The 20 Greatest MSX Games of All-Time 

Man, where are METAL GEAR and METAL GEAR 2 SOLID SNAKE?

They are MSX2 games, not MSX1.

Thank you for contributing!

Penguin Adventure is my go-to game whenever I need to showcase someone new about the MSX1's capabilities. It's hard to believe that game is from 1986.

Same, it's possibly my favourite MSX game.

I got a second hand 520STfm after my ZX Spectrum +2a, the 800XL is my current favourite 8-bit computer, although I love my JVC HC-7 MSX too!

No, you were the only person who voted for it!

I'm curious about early Japanese RPGs. I was once trying to figure out what Japanese RPGs and proto-RPGs predated Ultima III, if any. But I had difficulty finding relevant info. Here in the USA, Dungeons and Dragons was really popular in the 1970s, so there were a lot of early proto-RPGs and genre defining RPGs in the 1970s and early 1980s. But I'm curious about how it was elsewhere in the world in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Dragon Slayer IV is one of my personal favorite 8-bit games of all time, and I would've absolutely voted for it were this to be a list of MSX2 titles. It was the limiting of this list to MSX1 games that really made me inclined not to include it, as the MSX1 version is simply far inferior to its MSX2 counterpart -- it's probably the worst way to play Dragon Slayer IV. I suspect it may get its due come MSX2 time, though! As far as MSX1 games from Falcom go, the only one that I think might've been a worthy inclusion on this list is Xanadu, as MSX1 Xanadu is probably the single best 8-bit incarnation of that game. In retrospect, I should've included it on my list rather than going with four obscure titles no one else was ever going to vote for (since practically no one else has ever heard of them!) -- but hey, I gotta be honest. ;) If this same exercise is indeed done for MSX2 in the future, however, I will definitely be casting my vote for games more likely to get votes from others as well -- Dragon Slayer IV, Fire Hawk, and Psycho World will unquestionably be three of my five, with the other two slots being the only ones up in the air, since there are a LOT of great MSX2 titles to choose from. (Let's face it, though, Metal Gear 2 will probably be the winner!)

@@TheLairdsLair Almost unbelievable that I am the only one who remembered. Well, you are warned about my vote for the MSX 2 for the game in the next poll...

@@IsaacKuo That'd be a good research to be done! As far as I know, the first ones might be more focused on Japanese computers than on consoles, with games made for PC-88, Sharp X1, Fujitsu FM-7 or MSX... I've found out that the text adventures were pretty frequent, maybe even more than the RPGs. From my part of the world, Brazil, I can tell that there were little productions in the 1980s, but mostly made for the MSX. The very first Brazilian video games were not RPGs, but text adventures. Amazonas is the one that first comes to my mind.

A lot of those made the wider Top 40.

I loved Gradius/Nemesis too, It's ashamed that Gradius never released on SMS (SEGA Master System)

It's Penguin Adventure at the top, not the first game. I can tell you that Road Adventure was just one point off the top 20 and Yie Ar Kung Fu only just missed out too.

There are definitely color limitations to the TMS9918 video chip. The way color works is different from, say, the way things work on the C64 or ZX Spectrum, in interesting ways. For example, the way different ranges of characters had different palettes opened up the possibilities for different sorts of color cycling than what was typical on the C64 or ZX Spectrum.

I am terrible at hype

The standard sound chip is a 3-channel Yamaha PSG, not much different to systems like the Atari ST and Spectrum 128k, but some Konami games contain an SCC chip in the cartridge, which was also used on many of their arcade games and adds 5 extra channels amongst many other features. www.msx.org/wiki/Konami_051649

It only got a couple of votes, didn't even make the Top 40.

Never sold in Europe

Actually, it was reviewed and advertised in french magazines back in the day Could I've been my first bought game after Christmas, but I chose kings valley and twin bees

A few people remembered Auf Monty, but it didn't make the Top 40.

They are both MSX2 games, that's why!

Thexder just missed out, it made the extended top 40.

Same hardware family. Sega's first console the SG-1000 was based on the MSX standard and the Master System is basically the same hardware with a new graphics chip.

Metal Gear is an MSX2 game, not MSX1, so no.

Zanac is already there! Circus Charlie, Twin Bee and Elevator Action didn't get a single vote surprisingly.

It had no hardware scrolling at all and so to save on CPU cycles a lot of programmers just shifted the screen in whole character blocks.

@@TheLairdsLair That was a real shame, and is probably the only thing the C64 had over it. The sound on the MSX was pretty good, maybe not as good as the C64's SID, but certainly not bad.

Gauntlet was 21st, there is a full top 50 in the pinned comment.

Msx had some amazing versions of games that had been on Nintendo or sega systems like those you mentioned and sometimes even better versions. It’s definitely worth a look. Having never even heard of msx til a couple years ago I have fun going through their library of games and playing their versions of games on retro systems now.

I may of been thinking of the sharp x68000 when I was thinking of better versions but it’s still interesting seeing the msx games too

Kinda, it was an MSX2 game, this list is just the original MSX.

Oh ok, this one is just MSX1. Gotcha.

As weird as this sounds, I kinda think that the Atari 2600 has an advantage in terms of replayability today for the reason that you stated. Those were basically remade from the ground up and were inspired by the original version. In some cases, this makes the 2600 version superior in my eyes, Jawbreaker and Solar Fox come to mind. When there's the SG-1000, Intellivision especially, or even the NES in some cases, I'd rather just play the arcade version on an emulator as it is the superior version in most cases. That said, these ports had their place. Pac Man looks quite nice.

FWIW, there are still a lot of people who enjoy working with the limitations of the venerable TMS9918, including vibrant dev communities for both MSX and TI-99/4A to this day.

Some Konami games contain an SCC chip in the cartridge, which was also used on many of their arcade games and adds 5 extra channels amongst many other features, so yeah, much better the NES. www.msx.org/wiki/Konami_051649

@@TheLairdsLair I had a feeling but as the MSX is a microcomputer and uses a number of formats for programs I wasn't entirely sure. Technically couldn't the game have been on cassette and disk? Like maybe playing the musical tracks with the cassette and loading the game data from a diskette? I thought that could be a possibility but I also don't know if cassettes were ever used like that either. Wait...did you say 10 channels of audio sound on a micro from 1983?! That's Sega Master System FM Synthesis (+9) and Sega Genesis (6+4) levels of sound.

Nah, you couldn't do it like that, not possible. With the Konami SCC you have 8 channels (3 PSG + 5 SCC).

@@TheLairdsLair That's crazy....I never experienced the micros or cassette tapes. Well, I had a Commodore 128 for a short while but when I got my Nes and Master System that was the end of that. Plus I was like 5 so what did I know? I didn't get into computers until I saw Doom in 1993 which absolutely broke me. From that point forward getting Doom was my reason for existing. I got my first PC a 486DX2 in 1994 for Doo...I mean homework. That game actually made me put down Street Fighter II. My life at one time was completely consumed by it as well.

Nope, joystick

@@TheLairdsLair seen

Amazon - here's a link - www.amazon.fr/Compendium-MSX-Games-1/dp/B0C8782TP2

I have no idea what this means or how it relates to the MSX!

@@TheLairdsLair I’m sorry I meant to say ‘core’ not ‘code’ damn this autocorrect, and don’t bother mate I’ve already done some research on this dos core is not possible on analogue pocket, msx is not going to help either. Thanks for the reply though

It's the publisher, not the developer and EVERY game has a picture of the box art that has the name of the game on it! Not to mention the title screen for each game with, yes you guessed it, the name of the game, is also shown in EVERY clip.

@@TheLairdsLair This is purely my opinion, so no offense. It doesn't matter the developer or publisher, I think it's better to write the name of the game at the top. In addition, sometimes there is such a font on the boxart or it is written in Japanese that nothing is clear.

Only one entry doesn't have English on the box, Kung Fu Master and with that game it has text saying the name of the game on the screen. I really don't see your point, sorry.

The thumbnail doesn't represent the actual content of the video, it's just a collage of random MSX screenshots.

@@TheLairdsLair duely noted, I intended to watch today during lunch either way. Thanks for making these videos as well I appreciate the content even if it discusses games that aren't in my wheel house.

Well, Metal Gear is an MSX2 game, so no. Only one person voted for Dragon Quest.

I am Kieren Hawken, who is Steven Hawken?

@@TheLairdsLair you know that smart guy in the wheelchair....

Its MSX2 not MSX1

The results of this list were voted for by over 300 actual MSX owners . . . . . . You'd know that if you'd actually paid attention to the video.

​@@TheLairdsLair Sorry for the very unproper message. I love your work 👌🏽 I run one of the largest MSX dedicated forum... what is missing is MSX "1" and some top legacy games. But the list is limited to 20...

It's not limited to 20, the full Top 50 list is in the pinned post at the top and there is a second video for channel members with more gameplay footage.

Are you watching a different video or something? There are no traditional puzzle games, this list is mostly shoot 'em ups!