I know there are others who love games in this franchise besides me, like flip_ftw.
Starting off on the MSX2 pre-solid, I would say that this franchise invented the stealth genre but the old 2D wolfenstein games predate it. This franchise just got a new release last year.
It doesn't contain the most coherent stories but I love hideo kojimas style, almost everything i'd normally discount as a negative in storytelling he makes work.
Metal gear rising is great but my favorite in the franchise is mgs2: sons of liberty. The message in the story is more relevant now than it was in 2001.
And wait, why does liquid snake sound so gosh darned faniliar? Why it's because cam clarke also provided voicework for simba on numerous occasions!
Too bad without kojima the franchise is as good as dead. Unless platinum were to make a metal gear rising 2.