Hideo Kojima is one of the most recognizable names in gaming. For decades he was known for the legendaryMetal Gearfranchise, which he worked on from the late 80s until 2015 when a falling out with publisher Konami doomed the series and left him without a job. Shortly afterward the game designer formed his own studio and started work onDeath Stranding, which released in 2019 to polarizing reception.
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Event detractors could not deny its sheer originality and boldness, however. While these two brands overshadow most of Kojima’s other work, other titles he worked on should not be ignored. Some of the games below were also his brainchild, while others he only assisted with in some capacity.
Updated May 8th, 2022 by Russ Boswell: Hideo Kojima has definitely been one of the most influential game designers of the last decade, with his work on the powerful and engaging franchise, Metal Gear Solid. Although Kojima is most known for this iconic series, he’s actually worked on quite a few projects over the years, with credits in design, production, and even some acting credits. The release of Death Stranding proves that Hideo Kojima has the potential to spearhead his own company, and although it was a bit strange for some players, it definitely developed a bit of a cult following. To better celebrate the projects that Hideo Kojima has worked on, that aren’t as well known as his other adventures, the following list has been updated with more entries.
12Cyberpunk 2077
There were some seriously high hopes for Cyberpunk 2077. Once players learned that the iconic CD Projekt Red was behind the title, they began to imagine what a dystopian technology-infused Witcher adventure might look like. Although the open-world game wasn’t nearly as well-received at the start as developers had hoped, it has still developed quite the following and numerous patch updates have made it a much better game in the recent year.
Although Hideo Kojima didn’t have a hand in the overall development of the cyberpunk-themed adventure, he did have an appearance as an NPC, which he voiced himself. Players can find the aptly-named Hideyoshi Oshima during The Heist. He’ll be sitting in the Konpeki Plaza’s bar and lounge.
11Zone Of The Enders
Hideo Kojima served as producer on thisscience fiction mech combat game. Released on the PlayStation 2, the debut entry was notable for coming packed in with a demo forMetal Gear Solid 2, which gave gamers a taste of what would become one of the most impressive games on the console. The sequel,The 2nd Runner, was more ambitious in scope and featured a more cel shaded art style.
10Snatcher
Cyberpunk themes are prevelent in theMetal Gearseries, butSnatcherdives head first into the sub-genre as it details robots who kill and take the place of human beings. The plot deals with Cold War conspiracies, another theme the creator would dive deeper into later in his career. The gameplay is a point-and-click adventure mixed with a visual novel. The Metal Gear Mk II fromMetal Gear Solid 4originated here.
9Policenauts
LikeSnatcher,Policenautsis another graphic adventure game. This time, however, the story takes inspiration fromspacefaring science fictionand buddy cop movies. Two characters even resemble Riggs and Murtaugh fromLethal Weapon.The title is an amalgam of the words “police” and “astronauts” because of the stories focus on crime in space. Meryl Silverburgh first showed up here before being repurposed forMetal Gear Solid.
8Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hands
Hideo Kojima is always known for including unconventional gameplay mechanics. Some of them catch on better than others, however.The action-RPGBoktai: The Sun is in Your Handsused the real world to influence gameplay.With a sensor on the Game Boy Advance cartridge,players charge their weapons by playing in sunlight. The game also mimics the real world’s day and night cycle, with the time of day influencing the types of enemies encountered.
7Control
Remedy Games leapt onto the gaming scene with ahardboiled film-noir narrative inMax Payne, but afterward crafted more supernatural stories likeAlan WakeandControl.Hideo Kojima visited the studio during the latter’s production and provided a voice cameo.
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He plays the titular character in the side quest “Dr. Yoshimi Tokui’s Guided Imagery Experience,” speaking his native language while an interpreter translates into English.
6Penguin Adventure
Looking at it today, there is nothing particularly notable aboutPenguin Adventureother than it being the first game Hideo Kojima worked on. However, it is still considered one of the best games to come out on the MSX home computer for its gameplay variety and impressive visuals. One certainly will not find political intrigue or cutscenes filled with philosophical rambling here; it is simply a cutesy tale of a penguin looking for a golden apple.
5Beatmania
Guitar Herowas far from the first rhythm game on the market. In the late 90s, a whole slew of them came out, andBeatmaniaruled the arcade scene. Like most popular arcade titles, home versions were inevitable. From the end of the decade and a few years into the new millennium, Kojima is credited as a producer on several home ports ofBeatmania. His exact role is unknown, but it is entertaining to think the auteur designer had a hand in this series.
4Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django
The original Boktai was such a success commercially (and critically) that Konami was inspired to release a sequel in 2004. This time, the design of the game was spearheaded by Ikuya Nakamura, but Hideo Kojima would still maintain close to the project, working as a producer during the game’s production. Boktai 2 is, for the most part, almost identical to the original release, but it still has some new additions to help separate it from its predecessor. These additions came in the form of new weapons, skills, puzzles, and a Boss Arena for players to test their skills against the enemies found within the game.
It wasn’t as well-received as the original title but it still maintained solid reviews, helping the franchise to find more success for Hideo Kojima and the developers that worked on the franchise.
3Lunar Knights
Lunar Knightsis the third entry in theBoktaiseries but deserves special mention because of the changes enacted to the formula. Unlike the prior two, the sunlight sensor functionality is removedfrom this Nintendo DS game. However, players can still engage with this feature if they have either of the Game Boy Advance games and put into their DS. Without his name in the credits, one would not have suspected Hideo Kojima to have worked on this game.
