Konami characters and their 80s counterparts (Update 2.0)
Konami has a bit of a history when it comes to creating characters based on Hollywood icons. From Contra to some of Hideo Kojima’s greats, familiar faces can be found all over Konami games. Take a peek.
Contra
Jimbo and Sully. Mad Dog and Scorpion. Bill and Lance. The two protagonist of the Contra series have gone by many names here in the states (it’s always been Bill and Lance) but their initial influence has never changed. Someone at Konami must have been a big fan of Predator and Rambo, because these characters are clearly based off Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. And why not? If Arnold and Sly made a movie together during the 80s, the world may have blown up. Since they never did, Contra was the next best thing that could happen.
Snatcher
This little known Sega CD game (in the states anyway) comes from the well known Hideo Kojima. This cult classic cyber punk adventure game stars a man named Gillian Seed, who resembles Harrison Ford’s character from the movie Blade Runner. I guess if you’re going to make a cyber punk adventure game, why not take from the movie that invented it?
Policenauts
Another Kojima game, but this one never actually made it to the states. I don’t know a heck of a lot about Policenauts other than the fact that it stars a blue haired Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. I guess the game is kind of like the anime version of Lethal Weapon in the future? Or not.
Metal Gear Solid
This is an obvious one. Snake was clearly created after the legendary Snake Plissken played by Kurt Russell in Escape for New York and LA. If the interviews from Kojima saying that Snake was inspired by Plisskin wasn’t enough proof, then maybe the fact that Snake showed up in MGS2 as “Iroquois Plissken” will make you a true believer Dr Jones.
Snake isn’t the only celeb creeping around in the Metal Gear world. Take a look at Big Boss from the MSX game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.
Sean Connery FTW.
Updated: A shot I forgot to include is the cover art from the original Metal Gear title. This time, it looks like Kojima was really into Terminator, as that is clearly Michael Biehn.
Bayou Billy
I can’t believe I forgot about Bayou Billy. This ridiculously hard NES game basically stars Paul Hogan’s Crocodile Dundee. Thanks for the heads up tkshredder.
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