How to Beat Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear Solid Master Collection

The Metal Gear Solid Master Collection has launched to a mixed reception. There’s no doubt that fans of the Metal Gear Solid series are enjoying revisiting the classic original trilogy, but there have been a number of technical issues that publisher Konami has promised to address. The biggest question however, is not one of framerate or resolution. Instead, it’s one of how the original Metal Gear Solid Psycho Mantis boss encounter works.

For those with shorter memories, Psycho Mantis is a boss from the very first Metal Gear Solid game. He’s a fourth wall-breaking villain that in the original PlayStation edition would read your memory card during his opening monologue and react to the save data upon it. Furthermore, during the fight he would read your inputs to counteract them, with the solution being to unplug your controller and plug it back into the console’s second controller port.

However, on modern consoles we no longer have memory cards. Nor, for that matter, do the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S have controller ports.

So then, the question is: how does Psycho Mantis work in Metal Gear Solid Master Collection?

How to Beat Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear Solid Master Collection

There are two elements to the Psycho Mantis boss fight that have been adapted for modern consoles. The first has no real implication on the battle itself, but we’ve included the details below for completion sake. The second however, is a technique that near-every player will want to learn!

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection - Psycho Mantis Memory Card

Psycho Mantis Introduction

As there’s no memory card for Psycho Mantis to read on modern consoles, the default dialogue will revert to an empty memory card. However, Konami has thought of this, and included a new feature for you to be able to see all the additional lines of dialogue the boss can deliver. Here’s how to use the feature:

Select Metal Gear Solid on the main menu of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection.
Choose your preferred language.
Select the ‘Edit Saved Data’ option.
A new screen will load, replicating the original PlayStation Memory Card storage screen.
Here, you can choose to add ‘Virtual Saved Data’ from a number of Konami games of the era.
Enter the game, reach Psycho Mantis and enjoy his new dialogue!

Konami has added ‘virtual saved data’ for every variation of Psycho Mantis’ dialogue from the original game, so nothing have been left out of this new edition!

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection - Psycho Mantis Controller 2

Beating Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear Solid Master Collection

Once the battle begins true, you’ll find Psycho Mantis is quit challenging. In the original Metal Gear Solid, the trick to defeating him was to unplug your controller and then reconnect it to the second controller port. On modern consoles, Konami has replicated this via software in Metal Gear Solid Master Collection. Here’s how to beat Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear Solid Master Collection:

Enter the ‘Stance Menu’.
Select ‘Controller Settings’.
Select ‘Controller Connection’.
Change the option to ‘Connect as P2’.
Enjoy a very quick battle against one of Metal Gear Solid‘s most iconic bosses!

How do you feel about the changes to Psycho Mantis? Are there any other boss fights in Metal Gear Solid Master Collection you’re finding challenging? Let us know in the comments below!