10 Genius Video Game Easter Eggs You Need To See For Yourself
2. Psycho Mantis - Metal Gear Solid
The encounter with the deranged psychic of Metal Gear Solid, Psycho Mantis, was an iconic one by all means.
Just as super-sneaky soldier Solid Snake and his accomplice Meryl enter Mantis’ domain, they notice the lack of guards...and music.
Soon enough, Psycho Mantis appears, and begins to delve into your “mind”. For the time, it was freaky enough: how could he know how many traps you were falling into or dodging, or if you were being cautious or careless with your saves?
In fact, it even checks if you enjoy certain Konami games, like Castlevania. In the Gamecube remake, he’ll comment on your choice in Nintendo's library.
When you battle against him, he’ll blackout the screen, as if the TV was disconnected from the controller at times. The most effective way to curb this, according to the Colonel, is to plug the controller into the Player 2 port.
His mind-tricks were a wondrous Easter egg for the time. It was a simple trick: reading your stats and data, and commenting on them.
This, however, was 1999. Our primitive minds didn’t expect such a crazy turn of events to occur.
For a game about war, super-soldiers and the like, Metal Gear Solid wasn’t afraid to unleash its surreal side.