Konami Antiques MSX Collection Ultra Pack (Saturn) Review

💻 Received: December 25th, 2022 💻 Written: June 12th-23rd, 2023 💻

Year: 1997, 1998 | Developed by: KCE Yokohama

Published by: Konami | [ ⬤ ]

Hello, gamers and readers alike, welcome to my blog and thank you for taking the time to tune in today, I really appreciate it. 😃

Image from Wikipedia

October 21st, 1983 saw the Japanese debut of the MSX personal gaming computer, which was created by ASCII and Microsoft as a way to create unified standards among other home computer manufacturers of the time.  The MSX didn't see a wide release in North American shores despite the involvement of Microsoft, having only ever seen a broader release outside of Japan in Europe that same year.  The name "MSX", for which the acronym's meaning became a matter of debate from the day it came out, came about with the new naming standard that comprised of just three letters, like VHS for an example, according to ASCII co-founder Kazuhiko Nishi who felt it fitting for it meant "the next of Microsoft" and had the first letters of the Matsushita (Panasonic) and Sony companies.

The MSX became a major platform for companies such as Hudson Soft and Konami to develop their games for.  During the original MSX's lifetime from 1983 to 1990 Konami worked on approximately sixty games for the personal computer (including five compilations consisting of older titles), twenty games on the MSX2, and one game on the MSX2+ (F-1 Spirit 3D Special).

Images from GameFAQs, joined together

In the mid '90s there was an advent of near precise home emulation of classic games featured in compilations (arcade or otherwise).  Konami would jump on the bandwagon, too, as they worked on their own set of compilations over the years.  One in particular came in the form of the Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo division's Konami Antiques MSX Collection trilogy on the PlayStation One from November 20th, 1997 to March 19th, 1998 exclusively in Japan.  Each Sony compilation had ten classic MSX games on each disc which Konami Computer Entertainment Yokohama, who worked on the first installments of Konami's pop'n music rhythm franchise, would combine it all to one disc for a subsequent release.

Image from GameFAQs

Konami Computer Entertainment Yokohama's Konami Antiques MSX Collection Ultra Pack would see a release on the Sega Saturn on July 23rd, 1998, and was the last time Konami created an MSX-related video game collection.  Like the Sony trilogy by KCE Tokyo before it, this ultra pack only came out in Japan.

Love the touch of the kanji slightly overlapping the largely English in-game title design in this compilation's game menu screens

In Konami Antiques MSX Collection Ultra Pack you have a choice to play one of thirty MSX games by highlighting the one you wish to play and pressing A or C on the selected title, and if what you wish to play is not in the present screen simply press the left or right shoulder button to go to the previous or subsequent screen.  If you wish to leave the game and go back to the menu so you can play another one of your choice, press and hold the A, B, and C buttons and press the Start button to do a soft reset so it will take you back to the title and game selection screens.  Now I apologize in advance for the lack of consistency in how I cover each game for I do not have an equal amount of things to say for all thirty of them, and after contemplating long and hard I've finally settled on the order I'm going to talk about them (even if it's not as yearly chronological as I would've preferred).

Year: 1985 | Japanese Title: Konami no Boxing

Interesting that the first player is fighting from the right side in boxing

The first game in the compilation is Konami's Boxing, one of several games in Konami's namesake sports games available to play here.  As the boxer Ryu you must deck out your opponent by properly timing your straight punches and low blows, and block said opponents' punches should you be able to if not attempt to dodge them by swaying back the moment it happens.  Should your energy and health be depleted you have ten seconds to get back up on your feet, but the longer you stay afloat the harder it will be to get back up the next out for it takes a lot of energy.  Visually it's vibrantly colorful with big and detailed boxing contestant sprites with the most expressive faces sporting solid animation, the gameplay is nice, and on the whole I think it's decent fun to play. 🥊

Year: 1985 | Japanese Title: Konami no Ping-Pong

OooOOOoooh, a familiar face in the audience 😄

Konami's Ping-Pong has the distinction of being the first video game to capture the gameplay and nuances of tabletop tennis, so kudos on that, Konami. 👍 Originally an arcade game, it would receive several home computer and console conversions after the fact, including on the MSX and the Japan-exclusive Famicom Disk System (where Diskun and Donkey Kong Junior appear in place of Penta on the title and in the audience respectively).

This is a game where the particular way you use the direction buttons on the Saturn controller determine the way you swing your paddle, which is admittedly a bit weird and takes a bit to accustom to but after some time adjusting to them they become second nature and make playing it pretty doable and fun.  You can even switch hands by holding down the action button, so that's cool.  Konami's Ping-Pong is a pleasantly colorful game to look at, and I enjoy the animate of the side of the audience that claps the moment you or the computer scores a point.  Very nice installment in Konami's namesake sports lineup. 🏓

Year: 1984

In 1983 Konami developed the arcade game Track & Field, known as Hyper Olympic outside of North America, which got followed by Hyper Sports the following year (appropriately named Hyper Olympic '84 in Japan).  Both games would receive their own share of home computer and console conversions, with the MSX version of the latter title divided into three separate games.  In Hyper Sports 2 there are only three events that you go through which will loop itself again should you clear the last event but with slightly more demanding qualification rules: skeet shooting, archery, and weightlifting.

In skeet shooting you must shoot at a series of skeets that will be launched from the right and occasionally from the left until the clock goes down to zero, and should you manage to shoot all skeets without missing once you'll get a chance to shoot at a special target or two.  In archery you first must determine the wind direction and speed which is always random, after that you must shoot an arrow at a target that is moving up or down once it's in front of you (it's recommended that you at least shoot at roughly a 5 degree angle to get the best results, with proper timing as well to score a bullseye, required by holding down the action button only up to a point).  Finally in weightlifting you begin by choosing one of eight weight classes, then you begin lifting from the ground by repeatedly pressing the right button until the barbell flashes in which case you must press the button to lift it above your head, then you must repeatedly press the right button again until you get approval from all three judges all within the time limit.  You have three tries to qualify in each event.

Hyper Sports 2 is a very likable game to play, very nice color palette too.  The weightlifting event aside, it reminds me of the latter half of Konami's iconic Track & Field on the NES (the first half was made up of Hyper Olympic, and the second half Hyper Sports), especially with the flashing applause animation in the background for when you succeed.  I like it. 😃

Year: 1985

Ah, MopiRanger, this is a good one, in my opinion. 😃 The Razons have invaded the once peaceful land of Mopira and it is up to the mouse-like MopiRanger who must canoe himself around these waters in a constantly changing maze-like environment to rescue all the Moplits who have been kidnapped by the Razons within the time limit.

The Razons can be dealt with by aiming the ray beam against them which will turn some of them into rocks which you can push but be careful not to push said rocks in a position that will trap you inside for if there's no way out you'll have no choice but to press the Z button to start the zone anew at the expense of one of your lives.  Sometimes there will be currents that will make you canoe yourself faster should you ride on them, another obstacle you must be wary about are whirlpools that must drag you under should you get too close to them.

MopiRanger is cute, its charm is lighthearted, I like the contrast of the blue water and the land you canoe yourself around, and even though the sprites are considerably tiny I think they've got an endearing design, the controls are simple yet fun, and as a maze game it's enjoyable to play every once in a while. 😃

Year: 1983 (Copyrighted 1984) | Japanese Title: Kekkyoku Nankyoku Daibōken

Next up is Antarctic Adventure, a racing game in the vein of Sega's 1981 arcade game Turbo which made its debut in 1983 on the MSX which got ported to the ColecoVision (in its first and only official North American release) and Famicom consoles.  As the penguin Penta (and mascot of sorts to Konami), your objective is to reach each of the ten stations across the Antarctic region in the allotted time you are given.  You can move Penta left and right, increase his speed by holding the up button, jump up in the air, and collect fish jumping out of ice holes and flags for points, but you must be careful not to bump into sea lions popping out of the ice holes, carefully weave around or jump over any oncoming ice holes so as to not bump into them lest it cost you some time, and especially must beware large holes so as to not fall down them as the path occasionally switches from straight to curvy along the way.

Amazingly, Konami would adapt "Les Patineurs" again as one of the songs to dance to in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix/Dancing Stage Mario Mix on the Nintendo GameCube in 2005 which they co-developed alongside Hudson Soft 😊

The gameplay is simple yet enjoyable, the visuals are endearing with the serene snow-themed palette and occasionally different sky color, I like how the flags and ice holes and stations scale in a solid manner towards you as you waddle along closer and closer, the game's upbeat rendition of Émile Waldteufel's "Les Patineurs" ("The Skater's Waltz") is as engrossing as the composition itself, and once you reach the tenth station the game loops but with the different amped up (with more distance required to reach the goal).

Antarctic Adventure is fun to play every once in a while, I was first acquainted with it via the Famicom version as a child back when I lived in Italy on one of my younger cousins' plug-and-play systems (the ones that featured Nintendo 8-bit games irregardless of region, long before I learned they were real* games... the only downside was the 50Hz speed 😩), and one thing I missed from the Famicom version is the rainbow flag that gave you a propeller cap to momentarily fly in the air (neither of which are present here).  Took me by surprise, honestly, but either way I still enjoyed the game and the presentation is very nice.  Penta made a good impression in his debut game, but I found the direct sequel to be even better. 😃

* The copyright information was removed from the title screens, hence why I didn't know they were real games, likely so the plug-and-play firms would not get sued by the respective companies that worked on these games in the first place, including Nintendo

Year: 1984, 1985

1984 marked the debut of Yie Ar Kung-Fu in Japanese arcades which would also see home computer and console conversions that while different aesthetically and feature different characters otherwise shares similar gameplay (the MSX version has more in common with the Famicom take than the arcade original).  This is among the earliest titles of the one-on-one tournament fighting genre, and in the MSX edition you take control of Lee (paying homage to the late martial artist Bruce Lee whom he appears to be modeled after) whose controls take a bit to accustom to due to how they were converted to the Saturn

but is playable once you figure out what direction and/or action buttons you have to press in order to have kick high or low or have him jump (and if possible have him jump kick).  The goal is to punch and kick your foes and have their health depleted until their health gauge is empty but be careful not to have the same thing happen to you so be sure to coordinate yourself properly as best as you can.  Once in a while there will be a bonus stage where you must dispose of any oncoming vases flying your way and be careful to not be touched by one.

The colors will pop out at the screen with the black background (I especially like how after you reach the end of the loop then the new one will begin but with a different color palette), I like the fighters' character designs, the oriental background music is a nice touch and add some ambiance to the action, and despite how finnicky the controls could get on occasion due to the conversion to a different format it's still a fun game to play otherwise. 😃

Year: 1984, 1985

The first iteration of a small racing franchise, Road Fighter made its debut in arcades in 1984 and got ported to several video game formats since.  Viewed from the top down, your goal is to reach the finish line to the best of your ability (it doesn't matter what you place, that's not important here), but every now and then you are forced to weave around any oncoming cars sharing the same road as your sport red Chevrolet Corvette for if you get hit by them you might get bumped or worse uncontrollably swerve to the side and crash on the side (and lose a chunk of fuel in the process).  Another thing to worry about is your fuel which gradually empties itself out the more you drive on the road which can only be partially replenished after collecting a heart icon that pops up sparsely.  I have fun memories playing the Famicom version of Road Fighter on the plug-and-play, and while I found the MSX take to be a bit different I still consider it colorful old school entertainment even if it's easy to get crashed by an enemy car whenever the road ahead of you becomes too narrow.

Year: 1984

In the arcade-like MSX vertical-scrolling shoot'em up Sky Jaguar, you take control of the titular spaceship who is planet Earth's only hope against the Zephyr army.  The game owes a bit of its structure (and occasional lineup of enemy formations) to Namco's Galaga and Xevious only you can maneuver around in any part of the screen and can only shoot forward, but the end goal is the same as you must shoot at the enemy ships and dodge their bullets before they get a chance to shoot at you.  Surviving long enough until the third and eighth scenes will culminate in a boss battle that will take a bit of firepower to take down.

There's an old school charm to Sky Jaguar, it's visually colorful for there is a good variety of locations the further you get along, and the gameplay is very solid and enjoyable for as long as I can manage to last.

Year: 1985, 1986 | European Title: Nemesis

Originally conceived as a sequel to their 1981 arcade hit Scramble, Gradius was a complete gamechanger for the horizontal-scrolling shoot'em up genre for it established a template that future games of its ilk would be influenced by, but it also helped put Konami on the map due to its big success in the arcades and was the first of many games to show Konami's clear fascination with the Moai heads by incorporating them on a frequent basis. 🗿 As the fighter spaceship Vic Viper you can maneuver yourself around and shoot at enemies of a distinguished design for when it came out

The soundtrack is also iconic and memorable, not to mention

and collect capsules for each one you take will highlight the subsequent power-up in the selection-based power-up system which depending on what is currently selected will augment your speed a bit, give you missiles, change your main weapon to a laser or ripple, and options.  There is no question that Gradius has an undisputed place in video game history which resulted in it becoming a franchise, regardless of one's skill level, but for me I have a soft spot for it even though I've never been particularly good at it (I don't think it helps any that losing a life means losing all your gained power-ups).  I found the arcade sequels (and its spinoff) more accessible to play, but that doesn't necessarily equate to an easy time.

Year: 1988 | European Title: Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction

The latest installment of Gradius Konami worked on for the MSX, Gōfer no Yabō: Episode II acts as a direct sequel to the arcade game Gradius II, Gradius 2/Nemesis 2 on the MSX, and Salamander where this time you play as the direct descendant of the late Vic Viper pilot James Burton, David Burton, piloting the Vixen which comes in four different classes (of which the first two share Vic Viper's controls, the third one sharing Gradius 2-style controls, and the fourth one sharing Salamander controls).  Visually it's got a solid sense of detail, the gameplay is still solid, and is one the first video games to be composed by the very talented Michiru Yamane (which sounds great as always).  While it might be a bit more accessible than the earliest Gradius, this game is still difficult to play in its own right but at least the number of continues are unlimited for you could use as many as you want.

Year: 1985 | Japanese Title: Konami no Golf

Golf is almost always associated as an acquired taste, be it real life or in video game format (which is why minigolf is a more accessible alternative), and Konami's Golf is no different in that regard, but it is one of those very popular of sports in Japan.  Always accounting for wind distance and direction, you must use one of three golf clubs to send the golf ball flying and trying to send it to its hole with as few swings as possible so that you don't go past the par line.  Proper aim trajectory, appropriate golf swing potency, and planning are key to have a successful golf game for you do not want the ball to fly out of bounds or to fall into any body of water.  Whether one enjoys this game depends highly on whether one has an appreciation for golf, but regardless it's brightly colorful to look at.

Year: 1983 (Copyrighted 1984) | Japanese Title: Video Hustler

Ah, pool, a fun pastime, liked playing it over at one of my relatives' houses when I was a child and teenager* (and air hockey, too, but that's neither here nor there). 🎱 Konami's Billiards is a simple but enjoyable video game simulation of the sport, I love that they captured the pool table aesthetic from the top view and the gameplay is well-handled too as you place your trajectory at any side or edge of the table (where you could formulate a strategy or play it by ear) and can shoot your cue ball at one of three different speeds as you're given a few opportunities to get the colored number balls into one of six pockets (it doesn't hurt to be careful to not have the cue ball fall inside a pocket, either).  I don't mind that there are six balls rather than fifteen like in real life, Konami did the sport proud. 😃

* Maybe it was from watching the Doug Langdale Disney animated series The Weekenders that got me into pool, who knows?  Shame it's not on Disney+, but at least the whole series is on DVD

Year: 1985

These screenshots were taken while watching the four individual demos

The latest installment of Konami's Hyper Sports on the MSX, Hyper Sports 3 covers four events as you partake in a competitive cycling race, the triple jump competition, the ice-themed stone sliding sport of curling, until finally you must engage in pole vaulting.  In all events bar cycling you're given multiple opportunities.

Alas, there isn't much I can say about this game because I cannot play it. 🙁 The opening cycling event requires me to qualify within three minutes, and no matter what I do I simply cannot manage for I must constantly tap the A or C buttons and occasionally press B to ride up or down the track (one of those instances where the conversion from MSX to Saturn controls rendered it unplayable for me).  At least with Hyper Sports 2 I could play through all its events, I can't even play through one in Hyper Sports 3, and that makes me sad.  The colors look nice, at least.

Year: 1983 (Copyrighted 1984) | Japanese Title: Wanpaku Athletic

Konami would also reskin this game as a Cabbage Patch Kids license which came out on the MSX personal computer and ColecoVision console

Athletic Land is a game that can best be described as being similar to Activision's Pitfall! in terms of its gameplay structure as you have to progress from screen to screen.  What separates it from the David Crane classic is that it is much more colorful, has bouncy background music, only takes place on the surface level rather than occasionally exploring the underground as well, and you take control of a child.

Each stage comprises of ten scenes, and in them you must go from running from left to right (or the opposite way should you start off on the left side instead) by jogging if it's just a plain road, jumping across a series of springs, swinging on ropes, jumping from block to block in a pixel perfect manner lest you fall off and lose a life, getting on a floating lily pad, and most importantly, dodging any oncoming obstacle that attempts to impede your path to glory (like rocks that have to be jumped over, bouncing balls, and deadly bees), et al.  You can also collect apples for points if you can manage to do so in one piece for you get hit once or fall hard, you lose a life and must restart from the present scene.

I love that the life icon changes expression after clearing the stage and after having lost a life 😆

There is an adorable lighthearted charm to Athletic Land, it's endearing to look at, and the gameplay, simple though it may be, is enjoyable as you try to overcome all those obstacles to the best of your ability before the game becomes more challenging. 😃

Year: 1984

In the vertical-scale action platforming game, Magical Tree has you take control of an indigenous Native American youth whose mission is to climb and scale the 2,004 meter long tree where above it is a castle.  Divided into nine stages with approximately 200 or so each, you can jump up branches, slide down and dangle from said branches, climb up vines and ladders, and even make apples drop down and roll into the hole beside the branch (where the color determines the amount of gems you're collecting for points.

From time to time you might also grab arrows and coronets for points that are situated on random branches on the way to the top.  Whenever you reach the end of a stage after a certain distance, you'll be shown the remaining distance required to reach the treetop.  This game is not without its obstacles, however, for you must be careful not to make contact with owls flying back and forth, snakes, larvae that dangle at the bottom of the vine, and menacing clouds that attempt to shoot lightning bolts at you otherwise you must climb back up from a specific point in the current stage.  Misused jumps might also have you plummeting down, but fortunately you can still dangle from the branches.

I feel this game might be viewed as problematic retroactively due to the stereotypical portrayal of the young Native American protagonist used as a playable character as it most certainly would not fly today (or if it were made today, then Konami would probably have done so with considerable tact) but setting that elephant in the room aside, I like Magical Tree quite a bit.  It's pleasant to look at and has got lighthearted charm, the music is bouncy and upbeat, builds up its challenge level to a reasonable degree, and the gameplay is easily fun and intuitive. 😃

Year: 1985 | Full Title: Yie Ar Kung-Fu II: Yie-Gah Kōtei no Gyakushū

Did you know that the tournament fighting game Yie Ar Kung-Fu got a sequel?  Well, on the personal computer gaming front it did, in the form of Yie Ar Kung-Fu II.  What makes this different from its predecessor is that it bears more in common with the traditional beat'em up in that you must dispose of any oncoming obstacles flying your path by kicking upward or downward and even punching straight as you make your way from screen to screen until it bookends on a fight against a boss at the end.  Interestingly, you're starting from the right and making your way to the left, as opposed to the usual opposite route.

Yie Ar Kung Fu II is the first fighting game to feature a playable female fighter in it with Lan-Fang

Just like the last game the controls are a bit particular in how they're handled on the Saturn with your kicks sometimes being done by the direction button or the action button, ditto for jumping except you might have combine both action buttons and direction buttons together (it's a bit hard to explain through words, but the best I can say is that it's a bit finnicky).  And while I can say it's still largely playable in its precursor, I feel the same might be a bit true here with a bit of practice, but that being said I like the first Yie Ar Kung-Fu more.  It's still a bit fun, though, and I like the colorfully visual aesthetic work that was done here.

Year: 1986 | Japanese Title: Knightmare: Majō Densetsu

The first in a trilogy of MSX games, followed by The Maze of Galious (which also came out on the Famicom) and Shalom: Knightmare III the following year, Knightmare is a vertical scrolling shoot'em up where you take control of the knight Popolon who is on an arduous quest throughout a Greek-like setting to rescue Princess Aphrodite from the evil priest Hudnos.  Littered throughout the land are enemies, be it bats or enemy knights or winged demons, who must be dealt with by shooting your weapon at them.

I love it, pausing is represented by Popolon sleeping in bed

Every now and then are "?" blocks that must be shot at to reveal a random power-up that might either help you (like a knight chess piece to eradicate all enemies onscreen or a crown chess piece to temporarily freeze time) or hinder you; sometimes firing at random spots will reveal a hidden block.  Starting off with bow and arrow, you can change your weapon after shooting at a round "P" icon until it lands on a weapon that you'd like in which case you can walk towards it (like a fiery spread shot, a long and powerful sword, a shield, and even a boomerang that will return back towards you once thrown).

Knightmare has got a good soundtrack, I like that each stage has got a different color scheme, and it's pretty fun to play even if traditional shoot'em ups are generally not what I consider myself to be good at.  It's always a neat spin in the genre when they change it up to a projectile throwing human character as opposed to a spaceship.

Year: 1981, 1983

Not used to seeing a Konami game using Exidy-eqsue font

1981 saw the release of Konami's Scramble in arcades which established the foundation of the horizontal-scrolling shoot'em up genre as it was the first of its kind.  That same year Konami followed it up with the coin-op sequel Super Cobra where instead of controlling a spaceship you were in control of a fighter chopper where you could shoot ahead with your laser and drop bombs as you could move ahead or move back as well flying higher and lower.  Unlike Scramble which saw little exposure outside of arcades at the time, this game got ported to many personal computers and consoles of the time period including the MSX.

The difficulty ramps itself up along the way for you must be sure to avert enemy fire from tanks and avoid direct contact with flying missiles and flying saucers, you must also be mindful to replenish the fuel by destroying the tanks to keep your chopper flying as the longer you fly the more your fuel gradually depletes itself.  Should you manage to you can lower yourself down to collect the booty to safely carry it away for points.  Even though it lacks the abundant color palette of the arcade original, Super Cobra's simplistic aesthetic works to its favor and is classic arcade fun to play once in a while.

Year: 1985, 1986

One of the earliest pioneers of the cute'em up genre, the colorfully original TwinBee vertical scroller made its debut in arcades and did very well enough to be ported to the Famicom, Famicom Disk System, and the MSX.  It plays similarly to Namco's Xevious where you alternate between shooting at airborne foes and dropping bombs towards ground level, but Konami adds more elements to make this experience its own (and in my opinion, a superior one) which was successful enough for it to become franchise.

As the blue or pink anthropomorphic spacecraft TwinBee (first player) or as WinBee (second player) you can maneuver them around the screen and shoot at clouds, at which point a bell will pop out which will change color when you shoot at it enough times to give you a different power-up (blue to slightly speed up, silver to double your firepower, green to give yourself options, and red to have a barrier shield).  Should you be shot at by both arms an ambulance will come along and restore them, but if you get shot at directly you'll not only lose a life and have to pick up from where you left off but the power you gained will be reduced back to zero.

The one TwinBee game I played beforehand in 2009 was the PC Engine port of Detana!! TwinBee on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console where I admit I walked into it with wrong expectations thinking it would be like Pop'n TwinBee after watching a gameplay video on YouTube, but when it ended up not being like that I was initially disappointed in it (and felt it paled next to Kaneko and Inter State's Star Parodier) but luckily decided to give it a chance after some time (feeling I may have been too harsh) and treat it as its own thing, for the better

I love the TwinBee franchise, I got to play most of the games on M2's PlayStation Portable compilation TwinBee Portable way back in 2011 when I imported it which was a very nice experience. 🤗 Pop'n TwinBee on the Super Famicom is one of my top favorite cute'em ups of all time (it ties with TwinBee Yahho! as my favorite entry in the franchise) and I also adore its Super Famicom action platforming spinoff TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventure, TwinBee Da! and Detana!! TwinBee are also fun.  Even though the MSX version of the first game has got choppy scrolling and lacks some of the color of the coin-op it's based on it's still a fun game to play even with how difficult it may get, and the music still sounds good. 😃

Year: 1987 | European Title: Nemesis 2

Before Gradius ended up garnering sequels in the arcades, Konami worked on Gradius 2 for the MSX which is its own separate follow-up with a heavy emphasis on story taking place in the year 6666.  Commandeered by the Vic Viper's ex-pilot James Burton, this time you are in control of the Metalion which otherwise shares the similar selection-based power-up system as its predecessor for which the gameplay is still solid.  The visuals have got a solid sense of detail and the soundtrack is great, but I cannot get far in it before losing a spaceship otherwise it's still a bit of fun to play.

Year: 1984 | Japanese Title: Konami no Tennis

That is the brightest green hue I've seen in a video game in a long time, maybe ever

Konami's Tennis is a fun video game simulation of the sport and plays just as good as any other video game tennis game out there.  You have a choice to play singles or doubles (but you need a second player to have more mileage out of that game mode in particular) for you get to control the tennis player at the bottom half of the court.

It's simplicity with its gameplay is its main appeal, the gameplay is fun and intuitive as the bell gets volleyed and/or lobbed back and forth, and it is absolutely bursting with color all around with simple yet endearing character design. 😃 Good sport. 🎾

Year: 1985 | European Title: Konami's Football

The next Konami sports installment, Konami's Soccer, gives you a selection of one of eight teams to choose from (all different palette swaps) as it pits one team against another for you can also adjust to one of five skill levels or set the half time clock anywhere from three to ten minutes prior to starting the match.

The gameplay is simple as you must try to kick as many goals as you can within the time limit but should both teams end up with the same score by the time the second half is over then you'll have no choice but to partake in a series of penalty kicks until one team scores more than the other.  Victory is ensured through teamwork so make sure to pass it to the team player who is open, be sure to block the other team's goals as best as you can manage, and on occasion you can slide kick the soccer ball from the opposing team player's feet.  There is a bit of strategy involved, but it is very playable once you become acquainted with the controls.

Despite the scrolling being choppy and the respective teams comprising of nothing but clones of one another (which, to be fair, was the norm for soccer video games of the time), I find Konami's Soccer quite fun to play. 😃 The gameplay is intuitive and well-handled, it's visually pleasing to look at with the green field and decently designed soccer players (I love how they resemble the mustachioed athlete from Konami's own Hyper Olympic/Track & Field 😆) who animate pretty well (I love their cheering animation upon scoring a goal), and it's one of the better MSX-based Konami sports venues in my opinion. ⚽

Year: 1985 | Original Title: Hyper Rally | European Title: Konami Hyper Rally

In the third-person racing game Konami Rally, you take control of a red car who starts off last and whose goal is to reach the finish as you outrace other cars.  Once you attain a certain speed you can eventually kick it into high gear to drive at your fastest, but you'll have to be careful not to crash into other cars and especially must be mindful of the fuel gauge which will gradually deplete itself so long as you're still going for the game is over once it's completely empty.  Konami Rally is a decent racer with a good sense of scale as you approach the enemy cars and the controls are decent as well, but I much prefer Road Fighter more.

Year: 1984 | Japanese Title: Ponpokopan

Next up there is Comic Bakery, an arcade-style game that came out on the MSX and got converted to the Commodore 64 by Imagine Software.  In it you take control of a chef who must deliver as much bread and croissants to the delivery truck as he can manage by the time the clock strikes 5 PM all the while contending with a bothersome amount of pesky raccoons who are trying to make a mess of everything.  Due to the bakery being a wide area, there is thankfully a map at the top of the screen to alert you if anything needs your attention, like turning on the conveyor belt switches that the raccoons turned off and momentarily subduing them off by firing a beam at them on ground level (who can be jumped over if you have to) or above the conveyor belt.

Hey, it's that owl from Magical Tree!  Love Konami for that. 🦉

The Commodore 64 version's music, which was composed by Martin Galway, served as a major influence for Jonathan Dunn's music for Ocean Software's NES and Game Boy adaptations of Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park

Comic Bakery is a cute game, the game's rendition of "Yankee Doodle" is catchy, it's bursting with color (as bothersome as they are, I like that the raccoons all come in different palettes), the chef's character design is appealing, and it's enjoyable to play once in a while even with all the going back and forth. 😃

Year: 1985

In the vertical-scrolling Pippols you take control of the eponymous boy who's on a quest to retrieve the Holy Gem which can be used to bring back light into the world.  Armed with nothing but hearts to shoot at any oncoming foe (like googly eyed bouncy fuzzballs, circling butterflies, ghosts, and mice, et al) in front of you and behind you, you can move up and down and hop to the left and right side should you stand in front of an open gap on the side as you navigate a maze-like layout.  Along the way you collect signs and fruit and coins for points, alarm clocks to momentarily stop time, and touching a cross will eradicate all enemies presently onscreen.  Adding to the replay value is that any time you reach a fork in the road at the end of the present segment you're given a choice to move in either direction.

There is an adorable lighthearted charm with Pippols, I like the main character design, the gameplay is simple yet intuitive, I like the variety of the area designs (from flower patches to the dark woods to one of Konami's long-running staples of their career, Easter Island Moai heads), the sound is nice to listen to and the colors are appealing to look at, and above all else it's a pleasant game to play with surprisingly smooth scrolling. 😃 I 💗 it!

Year: 1985

Due Konami's involvement, this game could be interpreted as a spiritual sequel to the arcade game Tutankham which came out three years prior

As an unnamed intrepid explorer and archaeologist, the main objective of King's Valley is to collect all the treasures scattered about inside the depths of an ancient Egyptian pyramid, and once all the treasures of the present segment have been gathered you must make your way to the exit which will take you to the next part.  All the while you must be mindful of the color-coded mummies who will attempt to impede your exploration, whom you can subdue by tossing a knife towards them.  Certain treasures could only be accessed by using a pickaxe to drop yourself down to it a la Brøderbund's Lode Runner but should you have made an irreversible blunder (and it'll happen) simply press the Z button to start the present portion again at the cost of one of your lives.  I like the Egyptian-sounding background music, visually it's simple yet effective, and the gameplay is pretty decent on the whole.

Year: 1986 | Japanese Title: Penguin Adventure: Yume Tairiku Adventure

In 1989, the South Korean company Zemina made an unauthorized Sega Master System conversion in the form of Kkum-Uidaelyug ("Dreamland"), which until this 1998 Saturn compilation was the only appearance of this game on a Sega format

Less than three years after Antarctic Adventure came out Konami followed it up with the sequel Penguin Adventure.  This time around Penta is on an arduous mission to retrieve the golden apple to cure Penguette, princess to all the penguins, who has fallen ill, with similar racing and platforming gameplay to its predecessor but with more elements added to give the proceedings some depth.  You still collect fish that jump out of holes, but should you fall down a small hole you will find yourself in a shop where you're either greeted by a grumpy or affable merchant to exchange a specific amount of fish for items (like a gun to shoot at oncoming foes that will make them fly away) and on rare instances Santa Claus who'll barter an item you'd like in exchange for a jewel.

Me anytime I finish a review in my blog, don't believe for a second that it's easy no matter how much it may look it--there is a thought process, effort, and nuance behind it all, I try so damn hard to improve my craft, but secretly I wonder if in trying to get better I'm actually getting worse 😟

On certain occasions there will be hearts that hover up and down where their color changes any time you jump and what color they are when you grab them determines the power-up you're given (green to considerably augment the time given to you, blue to momentarily ride on a cloud, and yellow to temporarily render Penta invulnerable to any and all enemy attacks and projectiles).  At the end of certain stages you'll contend with a boss who will go down provided that you thrice jump on all four pegs until they're completely struck through the ground which will make the boss go down.

I love the variety of this sequel in terms of the multitude of scenarios, where Penta will run on solid ground, tread on the snow like in the last game, swim through the water as you occasionally jump over logs, and swim underwater, all while making sure not to bump into enemies (like bouncing blobs) and their projectiles (sometimes coming from a hole, sometimes it's from an unfriendly thundercloud) or obstacles (like rocks and logs) lest you lose a life and pick up from the closest checkpoint.  As well as the aforementioned small holes you fall in that take you to a shop, I love too that should you grab a loose pair of wings in the air you'll be taken to space as you fly a considerable amount while avoiding a large field of oncoming asteroids.

I love the animation on the map that you see of Penta when you pause the game, it's so cute

It's also great to look at color-wise, from the green foliage of the trees to the breathtaking use of the color blue when you swim on the surface of the water or under it (the way the water ripples in the distance is beautiful given the MSX technology) as well as the white snow and ice, the scaling process is still nicely done, Penta's given more sets of animations which are all charming to watch (including his victory animation after defeating a boss), is wholesomely very appealing, and features a fantastic soundtrack by Yoshinori Sasaki and Kenichi Matsubara that really enlivens each stage you venture through.  

Penguin Adventure marked the video game debut of Hideo Kojima who worked on it as assistant director and who would go on to work on Konami's Metal Gear franchise, Snatcher, and Policenauts, and is one of the earliest games to have more than one ending (with the best ending in particular requiring you to only pause once).  It features two difficulty levels and is considerably more difficult than Antarctic Adventure but fortunately gives you an unlimited amount of continues should you lose all your lives.  I appreciate the nuanced structure and gameplay of this sequel which is why I consider it the better of the two, and I was happy that after many years of curiosity it ended up being worth it in the end. 😃

Year: 1982, 1983

So successful, in fact, that it would be followed by the sequel Time Pilot '84

So, here's a fun fact about the 1982 multi-directional shoot'em up arcade game Time Pilot: Yoshiki Okamoto, the designer of the game, had his proposal for this game rejected by his boss in favor of a racing game, so what happened was he gave his programmer secret instructions of his idea while Okamoto pretended to work on the racing game in front of his boss.  He would also design Gyruss the following year, and while both games ended up being successful at the arcades, his employer was none too happy because he wanted a racing game, so Okamoto was fired from Konami.  It's not a bad ending, however, for he ended up joining and lending his services to Capcom designing games like 1942, SonSon, and Gun.Smoke as well as producing some of the most successful and influential arcade games of all time such as Final Fight and Street Fighter II.

The goal of Time Pilot is to search and destroy all enemy aircraft in a set time period (starting off in 1910, then 1940, 1970, the 1980's decade with the last digit version depending on the version you're playing, and finally 2001) that you're in so that your futuristic time traveling fighter jet can move on to the next time period, and along the way should you see them you can rescue fellow pilots who are parachuting their way down.  Destroying all the normal-sized enemy aircraft will culminate in a larger aircraft that you have to destroy (like a zeppelin, large fighter planes and air freights).  Despite the herky jerky scrolling and crude presentation compared to the arcade original, Time Pilot is fun to play once in a while regardless of format and I like that you take down different enemy aircraft in each time period (biplanes in 1940, F-16 jets in the 1980's, and flying saucers in 2001) even if it does get challenging the further along you progress.  Old school fun.

Year: 1988 | Full Title: Parodius: Tako wa Chikyū o Sukū

The game that started the absurdity, Parodius, a portmanteau of "Parody" and "Gradius" which is exactly how it sounds, began life on the MSX in 1988.  Owing the core selection-based horizontal-scrolling shoot'em up gameplay elements from Gradius while borrowing characters and elements from other Konami games (like the bells from TwinBee),

These screenshots were taken while watching the demos

in Parodius you have a choice to control one of five characters: Tako the octopus, Penta from Antarctic and Penguin Adventure, Konami's silly interpretation of Ganbare Goemon whom they made a video game series after, Popolon from Knightmare, and Vic Viper from the Gradius franchise.  Throughout the course of the game all logic has been thrown out the window and has been replaced by complete and thorough randomness and does not let up.  Parodius' quirky renditions of classic public domain music has been one of the series' major staples, composed by Kinuyo Yamashita (who composed music for Konami's Akumajō Dracula/Castlevania and would lend her musical talents to Natsume for Kiki Kaikai: Tsukiyo Sōshi/Pocky & Rocky 2, the Super Famicom adaptation of Brad Silberling's Casper, and the Game Boy Color version of Croc 2), and the sound quality is incredible.

Because this cute'em up leans more into traditional shoot'em up territory (which is generally not my strong suit), I struggle to play it and cannot properly coordinate myself while playing it which is strange because I could play Parodius Da! on the Game Boy and Gokujō Parodius on the Super Famicom pretty decently and could get far enough to beat them both when push came to shove when I was younger.  I was curious to experience the starting game in the franchise and I suppose it was worth playing though I wish I was better enough at it to properly judge the original Parodius for myself. 😔 *sigh*

Year: 1986, 1987

The MSX version is different in that it has an introduction, stages are longer and have names, you start off from a predetermined point as opposed to picking up from the spot after losing a life, you can choose your own route after a while, and the names of the ships are Sabel Tiger (player one) and Thrasher (player two) controlled by Iggy Rock and Zowie Scott respectively

Serving as a spinoff to Gradius, Salamander (released in North America as Life Force) would make its arcade debut the following year and would see many a home computer and console conversion after the fact.  What set this game apart from other space shoot'em ups at the time was that it would alternate orientations after every stage was cleared, sometimes it would scroll horizontally and other times it would vie for a vertical scrolling format to keep things fresh.  I have a strong fondness for the NES port of Life Force from when I played it as a teenager (and using the thirty-life code there), and many years later I downloaded the PC Engine version of Salamander on the Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console, and I think both versions are good in their own right. I haven't gone very far in the MSX version, it's a bit too difficult so I can't make a call on its quality but I will say that it's visually solid and the soundtrack quality is absolutely superb.

I briefly covered my thoughts on this compilation as well as Ving's port of Taito's Bubble Symphony, Red Company and Aspect's Super Tempo, and Treasure's Silhouette Mirage on part two of my two-part Random Saturnday III post back in February 2023 (the first part covered Saturn games 10 through 16 while the second part covered Saturn games 17 through 20)

Was that all thirty games?  I guess it was.  Overall, I found KCE Yokohama's Konami Antiques MSX Collection Ultra Pack on the Sega Saturn to be a very enjoyable compilation, more games I ended up having a lot fun playing than not, which I feel is how it should be. 😃 This game was among four Japanese Saturn games I asked for on Christmas 2022, and I enjoyed it since the day I got it.  I like the presentation with the games appearing in a slightly windowboxed format (for what I presume was done simply to preserve its native screen resolution), the sound quality is good, and it was nice to see a handful of different pillarboxed Konami bootup logo screens for each title so they're not all the same.  Being a '90s compilation, it's hard not to feel that this one has a barebones quality about for it only features the games but not any bonus pertaining to said games (there isn't even an option to go back to the menu once you select it, meaning you have to soft reset by pressing Start and the A, B, and C buttons simultaneously which is unheard of), which is really more of a nitpick of mine and not in any way meant to be a dig at it.  With Konami's big library of MSX titles on the whole, I'm sure there are some who felt disappointed about certain games being omitted in the compilation (either due to licensing or because there were so many games to choose from that they simply could not fit all of them).  For fans of classic games, however, Konami Antiques MSX Collection Ultra Pack is a treasure trove and a wonderful way to be directly introduced to MSX gaming. 😄

My Personal Score: 8.5/10

d(^-^)bTO EACH THEIR OWNd(^-^)b

● Irrelevant to this game, on June 10th I watched the late Robert Altman's 1980 live action Popeye movie based on Elzie Crisler Segar's comic strip character and Fleischer Studios' animated shorts on Paramount+, which I watched again half a week after the fact and a third time over a week after that.  I watched the shorts growing up but never saw the movie (I remember seeing the VHS sleeve, but that's it), I've known for a long time that it got mixed reviews, and now that I've seen it I can see why it might not have appealed to everyone: it is a bit all over the place, characters talk over each other, the opening act can feel a bit long, it can be a bit uneven, and it is very silly.  Then again, the animated shorts were silly too, but as silly as the movie got it had a big heart which made Popeye pleasantly endearing and earnestly feel-good fun. 😊 I thought the late Robin Williams (whom I read regretted taking part in the film due his personal experience with the production) did a good job as the eponymous sailor man and channeled his mannerisms with aplomb while still making it his own in his first leading film role (I'm still sad he passed away all those years ago, RIP), Shelley Duvall was perfectly cast as the lively animated Olive Oyl (could anyone have done a better live action Olive than her? 😍), Robin and Shelley have a cute chemistry together, the late Ray Walston looked like he had so much fun playing Poopdeck Pappy (RIP), and there were character actors I was surprised to see in this film like the late Paul L. Smith as Bluto (I could not recognize him with the facial hair after having seen him in the late Richard Fleischer's Red Sonja, RIP) who really mastered the intimidating side eye stare combined with his lumbering physique, Paul Dooley as J. Wellington Wimpy who I've seen in the late John Hughes' Sixteen Candles and for a less problematic example learned he was the voice of Sarge in PIXAR's Cars series, Bill Irwin in his first film role as Olive Oyl's old boyfriend Harold Hamgravy for I've seen him in Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas and heard his voice in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, Linda Hunt in her film debut as Mrs. Oxheart who I've seen in several things, the late silver browed Donald Moffat (RIP) as the Taxman whom I only saw in John Carpenter's The Thing (I love how everyone cheered Popeye after he shoved him in the water, "Yay, no more taxes!!" 😄), and it was funny hearing the late Jack Mercer reprise his voice of the animated Popeye at the beginning (RIP).  The late Harry Nilsson's music and songs were catchy (RIP), the color grading really made the iconic character palettes pop on the screen, the costume designs were spot-on, the late Giuseppe Rotunno's cinematography is very good and capture the beauty of the Maltese waters, and what impressed me the most was the set design of Sweethaven in terms of its size and scale which is breathtaking even just thinking about it (they created an entire town for this movie which has since become a tourist attraction, if I ever decide to go to Malta it'd be interesting the visit the Popeye Village in person).  The octopus animatronic in the last act, as briefly as we get a good look at it, I thought was well-designed and felt fit the lighthearted tone of the movie, and I enjoyed the film rendition of the late Sammy Lerner's "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man" at the film's close.  What surprised me the most was seeing the late Robert Evans' name appear as producer, my parents and I recently watched Michael Tolkin's The Offer beforehand and I couldn't help but envision Matthew Goode's scene-stealing performance from that series. 😲 Altman's Popeye film is underrated and charming good-natured entertainment that is so sincere, in my opinion, it gets better with repeat watching (at least, that was the case for me) and I keep noticing new things on each rewatch that I hadn't noticed before, and I'm glad I finally caught up with it.  I really loved it! 😃

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