Colonel Vermon CaTaffy, a once tranquil shepard boy, who grew up on the remote banks of the Sam Sam River in outer Mongolia with his 27 sisters, turned to terrorism at an early age.

Now after years of pillaging innocent people, he has taken control of outer heaven, a small naton on the outskirts of Southe Africa. Here he is sole tyrant and radial dictator. He rules with bullets and bombs, and in only in a few months he has outlawed democracy and turned harmless villagers into mercenaries for a global terrorist network.

But his biggest threat is yet to come. For, as an obsessed madman, he has created the Ultimate Super Weapon. It's CaTaffy's greatest dream and the world's most hideous nightmare.

It's called Metal Gear. And it must be destroyed before the crazed Colonel unleashes his violence across the globe.
--From the NES Metal Gear instruction manual.

Solid Snake has been dropped in Outer Heaven, a small country that is heavily armed , and that has become very active. Secret imformation about a walking battletank armed with nuclear weapons was acquired. NATO had immediately sent his best agent, Grey Fox, but he had vanished without a trail. Right before his disappearance he had sent one last message: "...Metal Gear...". Now NATO was forced to send its youngest agent, Solid Snake.

Solid Snake rescues Grey Fox. He tells Snake that in the heart of Outer Heaven there is a heavily guarded tank called Metal Gear,that is armed with nuclear weapons.

Now you, Solid Snake, must continue to infiltrate Outer Heaven, and find Metal Gear and destroy it.

Your fellow commandos from the FOX HOUND Battalion sit across from you. One sharpens his knife. The other polishes his grenades. No one speaks, but through the silence a message comes across loud and clead - this will be the most dangerous mission ever attempted, even more so that the infiltration of Colonel Vermon CaTaffy's stronghold.

For now, you're challenging Higharolla Kockamamie and his army of raging lunatics. And you must overcome untold hundreds of Uzi toting soldiers, a heavily armed battleship and a loaded locomotive to reach your objective, destroying Higharolla's Ultra-Sheik Nuclear Attack Tank. Or else the world will be knocked to is knees by a fellow who has won the "Merciless Man of the Year Award" eight straight times.
--From the NES Snake's Revenge instruction manual.