The production on Snatcher needed to be far above the industry standards in order for the story and the characters to have the same impact. For Konami to make such an effort on a platform like the Sega CD was ballsy, not to mention much appreciated. Konami even took the extra care to exploit the Sega CD's audio capabilities by using Roland Sound Space in some parts of the game—giving the sound a multi-dimensional quality and the action more visceral and realistic punch.

Hideo Kojima has made no secret of the fact that he is deeply influenced by motion pictures (check the GameCritics.com interview with him for further proof). Snatcher is the first game in which his love for movies really shines through. Like most of his games, Snatcher's opening and ending credits are cinematic in every sense of the word. Kojima also stole—or, ahem, rather was inspired by—many ideas and designs from established films of the science fiction and film noir genres. Snatcher contains obvious references to Akira and The Terminator, but it's Blade Runner that must have had a truly profound impact on Kojima's creative juices. The film's influence can be seen all throughout Snatcher, but both the game and the movie are virtually identical in how they introduce us to their respective cities. In fact, it wouldn't be all that difficult to write an entirely separate feature on the similarities between Blade Runner and Snatcher.

However, more striking than its affection for cinema is how Snatcher carries on repeated themes and ideas for which Kojima's games have become famous—in some case even anticipating devices he would use in future projects. There are obvious things like the name and design of Gillian's navigator, Metal Gear, who looks just like a miniature version of the nuclear weapon in Kojima's first game, Metal Gear. The extensive use of videophone conversations and the many characters that can be called is another idea Kojima refined in Snatcher that would be used to full dramatic effect years later in Metal Gear Solid. However, I find the reoccurring themes of deception, greed, jealousy, international conflict, impending disaster brought on by human beings, and lost love to be the most interesting and compelling reasons to put Snatcher not only at the focus of Kojima's growing gameography, but also as an example of video-game entertainment at its finest.

Special thanks to Jacob "Carp" Paul at The Snatcher Sanctuary for his support.