Konami existed as an arcade maker before leaping to consoles and creating some of the most memorable games on the NES, including Castlevania and Metal Gear. They got along great with Nintendo until the first 3D era, when they started to support Sony more on the PS1. It was a trend many Japanese companies followed during this generation because the PS1 was the new hotness, and the N64 just didn’t have the same pizazz that the NES or SNES did.
The 10 Best Selling Konami Franchises of All-Time, Ranked
Konami is one of the most prominent game companies out there, with some seriously awesome franchises. Here are some of the best-selling.
Beyond the PS1, Konami helped decorate PlayStation consoles with unforgettable experiences. Let’s try to figure out which Konami game reigns supreme above others on each of the seven current PlayStation platforms.
Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night (PS1)
A Not So Miserable Pile Of Secrets
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
- Released
- October 2, 1997
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence
- Genre(s)
- Metroidvania, Action RPG
Konami came out in strong support of the PS1 with four really good choices for games on the platform, including Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, and Suikoden 2. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a step above them all, though, because the experience helped create an entire genre. How many games have that claim to fame or have a place in meme history with cheesy lines like, “What is a man…a miserable pile of secrets.”
Symphony of the Night is also an infinitely replayable game on any platform it appears on, thanks to its RPG mechanics and deep gear system. The game may not have cutting-edge graphics, but it more than makes up for that with its genre-defining Metroidvania gameplay.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
What A Thrill
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)
- Released
- November 17, 2004
WHERE TO PLAY
There are two Metal Gear games clashing for their place at the top of Konami;s PS2 days, including other Konami games like Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, Silent Hill 2, and Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater wins out as not only the best Konami game on PS2, but for many, as the best entry in the series. This was the game where Hideo Kojima proved that Big Boss worked just as well as a protagonist as Solid Snake.
10 Franchises Konami Is Letting Fade From Popular Memory
Konami brought many memorable games to fans, but due to a shift in the video game company, some of the best series that have been abandoned.
As the sequels went on, players could see why Big Boss had his downfall in the original Metal Gear. Beyond the gripping narrative, this PS2 game had a cool camouflage system and inventive boss fights, and it squeezed the PS2’s power for everything it had.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP)
Portable Perfection
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
- Released
- June 8, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Tobacco, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Stealth
The PSP might be the best-supported system as far as Metal Gear games go, between Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and its expansion, both Metal Gear Acid games, and even a motion-based pseudo-remake of Metal Gear Solid. Then there was the cherry on top: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. It was the perfect portable experience with short missions and a gameplay twist on Nintendo's Pokemon games.
Instead of capturing cute critters, players could go out and recruit soldiers for Mother Base. Beyond that, Peace Walker felt like a fully-fledged numbered sequel, not just a throwaway spinoff, thanks to Big Boss’s gripping backstory.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PS3)
Slice And Dice
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
- Released
- February 19, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Action
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots had a lot of great things going for it, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was an interesting idea for a reboot. However, there’s nothing quite like the over-the-top nature of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, between its gameplay mechanics and narrative.
How many Metal Gear games have allowed players to literally slice through Metal Gears before or jam out to fast metal? It was a brilliant collaboration between Konami and PlatinumGames that made Raiden an even cooler cyborg ninja than before. The only downside is that this spinoff was never given a proper sequel or even a remaster, despite retaining its sterling reputation to this day.
Silent Hill: Book Of Memories (PS Vita)
Slim Pickings
Silent Hill: Book of Memories
- Released
- October 16, 2012
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Dungeon Crawler
The PS Vita had almost no support from Konami, and so this top pick may be controversial. Silent Hill: Book of Memories does not make sense, as it was a weird Diablo-like dungeon crawler instead of a moody horror game. It didn’t match up with the rest of the series, but that doesn’t make it bad. Years late,r fans and critics alike have come to appreciate what the game does well instead of what it wasn’t.
It should be noted that the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection was a good collection that worked well on the PS Vita, and it included Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. However, unlike the console versions, it was missing Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker in the package, which is just not right, and a collection doesn’t seem like the proper way to celebrate a company’s contribution to a system.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (PS4)
Kojima's Last Stand
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
- Released
- September 1, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Action, Open-World
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain was Hideo Kojima’s last big game at Konami before leaving due to creative differences and starting his own studio. It could be said that the game remains unfinished, at least to Kojima’s standards, but at launch it was still a remarkable experience.
It took all those Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker ideas and made them better, from the CQC mechanics to the Fulton balloon system. Additionally, the open-world environments encouraged players to be more creative with their stealth tactics. It was a solid (pun intended) way for Kojima to go out, and it also made for a good final chapter for the misunderstood one-eyed antihero, Big Boss.
Silent Hill 2 (PS5)
James And The Giant Pyramid Head
Silent Hill 2
- Released
- October 8, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
The fate of the PS5 has yet to be determined, but so far there have been some good Konami games like Suikoden 1 & 2 HD Remaster, Gate Rune, and Dunan Unification Wars. Plus, Silent Hill f and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater show promise in terms of upcoming titles. However, right now, the remake of Silent Hill 2 is far and away the best Konami game on the system.
Silent Hill 2 was already the best game in the series, between its haunting story of James Sunderland trying to find his deceased wife among weirdos in an abandoned town and its nightmarish yet iconic monsters. Bloober Team did a good job of remaking a classic for Konami, preserving the integrity of the original while going a step above to give the game its signature horror mark.
Best Capcom Game On Every Nintendo Console
From Resident Evil to Mega Man, these are the Capcom games from each Nintendo console that left a lasting impression on fans.