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

W

Waldo Lydecker

Member
foobarry81 said:
I have mostly loose cartridges, but a mint Metal Gear, a Vampire Killer that is in pretty good condition as well, and I just ordered a few more that seemed in pristine condition as well.

Is Xanadu playable if you're pretty bad at Japanese?
Click to expand...

Well the good thing about Xanadu was that it was a translated version.
For a quick look go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HWgriHrQWE

And no that's not me who's voice is on the video but obviously that guy is also Dutch.
Xanada is Dragon Slayer II. Funny thing is that the MSX1 version, by Falcom itself, was a lot better than a Sony MSX2 version.

Also a very nice game was the MSX2 version of Dragon Slayer IV (much nicer than the NES and MSX1 version):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2731_esV_c

EDIT: Salamander has a great cartridge box!
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Waldo Lydecker said:
EDIT: Salamander has a great cartridge box!
Click to expand...

It does. Backside with bonus Knightmare cart

UtJ6Gio.jpg
bgOuwV1.jpg
Click to expand...

Those Dragonslayer games look pretty nice actually.

The Euro box for reference (not my own pic)

Salamander_-Konami-.jpg
Click to expand...
 
A

Aeana

Member
Man, the MSX2 port of Xanadu really is garbage. It's like the PC88 version only it runs even worse, which shouldn't be possible.
 
L

lunchwithyuzo

Banned
Dragon Slayer IV might have my favorite 8bit soundtrack ever. I grew up playing the NES version (Legacy of the Wizard) but the MSX version sounds really great too.
 
W

Waldo Lydecker

Member
I even had Final Fantasy for the MSX but it was in Japanese I didn't gave it any attention. The irony that I became a very big Final Fantasy fan but that I didn't knew that at that time.

1338333319-00.jpg
Click to expand...

FF1_MSX_00.gif


The same goes for Dragon Quest.

dragonquest1msx22.png



Funny thing is that the only great franchise I loved back on those MSX days was Metal Gear. I actually was a big fan of racing games like Hyper Rally and F1 Spirit and therefore I ordered Metal Gear because I thought that it was about racing because of the word 'gear', lol.
 
V

Vinnk

Member
ZqX9tac.jpg


Found my copy of Dig Dug and it really shows the 2 holes in the cart. Did the holes serve any purpose or were they just decoration?
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Vinnk said:
ZqX9tac.jpg


Found my copy of Dig Dug and it really shows the 2 holes in the cart. Did the holes serve any purpose or were they just decoration?
Click to expand...

I think I found your answer (more on it in the link):

It's a lock. to secure it on your machine. Only few MSX types have that option.
I had a sony HB700P machine which came with some sort of extension thingy where that locking mechanism was used with.
Click to expand...

http://www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/hardware/why-did-they-put-hole-cart
 
B

BriBri

Member
Beginners question as I'm not really clued up with MSX: my favourite model that I've seen (by far) is the red Sony Japanese model. However this is MSX 1 and I will need MSX 2. Is there an MSX 2 as colourfully sexy as the red Sony one? Thanks in advance!
 
N

Nozem

Member
Aeana said:
The combat system in SD Snatcher is pretty awesome, and it's sad that it hasn't been much of an influence in games that followed. Being able to attack specific parts of enemies by targeting them via the grid added a strategic/puzzle element to battles that was super rad.
Click to expand...

YES! SD Snatchers combat was fantastic, and quite deep for it's time. I love that game.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
deathcobra said:
Beginners question as I'm not really clued up with MSX: my favourite model that I've seen (by far) is the red Sony Japanese model. However this is MSX 1 and I will need MSX 2. Is there an MSX 2 as colourfully sexy as the red Sony one? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

There are red editions of MSX2 computers.

Like for example the Panasonic FS-A1 has also been released in red. (pictures here: http://wannafight.us/tenshingoods/msx2.jpg and http://hit930.sakura.ne.jp/hitjapan/console/12050808055.JPG)

They might be rare as compared to the red Sony HitBit 101 (MSX1) you're likely referring too.
 
D

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
Wonderful retrospective! I remember getting into MSX when I first started getting into emulation... seeing some "MSX" games on a website (I think it was tsr's, iirc) and then curiosity led me to the emulators. I remember playing a game called "Arabian" (a poor side scroller), "Banana" (a Frogger-esque game), a side scrolling RPG that took place in a cloud/Heaven like world whose name I forget... and of course the Nemesis series. Would love one of my own, for the collection...

Aeana said:
Well, I could do it. I have a lot to write about since my childhood was pretty focused on Japanese computers, especially MSX, PC88/98 and X68000. But also FM TOWNS a bit later.

I just kinda don't want to put forth all of the effort if nobody's interested. And this thread at least does a great job of talking about MSX stuff, which fortunately had a common thread with Europeans and South Americans.
Click to expand...

Well, you know I'm definitely interested (there's a total lack of English information on many of these systems, especially the Marty)... just go for it!
 
B

Berek76

Member
You want me to cry loud: the MSX was my first computer. I wanted a C64 but my parents instead bought me a Sony Hit-Bit 55 at that time.

It was this one

Sony%20HB-55P%20(1).jpg


It had only 16k of RAM, so almost every game on tape was out of question. I then got an expansion cartridge which added 16k more to the total of RAM but it was still too low for some games.

So in the end I've played only games on cartridges, mostly Konami games which were anyway really good portings of coin-ops or original games.

These are some of the games I've played:

Athletic%20Land-MSX.jpg


Antarctic_Adventure_-Konami-_front.jpg


circuscharlie.jpg


571997-juno_first__sony_konami__front.jpg


Track%26Field_1_-Konami-.jpg


Even if the MSX was quite unknown in Italy I've been lucky enough to find a place were MSX games were sold...

I can remember very vividly the first time I switched it on, and how it was hard for me and my parents to make it work. I was 9 back then, and my parents had no clue on how a computer could work and also the manual was quite puzzling.

The MSX will ever have a special place in my heart!
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Berek76 said:
Even if the MSX was quite unknown in Italy I've been lucky enough to find a place were MSX games were sold...

I can remember very vividly the first time I switched it on, and how it was hard for me and my parents to make it work. I was 9 back then, and my parents had no clue on how a computer could work and also the manual was quite puzzling.

The MSX will ever have a special place in my heart!
Click to expand...

Great story. I can imagine a family looking into it and figuring out how it all works. :) My dad worked at Philips back then as an engineer and so my brother and I got handy with our MSXs pretty quickly.

velociraptor said:
I enjoyed that Metal Gear 2 video. Fantastic music too.
Click to expand...

Watching that video again reminds me that MG2 is the only game in the Metal Gear series I still need to acquire. (I mean: the original MSX cartridge)
 
B

Berek76

Member
foobarry81 said:
Great story. I can imagine a family looking into it and figuring out how it all works. :)
Click to expand...

It is a really sweet memory of my childhood, especially considering how my family went over years later. Anyway it was really difficult just to get to the Basic screen, we spent a lot of time just scanning every possible channel of our tv set until we found the one with the best quality of signal. And then we had no clue on how use the cassette reader (it was a normal one with just a cable running out of the headphones socket and going to the MSX, if I'm not wrong).

Some days later I started learning the MSX Basic and that, probably, is what changed my entire life :)
 
O

omg_mjd

Member
I remember as a kid wanting this system so bad. An electronics store near my house held a week-long video game contest to promote their Casio MSX units. I played so much I was hallucinating sound effects and seeing dancing lights in the dark by the end of the third day. The games were Nemesis, a pinball game and a platformer.

I ended up winning second place. The prize wasn't an MSX though--just some Casio LCD game. (The first place prize wasn't an MSX either--it was a Casio pocket TV.)

I never did get to own an MSX. Already had a Commodore 64 so my mom wasn't inclined to buy me another computer. :/
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Berek76 said:
Some days later I started learning the MSX Basic and that, probably, is what changed my entire life :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've been toying around with MSX Basic a lot too. :)
The general consensus nowadays, with the OO paradigm and all, is though that all those early BASIC programmers were ruined for life. :)

omg_mjd said:
I never did get to own an MSX. Already had a Commodore 64 so my mom wasn't inclined to buy me another computer. :/
Click to expand...

Never too late to get one still. We had (and have) an MSX and MSX2 too at home/my parents', yet I recently got myself another one (mainly because my brother took our MSX2. :))
 
E

Easy_D

never left the stone age
Huh. I thought Vampire Killer was the port of Castlevania with the Simon sprite from Castlevania 2. Can't believe I've missed out on a game in the series.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Easy_D said:
Huh. I thought Vampire Killer was the port of Castlevania with the Simon sprite from Castlevania 2. Can't believe I've missed out on a game in the series.
Click to expand...

Oh wow, no. :)

I guess it's a common mistake though. Since it was never released in the States and the games media are often US centric, you get this bias to everything released on other platforms than the NES being ports. Often people see the NES versions as superior versions too.

Even on Wikipedia you see this US centric bias:

Wikipedia said:
Vampire Killer, released in 1986 for the MSX computer, took a departure from the traditional platform gameplay of Castlevania, instead introducing an open-ended form of gameplay.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania
Click to expand...

How is it "a departure from traditional gameplay" if the only game ever released in the series was released only one month earlier? It was even developed at the same time. :)

Vampire Killer is very much a Castlevania original.
 
E

Easy_D

never left the stone age
Now I hope MSX titles appear on the Virtual Console somehow so I can play it, it seems brutal with no continues though. But still, love me some classic Castlevania. Which one was a port with the Simon's Quest sprite then?

I'm also reminded that I never really gave Metal Gear 1 or 2 a chance, I own both of them thanks to the Substistence disc. Should probably work on that. Only played the mangled NES port when I was a kid (it has superior music though)
 
G

Gloam

Member
I love how crumby the MSX version of Dragon Quest is, there's something kinda charming about it, feels very thrown together, a little like a bootleg. Ping-pong is also pretty cool.

My Dad used an MSX for accounting purposes. He bought it off of a traveling salesman-type that used to drink down the local pub. A lot of the software was in Japanese, and I seem to remember the unit itself having this huge light rigged up to it. I think to make things easier to see if you were working in a dark area.

I think we might have had a copy of Snatcher because my Dad would always say he remembered it when he saw me playing the Mega CD version.
 
Y-Z

Y-Z

Member
MSX was amazing. Still have a MSX 1 and 2 (Philips model) and lots of games. I was glad my brother/dad spend so much money on it when i was little.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Easy_D said:
Now I hope MSX titles appear on the Virtual Console somehow so I can play it, it seems brutal with no continues though. But still, love me some classic Castlevania. Which one was a port with the Simon's Quest sprite then?

I'm also reminded that I never really gave Metal Gear 1 or 2 a chance, I own both of them thanks to the Substistence disc. Should probably work on that. Only played the mangled NES port when I was a kid (it has superior music though)
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about the Simon's Quest port, but it certainly wasn't Vampire Killer.

I can't really compare both Metal Gear 1s music wise, as I only own and played the MSX one.

But Snake's Revenge is a completely different game from Metal Gear 2, and imo the music of the latter is far superior. Just listen to the Youtubelink in the OP. Edit: this one. (Note that this is taken from an emulator, and that it's not completely the same as the sound coming from the original SCC)

Gloam said:
I think we might have had a copy of Snatcher because my Dad would always say he remembered it when he saw me playing the Mega CD version.
Click to expand...

Worth a lot of money nowadays.
 
E

Easy_D

never left the stone age
foobarry81 said:
I'm not sure about the Simon's Quest port, but it certainly wasn't Vampire Killer.

I can't really compare both Metal Gear 1s music wise, as I only own and played the MSX one.

But Snake's Revenge is a completely different game from Metal Gear 2, and imo the music of the latter is far superior. Just listen to the Youtubelink in the OP. Edit: this one.



Worth a lot of money nowadays.
Click to expand...

Oh it wasn't a port of Simon's Quest. It was literally the Castlevania released on NES, only Simon's sprite was taken straight out of Castlevania 2

Edit: You ought to give Metal Gear NES' soundtrack a listen, it's really good.
 
L

leesmapman

Member
Oh yeah! MSX!
Still have my Sony HBF700D and Panasonic Turbo-R (FSA1st)
sony_hbf700_1.jpg


I worked on Moonblaster, a music program that has been used by quite a lot of people.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Easy_D said:
Oh it wasn't a port of Simon's Quest. It was literally the Castlevania released on NES, only Simon's sprite was taken straight out of Castlevania 2
Click to expand...

Might've been one of the later ports (of the original NES Castlevania, which was also what I wanted to say earlier. :)) to Commodore 64, Amiga or PC? I dunno.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Easy_D said:
That's really shitty and not surprising at all.
Click to expand...

I think Nintendo never felt they could cash in enough on MSX nostalgia in Europe, given how it was popular in only a few countries. In Japan it was kind of big. And in the US it was non-existent, so they probably didn't think it was worth it to provide the games outside Japan.
 
L

lunchwithyuzo

Banned
foobarry81 said:
I think Nintendo never felt they could cash in enough on MSX nostalgia in Europe, given how it was popular in only a few countries. In Japan it was kind of big. And in the US it was non-existent, so they probably didn't think it was worth it to provide the games outside Japan.
Click to expand...
Not really up to Nintendo though. If D4 or Konami wanted to release their MSX stuff overseas they could have.
 
W

Waldo Lydecker

Member
Berek76 said:
Yes, I would buy one too, and also an Atari 130XE (my second computer) and a C64 (my third one). Too bad I've little space for them in my house :(
Click to expand...

No kidding. My first computer was an Atari 130XE and my second a MSX2.

The MSX2 was great and one of my greatest sources of nostalgia, but so was that 130XE. I played it to death, especially Zorro and Blue Max.

bluemax.gif
 
F

foobarry81

Member
F

foobarry81

Member
Waldo Lydecker said:
I remember this, something about collecting these blue rocket parts. It was a nice game I think, although sometimes in your memories games look much better than there were in truth.

But yeah, MSX was great for local multiplayer.

How about this game for example (I already mentioned it but yeah, it was one of my favorites ;-)):
Click to expand...

Twin Bee was also awesome in multiplayer.

I don't recall that Breaker game specifically, but I've seen some other really nice breakout clones on the system.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Cross post from the September 2013 pick up thread.

My latest MSX pick up.

Before this weekend, I had no idea what the box of this Dragon Quest MSX port looked like, but really pleased with it.

Apparently there's also a release in a white box, see here. Does anyone know the difference between both? Are they notable? Seems like the black box release is for MSX1 and the white for MSX2?

TVMGIie.jpg
 
R

Rei_Toei

Fclvat sbe Pnanqn, ru?
foobarry81 said:
What is this Illusion City you speak of? :)
Click to expand...

Bit of a late response, but better late then never: Illusion City is a JRPG from Microcabin, who also made the Xak and Frey games. It has a cyberpunk setting and is a bit of a mishmash between Bladerunner and Wicked City (the anime). Lots of robots, cyborgs, bio-engineered animals, cults, sects, technocratic evil corporations, demons, drusg and post-apocalyptic dystopian megacities. It was surprisingly adult (characters doped up, having sex) and bleak (at one point you help some resistance fighter escape from a prison. Dude is totally drugged up and can hardly walk. When you bring him back to a safehouse, turns out he got a bomb planted in his stomach and the entire cell is blown to bloody bits. Grim stuff.

Some gameplay video

3604995957_54406c1c65_o.jpg

57e4ae93.png

38297885_3466504566.jpg


It has pretty amazing music: (Youtube #1, #2
And cool 80s anime art:

normal_Illusion%20City.jpg
 
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