What are the best games on the MSX family of computers?

[1upsuper]

Hello. I've been on an MSX kick lately thanks to getting back into NIGORO's games and I was hoping to get some suggestions from you all on games that are worth playing on the MSX, including the MSX2 and later generations. I'm not necessarily just looking for good games -- I'm interested in games that are interesting in some way or otherwise stand out as oddities. I'm also a big shmup fan and I'd appreciate shmup suggestions as well. I already know about Space Manbow and intend to check it out soon. Furthermore, I would prefer to avoid suggestions for games that have near identical Famicom ports, but if the MSX version is at least somewhat different or remarkable in some way, please do suggest it.

Most of my MSX experience is with Konami games. I've played

Parodius (Paro 1 has a great tone that the rest of the series don't have)
Nemesis/Gradius 1-3 (the latter two are so good)
Antarctic Adventure
Knightmare 1 and 2 (Maze of Galious is awesome)
Metal Gear

And I just recently got the Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol. 1 and 2 on the JPN PSN (why is Vol. 3 missing?), which also gives me access to

Hyper Sports 2
Konami's Boxing
Konami's Ping Pong
Mopi Ranger
Road Fighter
Sky Jaguar
Yie Ar Kung-Fu
Athletic Land
Konami's Golf
Konami's Billiards
Hyper Sports 3
Magical Tree
Super Cobra
TwinBee
Yie Ar Kung-Fu II

What else is worth checking out? Also, what's the best MSX emulator these days?

[mainpatr]

You should play the two Aleste games and Golvellius. Maybe the Laydock games. An oddity worth playing is War of the Dead part 2.

[wyrdwad]

Oh man. Where do I begin? Heheheh.

Since you're into NIGORO's games, I can't help but recommend "A Life M36 Planet: MotherBrain has been aliving," which is an MSX-exclusive game clearly inspired by Maze of Galious (much as La-Mulana was), but with more of a Metroid spin on it. I fan-translated this game last year, so you can find out all about it via this website:

forgottenkings.tripod.com/m36.html

Or watch this trailer:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9iLo2T6z4g

It's a flawed game, and a bit buggy, but VERY ambitious for its time, and is one of those "hidden gems" on the MSX that you just don't hear people talk about, but which is absolutely worth playing.

Another cool flip-screen Metroidvania-style game that you don't hear people talk about very much is "Sofia," but I really enjoyed that one. I went into great detail about it on the MSX Resource Center forums here (and linked a full playthrough video), so check out my post there for further details:

www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/software/sofia-how-to-play-because-its-awesome

For shmups, one lesser-known Konami game that I would absolutely 100% recommend is "Hinotori." It's pretty highly regarded in the MSX community, but virtually unknown outside of it -- and while there is a Famicom game with the same name, based on the same part of the same anime/manga series, it's a COMPLETELY different game (the FC version is a side-scrolling platformer, whereas the MSX version is more or less a vertically scrolling shooter). It's a pretty unique shmup, though, as it's one of those where you play as a dude rather than a ship (a la Knightmare)... but with a twist. The levels you're running through loop endlessly, and there are also three parallel levels running at at the same time, with the ability to exit off the side of the screen in order to skip over to a different loop. Your goal isn't to just get through the level, but to find keys in order to open doors until you've successfully located the boss door. And there are times in the game when you'll actually have to return to older levels in order to open doors you couldn't previously, using keys you found in later levels -- so it's kind of like a hybrid shmup and adventure game. Really unique and fun! Here's some footage of it:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgO8SHtoeKg

Another cool shmup on the MSX is "Undeadline," which is yet another "dude shmup." This time, you get to pick from one of three characters: a knight, a wizard, or a kunoichi. And you can play the levels in any order. It's REALLY fun, but also quite glitchy, and suffers from really intense slowdown when there's a bunch of stuff on the screen. A superior version of the game was released on the Sharp X68000 with more stages, but the music in that version absolutely SUCKS... and a version of the game was released on the Mega Drive in Japan as well, but it's kind of a different game, with different mechanics and altered levels. So the MSX version still holds up. Here's a little bit of that one in action (played on a Turbo R machine, so you don't get the slowdown you'd experience on an MSX2+ or below):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Gy5PTe4-M

One other game that I would HIGHLY recommend is "Fire Hawk: Thexder the Second Contact." This game was also released on PC-88 and MS-DOS, but IMHO the MSX2 version is the best -- though all three are pretty much on par with one another; the MSX version just has my personal favorite rendition of the music, and also does something cool with the music that neither of the other versions do (boss themes don't start right away when you enter their chamber; instead, the BGM dynamically transitions into the boss theme within 20 or so seconds of entering, which is just a really cool effect!). This is actually my #1 favorite MSX game at this point in time, as it just... basically does everything right. It's a hybrid shmup/platformer, as you control a robot that transforms into a jet (in case you've never played Thexder!). So it's kind of like what you'd hope for from a Transformers game, except with a RIDICULOUSLY GOOD SCI-FI PLOT AND SETTING. Seriously, this game was leagues ahead of its time, featuring a strong female protagonist rescuing her damouseau in distress, internal consistency from level to level, and a twist ending that's just INCREDIBLY satisfying. Here's a little snippet of me playing stage 5, with just the stage 5 music (plus stage 5 boss music) as audio (because it's my favorite track in the game!):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYdz2z5RX9c

"Psycho World" is also a classic, and while it's available on the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear (in English, even!) under the name "Psychic World," the MSX2 version is actually the best, with nonlinear stages containing branching paths (which neither other version has), and MORE stages than either Sega version. It's a really cool sci-fi platformer in general, and is most renowned for featuring totally smooth scrolling in 4 directions on a plain ol' MSX2 (which is quite the technical feat!) -- but it also happens to be an awesome game. Here's some footage (note that the visual glitch near the beginning of this video is not actually present in-game -- that's likely a YouTube artifact):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-_Yi4oPDeA

...And then there are all the homebrew games. Since you mentioned that you like shmups, by far the BEST shmup on the entire system IMHO is a homebrew game called "Kyokugen," made by the guy who would later go on to create a lot of highly regarded indie shmups like Eschatos and Judgment Silversword. There does exist an English version, too, surprisingly -- which is important, because this game has a STORY, and it's honestly not bad! It also has a CHARACTER SELECT, of all things -- you choose from any of 12 characters at the start, each of which plays totally differently, which gives it a TON of replay value. I'm ridiculously impressed by the length and quality of this game every time I fire it up, and I think you probably would be too. Here's a full playthrough of it:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2kJoRJpyis

And a video I uploaded to YouTube in order to show off my favorite music track from the game, and also my favorite character to play (Kujira forever!):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnn3ccZua9k

The same guy released a side-scrolling shmup sequel to Kyokugen as well, called "Pleasure Hearts." It's also extremely good, though I personally feel Kyokugen is the better game by far, and Kyokugen is definitely a much LONGER game. Still, Pleasure Hearts is 100% worth playing in its own right:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZOXJBPXzFA

Both games are available for free download online, BTW, so you should have no problems checking them out:

www.msx.org/downloads/games/shoot-em

...I could really go on and on, as my MSX collection has gotten kind of huge at this point, and I have a LOT of opinions about a LOT of games. But I'll stop here for now. Heheh. I will say, though, that if you're open to homebrew, there are literally another couple dozen games I could recommend to you, as the MSX homebrew scene is just... SO good.

-Tom

[1upsuper]

Thanks a bunch, guys! I'll check out all the games you both recommended, they all sound great. And thanks for your detailed list, wyrdwad ! I'm definitely interested in homebrew stuff, so I'd love to get your extended list of those if it's not too much trouble.

La-Mulana is my all time favorite game and when I first played the freeware version over a decade ago I knew basically nothing about the MSX and was fascinated and confused by Xelpud's weird game references.

(As an aside, I seem to recall you are a big La-Mulana fan too -- I hope you're enjoying La-Mulana 2, it's wonderful.)

[vnisanian2001]

Eggerland Mystery and its sequel, Meikyuu Shinwa are good bets, too. These were the first two games in HAL's Eggerland/Lolo series.

[wyrdwad]

I haven't played too much of La-Mulana 2 yet, but I've really enjoyed what little I have! Looking forward to really sitting down with it sometime soon.

For homebrew suggestions, I should note that most of these are not available digitally, so you'll actually need a physical MSX and the homebrew cartridges in order to play them (unless you can find pirated copies online, but not only are most MSX community members respectful enough not to pirate MSX homebrew titles, that's also obviously not something I can recommend in general!). That's part of why the only ones I recommended in my previous posting were Kyokugen and Pleasure Hearts, since those are rarities that actually ARE available digitally, and have gone full-on freeware at this point as well.

That having been said, I do have a few other favorite homebrew MSX games, which you can see pictured here:

i.imgur.com/miWRL3t.jpg

Of these, "Ghost" would be of particular interest to you, as not only is it probably THE best Galiouslike out there, it's also playable via Steam as "Mini Ghost" -- it's a prequel to Ghost 1.0:

store.steampowered.com/app/586880/Mini_Ghost/

I believe "The Sword of IANNA" is also one which IS available digitally, and for free as well, and that game is simply incredible -- it's a cinematic platformer a la Prince of Persia, but set in a Conan the Barbarian-esque universe. And it also has music composed by the venerable Alberto Jose Gonzalez, who is one of the best chiptune musicians ever to walk on this planet (he can easily stand toe-to-toe with his inspiration, Tim Follin). Here's some of it in action, uploaded by the creators themselves:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2aMVpZuKTQ

It's probably one of the most aesthetically beautiful MSX games out there, and is also superbly designed.

"The Cure," sadly, is one that you'd probably have to play on cartridge, but DAMN is it good. It's basically one small team's attempt to create a version of Castlevania on MSX1 that blends the unique stylings of MSX Castlevania and NES Castlevania (MSX Castlevania is another game I'd highly recommend, BTW; it's COMPLETELY different from its NES counterpart, and IMHO quite a bit better!), and the end result is one of the best 8-bit Castlevania-style games out there IMHO. XL2S Entertainment did an amazing job, and the fact that they were able to achieve something like this on an MSX1 (which is roughly the equivalent of a Colecovision in terms of its capabilities) is mindboggling:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynPAdLn0xRE

"Children of the Night" is the newest game in that shot, having been released just a few months ago. It's a Zelda-like game where you play as Count Drakul and have to team up with Val Helsing, Cthulhu, and numerous other creatures of the night in order to save the world from an ancient Egyptian god. And it's every bit as amazing as that makes it sound. My overworld theme video should give you a good idea of what you'd be in for with this game:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP7vRX_Oe0s

There's also "BitLogic" in that photo, which is a puzzle platformer that has some mild Metroidvania elements to it. Its gimmick is that the cartridge has LEDs in it that are programmed to light up different colors at different points during gameplay, so unless you can play it on real hardware, you're missing out on a lot of what makes it such a cool experience -- but if you CAN play it on real hardware, you're in for a treat with it!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJOrDyQgOjY

None of the other games in that photo really fit the genres you'd laid out, but I can go into further detail on any of them that you'd like. I should note, however, that the creators of "Children of the Night" also released a really amazing Galiouslike for MSX called "Caos Begins" that I'd highly recommend, and have another on the way called "Multiverse" that I believe is due for release next month. Here's a little bit of "Caos Begins" in action, again from a music video I uploaded to YouTube, and again by the same composer as the music you hear above in the "Children of the Night" video -- I love this guy's stuff!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsvWjL_dlYI

-Tom

[1upsuper]

Thanks a bunch, I really appreciate it! You've gotten me pretty excited to explore this library of games. I have actually played Mini Ghost (and Ghost 1.0 and Unepic) and it's great.

The main reason I haven't really dug deep into the MSX library yet is because I've stuck to MSX games on compilations (thankfully Konami have compiled a lot of their great games on Sony systems) since I avoid emulation when I can. Hearing about all the homebrew stuff and collector scene is making me want to get the real hardware. But I've never actually collected old PCs, just consoles. Is there much hassle in setting up a working MSX outside Japan?

[wyrdwad]

Not really, no. But you will want to shop smart:

- Make sure to buy a Japanese MSX if you're in an NTSC region, or a European MSX if you're in a PAL region, as things will be considerably more complicated for you otherwise.

- Try to get an MSX with its floppy disk drive belt replaced (which is most of the ones you'll find for sale, but not all of them), or be prepared to replace it yourself otherwise (which I hear is a fairly simple procedure), as those rubber belts tend to disintegrate over the course of 3 decades.

- If you plan to play many European games, try to get an MSX that's had its RAM upgraded to at least 128 KB. If you only plan to play Japanese games, though, then the base 64 KB will be fine.

- Check this list before buying, as there is a problem with bad capacitors in certain models of MSX2/2+: www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/hardware/urgent-alert-msx22-owners-suicide-capacitors-hic-1-daughterboard

Beyond that, the MSX is pretty much plug-and-play. If you're in North America, there will be a slight voltage difference for Japanese systems -- but that's the case with basically every retro gaming system, and in most situations, it's fine to just plug it into an American outlet... though I use a step-down converter just to be safe, as I do with my Famicom and Super Famicom as well. For hooking it up to your TV, most MSXes have basic composite output available -- or even S-video in some cases -- so even if you buy an MSX that doesn't come with the proper cable, any generic composite or S-video cable will do.

-Tom

[Snake]

Akumajo Dracula
Aliens

[wyrdwad]

Aliens isn't particularly great IMHO. It's impressive how close it sticks to the movie in terms of set pieces and atmosphere, but the gameplay is based around sheer memorization. Beating a stage amounts to dying over and over again until you learn exactly when and where every enemy spawns, exactly which doors take you to which places, etc. It's literally just Rote Memorization: The Game. Which I don't think makes for a very engaging experience, personally.

Worth checking out as a curiosity, but I'd be surprised if it showed up on anyone's favorites list.

-Tom

[Snake]

Haha, totally. I wouldn't say Aliens would be on my favorites list. Just as an interesting game to see how the movie translated into an MSX game. There are lots of bad movie video games. And yet, it's kind of fun to see how companies like Konami and Square try to make a game out of these movie franchises.

[wyrdwad]

That does remind me, though: there are some very good movie-licensed games on the MSX as well, and some are... rather unlikely choices. Like, the 1985 horror comedy movie "House" got turned into an MSX game named after the Japanese release of the movie ("Mashou no Yakata Gabalin"), and it's not only weirdly faithful to the movie, it's also a really engaging and pretty unique experience that kind of combines Zelda-style flipscreen dungeons with... Commando? Like I said, it's really odd, but honestly... it works! And is another unsung gem of the system IMHO.

-Tom

[ommadawnyawn2]

You might find my innovative/ahead of their time games list on it interesting:
minirevver.weebly.com/msx-games-ahead-of-their-time.html

My fav games so far out of those you haven't played:
Aleste 2 - Play on Easy or at least upgrade weapon 0 first
Contra/Gryzor
Eggerland Mystery
Firebird/Hi no Tori Hououhen
Golvellius
The Goonies
King's Valley
King's Valley II
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
​Mr. Ghost
Penguin Adventure
Psycho World/Psychic World
​Shin Maou Golvellius
Space Manbow
Super Cooks
The Treasure of Usas/Usas
Undead Line
Vampire Kiler - Not as good as the NES game but still interesting
Zanac EX

[wyrdwad]

Aug 6, 2018 17:54:04 GMT -5 ommadawnyawn2 said:

Vampire Kiler - Not as good as the NES game but still interesting

SEZ YOU.

...Vampire Killer on MSX seriously may be one of my favorite classic-style Castlevania games. I absolutely love it, and would pick it over the NES version any day.

But I also adore Simon's Quest, and would pick THAT over NES Castlevania 1 any day too. So, yeah.

Your list is excellent, though. Every entry on it is a must-play indeed. (Though I can't speak for Zanac EX, as that one I have not played! But the rest are all most definitely worthwhile.)

-Tom

[ommadawnyawn2]

Hehe well I think we've established before that our tastes are veeery different when it comes to certain aspects of games.

Thanks! Zanac EX is a minor upgrade compared to the NES version, with unusually smooth scrolling for an MSX shooter (not counting more recent hacks which add it to some other games).