El Secreto de los Cuatro Vientos - MSX2 RPG inspired by Celtic culture announced

When someone says to me do I like playing RPG's? I say " yes indeed ", but when someone asks if I like playing them on old systems, I'm like "Hell Yeh!". So when msx.org announced a new game coming to the MSX2 called El Secreto de los Cuatro Vientos, I just had to sit up and take notice. You see this game has a bit of a special background to it, as according to the site the creator Victor, he had always dreamt of creating a game that was futuristic themed, but it wasn't until his uncle's passing that he began to reminisce about his uncle's fascination with Galicia, its history and the Celtic world in general.. Thus the idea behind this Celtic culture RPG themed game for the MSX 2 was set in motion.

Inferno - Action slasher by Aetherbyte gets an MSX2 digital release

Another day of writing and the year has only just begun, as we've recently been contacted by Aetherbyte, that his action slasher 'Inferno' which uses the ASCII 8 mapper, has been released digitally for the MSX2 and MSX2+.  Looking like a cross between Barbarian and Rastan, this latest game puts you in control of a sword wielding beserker that seems to have woken up in the depths of hell. With screams all around you, spikes dripping with blood, and bodies everywhere, you must found out how you got there, who you are, and get out before you end up as one of the many corpses!

Children of the Night - RPG by Hikaru Games is coming to the MSX1 and MSX2 soon!

If you have an MSX1 or MSX2 and are a little down that we forgot about you, then worry not, as this latest game that is coming to the MSX and called ' Children of the Night ' is something special indeed! Currently in development by Hikaru Games, the same team behind Caos Begins which came first in the MSXdev'07 contest. Comes a lovely looking RPG that actually takes advantage of the MSX2 and will be released in a MegaROM format, ensuring a long gameplay and one of the largest worlds ever created for the MSX.

Life on Mars - PC remake from a cool MSX2 game gets a demo!

It's another mention for Kai Magazine's PC remake of the MSX2 game ' Life on Mars ', as we've recently found out not only is the game available to buy, but there's a rather spiffy demo you can try as well. As we said before Life on Mars is an action platformer in a Metroid style that is set in the caverns of Mars on a mission to find out what happened to the colony that lost contact with the United Nations. The game is inspired by 80's and 90's sci-fi horrors, with an old school feel and addictive gameplay.

Life on Mars - Another PC remake but this time from a great MSX2 game!

Way back in 2015 we gave you a very early heads up that Kai Magazine's Metroid style game of ' Life on Mars ' was up for pre-order for the MSX 2, which featured high quality graphics and music. That same game set in the caverns of Mars on a mission to find out what happened to the colony that lost contact with the United Nations, is now going to appear on the PC as a fully fledged remake by the same team.

Who Dares Wins - Retro classic as a remake on the MSX2 is finished!

Way back in 1985 Alligator Software was supposed to officially release 'Who Dares Wins' for the C64 but according to gamesthatwerent this game played very closely to Commando and thus was stopped by Elite. However many have mentioned that this game did appear and certain gamers did get their hands on it. But the news of today isn't for the C64, it's actually for the MSX2, as the Who Dares Wins remake is officially finished and will be sold coinciding with the 51st Barcelona MSX users meeting next weekend for a price of 35€

Nemesis - An enhanced Gradius blasts its way onto the MSX2

You may have played this sidescrolling shoot-em-up under the game's alternative title: "Gradius". It was a fairly faithful conversion of the Japanese coinop that was first released in 1986 and ported over to a number of systems such as the MSX. The game is classed as a side scrolling shoot em up, and puts you in control of the spaceship Vic Viper on a mission to destroy waves of enemies with a power-up system at your disposal. That same game has appeared in our news feed, but this time as an enhanced version available for the MSX2, that is also playable through your browser.

Highway Fighter MSX2 - Konami Road Fighter clone will be available on digital format on April the 2nd

In the late 80's Konami released their very first racing game 'Road Fighter' in the Arcades as well as on a number of systems such as the MSX and the NES. In the game your goal as the driver of a rather speedy car was to reach the finish line without hitting other cars or running out of fuel, although hitting certain cars did give you more fuel just in case you were a little bit low. A decent game for its time which is also the reason for our write up, as Kai Magazine 2017 have announced their Road Fighter clone of 'Highway Fighter', will be released for the MSX 2 and 2+, 2nd of April.

ZERO and The Castle Of Infinite Sadness - MSX puzzle/action game as an improved 48k ROM version

MSX owners take note as Matra has announced the improved 48k ROM version of the Arcade Puzzle game ZERO and The Castle Of Infinite Sadness, which is now available to buy priced at 25€ on his website. Now if you've been following the MSX scene you may have noticed this game was available before as a freeware 32k ROM download. But now it is better than ever as it has been enhanced with features such as Pure Screen 2, an intro explaining the story + improved sound, 3 different difficulty levels, 80 stages, different animations when the player dies, and if played on an MSX 2 runs at 60hz!

Salamander - Konami's Shoot Em Up improved on the MSX2

The weather is naff outside as it's cold and it's wet but thankfully to warm us up and push our adrenaline through the roof, is the recent improved MSX release of the great shoot em up game ' Salamander ', which was released in the late 80s from the Arcades as a spin off from Gradius by that famous company ' Konami'. Although Salamander was released on many other systems such as the Amstrad, C64 and ZX Spectrum, the MSX version did not feature smooth scrolling and now thanks to Victor an enhanced version with smooth scrolling and bug fixes was released but for the MSX2.

Sector 88 - HQ Sci-fi RPG Shoot Em Up gets an MSX2 release

Moving on to the MSX2 now, as a new shoot em up has just been released called ' Sector 88 ', which has been made available by KAI Magazine through ordering for cart and digital download. Classed as a space-RPG but at its core a shoot em up, Sector 88 was originally an experimental game using pre-rendered 3D graphics on the PC, which was later converted over to the MSX to gauge peoples reactions (it must've worked!).

Oniric Kung Fu - Martial arts game in development for the MSX2

If Karate chops and high powered kicks is your idea of fun, then 'Oniric Kung Fu' developed by Oniric Factor for the MSX 2 might just be the game for you. As an inspiration by that classic game ' Yie Ar KUNG-FU ' published by Konami in 1985, Oniric Kung Fu takes a different approach to Konami's game, with polished graphics and fresh game mechanics where your strategy and fighting skills will be decisive.

Uwol Quest For Money - The Mojon Twins ZX Spectrum homebrew coming to the MSX2!

In 2009 The Mojon Twins with publishing rights by Ubhres Productions released the homebrew platformer of ' Uwol, Quest For Money ' for the ZX Spectrum with a much higher quality port for the Sega Genesis. It involved a character called Uwol on a quest for more money, in a rather large place called the Storm Palace, hence the game name ' Uwol, Quest For Money '. That same game has once again resurfaced but this time as a port by Imanok for the MSX2, which will be released next Saturday at the Barcelona's #49 MSX RU and distributed by the AAMSX.

Vampire Killer on the MSX2 gets a Castlevania MSX2 patch

Originally developed in 1986 for the NES, Castlevania by Konami, was a high grade for its time, action platformer, that had you tasked with the defeating of the vampire Dracula. It was a game that also appeared as a graphically impressive fan based game on the ZX Spectrum as Castlevania Spectral Interlude, developed by Sanchez . But today's news isn't so much as a fan based game or even a new game, but a MSX2 patch of the alternative MSX2 version also known as Vampire Killer, which turns the game into Castlevania. They both already share most of the background settings, enemies and music, but this goes much further.

Rune Monster - Renovated RPG with a new story and curious characters for MSX2

After all these MSX and MSX 2 games we've been mentioning, it's probably about time I try to get hold of an original system, but until that time lets give a shout out to Kai Magazine's renovated RPG, ' Rune Monster ', which is due for release 18th June. The original game Rune Master was actually released in the early 90's by Compile and looked very much like an old skool NES game, except in this one, you rolled the dice.

Head Over Heels - The MSX2 gets a remake and it looks GOOD!

After the previous news of Manic Miner appearing on the Atari 8bit, I never thought just a day after that I would be mentioning another all time classic, but this time for the MSX2. This is none other Ocean Software's 1987 isometric hit game 'Head Over Heels' which has been remade for the MSX2! If you've got this fine system then you are in for a treat, as Head Over Heels programmed by Jon Ritman, was a critically acclaimed game across a multitude of platforms such as the Amstrad and ZX Spectrum. It gained very high reviews across the board with multi-player controls of two characters instead of just one in an isometric puzzler.

Life on Mars - High quality MSX2 game available for pre-order!

If games such as Metroid are to your liking and you have an MSX2, then it would be well your time checking out the latest MSX 2 game, ' Life on Mars ' which is due this week in Spanish and in 10 days the English version. Developed by Kai Magazine, Life on Mars is an action platformer that features high quality graphics and music, with an included minigame called Bomb Tournament. A multiplayer game (2 or 3 players battle) with the option of selecting any of the six maps or musics shown in the main game.

PLAY Margate - Retro returns to Margate and we've been! (+Photos!)

While the weather is hot and the sun is shining with nearly everyone down at the beach, we decided to put all that aside and go to a gaming convention by the name of 'PLAY Margate', which is at the Winter Gardens all this weekend. You probably read of our disappointment of GEEK earlier this year with all those yukky modern systems, but PLAY Margate is what GEEK used to be! Oodles of retro hardware and games going back in time as far as possible. From the Amstrad to the C64, from the Intellivision to the Dreamcast and Neo-Geo, this was a gaming convention we had to be a part of.

Dutch Moonsound Veterans released! - 100's of tunes for your MSX2

Some would say I get over excited some times at the smallest amount of news releases, however when it comes to the 'Dutch Moonsound Veteran' release for the MSX, being blown away is an understatement. According to Msx.org, in collaboration with a lot of famous names from the MSX2 scene, this 4 part album contains music from Master of Audio, Meits, Jorito, Hans Cnossen, DandAN, John Hassink, Robert Vroemisse
, Bart Roijmans, Ruud van de Moosdijk and Omega
. Nearly 9 months of work, this incredible awesome amazing (ok I'll stop now) album contains over 100 tracks that are available for free to listen to on your msx2 or through the emulator BlueMSX.

Who Dares Wins - Retro classic set for a remake for the MSX2

Way back in 1985 Alligator Software was supposed to officially release 'Who Dares Wins' for the C64 but according to certain sites this game played very closely to Commando and thus was stopped by Elite. However many have mentioned that this game did appear and certain gamers did get their hands on it. As such thanks to Steve Evans he redesigned the levels and was able to release the game as Who Dares Wins 2. But the news of today isn't for the C64, it's actually for the MSX2 and what a special game this is going to be. Welcome to 'Who Dares Wins' for the MSX2 by the developers Retroforce, which is going to be given an overhauled remake, that may well be as good as the recent Commando Arcade on the C64.