I've taught a lot of folks how to play 2D fighters and I've found Alpha 3 on the PS1/DC is a fine starting point because you can scale up with it from 2-player co-op to 1v1.

(In the arcade, you lose that co-op mode!)

MvC2 is another good entry point just because it's stupid fun as a button masher.

I FAR prefer AM2R to the official Samus Returns.

In fact, AM2R is the one I tell people to play if they can find it!

(It's on an ARCHIVE somewhere that ORGanizes things...)

Especially Ocelot, who comes off as a total tool in MGS2 and 4 before you understand his motivations.

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

OTHER GAMES RELATED TO METAL GEAR SOLID

Snatcher (Japanese platforms / Sega CD in NA) - Hideo Kojima's Blade Runner-style game includes the friendly Metal Gear Mk. II as your assistant!

Policenauts (Japan-only) - A future sci-fi story including Meryl Silverburgh!

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

OTHER MGS GAMES WORTH PLAYING

The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 (PS2) - An interactive documentary!

Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel (PSP) - A comic adaptation of the original MGS/Twin Snakes

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (PSP)

Metal Gear Ac!d² (PSP)

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

9. GAMES YOU CAN PROBABLY SKIP

Metal Gear Ac!D (PSP)

Metal Gear Survive (PS4/XB1/PC)

Metal Gear (NES) - A bad MSX port

Snake's Revenge (NES, North America) - Not made by Hideo Kojima

Metal Gear Portable Ops Plus (PSP) - Multiplayer-focused with no new story.

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

8. THEN PLAY: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2013)

Kojima let PlatinumGames go wild with Raiden, the polarizing hero from MGS2.

It's a perfect action-focused cyborg ninja chaser to sitting still so long in MGS4, and also the canonical endpoint of the series.

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

7. THEN PLAY: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)

This game concludes both Solid Snake AND Big Boss's storylines and has so much story interrupting gameplay (8 hours of cutscenes; one is 70 minutes long!) you need to be fully invested to fully grasp it

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

WHY WAIT TO PLAY MGS2?

Hideo Kojima marketed the game as being about Solid Snake, but it's actually not. That was a huge surprise (and letdown) in 2001 and what does happen borders on nonsensical as the game goes on. Knowing the full story helps you hang in there!

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

6. THEN PLAY: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)

While the gameplay to MGS2 is a step backwards, the story will make so much more sense to you after playing the prequel games.

This is helpful, because MGS2 is a game that loves to jerk players around!

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

ISN'T MGSV UNFINISHED?

After the game's heroic ending cementing Big Boss's mythology, it has you replay some key missions from a different point of view leading to a hidden "true" ending.

It's a bit confusing, but it's not unfinished - just quite unconventional.

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

5. THEN PLAY: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015)

Here's where the previous games pay off with an enormous open world guerilla war experience set in two places. As Big Boss/Punished "Venom" Snake, you build the Diamond Dogs army and Mother Base.

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

4. THEN PLAY: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (2014)

This sequel to Peace Walker has you enter a prison camp to save Paz's brother Chico. The story is super short, but there's a lot of good gameplay here, as well as an evolved control system and bonkers ending.

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

3. THEN PLAY: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010)

Building off Portable Ops, this game introduces a different control scheme and has you build Big Boss's "Soldiers Without Borders" army in the jungles of Costa Rica.

It also introduces the Fulton air balloon!

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

2. THEN PLAY: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)

This prequel is actually a great next step because it builds on MGS's gameplay while also fleshing out the backstory.

It also has some of the best boss battles in any of the games and an incredible final act.

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

MORE MGS-STYLE GAMES WORTH PLAYING:

Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions (PS1) - 300 added puzzles for those who enjoy sneaking around

Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (GBC) - An amazing parallel take on MGS by Tose that plays more like the original games.

Metal Gear 1&2 (MSX)

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

1. BEGIN WITH: Metal Gear Solid (1998)

Though this game makes many references to earlier games, most players went in cold and still loved the experience.

This entry point really holds up despite some odd controls. The story and gameplay are worth the trouble!

ESSENTIAL ORDER: METAL GEAR SOLID

A NOTE BEFORE WE BEGIN

I don't recommend playing Metal Gear 1 or 2 before Solid, but if you do, play the MSX versions.

A better, smoother experience in the same vein is the GBC game Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel, which is non-canonical but tremendously fun.