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

F

foobarry81

Member
Rei_Toei said:
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.
Click to expand...

Oh wow. That looks amazing. I knew Xak, but had never heard of this one. Seems reminiscent of Snatcher too, the way you described it and based on the screenshots.

Very interesting, this. It's even been translated apparently, by a company named A&L.
 
R

Rei_Toei

Fclvat sbe Pnanqn, ru?
foobarry81 said:
Oh wow. That looks amazing. I knew Xak, but had never heard of this one. Seems reminiscent of Snatcher too, the way you described it and based on the screenshots.

Very interesting, this. It's even been translated apparently, by a company named A&L.
Click to expand...

Yeah, apparantly that took ages/was a very complex process, and also for some reason it's a dificult game to emulate, but cool that they finished it. I played it over 20 years ago with a (printed) fan translation that came with an MSX magazine :). You actually had to pay attention to no get spoiled by reading ahead :)

While digging for information I also found out there's multiple versions with differences in the quality of graphics. Never new that. It's one of my favourite games from the MSX era and definitely one of the best RPG's on the system. The music still sounds kick-ass to this day too, IMO.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Rei_Toei said:
Yeah, apparantly that took ages/was a very complex process, and also for some reason it's a dificult game to emulate, but cool that they finished it. I played it over 20 years ago with a (printed) fan translation that came with an MSX magazine :). You actually had to pay attention to no get spoiled by reading ahead :)

While digging for information I also found out there's multiple versions with differences in the quality of graphics. Never new that. It's one of my favourite games from the MSX era and definitely one of the best RPG's on the system. The music still sounds kick-ass to this day too, IMO.
Click to expand...

Not just hard to emulate. Most MSXs can't even run it either. :)

From the A&L page said:
Illusion City is a game that has steep hardware requirements, even in its original version. Therefore, the MSX2 version also requires a powerful hardware, to make up for its inferiority in comparison to the Turbo-R models.
Thus, you need a MSX2 or 2+ at 7MHz or a MSX Turbo-R to run the translated version of Illusion City. At 3.5MHz, the game is so slow that it's unplayable and highly unstable, freezing the computer easily. Furthermore, the translated version requires 512KB RAM in the system (main RAM or external mapper).
Click to expand...

Source: http://www.alsoftware.com.br/adrianpage/
 
E

ElectricThunder

Member
Wow, Illusion City sounds and looks fantastic---shame the English fantranslation on there seems to have stalled out a good way through for the last while. This seems so primed for a remake in the same style given how far they were reaching at the time and hardware...
 
F

foobarry81

Member
ElectricThunder said:
Wow, Illusion City sounds and looks fantastic---shame the English fantranslation on there seems to have stalled out a good way through for the last while. This seems so primed for a remake in the same style given how far they were reaching at the time and hardware...
Click to expand...

Yeah, unfortunately that will probably never happen. Even the Snatcher games don't seem to be in the running for a remake anytime soon. They're not even on Virtual Console, which would be the easy way out for a re-release.
 
E

ElectricThunder

Member
Hell, I'd settle for a fan remake even at this rate should the translation ever get complete such that an audience and community can be wrangled---still so much goodness from that era just floating in the ether. Awesome things keep happening though---we're closer than we've been in years to finally getting Sega CD's long languishing Shadowrun fantranslated which makes for some excellent synergistic timing with the advent of Shadowrun Returns.

I wonder what the composers are up to nowadays? It'd be the dream of dreams if they could all were still alive/get reunited to take a crack at things again---throw in Yuzo Koshiro and the main guy behind The Dark Spire's music just to take it over the top into crazytown.

Seriously perhaps they best I've heard out of MSX-land in terms of a soundtrack and overall quality---I hope the Trilotracker team is keeping it in mind as they aim lofty aims.
 
R

Rei_Toei

Fclvat sbe Pnanqn, ru?
ElectricThunder said:
Wow, Illusion City sounds and looks fantastic---shame the English fantranslation on there seems to have stalled out a good way through for the last while. This seems so primed for a remake in the same style given how far they were reaching at the time and hardware...
Click to expand...

In a way it's mindblowing how far ahead this was in content and execution. Though it shares some heavy similarities with Snatcher in setting, it was a bit more complex and darker. It's hard to describe exactly but it had this slightly melancholic/desolate urban-dystopian vibe going on that 80s/90s anime sometimes carried too (think Akira).

With Microcabin no longer around chances of a remake seem close to zero, but stranger things have happened. It would be a dream come true if this gets picked up some day. The basis for the spritework is pretty great, still. And the music still gives me goosebumps. Among the most memorable stuff from the MSX days :).

foobarry81 said:
Yeah, unfortunately that will probably never happen. Even the Snatcher games don't seem to be in the running for a remake anytime soon. They're not even on Virtual Console, which would be the easy way out for a re-release.
Click to expand...

There's another long-held dream. Either a new game in the series or a cool 2D remake, be it digital download or DS/Vita - Snatcher's such a cool universe gathering dust at Konami.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Rei_Toei said:
In a way it's mindblowing how far ahead this was in content and execution. Though it shares some heavy similarities with Snatcher in setting, it was a bit more complex and darker. It's hard to describe exactly but it had this slightly melancholic/desolate urban-dystopian vibe going on that 80s/90s anime sometimes carried too (think Akira).

With Microcabin no longer around chances of a remake seem close to zero, but stranger things have happened. It would be a dream come true if this gets picked up some day. The basis for the spritework is pretty great, still. And the music still gives me goosebumps. Among the most memorable stuff from the MSX days :).
Click to expand...

Microcabin does still exist, apparently. They are now part of Fields Corporation. Doesn't look like they still produce games though, or at least nothing that ambitious anymore.
 
E

ElectricThunder

Member
I'd like to think the advent of Kickstarter and such, particularly the projects out of Japan even if sort of indirectly(New Not-Megaman Mighty No. 9 is certainly something folks would never thought have happened prior), will strike an ever louder chord with all manner of elder dev groups and whatnot from the MSX era and all other classics.

The likes of Snatcher and Illusion City have every indication of being "valid" to this day and the times ahead---that kind of craftsmanship, attention to detail, world building, etc is always in season. Doubly so that there was so much of this wild ambition in the 80's and a bit of the 90's...eerily in sync with the golden age of OVA's IMO... that ran up against enormous walls in terms of what the tech of the day could allow them to achieve, crashed into them as deftly as they could, then had to walk away.

Fast forward to nowadays, and those visions chased on the mists of moonlight actually probably CAN be grasped on the technological front for the first time, the niche ideas can be fleshed out and shared with an enormous amount of people all over the world as opposed to a dusty filing cabinet, and so on.

It will be a tremendous missed opportunity if as many that are still alive and have their stuff afoot don't take at least one more wild crack at it for posterity.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
I've found some interesting numbers of the worldwide distribution of MSX computers.

Apparently around 7 million have been sold worldwide.

- Japan : 5,000,000 (MSX1 ~ MSX2 ~ MSX2+ ~ MSX turbo R)
- Arabic countries (mostly Saudi Arabia?) : 1,000,000 (MSX1 ~ MSX2)
- Soviet Union: 800,000 (MSX1 ~ MSX2)
- The Netherlands (home of Philips, one of the companies producing MSX computers): 400,000 (MSX1 ~ MSX2)
- Spain: 160,000 (MSX1 ~ MSX2)
- Italy: 80,000 (2/3 MSX1 ~ 1/3 MSX2)
- France : 65,000 (2/3 MSX1 ~ 1/3 MSX2)
- Belgium: 20,000 (1/3 MSX1 ~ 2/3 MSX2)
- United Kingdom: 20,000 (MSX1 ~ end 1986)
- USA : 5000 (MSX1 ~ end 1986)

Source.

On a side note, I just got my first MSX2+ in today: a Panasonic FS-A1 WX.
 
M

Monochromaticx

Member
I vaguely remember a game that starts off with a creepy robotic narrator saying: "The secret of life is..." before the first stage starts. You were suppose to assemble a rocket or something. Anyone knows this game?

Sorral said:
We had this MSX called Sakhr (means Rock) and I remember my late dad bringing one home without telling us as a surprise:

6h6iU8wiGHfcPR03qfWzdRcKc2o0Q.jpg


There was several iterations, but I think the AX170 was the most common one. The AX230 was the next common although I think the price tags drove people away from it to the 170.
We tried to use controllers with it all the time. Some of the Atari ones worked while I think none of the NES ones worked with it.
Click to expand...

Nice to see another Sakhr bro :)
 
C

Ce-Lin

Member
aw yiss I remember my MSX-2 fondly, here in Spain they were the coolest thing regarding 8-bit computers, Konami MegaROM SCC cartridges were beyond anything Commodore 64/Amstrad CPC/Spectrum could do at that time. Who would have thought those Metal Gear and Vampire Killer cartridges were the starting point of legendary series.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Monochromaticx said:
No not that one. It was shooter where you control a plane/spaceship and scrolled from the bottom to the top of the screen. The goal was to collect parts to build a rocket ship to eventually head to space.
I doubt if the quote I posted is accurate though.
Click to expand...

The shooters I know that scroll from bottom to top:
- Laydock series
- Aleste Series
- Twin Bee
- 1942
- Sky Jaguar
- Salamander in certain stages
- Quarth (which is more of a puzzle game, really)

Not with space ship:
- Hi no Tori
- Pippols
- Knightmare

Maybe you could find the game's name in this list?
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Ce-Lin said:
aw yiss I remember my MSX-2 fondly, here in Spain they were the coolest thing regarding 8-bit computers, Konami MegaROM SCC cartridges were beyond anything Commodore 64/Amstrad CPC/Spectrum could do at that time. Who would have thought those Metal Gear and Vampire Killer cartridges were the starting point of legendary series.
Click to expand...

I was surprised about how "big" MSX was in Spain, really. Even today Spain seems to be one of the best places to find 2nd hand MSX stuff.
 
M

Motwera

Banned
yamaha_ax350_msx2.jpg

Technically, I shouldn't have one of these because it is way too old, but my mom back in 2000s still had it, and gave it to me before trying a PSX, or PC to play..
My mom told that these were popular back in the day.
I personally loved Monkey Academy back when I had it.
 
W

Waldo Lydecker

Member
Monochromaticx said:
I vaguely remember a game that starts off with a creepy robotic narrator saying: "The secret of life is..." before the first stage starts. You were suppose to assemble a rocket or something. Anyone knows this game?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I don't know the title.
I also have a game I can't remember the title of. It was a kind of space simulator like elite and I can remember it was awesome but cannot find it back.
 
M

Monochromaticx

Member
foobarry81 said:
The shooters I know that scroll from bottom to top:
- Laydock series
- Aleste Series
- Twin Bee
- 1942
- Sky Jaguar
- Salamander in certain stages
- Quarth (which is more of a puzzle game, really)

Not with space ship:
- Hi no Tori
- Pippols
- Knightmare

Maybe you could find the game's name in this list?
Click to expand...

It could have been:
SkyJaguar
start.gif


or Super LayDock
hqdefault.jpg


Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. The sites you linked made me find this old gem as well:
yiear2.jpg


Fuck this guy and his stupid hair!
yiear2-2.jpg
 
W

Waldo Lydecker

Member
Monochromaticx said:
It could have been:
SkyJaguar
start.gif


or Super LayDock
hqdefault.jpg


Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. The sites you linked made me find this old gem as well:
yiear2.jpg


Fuck this guy and his stupid hair!
yiear2-2.jpg
Click to expand...

Maybe it is Laydock, the first one. It was the only MSX2-only Laydock (and imho the best one) and it had a whole lot of digital speech brabbling before the first level. Something with 'roger' and 'we'll be right away'.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Motwera said:
Technically, I shouldn't have one of these because it is way too old, but my mom back in 2000s still had it, and gave it to me before trying a PSX, or PC to play..
My mom told that these were popular back in the day.
I personally loved Monkey Academy back when I had it.
Click to expand...

Don't throw it away if you still have it! Those are little treasures (and get increasingly valuable too. ;-))

Waldo Lydecker said:
Unfortunately I don't know the title.
I also have a game I can't remember the title of. It was a kind of space simulator like elite and I can remember it was awesome but cannot find it back.
Click to expand...

I think I recently bumped into such a game (while looking for other games). Sadly I don't remember its title either. I'll try and see if I can find it back.

Monochromaticx said:
Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. The sites you linked made me find this old gem as well:
yiear2.jpg
Click to expand...

I was pretty good at the first Yie Ar Kung-Fu. It was rather easy to beat all the enemies by just jumping over their heads, and hit them with a low kick. YAKF 2 required a lot more strategy, and was a lot harder overall. I have the game, and should give it another go maybe. If you put Q*Bert in slot 2 (or was it Penguin Adventure?) you get more of those healing tea cups apparently.
 
M

Monochromaticx

Member
foobarry81 said:
I was pretty good at the first Yie Ar Kung-Fu. It was rather easy to beat all the enemies by just jumping over their heads, and hit them with a low kick. YAKF 2 required a lot more strategy, and was a lot harder overall. I have the game, and should give it another go maybe. If you put Q*Bert in slot 2 (or was in Penguin Adventure) you get more of those healing tea cups apparently.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I played it when I was like 4-5 years old...that shit was brutal and traumatising.

foobarry81 said:
Was it "Space Shuttle: A Journey Into Space"?

http://www.generation-msx.nl/software/activision/space-shuttle---a-journey-into-space/2411/
Click to expand...

Nah it wasn't Space Shuttle: A Journey Into Space. The title does fit my description but not the gameplay.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Monochromaticx said:
Yeah, I played it when I was like 4-5 years old...that shit was brutal and traumatising.
Click to expand...

The game I was traumatised by most was Green Beret. I really couldn't even make it into the 2nd level back then. And I kept trying... a lot.

Now I do manage to get there, but still I don't really get all that far.

And I also realise that it's not because I'm terrible at it. It's the game that isn't very good. :) Especially the controls are really bad.
 
V

Vinnk

Member
I sent a Panasonic MSX2 to my friend in the US. He did a little unboxing video if anyone is interested in that version it might be worth a watch. He also compares the MSX and Famicom versions of King's Knight (not a very fair comparison if you ask me).

http://youtu.be/TSvKh4DGrvs
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Vinnk said:
I sent a Panasonic MSX2 to my friend in the US. He did a little unboxing video if anyone is interested in that version it might be worth a watch. He also compares the MSX and Famicom versions of King's Knight (not a very fair comparison if you ask me).

http://youtu.be/TSvKh4DGrvs
Click to expand...

Well worth a watch! I enjoyed that.
Really nice to see US gamers "discover" the MSX as a gaming platform. :)

Your friend is a bit clueless about what he just got in hands, or so it seems. :)

It's as fair a comparison as when he could compare Metal Gear on MSX and Famicom. ;-)

King's Knight's differences between the versions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King's_Knight#Differences_between_versions
 
V

Vinnk

Member
foobarry81 said:
Well worth a watch! I enjoyed that.
Really nice to see US gamers "discover" the MSX as a gaming platform. :)

Your friend is a bit clueless about what he just got in hands, or so it seems. :)

It's as fair a comparison as when he could compare Metal Gear on MSX and Famicom. ;-)

King's Knight's differences between the versions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King's_Knight#Differences_between_versions
Click to expand...

I totally agree. I only sent Kings's Knight with the system but I really should have sent something that does the system more justice. It's an MSX2 but he doesn't have any games that take advantage of the more advanced hardware.

I'll send him some more carts down the road (he sends me US games in return). That box was a bit destroyed, but I really like that hardcore fantasy artwork on that Panasonic box.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Vinnk said:
That box was a bit destroyed, but I really like that hardcore fantasy artwork on that Panasonic box.
Click to expand...

I was suprised to see that to be honest. Never realised they came in such fancy boxes. Our Philips MSX's of old came in rather bland boxes, like the one below.

(not my own pic)

3qyFdSi.jpg
 
P

PetriP-TNT

Member
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
 
F

foobarry81

Member
PetriP-TNT said:
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.
Click to expand...

Truly a hidden treasure. ;-)

What I like most about Circus Charlie is the box art. :) But it's a nice game too. Salamander had both: great box art and great game.

Those SpectraVideo ones are probably quite rare too, right?
 
P

PetriP-TNT

Member
foobarry81 said:
Truly a hidden treasure. ;-)

What I like most about Circus Charlie is the box art. :) But it's a nice game too. Salamander had both: great box art and great game.

Those SpectraVideo ones are probably quite rare too, right?
Click to expand...

Hmm I don't know about rarity, it seems that in Finland they seem to be selling somewhere around 20 euros to 60e... Too bad my games are just loose carts. I liked Circus Charlie, but could never clear the first level of Salamander (I can beat LifeForce on NES, heh!)
 
F

foobarry81

Member
PetriP-TNT said:
Hmm I don't know about rarity, it seems that in Finland they seem to be selling somewhere around 20 euros to 60e... Too bad my games are just loose carts. I liked Circus Charlie, but could never clear the first level of Salamander (I can beat LifeForce on NES, heh!)
Click to expand...

That price just says that the demand for it is low. Probably because it's an MSX1, with only one cartridge slot, which I think is fairly unusual, but also a bit lacking.

But I don't think all that many SV-728's have been produced. Which should make them somewhat collectible. That other SpectraVideo machine (SV-738), the "portable" version of yours, is probably more prone to fetch a high price one day though. Also if you look at Wikipedia, it's in the list of Special Models, with the likes of the One Chip MSX, which easily sells for €400 and up.
 
P

PetriP-TNT

Member
foobarry81 said:
That price just says that the demand for it is low. Probably because it's an MSX1, with only one cartridge slot, which I think is fairly unusual, but also a bit lacking.

But I don't think all that many SV-728's have been produced. Which should make them somewhat collectible. That other SpectraVideo machine (SV-738), the "portable" version of yours, is probably more prone to fetch a high price one day though. Also if you look at Wikipedia, it's in the list of Special Models, with the likes of the One Chip MSX, which easily sells for €400 and up.
Click to expand...


Hmm, very interesting! It's kinda bummer that I have had to keep it in the attic, but room has been low for the past years and something gotta give. But at least it has been on my mind all this time
 
D

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
First time hearing about Illusion City. Holy shit, that sounds AMAZING... totally up my alley, I love Micro Cabin and cyberpunk... always love discovering new games like this.
 
W

Waldo Lydecker

Member
foobarry81 said:
I was suprised to see that to be honest. Never realised they came in such fancy boxes. Our Philips MSX's of old came in rather bland boxes, like the one below.

(not my own pic)

3qyFdSi.jpg
Click to expand...

Oh the memories...

I can still remember the box we had from our NMS 8245 (not my own pic also)

Philips_NMS_8245_box.jpg


The day I played games like Usas on this machine still seem like yesterday...

NMS-8245%20(1).jpg
Click to expand...

EDIT: DAMN, look at this collection a dude was selling a couple of years ago!

DSC02144.jpg
 
F

foobarry81

Member
Teknoman said:
Was there ever a port of Space Manbow?
Click to expand...

It's been released in the Japanese Wii Virtual Console, like several other Konami MSX games.

And apparently it's been ported to mobile phones too (according to Wikipedia).
Edit: "Space Manbow is available only for specific i-mode phones: the i-appli DX mobile phones by NTT DoCoMo."
(Source)
 
F

foobarry81

Member
The Brazilian company Tecnobytes, who have previously released several MSX peripherals, is currently working on a brand new MSX computer!

Not a lot of info as of yet, except for this:

What we can say is that this new machine will have onboard, among other things, the OPL4 and V9990 (in imposer with V9958)!
Click to expand...

http://www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/trading-and-collecting/new-msx-tecnobytes

The OPL4 is a sound chip that was not used in standard MSX computer setups, but that was available in extension cartridges, in order to produce better sound on your machine. So, much like the Konami SCC.

The same goes for the V9990 video chip. This video chip was originally intended for use in the MSX3 standard. But since the latter never happened it was only available through extension cartridges, much like the OPL4.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
ElectricThunder said:
Now that's damn interesting---hopefully it is indeed robust and can breathe even more life into the scene...especially where music is concerned!
Click to expand...

I think the pricing will be very important. Even though the prices are inflated, you can still buy very nice 2nd hand MSX computers off eBay for under €200. With a little luck (and not on eBay) you can get them a whole lot cheaper too.

If they charge over €200 I don't think a lot of people will be interested. While not completely the same, I think you could compare it with the upcoming RetroN 5, which I think is a good deal at US$99.
 
F

foobarry81

Member
ElectricThunder said:
Most successful MSX-centric Remix and Cover Compo ever? Probably!

http://www.msx.org/news/challenges/en/game-music-cover-challenge-closed

Best surprise? Cobra's Arc

Least surprise? Of course a good thing was done with the Golvellius opening main theme.

Best technical performance? Too damn many that are too damn good/diverse to call!
Click to expand...

Wow, more entries that I expected tbh.

I don't like the Vampire Killer remix. I've heard so many remixes of that song and very few I can actually appreciate. Maybe it's just too iconic a sound, to mess with all too much.

Also had never heard of Cobra's Arc.
 
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