MSX Emulator Comparison - Test results

2535 Views 14 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Grv, Feb 28, 2005

themsxer

Discussion Starter · Jan 31, 2005

MSX Emulator Comparison - Test results

Amsterdam (the Netherlands) – January 31, 2005 – Today the MSX Resource Center published the results of an MSX emulator comparison. Twelve MSX emulators have been put to the test. The relatively new emulator BlueMSX 2.1 ranks first, followed closely by the open source initiative openMSX 0.5.0. The performance of several MSX emulators proved emulating a 20 year old computer system is a lot harder than it seems. Many classic videogames that played a key role in the history of gaming were released on the MSX platform in the past. MSX emulation makes it possible to enjoy these games like like Final Fantasy 1, Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake and Vampire Killer (Castlevania) on any modern PC. This Emulator Comparison is the second edition of the first emulator comparison ever.

The MSX Emulator comparison can be found over here

About the test

The test aims at giving both advanced and novice users a helping hand in choosing a suitable emulator. The emulators are judged not only by their technical features and accuracy, but also by sound quality and ease of use. The test also features the first emulator that is officially recognized by the developers of the original platform: MSXPLAYer. MSXPLAYer is put on the market by the Japanese company MSX Association as part of a project that aims to commercially revive the MSX computer platform.

About MSX Resource Center

The Dutch foundation MSX Resource Center hosts a website (www.msx.org) completely dedicated to the 8bit home computer system MSX. Millions of MSX computers were sold during the 1980s and early 1990s, mainly in Europe and Japan. The website not only brings the latest news on the activities of the still highly active MSX community, but also offers an active discussion platform and a freeware downloads section in order to support the activities of the MSX community and to bring the MSX computer system under the attention of an ever growing audience.

For more information on the Emulator Comparison, the MSX Revival or the MSX Resource Center in general, feel free to contact us at [email protected], or visit our website at http://www.msx.org/.

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Cid Highwind

· #2 · Jan 31, 2005

Now where did Samor go

Interesting news, I'll check out the site

Thanx

themsxer

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 31, 2005

No thanks! BTW: don't know if you already got an MSX emulator, you should really play SD Snatcher and Metal Gear 2:Solid Snake. They are my personal favorites. Some of the emulators tested have a really good SCC support that really adds to the experience. (SCC is a built in soundchip that came with Konami MSX Rompacks from (I believe) 1987 and up.)

Cid Highwind

· #4 · Jan 31, 2005

If I had the time I would've checked them out

Unfortunately I have school, and there's still the both Shenmue's to play on my DC

Is the MG2: Solid Snake the same one as the one which was released on the NES?

themsxer

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 31, 2005

Cid Highwind said:
Unfortunately I have school, and there's still the both Shenmue's to play on my DC

First things first.

Is the MG2: Solid Snake the same one as the one which was released on the NES?

I can remember playing the NES version and it's different from the MSX version. The NES version of Metal Gear was really more like a sequal as I recall whereas Solid Snake (=Metal Gear 2:Solid Snake (but that's too long)) has a completely different game-engine. Solid Snake for MSX has more of a stealth mission feel to it and the MSX version (or rather MSX-2) has better graphics

You can actualy see a lot of the Metal Gear Solid in the way the game works and he characters that play in it.

industrian

· #6 · Jan 31, 2005

Metal Gear NES = Metal Gear on the MSX with an extra level.

Metal Gear: Solid Snake = never released for anything other than the MSX. MGS on the PSX was quite similar.

Snake's Revenge = unofficial NES sequel. It's quite good.

I'm looking for a MSX emulator that allows you to allocate keys and shortcut keys. I HATE pressing two buttons to duck in Metal Gear: Solid Snake.

themsxer

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 31, 2005

Hmm...Don't know actually. The emulator emulates the original machine, including the keyboard functions. So you would need to configure, say the (next to the standard Konami action keys [M] and [N]), to send out a combination of [SPACE] and [M]. OpenMSX has an adjustable keyboard map, but I don't know if it's posible to make shotcuts.

Several emu's let you configure keys for the joystick-port emulation. I haven't come across an emulator where you can freely configure the virtual 3rd button (which like a mouse is button 1 and 2 pushed together), but it seems like a logical option.

I don't know. It would be a nice feature though and probably quite easy to program into a excisting emulator. Standing upright in front of a truck when you're supposed to crawl under it is lethal in Solid Snake

Why is Snakes Revenge unofficial? Wasn't it released by Konami?

industrian

· #8 · Jan 31, 2005

Snake's Revenge i think had nothing to do with Konami Japan and was made in America. If you play it you'll see the main difference. As in, Side Scrolling Sections.

I once saw it second hand in a pawn shop in Edinburgh for £2.50. I was very curious.

themsxer

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 2, 2005

industrian said:
Snake's Revenge i think had nothing to do with Konami Japan and was made in America. If you play it you'll see the main difference. As in, Side Scrolling Sections.

Didn't know that. Who published the game? I know Capcom published a lot of Konami's in America. Or was it something like Green Beret or something?

industrian

· #10 · Feb 2, 2005

themsxer said:
Didn't know that. Who published the game? I know Capcom published a lot of Konami's in America. Or was it something like Green Beret or something?

Er... my bad. According to my ROM it was published by Ultra Games but made by Konami. I can guarantee though that it is NOT part of the Metal Gear lineage though.

themsxer

Discussion Starter · #11 · Feb 4, 2005

Ultra Games, never heard of them...It's funny to see how you're talking about the "metal gear lineage". It's really like these games belong together, isn't it. Mr. Kojima and his crew did a nice job!

Grv

· #12 · Feb 11, 2005

Cid Highwind said:
Is the MG2: Solid Snake the same one as the one which was released on the NES?

/me smashes Cid's face in with his own post.

You know Cid, they say too much drinking can damage your brain cells. As does having your face smashed in.

The Brain is your friend, Cid.

themsxer said:
Ultra Games, never heard of them...

Ever owned a NES?

Their name was primarily used as a publishing label for many Konami games in the US and Europe, but some of their own shoddy games got on the market as well, as they had an inhouse development team. Among many other questionable things, Ultra Games was responsible for porting (read: redoing from scratch, cutting/changing dialogues and adding tedious scenes) Metal Gear to the NES, and creating Snake's Revenge. Where Hideo Kojima just wasn't involved with the NES port of Metal Gear, he wasn't involved with Snake's Revenge in its entirety (and is rumored to never have given his approval for this unofficial sequel to Metal Gear, which would be odd if Ultra Games licensed the Metal Gear name from Konami in the first place), hence Snake's Revenge is considered a bastrd in the "Metal Gear Lineage", much like Industrian said. As far as the Solid series are concerned, Snake's Revenge never happened, so I think you can guess Kojima's feelings regarding the matter.

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Cid Highwind

· #13 · Feb 12, 2005

klatch said:
/me smashes Cid's face in with his own post.

You know Cid, they say too much drinking can damage your brain cells. As does having your face smashed in. The Brain is your friend, Cid.

Ever owned a NES? Their name was primarily used as a publishing label for many Konami games in the US and Europe, but some of their own shoddy games got on the market as well, as they had an inhouse development team. Among many other questionable things, Ultra Games was responsible for porting (read: redoing from scratch, cutting/changing dialogues and adding tedious scenes) Metal Gear to the NES, and creating Snake's Revenge. Where Hideo Kojima just wasn't involved with the NES port of Metal Gear, he wasn't involved with Snake's Revenge in its entirety (and is rumored to never have given his approval for this unofficial sequel to Metal Gear, which would be odd if Ultra Games licensed the Metal Gear name from Konami in the first place), hence Snake's Revenge is considered a bastrd in the "Metal Gear Lineage", much like Industrian said. As far as the Solid series are concerned, Snake's Revenge never happened, so I think you can guess Kojima's feelings regarding the matter.

LOL, got me there :heh:
Yeah, I knew there was a difference, I couldn't remember where it was posted (and was too lazy to look it up

)

snout

· #14 · Feb 28, 2005

The Emu Comparison has just been updated. FYI:

The MSX Emulator Comparison is a thorough back-to-back comparison of 12 different MSX emulators for Windows. Each emulator is rated according to its accuracy, sound-quality, useability and the amount of features it has to offer. In this new edition of the comparison, the latest versions of fMSX, M.E.S.S. and RuMSX were put to the test, to find out how these emulators compare to blueMSX, fMSX-SDL, fMSXSO, NO$MSX, openMSX, ParaMSX, Zodiac and the official, legal MSX Emulator MSXPLAYer.

Grv

· #15 · Feb 28, 2005

Cool, thanks for the update.

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