematic and mature narrative than most games of the era. Mean Machines Sega considered it more substantial than typical adventure games, calling it "one of the most involved storyboards and backgrounds of any video game." The writing was widely praised, though VideoGames and Game Players noted that its juvenile, lighthearted humor sometimes clashed with the serious tone. VideoGames specifically criticized what it called Japanese "cuteness." A GameFan reviewer described it as "one of the longest, most involving games" he had played in a long time, adding, "Never before have I played – nay experienced – a game this moving, dramatic, gore-riddled, MA-17, adult." That magazine also commended Konami for keeping most of the mature content intact. Games World reviewers highlighted its "gripping" and "engrossing" storyline. Computer and Video Games called it "one of the most compelling role playing games" with an "engrossing" story that is clever, "well put together, atmospheric and sometimes genuinely funny," and compared it favorably to 1980s science fiction films and Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.

Legacy

Critics often point to Snatcher as the blueprint for what Hideo Kojima would later achieve. 1UP.com described it as a game that showcased his cinematic sensibilities, calling it a more thoughtful experience than some of his other projects, while still highlighting the creativity and meticulousness that made it stand out. Game Informer noted that the game’s use of science fiction to tackle themes like philosophy, sexuality, and the human condition directly foreshadowed the Metal Gear Solid series. Despite being one of Kojima’s most celebrated titles, Snatcher frequently lives in the shadow of that later franchise.

The game has built a dedicated cult following over the years. Its influence can be seen in other science fiction works, such as Project Itoh’s novel Genocidal Organ and the 2015 adventure game 2064: Read Only Memories. Kojima himself has mentioned wanting to revive Snatcher in some form, but has said he lacks the time to lead the project himself and would be open to another director taking charge. He has also stated that such a revival has never made business sense, noting in 2011 that a sequel would need to sell over half a million copies to be financially viable. After Kojima left Konami in 2015, the rights to Snatcher stayed with the company, which has shown no interest in bringing it back through a rerelease or a sequel.

The game’s absence from modern platforms has caught critics off guard. Some have suggested it would have been a natural fit for the Nintendo DS or 3DS, following in the footsteps of successful graphic adventures like Hotel Dusk and Phoenix Wright. In Western markets, the only version ever released was the Sega CD edition. High demand has driven up prices for these copies on the secondhand market, making emulation a more practical choice for most players. Japanese copies are much cheaper, but the game’s heavy reliance on text makes them difficult for non-Japanese speakers. The PC Engine version was included on the TurboGrafx-16 Mini, but only in its original Japanese. Fans have taken matters into their own hands, experimenting with unofficial ports. In 2015, a demo of the game’s early section was created for the Virtual Boy, complete with stereoscopic 3D effects and PCM audio. Another fan worked on a Dreamcast port featuring a remixed soundtrack and updated visuals.