MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corporation. Microsoft and Nishi conceived the project as an attempt to create unified standards among various home computing system manufacturers of the period, in the same fashion as the VHS standard for home video tape machines. The first MSX computer sold to the public was a Mitsubishi ML-8000, released on October 21, 1983, thus marking its official release date.
Michiru Yamane is a Japanese video game composer and pianist. Yamane's musical style draws on baroque, classical and rock traditions, with both Johann Sebastian Bach and Yellow Magic Orchestra as prominent influences. She is best known for her two decades of work at the gaming company Konami, with her compositions for the Castlevania series among her most recognized work.
Contra is a run and gun video game developed and published by Konami, originally developed as a coin-operated arcade video game in 1986 and released on February 20, 1987. A home version was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988, along with ports for various home computer formats, including the MSX2. The arcade and computer versions were localized as Gryzor in Europe, and the NES version as Probotector in PAL regions.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is a 1990 action-adventure stealth video game developed and published by Konami for the MSX2 computer platform. It serves as a direct sequel to the MSX2 version of the original Metal Gear, written and designed by series's creator Hideo Kojima, who conceived the game in response to Snake's Revenge, a separately-produced sequel that was being developed at the time for the NES specifically for the North American and European markets. The MSX2 version of Solid Snake was only released in Japan, although Kojima would later direct another sequel titled Metal Gear Solid, which was released worldwide for the PlayStation in 1998 to critical acclaim. This later led to Solid Snake being re-released alongside the original Metal Gear as additional content in the Subsistence version of Metal Gear Solid 3 for the PlayStation 2 in 2005. It was also included in the HD remastered ports of Metal Gear Solid 3 released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox 360, and was given a stand-alone re-release in Japan as a downloadable game for mobile phones and the Wii Virtual Console.
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is a platform-adventure game developed and published by Konami. It was originally released in Japan in 1987 for the Famicom Disk System, and in North America in 1988 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the second Castlevania game released for the NES, following the original Castlevania (1986). Set seven years after the events of the first installment, the player once again assumes the role of vampire hunter Simon Belmont, who is on a journey to undo a curse placed on him by Dracula at the end of their previous encounter. Dracula's body was split into five parts, which Simon must find and bring to the ruins of Castle Dracula in order to defeat him. The game deviates from the traditional platforming of its predecessor, incorporating role-playing and open world elements.
The Game Master is a utility cartridge released by Konami on December 12, 1985 in Japan and Europe. It is meant to be used in conjunction with Konami's own MSX game cartridges, allowing users to select their stages, adjust the number of lives, save progress and high scores, make screen dumps, and play in slow motion, among other uses.
Vampire Killer, known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula, is a platform video game developed and published by Konami for the MSX2 in 1986. It is a parallel version of the original Castlevania, which debuted a month earlier for the Famicom Disk System under the same Japanese title. However, the MSX2 version was localized first in Europe and was published without the Castlevania branding that the franchise would start using abroad in 1987 when the NES version was released in North America. It was released on the Wii U's Virtual Console on December 17, 2014 in Japan.
Haunted Castle is a side-scrolling platform game released by Konami for arcades in 1987. It is the second arcade game in the Castlevania franchise, following Vs. Castlevania, an arcade port of the original 1986 NES video game released in North America. Unlike the previous arcade title in the franchise, Haunted Castle is not a direct port of an existing console game, but a newly-developed arcade game running on custom JAMMA-based board.
Castlevania: Bloodlines, known in Japan as Vampire Killer and in PAL regions as Castlevania: The New Generation, is a platform game developed and published by Konami in 1994 for the Sega Genesis, part of the Castlevania series. A vampire named Elizabeth Bartley is orchestrating the beginning of World War I as a sacrificial war to bring her uncle, Dracula, back to life. Players take on the role of Quincey Morris' son, John, and his friend Eric Lecarde to take up the fight against evil.
King's Valley is a platform game released by Konami for MSX in 1985. The game is considered a spiritual successor to Konami's earlier arcade game Tutankham (1982), employing similar concepts such as treasure hunting in Egyptian tombs and an identical end-level music tune. It also has similarities to Lode Runner (1983).
Knightmare is a 1986 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Konami for the MSX home computer. It was included in compilations for the MSX, PlayStation and Sega Saturn, followed by a port for mobile phones, and digital re-releases for the Virtual Console and Microsoft Windows. It is the first entry in the Knightmare trilogy. The game stars Popolon, a warrior who embarks on a quest to rescue the princess Aphrodite from the evil priest Hudnos. The player must fight waves of enemies while avoiding collision with their projectiles and obstacles along the way, and facing against bosses.
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is a platform-adventure game developed and published by Konami. The game was released on November 16, 2006 in Japan, and in North America on December 5, 2006 for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. Portrait of Ruin is the first Castlevania to feature a cooperative multiplayer gameplay mode and the first handheld Castlevania to have English voice-overs, outside of its original Japanese release.
Gradius is a series of shooter video games, introduced in 1985, developed and published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper.
The Goonies is a 1986 platform game based on the film of the same name produced by Konami for the Family Computer. Konami also developed a completely different version for the MSX in Japan. First released on cartridge, it was later re-released in Disk System format in 1988. Although the game was never sold in retail in North America, Nintendo published an arcade port in North America for the VS. System under the title Vs. The Goonies and it was also available as a PlayChoice-10 title in the region. A sequel was released titled The Goonies II, which saw a worldwide retail release.
Konami Wai Wai World, "wai wai" being a Japanese onomatopoeia for a noisy, crowded area, is a 1988 Family Computer platform video game released only in Japan by Konami. The game itself stars various Konami-created characters as well as Mikey and King Kong, who appeared in two Konami-produced, film-based games.
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is a multiplayer-focused platform-adventure game in the Castlevania series, featuring an ensemble cast of characters from the 2-D Metroidvania era of games, developed and published by Konami for Xbox 360 in August 2010, and for PlayStation 3 in 2011.
The Maze of Galious is a 1987 platform-adventure video game developed and published by Konami for the MSX home computer. A reworked conversion was released for the Family Computer. Both versions were re-released digitally for Microsoft Windows. The second entry in the Knightmare trilogy, it follows the respective hero and former damsel in distress of the previous game, Popolon and Aphrodite, as they embark on a journey through Castle Greek to free their unborn child Pampas from the evil priest Galious. The player explores each map in search for items and power-ups to progress, while also fighting enemies and bosses.
Castlevania, known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula, is a platform game developed and published by Konami for the Family Computer Disk System video game console in Japan in September 1986. It was ported to cartridge format and released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in May 1987 and in Europe in 1988. It was also re-issued for the Family Computer in cartridge format in 1993. It is the first game in Konami's Castlevania video game series.
Metal Gear is an action-adventure stealth video game developed and published by Konami for the MSX2. It was released for the system in Japan and parts of Europe in 1987. Considered the game to popularize the stealth game genre, it was the first video game to be fully developed by Hideo Kojima, who would go on to direct most of the games in the Metal Gear series. A reworked port of the game was released for the Famicom a few months later, which later saw release in international markets for the NES over the following two years; this version was developed without Kojima's involvement and features drastically altered level designs, among other changes. An emulated Famicom version came with the special edition of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes on GameCube. A more faithful port of the MSX2 version was later included in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence for the PlayStation 2, as well as in the HD Edition of the same game released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PlayStation Vita, with these newer ports featuring a revised translation and additional gameplay features. The MSX version was also released for Wii Virtual Console and PC.
F-1 Spirit is a series of Formula One-based racing video games developed and published by Konami starting on the MSX in 1987.
