With the release of The Phantom Pain nearly upon is, we decided to take a look back at the iconic games in the series that Hideo Kojima himself has directed and see how they stack up against one-another. Though there are dozens of strange portable games, card battlers, remakes, and action-oriented offshoots to the series, we decided to focus on the core eight games that Kojima had full control of. We all adore games like Ghost Babel and Revengeance, but we left them off the list due to their limited Kojima development. On the dawn of the arrival of his ninth and final Metal Gear games, here are his current eight, ranked.

8) Metal Gear

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7) Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

6) Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

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5) Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

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4) Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

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3) Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

2) Metal Gear Solid

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1) Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The game that put Hideo Kojima on the map, the original Metal Gear remains impressive nearly 30 years later thanks to the ideas it introduced that still exist in the series to this day. Controlling this new hero named Solid Snake through the jungles of Outer Heaven forced players to rely on a slew of stealth techniques that few games in ’87 applied. Iconic elements from the series, such as exclamation points and enemy alert status’, all made their rudimentary debut in the original Metal Gear. Even the foundation for the series’ spaghetti bowl of a story, including characters like Grey Fox and Big Boss, all had their start the MSX2. Given that the original Metal Gear takes place directly after the events of The Phantom Pain on the Metal Gear timeline, its importance may be even greater come September. – Marty SlivaNaked Snake’s team is in shambles at the outset of Ground Zeroes, and this short but sweet prologue to The Phantom Pain does little to rectify the situation. Building off the foundation built in Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes is a rescue mission that can be completed in about an hour, but this preview does much more than prepare players for the next big entry in the series. Once Snake completes the main objective, a series of smaller missions open up and reveal just how deep, and dark, this story can get. In its final moments, the fate of our heroes is left decidedly vague, and only The Phantom Pain can answer our questions and close the book on Snake’s tortured tale. – Zach RyanThe story of Kojima’s sequel to the original Metal Gear is a strange one. After the success of the original game, Konami released Snake’s Revenge on the NES in America. However, Kojima himself had no hand in this project, even going so far as to not knowing it was being developed until it was done. Instead, he was working on Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, a sequel that evolved the stealth concepts of the original in nearly every way imaginable. Techniques that Kojima utilized in Solid made their debut here, such as crawling under vehicles, sneaking through vents, context-sensitive radio communications, and memorable boss fights. Plus, the game dealt with some pretty heavy story beats, like child soldiers. – Marty SlivaPitched (again) as Kojima's final Metal Gear game, Guns of the Patriots pulled out all the stops, answered every lingering question, and sent its main character off to die in peace. Metal Gear Solid 4's Widely reviled by certain sections of the Metal Gear community, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty pulled the rug out from under players by substituting Solid Snake for Raiden, a new hero. Shocking as it was, Raiden's mission -- infiltrate an oil rig and rescue the President of the United States of America -- explored new territory, evolved existing systems, and had some of the most memorable boss battles in the series -- many of which required you to think in surprising new ways than before. Its story, incomprehensible at times, also had some of the coolest beats and most interesting gameplay objectives in the entire series. And in the end, working with Solid Snake instead of playing as him felt special, like you had to live up to this legend and be the best, sneakiest operative you could be. MGS2 is divisive, but its ambition and intention was pure: Improve what the first MGS did better than any other imitator and set the new standard. And that's precisely what Kojima and co. did. – Mitch DyerThe third game in the “Naked Snake” timeline, Peace Walker is set ten years after the events of MGS3 and tells the story of a decidedly jaded Big Boss and his new mercenary group, Militaires Sans Frontières. Once again, Kojima and company shook up the standard MGS formula by introducing mission based gameplay, a style that would set the tone for future games in the series. Missions and “Extra Ops” worked together to allow Snake to recruit members to his team, customize your personal stronghold, Mother Base, and even pair up with a friend for co-op takedowns of the game’s tougher enemies. Fans will look back on Peace Walker and see the original blueprints for The Phantom Pain, but it stands on its own for much more than that. It’s a triumph in portable gaming and story worthy of the Metal Gear moniker. – Zach RyanThe cornerstone of modern stealth video games, Metal Gear Solid married Hideo Kojima's filmic obsession and gaming systems together in an awesome modern spy story. It was novel as a game -- crawl in vents! Hide when detected! Use distractions and cool technology! -- and fascinating as a nuclear war story with surprising twists. Spectacular scenery, killer boss battles, awesome villains, lovable allies, and clever environmental puzzles combined to create something inspirational, unlike any other game. It would change video games forever, whether it was from a third-person design perspective or the way in which game stories are told. – Mitch DyerWith Snake Eater, Kojima and his team set out to redefine just what a Metal Gear game could be, and they did so with flying colors. This Cold War love letter, originally conceived for the Playstation 3, took the series all the way back to the beginning and introduced fans to Naked Snake, the man who would eventually become Big Boss. The tactical espionage action was present and accounted for, but the introduction of new systems like Close Quarters Combat, the Camouflage Index and a groundbreaking injury-and-recovery system worked together to create some of the most tense and rewarding moments the series has ever seen. What's more impressive, Kojima dropped players into the middle of a dense rainforest and left them to fend for themselves as they encountered powerful new enemies in The Cobra Unit, and ran missions with series mainstays Ocelot and EVA. And then there's that ending. A gut punch of a conclusion to a story that retroactively sets the entire franchise in motion. Love, honor, betrayal and all the best bits of Metal Gear Solid, wrapped up in one beautifully camouflaged package. – Zach Ryan

So, what do you think about our list? Is Snake Eater the definitive Metal Gear game? Did we give the shaft to Guns of the Patriots? Let us know!