Your friends weren't having you play the games actually titles 'Metal Gear' were they? Because the first two MSX games sucked!
Nah, what you need is to play Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots for a few minutes, then you'll probably force yourself to go back and play the three games that played before it.
The first 3 or 4 games in the series were definitely not made as well as the current ones are.
The ones I played are:
Metal Gear Solid (PSX)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Libery (PS2)
Metal Gear (GameBoy Color)
Metal Gear (NES)
I played Sons of Liberty the longest. Wasn't really my thing and especially the part with Raiden wasn't my thing.
Ah, well it's no wonder you didn't like Metal Gear, they are terrible game.
Everyone seems to hate Raiden, but he gets a damn-sight more cooler in MGS4. Either MG3 or MGS4 those are the games to play. You can see why from the moment you finish the intro. And they aren't top-down.
Oh, good. I've always kept my eye out for MGS3 on 3DS and MGS4 though. If I have and played them, I'll let you know 
