Today I’m going to take you on a journey back in time. We’re going to visit the latter half of the 1980′s. At that time I was the proud owner of a computer called the SVI Spectravideo, which was MSX compatible. It came with a 3.5″ floppy disk drive, 64 KB of RAM and a cartridge slot. Not bad for a machine released in 1985! I was particularly pleased about the floppy disk drive, as it meant that all games loaded pretty fast compared to tape based competitors. The same goes for the cartridge slot as well.
Specifications
For those of you who are interested, here’s a quick run-down of the specifications:
CPU: Zilog Z80A (3.58 MHz)
RAM: 64 KB (+16KB VRAM)
GPU: Yamaha V9938 supporting resolutions up to 256×192, 16 colours and 32 sprites
Storage: 3.5″ floppy disk drive and a cartridge slot
Video: Integrated TV-modulator for both PAL (Europe) and NTSC (USA)
As you can see, this system had a lot of potential at the time of release, but it never caught on like the Commodore 64 did. Might have something to do with marketing?
Now, let’s have a look at some of the games I used to play on my SVI Spectravideo. If you’re ready, then buckle up and fetch a TAC-2 joystick!
The Games
One of the first games I got on cartridge was Knightmare from Konami. I’ve written a review of it that you can read here. This game is basically an upward-scrolling shoot’em up from 1986 that had awesome graphics for its time. You controlled a knight that was on a mission to rescue a goddess called Aphrodite. On your way to glory you encountered a wide range of different enemies that did their best to wipe you out. When you reached the end of a level, you had to fight it out with a boss. These bosses could be incredibly hard to beat, but it was possible with some practice. Even though the game was quite difficult, it was very addictive. I’ve got lot’s of good memories from playing this legendary game.
Knightmare on the MSX
Another game that I remember enjoying was Oh Shit!. The title of the game is a bit funny, but it doesn’t reveal much. It’s simply a Pacman-clone for MSX compatible systems. The only difference from other versions of Pacman is that the game plays a sample that says “Oh shit!” when you die. I found a video of it at YouTube. You’ll hear “Oh shit!” after roughly 15 seconds.. enjoy!
Played Boulderdash before? If you enjoyed it, you might want to check out Blow Up! from 1987. It is a bit like Boulderdash, but much more advanced. You can set out mines to blow enemies to pieces and even shoot with a pistol. The levels are both challenging and fun, with a lot of different puzzles to solve. Used to play this game to pieces, but did never complete it as far as I can remember. It’s never too late though, so maybe I should give it another go again? Over 20 years later? Anyway, here’s a video of the gameplay:
If you are interested in the Gradius shoot’em up series, it could be that you are familiar with Salamander on the MSX. This side-scrolling shooter is pure excellence. Great gameplay, wonderful graphics, cool music and even a two-player co-op mode! Played this game over and over and over again when I was a kid. I still enjoy a game of Gradius from time to time, but playing Salamander is something special for me. My father was hooked on this game as well, so we played together a lot. Good memories.
Apart from games that I played occasionally (Break Out and Ping Pong), these were my favourite MSX-titles. I still remember them today and hopefully I’ll try them again sometime in the future. My SVI Spectravideo is still at my parents house, so I might do a search next time I visit. Would be fun to take it home and connect it to the TV in the livingroom.
Any former or present MSX-owners out there? What are your favourite games? Do you still play them? Would love to hear from you.
Konami is known to produce quality games. No question about that. Most of us have played games from this company in the past and enjoyed it. Gradius, TwinBee, Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid and Castlevania are examples that speak for themselves.
Konami has been around for a long time in the games industry. They had already established a big name for themselves in the beginning of the 1980′s with titles like Frogger and Scramble in the arcade sector.
In 1986 they released a game called Knightmare for the MSX-platform. A game which was technically advanced for its time. We are going to have a quick peek at this classic today.
The background is fairly simple. You control a knight named Popolon. Your mission is to rescue the Goddess of Love and Beauty, Aphrodite. She is being held captive by Hudnos, the evil Prince of Darkness. It’s up to you to free your love from the claws of evil. Are you up to the task?
Knightmare is an upward-scrolling shoot’em up, which means that you watch the game unfold from a bird perspective. This was not very common back in the 1986 and the top-view graphics were considered sophisticated for its time.
As in other shoot’em ups (later on referred to as shmups) you must survive an onslaught of dangerous enemies. They come in all shapes and forms like black blobs, skeletons and bats. Not only can they run into you, they can also hit you from afar with lethal objects. Fortunately you have quite an arsenal of weapons to annihilate your foes with. The classic bow is included, along with stuff like throwing-knives and boomerangs. All weapons have their pros and cons, so it’s important to have the right weapon at the right time. There are also power-ups you can collect by firing at question marks. How about a shield or more speed for example? Such blessing are always helpful in games like this. Hidden around the different stages are also extra lives.
There are several large levels to complete and you must face an evil boss after each one. The bosses are difficult, but if you find the right “system”, you should be able to defeat them. I’ll reveal the first boss here:
Knightmare is a very hard game. To complete your quest, you must have a lot of patience and practice. This is not uncommon when it comes to good shmups. Take the Gradius-series for example.. Nevertheless, it is not impossible to complete and you should be proud of yourself when you beat the final stage and boss.
One thing which amazes me, even today, is the quality of the graphics. They look good even today! It is incredible that one could get such advanced games back in 1986. If you compare Knightmare to games on the C64 for example, you’ll see quite a difference. The MSX is pushed to the limits with Knightmare. Have a look at the screenshots below and you’ll see what I mean:
Isn’t that something?
To sum it up, Knightmare is one of the better shmups I’ve ever seen. I was lucky enough to play it after it was released in the 80′s and I will never forget the fun and amazement I had with it. Highly recommended if you want a challenging shmup that will keep you entertained for a long time.
