From the Vault columnist. Grew up feeding quarters to the Ms. Pac-Man machine at his uncle's pizza place; still owns his childhood SNES and every Nintendo Power he ever begged his mother for. Writes the retrospectives and the hidden-gem hunts.
Golvellius (1987) is Compile’s sprawling MSX action-adventure — a Zelda-scale quest scattered across side-scrolling dungeons and a vast overworld, years before its Master System port. Our review.
Zanac (1986) gave Compile’s MSX shooter an artificial intelligence director that adapted to your play style — decades before adaptive difficulty was a bullet point. Our review.
Space Manbow (1989) is Konami’s late MSX2 showpiece: a horizontal shooter of arcade opulence, SCC soundtrack and impossible smoothness. Our review of the standard’s swansong in the genre.
Compile’s Aleste (1988) took the Zanac formula to the MSX2 and produced the platform’s definitive vertical shooter — fast, dense and gloriously weapon-rich. Our review.
The Maze of Galious (1987) — Knightmare II — is Konami’s vast MSX action-adventure: a ten-world castle, two heroes, and a generation’s schoolyard secrets. Our review of a masterpiece.
SD Snatcher (1990) reimagines Hideo Kojima’s Snatcher as a chibi-styled RPG for MSX2, complete with SCC soundtrack and one of the strangest cartridges Konami ever shipped. Our review.
Konami’s Penguin Adventure (1986) sent Penta the penguin racing across a whole planet to save his princess — a huge, warm-hearted MSX epic, and Hideo Kojima’s first game credit. Our review.
The MSX2 got its own Castlevania in 1986: Vampire Killer, a parallel take on Simon Belmont’s first hunt with a more open, key-hunting structure. Our review of the road not taken.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990) never left Japan in its era — and it is one of the finest games on the MSX2, the bridge between the 8-bit original and Metal Gear Solid. Our review.
Beyond the famous names lies a second drawer of Amiga brilliance — a DICE puzzle-platformer, a Hungarian psionic epic, demoscene platforming and a shooter that still looks expensive. Ten genuine treasures from 1993 and 1994, waiting to be dug up.