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The MSX Nostalgia thread – A return to the cradle of Solid Snake

Wow, $750 for a signed Metal Gear cartridge...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Metal-Gear-...o-Kojima-/271428620524?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

the eBayer selling this said:
This is the real deal. The first Metal Gear game cart for MSX 2, signed by the man, Hideo Kojima. The cart itself is rare, so imagine now, being signed by its creator. Perfect for collectors!

It's not THAT rare. :) You can get a mint CIB copy for €150. A loose cart is around €60 usually. So $750 is insane, even if it's signed.

My copy of MGS2 is signed by Kojima too. It's really not that special.
 
Hello MSX fans. I posted a thread last night, maybe one of you could shine some light on this?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=814963

Several years ago there was a site selling freshly localized MSX content. A lot of it. Through an emulator service or something (kind of like Project EGG in Japan). Lots of wonderful games from smaller Japanese developers like Compile and T&E soft. I remember being floored at the amount of stuff these guys had done work on. All these new English translations and it was, as far as I could tell, not widely known. And unfortunately, they seemed to disappear shortly after I heard about them (and before I was able to buy anything).

Does anybody know what I'm talking about?

Does anybody know what happened?

Thinking about Compile just now (..let's not discuss why I was thinking about them and just pretend that it had something to do with my recent PC-Engine revival), it made me a little sad knowing that such a large amount of their lesser known work had been translated and now, apparently lost. And not just Complile, but a crazy amount of translated Japanese 8-bit games from several developers.
 

Krejlooc

Banned
Hello MSX fans. I posted a thread last night, maybe one of you could shine some light on this?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=814963

The company behind these translations went out of buisness, unfortunately. This was during that time period where there was a lot of interest in the MSX again thanks to the 1-chip MSX being released.

So talking about the MSX, I have a copy of a game from spain called Penguin Adventure 2, clearly a bootleg "sequel" to the Konami game. It's on a floppy and it plays like shit. I can't find any info on the game anywhere, anybody ever run into this before?

EDIT: It's a sidescroller, not a behind the back game like the other Penguin games.
 
The company behind these translations went out of buisness, unfortunately. This was during that time period where there was a lot of interest in the MSX again thanks to the 1-chip MSX being released.

So talking about the MSX, I have a copy of a game from spain called Penguin Adventure 2, clearly a bootleg "sequel" to the Konami game. It's on a floppy and it plays like shit. I can't find any info on the game anywhere, anybody ever run into this before?

EDIT: It's a sidescroller, not a behind the back game like the other Penguin games.

Never heard of. :)

Do you happen to have any screenshots?
 
I've got a an MSX with Circus Charlie and Salamander... somewhere in an attic. The attic was robbed but I think the MSX was still there. It's in working condition (hopefully) but I haven't tried it in about 10 years.

sv728.jpg

By the way this was still there! Great.
 

Krejlooc

Banned
Interesting nevertheless. Maybe the creator made other stuff too.

Not sure. The way I got the game was bizarre! I bought an FDD off of someone online, and the guy randomly included it and another game in the box it shipped with. When I hit him back up to let him know he had mistakenly included two games I didn't pay for, he just said to consider them extra gifts. It literally just lucked into my lap. I can't find any info of it online.
 
Not sure. The way I got the game was bizarre! I bought an FDD off of someone online, and the guy randomly included it and another game in the box it shipped with. When I hit him back up to let him know he had mistakenly included two games I didn't pay for, he just said to consider them extra gifts. It literally just lucked into my lap. I can't find any info of it online.

So maybe that guy you bought the FDD from actually made it, and it's the only copy worldwide. :)

Sadly not, I don't have a TV or a monitor. It's now resting at my moms place.

Let us know if it still works when you get to it. There's probably little doubt that it will work though, back then those things were made to last forever.
 
Gotta say, no full translation for Illusion City's a bummer, but not a killer. I'll at least get a functional window into the game once I get openMSX to emulate the best system specs. It's a very interesting JRPG conceptually and in execution, so it seems. One of the games WOOMB could have translated had they not wasted their time trying to sell actual One Chip MSXs!
 
If I am not mistaken some of the games are actually MSX2 games, MSX systems were on par with Colecovision/Nes games. MSX 2 also was nowhere near as popular or used as MSX1.
 
Don't you own Rune Worth, foobarry? I'm pretty sure it got translated by a group, maybe Torringa and the rest of WOOMB's force, but I'm just wondering if you've played it (nice velvet cloth, at least).
 
Don't you own Rune Worth, foobarry? I'm pretty sure it got translated by a group, maybe Torringa and the rest of WOOMB's force, but I'm just wondering if you've played it (nice velvet cloth, at least).

Yeah, I got a copy of the game. Haven't played it yet though. I'm at over a 110 MSX games now, so haven't found time to play them all.

I agree about the velvet manual cover. It's a great touch to an already nice package, which I was happy to welcome to my collection. Similarly I also got a copy of Haja no Fuuin, because I really wanted that cloth map and the figurine.

Edit: hmm.. need to update that GameFAQs list, it seems, as it only shows 104 games. My copy of Zanac Ex isn't on there yet, because it's still at my friend in Japan's place. But I wonder which others are missing. :)
 
Yeah, I got a copy of the game. Haven't played it yet though. I'm at over a 110 MSX games now, so haven't found time to play them all.

I agree about the velvet manual cover. It's a great touch to an already nice package, which I was happy to welcome to my collection. Similarly I also got a copy of Haja no Fuuin, because I really wanted that cloth map and the figurine.

Edit: hmm.. need to update that GameFAQs list, it seems, as it only shows 104 games. My copy of Zanac Ex isn't on there yet, because it's still at my friend in Japan's place. But I wonder which others are missing. :)

Are the Eggerland Mystery games same as the Famicom/NES games (Eggerland/Lolo1-3?) or do they have their own puzzles and whatnot
 
Are the Eggerland Mystery games same as the Famicom/NES games (Eggerland/Lolo1-3?) or do they have their own puzzles and whatnot

I've never played the Famicom games, so I wouldn't know. The MSX games were released first though, so the Famicom games could be (enhanced, they sure look more polished than at least the first MSX Eggerland, which was a MSX1 game) ports.

Anyway, I watched this video of Adventures of Lolo on NES, and I can tell you that the intro with that castle is not in the MSX game, and iirc the first level is different from Eggerland 1 MSX too. (I only own a copy of Eggerland 2 at this point.)

Edit: I just watched this video of Eggerland on Famicom Disk System, and the first stage is actually the same one as in Meikyuu Shinwa (Eggerland 2) on MSX. So it seems like Eggerland on FDS is a port of Eggerland 2 on MSX.
 
I've never played the Famicom games, so I wouldn't know. The MSX games were released first though, so the Famicom games could be (enhanced, they sure look more polished than at least the first MSX Eggerland, which was a MSX1 game) ports.

Anyway, I watched this video, and I can tell you that the intro with that castle is not in the MSX game, and iirc the first level is different from Eggerland 1 MSX too. (I only own a copy of Eggerland 2 at this point.)

Edit: I just watched this video of Eggerland on Famicom Disk System, and the first stage is actually the same one as in Meikyuu Shinwa (Eggerland 2) on MSX. So it seems like Eggerland on FDS is a port of Eggerland 2 on MSX.

Cool! Lolo 1-3 were some of my favorite games as a kid, and when I replayed them again couple of years ago they were absolutely brutal
 

noquarter

Member
Hmm, was deciding if I wanted to get an Amiga (my family had one as a kid, so a little bit of nostalgia) or an MSX, and looking through this thread, think I will have made up my mind.

Guess I will let the hunt begin.
 
Hmm, was deciding if I wanted to get an Amiga (my family had one as a kid, so a little bit of nostalgia) or an MSX, and looking through this thread, think I will have made up my mind.

Guess I will let the hunt begin.

Why not get both? ;-) Or dig up that old Amiga if your family still owns it.

I've never owned an Amiga, so not sure what they have to offer. But afaik all Amiga's are 16-bit computers? Don't forget MSX is still an 8-bit machine (except for the MSX Turbo R, which had both an 8 and a 16-bit processor). So you can't really compare them.
 
MSX sound chip was godly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQKY_8i1Ipo (snatcher)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqWG9RdXhxw&list=PLKkxnBwFOJGKOl7_dAQ0cdGKAowgNbjph (metal gear 2)


Also, I'd say Metal Gear 2 was one of the hardest games I've ever beaten. Way less forgiving and hand-holdy than the Solid series
(seriously f*** the quagmire level)
, but super creative and rewarding.

That is not the MSX sound chip, but Konami's SCC. ;-) The separate cartridge that was delivered with Snatcher was there for that purpose only.
The standard MSX sound chip was only capable of 3 sound channels. In their later games, Konami built in a Sound Custom Chip (SCC) in their game cartridges which added 5 extra channels to that, and allowed for programmable waveforms.
Some later MSX computers (I think mostly Panasonic MSX2+ and up ones) had the MSX Music chip built in, which allowed for even more (FM) sound channels.

Konami games with SCC music: (all of these have great music)
RC 751: Nemesis 2
RC 752: F-1 Spirit, The Way to Formula 1
RC 757: Pennant Race
RC 758: Salamander
RC 759: Parodius
RC 760: King's Valley 2 (MSX1)
RC 761: King's Valley 2 - El Giza's Seal (Japanese, MSX2)
RC 762: Contra (a.k.a. Gryzor)
RC 764: Nemesis 3 - The Eve Of Destruction
RC 766: Pennant Race 2
RC 767: Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
RC 768: Space Manbow
RC 769: Quarth
 
Rounded up my PC Engine games today and thought I'd get my misc. MSX games together for a photo.

Here they are with my Mark III games (in hideous plastic wrap for lack of anything better to protect them)

Nothing special, but I'm proud to have a handful including Gradius 2, Yie Ar Kungfu, and bloody Hydlide 3 is okay I guuuuess.

 
What are those games to the right of Yie Ar Kung-Fu and Pennant Race? Don't recognize the carts.

Super Laydock: Mission Striker is pretty good too, right? My friend in Japan bought me the first Laydock too last week.

Edit: the first is Super Daisenryaku. Sorry. :)
 
What are those games to the right of Yie Ar Kung-Fu and Pennant Race? Don't recognize the carts.

Super Laydock: Mission Striker is pretty good too, right? My friend in Japan bought me the first Laydock too last week.

Edit: the first is Super Daisenryaku. Sorry. :)

The one to the right of Pennant Race is Albatross. And unfortunately, a golf game rather than something cool about birds.
 
Hello MSX owners, i just purchased an MSX2 this morning :)

It's a Panasonic FS-A1F, got it for $130 US with a joy-pad & AV cables included. the floppy drive doesn't work but I've already ordered the replacement rubber belt for it and a Down Converter so america's 120v standard doesn't damage it.

I got a couple questions though....

1. I've noticed quite a few games on Ebay have weird labels on them (to me at least) and i was wondering if they are legit releases or fakes? like this one for example....
http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=993666&image=659610548&images=659610548,659610554&formats=0,0&format=0
This one is Kiki Kaikai and has the Hitbit branding on it (which is Sony's MSX i believe)

2. Do you guys have any game recommendations that wont cost me an arm and a leg? (more than i paid for the system is a bit steep IMO) like games you couldnt easily get on the Nes? (Most of the games in the OP & the 2nd Post are crazy expensive)

3. Given how low my systems RAM is (64KB i think), will i encounter any regular MSX2 games that wont work? (i know MSX2+ & Turbo R games are out of the question)

4. And finally what kind of accessories will i need to fully enjoy this particular model of the MSX2?
 
Hello MSX owners, i just purchased an MSX2 this morning :)

It's a Panasonic FS-A1F, got it for $130 US with a joy-pad & AV cables included. the floppy drive doesn't work but I've already ordered the replacement rubber belt for it and a Down Converter so america's 120v standard doesn't damage it.

I got a couple questions though....

1. I've noticed quite a few games on Ebay have weird labels on them (to me at least) and i was wondering if they are legit releases or fakes? like these for example....
http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=993666&image=659610548&images=659610548,659610554&formats=0,0&format=0
This one is Kiki Kaikai and has the Hitbit branding on it (which is Sony's MSX i believe)

http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=993666&image=697925229&images=697925229&formats=0&format=0
This one has no branding at all (reminds me of those fake FFV GBA carts)

2. Do you guys have any game recommendations that wont cost me an arm and a leg? (more than i paid for the system is a bit steep IMO) like games you couldnt easily get on the Nes? (Most of the games in the OP & the 2nd Post are crazy expensive)

3. Given how low my systems RAM is (64KB i think), will i encounter any regular MSX2 games that wont work? (i know MSX2+ & Turbo R games are out of the question)

4. And finally what kind of accessories will i need to fully enjoy this particular model of the MSX2?

Question 1:
The labels are perfectly normal.
Sony (re-)released quite a few MSX titles. Didn't know they also did so with Kiki Kaikai, but all of their releases have a similar (somewhat bland looking) label.

I also own a copy of Romancia, and your copy looks completely legit to me.

My copy of Romancia and another of those Sony releases.

Question 2: Unfortunately many of these games are expensive indeed. Especially complete copies can get really pricey. So you might want to look for loose carts first and foremost.

Which type of games do you like best?
Get Knightmare. It's not extremely expensive (a CIB copy should cost you around US$60, loose cart more like US$40) and it's great.
Other games (loose carts) that are in the same price range are Salamander, Nemesis, Nemesis 2, King's Valley, Bosconian, Q*Bert, R-Type, Penguin Adventure, Rastan Saga, Parodius, High Way Star, ....
Most of the Konami sports games should be cheaper, like in the US$15-20 range for a loose cart.

Also a lot of the Japanese RPGs are usually not that expensive, even complete copies. Like the Falcom games (Dragon Slayer 1-6 and Ys 1-3) or the Dragon Quest games or the Hydlides or Haja no Fuuin (aka Miracle Warriors). Final Fantasy on MSX is pricey though. But to be able to enjoy these fully, you'll probably need to know some Japanese. Gall Force, the game in the picture above is nice too. And I don't think its loose cart is pricey either.

Other lesser known games that might interest you: Kenja no Ishi (a Zelda NES style game) or Hades no Monshou (vertical shmup). They also aren't that expensive or hard to come buy.

Mind you that if you ever get Metal Gear (loose copies sell for around US$80), get a copy that fits the region of your machine. To my knowledge it's the only cart that is not region free. I own both a PAL and a Japanese copy, and have PAL and Japanese MSXs. The game simply doesn't work on the wrong machine.

Question 3:
You shouldn't have any problems with that. My MSX2+ has 64K RAM too. There are not a lot games that only work on 2+ and Turbo R anyway. Many of the 2+ games are actually games that also work on a regular MSX2, but have some added features when played on a 2+.

Question 4:
Get a SCART cable. :) For example from this place.
 
Question 1:
The labels are perfectly normal.
Sony (re-)released quite a few MSX titles. Didn't know they also did so with Kiki Kaikai, but all of their releases have a similar (somewhat bland looking) label.

I also own a copy of Romancia, and your copy looks completely legit to me.

My copy of Romancia and another of those Sony releases.


Question 2: Unfortunately many of these games are expensive indeed. Especially complete copies can get really pricey. So you might want to look for loose carts first and foremost.

Which type of games do you like best?
Get Knightmare. It's not extremely expensive (a CIB copy should cost you around US$60, loose cart more like US$40) and it's great.
Other games (loose carts) that are in the same price range are Salamander, Nemesis, Nemesis 2, King's Valley, Bosconian, Q*Bert, R-Type, Penguin Adventure, Rastan Saga, Parodius, High Way Star, ....
Most of the Konami sports games should be cheaper, like in the US$15-20 range for a loose cart.

Also a lot of the Japanese RPGs are usually not that expensive, even complete copies. Like the Falcom games (Dragon Slayer 1-6 and Ys 1-3) or the Dragon Quest games or the Hydlides or Haja no Fuuin (aka Miracle Warriors). Final Fantasy on MSX is pricey though. But to be able to enjoy these fully, you'll probably need to know some Japanese. Gall Force, the game in the picture above is nice too. And I don't think its loose cart is pricey either.

Other lesser known games that might interest you: Kenja no Ishi (a Zelda NES style game) or Hades no Monshou (vertical shmup). They also aren't that expensive or hard to come buy.

Mind you that if you ever get Metal Gear (loose copies sell for around US$80), get a copy that fits the region of your machine. To my knowledge it's the only cart that is not region free. I own both a PAL and a Japanese copy, and have PAL and Japanese MSXs. The game simply doesn't work on the wrong machine.

Question 3:
You shouldn't have any problems with that. My MSX2+ has 64K RAM too. There are not a lot games that only work on 2+ and Turbo R anyway. Many of the 2+ games are actually games that also work on a regular MSX2, but have some added features when played on a 2+.

Question 4:
Get a SCART cable. :) For example from this place.

1. ah i see, glad that all the ones i've seen so far are legit.

2. I'll stick with loose carts then, those complete sets are crazy!

3. good to know, i guess i wont have to worry about a lack of power for a while.

4. I wish i had a TV with a SCART port cause i'm stuck with Composite, Component and HDMI only. i might buy a CRT one day though.

I bought Thexder and Kiki Kaikai with it as well.
 
Vampire Killer, TwinBee and Knightmare recently became available on Project EGG.
So Konami might make more of games of their MSX catalogue available on the platform from now on.

http://www.amusement-center.com/project/egg/news.php?itemid=1306

For those unfamiliar with the platform. Project EGG is a rental service similar to PS+. You pay a monthly fee to access all your content, and an additional fee to "unlock" the games you want access to while subscribed. There are a few free games too.

They offer a decent albeit quite limited selection of MSX games, but if the entire Konami catalogue would become available, that would make it a whole different story

English home page of Project EGG.
 
Konami re-released some old games on the Game Collection disks. There's 5, Game Collection #1-#4 and Extra.
Fun thing about those disks is: most of the games on it have SCC music! Nemesis 1, Pippols, Twinbee, Yie Ar Kung Fu, etc etc, all have SCC music now. They work with the Snatcher sound cartridge, there's a patch to work with the SD Snatcher one or even a regular Konami SCC game.
 
Konami re-released some old games on the Game Collection disks. There's 5, Game Collection #1-#4 and Extra.
Fun thing about those disks is: most of the games on it have SCC music! Nemesis 1, Pippols, Twinbee, Yie Ar Kung Fu, etc etc, all have SCC music now. They work with the Snatcher sound cartridge, there's a patch to work with the SD Snatcher one or even a regular Konami SCC game.

Also noteable is that all of those Konami Game Collections feature some mini games. I've seen one once where you had to eat rice balls (iirc) at a crazy pace. :)

These Game Collections tend to go for over €100 on eBay though.
 
This is the best topic.

I don't know if these are recommended:
Strategic Mars
Feedback
Psycho World
Don't know about the first, but Feedback is a Tecno Soft classic and Psycho World's one of the best reviewed side-scrollers for the platform. If you need a Space Harrier-like and an arcade epic, then those are good picks.

Amazing how many companies tried to get a computer foothold through the MSX. Sony and Hitachi did fine without it, but I wouldn't even know of National if they hadn't made their models.
 
Going through those videos I wondered why they only used black, grey, white and red as colours.

Cross post from the September pick up thread: I got me a copy of Final Fantasy.

Wasn't particularly cheap, but somehow I managed to justify getting it for myself. :)
Nowadays that seems to be getting it for a good deal less than what it usually goes for.

SceHh9D.jpg
 

Rei_Toei

Fclvat sbe Pnanqn, ru?
This is the best topic.

I don't know if these are recommended:
Strategic Mars
Feedback
Psycho World

I loved Psycho World as a kid! I don't think my brother and I ever finished it though. If I'm not mistaken it has some pretty dark twists - I recall something of the girl going back to her base and everyone else is gone/dead or something.No idea what exactly happened since everything was in Japanese :). I do remember it having pretty funky music and cool upgradeable weaponry.
 
Here's mine at 7:08, however it was light gray. Tears rolling down :)

The red one? Nice. I take it you had a cassette player to go with it?

I loved Psycho World as a kid! I don't think my brother and I ever finished it though. If I'm not mistaken it has some pretty dark twists - I recall something of the girl going back to her base and everyone else is gone/dead or something.No idea what exactly happened since everything was in Japanese :). I do remember it having pretty funky music and cool upgradeable weaponry.

Psycho World got ported to SEGA Master System and SEGA Game Gear, btw. I was renamed to Psychic World though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic_World
 

Berek76

Member
The red one? Nice. I take it you had a cassette player to go with it?

Yes, a black cassette player from Phonola (another producer of MSX pcs, they were rebranded Philips products) if I'm not wrong. Never found any pictures of it.

Anyway I owned very few tapes, they were hard to find and my MSX had only 16KBs of memory so many games won't load.

Almost all the games I owned were on cartridges.
 
Yes, a black cassette player from Phonola (another producer of MSX pcs, they were rebranded Philips products) if I'm not wrong. Never found any pictures of it.

Anyway I owned very few tapes, they were hard to find and my MSX had only 16KBs of memory so many games won't load.

Almost all the games I owned were on cartridges.

Well, that saved you A LOT of loading times. :)

We had a Philips cassette player with our Philips VG8020 and waiting for a game to load became somewhat of a ritual at home. :) Until we got an MSX2 with disk drive. Don't remember how long it took before we upgraded, but looking back at it now, I don't remember having used the MSX1 for a really long time. I was quite young back then though, so memories are fairly vague.
 

Berek76

Member
Well, that saved you A LOT of loading times. :)

For sure! That anyway happened later, when I played with the C64 my friends owned. To avoid this kind of problems however, when it was my turn to have a C64, I bought directly one with a 1541 floppy drive :D

In between my C64 and the MSX I also owned an Atari 130XE, first with a cassette tape (loading time galore) and then with a floppy drive (much better).

I think I wasted a lot of time of my life waiting for games to play :D
 
I think I wasted a lot of time of my life waiting for games to play :D

Same here. :)

Can't be bothered waiting for MSX games to load anymore, so for my collection now I'm focusing on cartridges mainly, although I do own some diskette releases too.

Still own the cassette player, but can't see myself going through the waiting and the awful loading noise again.

Never owned a C64, but my nephew did. Pretty sure they had a floppy drive with it too. They had some football game for it that we put so many hours into...
 
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