The MSX series of computers certainly didn't have a presence in North America but they played a very important role in video game history for many other countries, especially Japan.
Most computer formats in the '80's were manufactured by individual companies; each format was incompatible with its competitors. MSX was different. It was meant to be a universal standard for home computers and thus several models were made by several manufacturers(Sony, Philips, Panasonic, Toshiba, etc.). An MSX computer would play MSX software, regardless of who made the hardware.
The MSX format was developed by ASCII and used Microsoft's BASIC as an operating system. The first MSX computers were released in 1983.
An early MSX computer by Spectravideo.
In 1985, the next MSX standard, MSX2, was released. Most of the major MSX manufacturers made MSX2 machines as well.
Yet interest in MSX computers had hit its peak before the '80's were over. The new 1988 standard, MSX2+, was far less popular. Panasonic, Sony and Sanyo were the only companies to make them.
The final MSX standard was MSX Turbo R which began in 1990. These were only made by Panasonic.
As for games, there were several great ones released on MSX formats. Many of the best Japanese developers like Konami, Namco, HAL, Irem and Compile supported it, making its game line-up very similar to the Famicom. Outside of Japan, Western-made computer games were often ported to it.
Here are some pics to give a small taste of the MSX's game catalogue.
Eggerland Mystery - HAL, 1985, MSX
The first Lolo game.
Space Manbow - Konami, 1989, MSX2
Quite a good shooter.
Aleste - Compile, 1988, MSX2
The first in Compile's great Aleste series. The second game on MSX is a major improvement.
Aleste Gaiden - Compile, 1989, MSX2
As the name suggests, this is a side-story to the series. It's an excellent shooter, probably the best one on MSX.
Yie Ar Kung Fu 2 - Konami, 1984, MSX
Out Run - Pony Canyon, 1988, MSX2
[thumbnail]http://www.msx2.com/funet/gamecovers/Out_Run_Pony_Canyon_Sega_back.jpg[/thumbnail]
Most Sega games on MSX were ported by Pony Canyon although a few earlier games like Pro Wrestling and Zaxxon were released by Sega itself.
SD Snatcher - Konami, 1989, MSX2
Mini-junkers.
Saurus Land - Tomy, 1982, MSX
[thumbnail]http://users.skynet.be/bk288494/Sections/reviews/1982/saurusland-play.gif[/thumbnail]
Star Blazer - Star Craft, 1982, MSX
[thumbnail]http://users.skynet.be/bk288494/Sections/reviews/1982/starblazer-play.gif[/thumbnail]
Night Flight - Colpax/Tomy, 1982
[thumbnail]http://users.skynet.be/bk288494/Sections/reviews/1982/NightFlight-play.gif[/thumbnail]
Saurus Land, Star Blazer, and Night Flight are probably the three earliest MSX releases judging by the year on them.
Konami's output on MSX was particularly impressive. Castlevania, Goemon, Metal Gear, Snatcher... alot of top franchises were started on the system. Compile definatle had some greats too. Metal Gear 2 remains my top pick on the system
Originally posted by Frogacuda
Konami's output on MSX was particularly impressive. Castlevania, Goemon, Metal Gear, Snatcher... alot of top franchises were started on the system. Compile definatle had some greats too. Metal Gear 2 remains my top pick on the system
Konami is without a doubt the most important contributor to the MSX's gaming library. Sure, there were other developers, but I don't think ports of Ys, Pac-Man and Highway Stars (Rad Racer) has the same sought-after value as Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, SD Snatcher or even Space Manbow. Konami even managed to got away of putting flyers of their latest MSX products in their Famicom games (and vice-versa). Not everything on the MSX was pure gold (Contra and Dracula were much better in their original NES incarnations), but the best is sure worth it.
Did you know that Metal Gear was not Hideo Kojima's first game? It was actually a story-based side-scrolling platform game called Lost Warld (no type there, the title was a combination of World with War). The game was rejected by Konami and never saw released, but Kojima was asked to do another military-themed game for the new MSX2 standards and thus a Snake was born.
Hell it was practically Konami's console. Quality machine, with some of my favourite early game software. Maybe someday I'll rebuild my collection as emulation has destroyed my old game collection.
The X68000 was Japan's answer to the Amiga, as near as I can tell. They look like they had a pretty kickass lineup, and maybe one day when I'm feeling evil I'll teh r0mZ0r my way through it.
Maybe one day somebody will publish a collection; we're already getting bits and pieces with things like Castelvania Chronicles.
And I'll warn you now 'zeed- I'm getting red-X-o'mania on that first post.
StriderKyo, the pictures work fine for me. The X68000 does have a kick-ass line-up, some of the best arcade ports of its time. Although games like Ghouls N Ghosts and Space Harrier have equal/better ports now. We didn't miss out on too many exclusives like Chronicles.
Originally posted by NeoZeedeater Johnny, I'm interested in knowing more about the Rad Racer port. The only Highway Star I know of on MSX is Way Limit's 1983 car maze game.
My bad! Having only heard of it by name, I always thought Highway Star on the MSX was the same game as Rad Racer (since Rad Racer was also called Highway Star in Japan), but I found I'm wrong. Silly me! Square did ported a few of their early games to the MSX (including the original Final Fantasy) before they went Famicom-only. They even made a game based on Aliens on the system.
Originally posted by StriderKyo
The X68000 was Japan's answer to the Amiga, as near as I can tell. They look like they had a pretty kickass lineup, and maybe one day when I'm feeling evil I'll teh r0mZ0r my way through it.
Maybe one day somebody will publish a collection; we're already getting bits and pieces with things like Castelvania Chronicles.
And I'll warn you now 'zeed- I'm getting red-X-o'mania on that first post.
X68000 has some nice stuff on it. The thing was practically as powerful as a CPS II board. Super Street Fighter II on it looks perfect from the screen shots I've seen of it- and CPS I games like Strider & Final Fight are also dead-on. Only a handful of games like R-Type, After Burner, or Space Harrier suffered in the translation, and they still turned out acceptable.
Many late 80's arcade games like Pac-Mania, Alien Syndrome, etc. saw perfect ports on the system. It's a shame the X68000 wasn't released in the states, even if only as a Marty type console.
Originally posted by Johnny Undaunted
Not everything on the MSX was pure gold (Contra and Dracula were much better in their original NES incarnations), but the best is sure worth it.
Actually the Dracula game was on MSX first. and unlike Metal Gear, what they added to the NES port was good. And Contra originated in the arcade.
Originally posted by Frogacuda
Actually the Dracula game was on MSX first. and unlike Metal Gear, what they added to the NES port was good. And Contra originated in the arcade.
No. You're the one who's wrong. The Famicom Disk System version WAS the ORIGINAL Akumajo Dracula, not the MSX version (that's a common misbelief here). The MSX version came out a month later in Japan and was Konami's first MSX2-standard game. If you beat the MSX version, the Famicom team is even mentioned in the ending credits. Trust me, I know my Konami. http://homepage1.nifty.com/sugimo/dracula/series.htm http://homepage1.nifty.com/sugimo/dracula/staff.htm
Vampire Killer sucks because they tried to make it more of an Adventure game by forcing you to find keys to get to the next stage. Finding the keys can be a real bitch when you're in a hurry and the lack of a save feature hurts the game (although you can use the Game Master cart to access a hidden Stage Select).
And yes, I know Contra was an Arcade game first, I was talking home versions.
Quote:
Originally posted by epmode
i really haven't done much research, but are there english translations for the msx versions of metal gear 1 and 2?
Yes. There was an official English version of Metal Gear 1 released in the Netherlands, but only half of the text was translated (they took out Steve, Diane's annoying boyfriend). USomeone's doing a more complete translation, but in the meantime you can download the official English ROM in your most trusted ROM-site.
Metal Gear 2 has been translated to English and can be found here.
