A list built mostly out of nostalgia for other platforms, but — no shame in it — you can play all of these on MSX or MSX2 without wincing. You already know these games from other machines; on MSX there's no poverty here either, there was plenty to play in the 80s… if you actually had access to these games 🙂
Boulder Dash
A classic in its own right. Rocks, diamonds, and time running out. Interestingly, two versions of this game circulate — the second one is somehow… more monochrome.
Gauntlet
An Atari classic, from Atari, ported to MSX pretty decently, with a few small hiccups on MSX2 and with mappers.
La-Mulana
Probably not an official release, charming graphics. I haven't dug into it much yet, no time — but even as a showcase of what plain MSX graphics can do, this game earns its keep.
H.E.R.O.
A 1984 game, wonderfully colorful on MSX compared to the version I played on Atari.
Chuckie Egg
Who hasn't played the egg-collecting game? It seemed to exist on every 8-bit platform and then some — MSX didn't miss out either. Surprisingly colorful version too.
Batman / Ocean and Batman: The Movie / Ocean
The isometric world of Gotham City, a bit monochrome but playable. Batman: The Movie, on the other hand, is a side-view game, much like the ZX Spectrum version. There was no Atari version at all — so laughing at someone for owning an MSX instead of an Atari comes with a slightly bitter aftertaste.
R-Type
A great shoot-em-up; the MSX version reminds me a bit of the ZX Spectrum one, maybe because of a similarly stuttering scroll.
Gradius 2 (beta) 1988
Another shooter (of course) — another few hours of my life lost to shooting things 🙂
Desperado
Something like Gunfright from Ultimate Play the Game, but with a Spanish flavor and palette.
Altered Beast
A version that looks like it was lifted straight off the ZX Spectrum. Oddly enough it came out in 1990 on MSX, not MSX2.
Robocop
Ocean dominated movie-license games — another action title based on a film.
Head over Heels
Another isometric classic I envied ZX Spectrum owners for.
Pac-Man
The game without which there'd be no Atari. Thankfully it made it to MSX too 🙂
Manic Miner
I really wanted to play this on Atari (it finally exists there now, but back in the 80s and 90s it didn't).
Gun Fright
A western classic from Ultimate Play the Game. I was jealous.
Jack the Nipper
A ZX classic.
Operation Wolf
A pleasant little shooter.
Army Moves
Straight out of the ZX playbook!
Aliens / Alien 2, 1987
Nice sprites.
Alien 8 – Ultimate Play the Game
Another isometric classic.
Knight Lore – Ultimate Play the Game
Sabreman in action. This is the original version, but the game got a fantastic graphical remake some time ago.
Martianoids – Ultimate Play the Game
Another title well known from ZX Spectrum.
Bubbler
Another game out of the ZX world.
Cyberun
This time not an isometric production from Ultimate Play the Game. Again — a very ZX-flavored conversion.
Night Shade
Probably the last title Ultimate Play the Game ever published. Very colorclash-heavy tiles, very ZX in feel.
Montezuma's Revenge
A port from the ColecoVision — distinctive colors, this version only has 3 levels, but it's pleasant to play.
Starquake
A version very close to the ZX Spectrum one.
Dynamite Dan
Again feels like a ZX port, but with less jarring colorclash.
Barbarian, 1988
A slightly different game than you'd expect — you actually move to the right 🙂
Wizard's Lair
A graphic adventure with arcade elements, known from the 8-bit world. The tile palette again looks straight out of ZX.
Bosconian
A well-loved space shooter. Could use a bit more speed — once I install a turbo mod on my 8280 it'll probably feel like the right pace.
Eidon / Orpheus
A visually gorgeous adventure game.
Aliens
You never mess around with the Aliens license, even when the port looks like it came from ZX Spectrum.
Finders Keepers
Part of the Magic Knight series — an item-collecting, combination-guessing adventure game. If you played Spellbound (1985), Knight Tyme (1986), or Stormbringer (1987), this is the fourth game in that series.
Elite
The iconic trading-and-combat space sim, all in one.
Sorcery
Ghosts, demons, witches, and one wizard — us. I played this on the Amstrad — supposedly one of the better games of its genre on CPC.
The Hobbit
I loved playing this at a friend's house on ZX Spectrum; sadly I never got a proper version for Atari during the years I owned one — and then, bam, there it was on MSX, with genuinely nice graphics. Contrary to what you'd expect, there were actually quite a few high-quality English text adventures on MSX — Lords of Time / Return to Eden, The Price of Magik, Level 9.
The Living Daylights, 1987
I recently fired this up on both Atari and ZX Spectrum — the MSX version looks visually very close to the Spectrum one, though the character seems to move more smoothly. By the way, Licence to Kill is also on MSX.
Molecule Man
Isometric again, but what can I do — it's the high-res ZX Spectrum look that captivated me back in the 80s.
Hostages
The first game I ever played on an Amiga, at a friend's place. On MSX there's nothing to be ashamed of — it looks nice and plays well.
Joe Blade
Black and white and very ZX, but the character animation and so on are genuinely nice.
Spy vs Spy 2
The spy-vs-spy duel, one of the better two-player games on 8-bit computers. Plus the cult MAD Magazine comic behind it. Great graphics on MSX. A shame there are no other parts. Compared to the Atari version — a lot more color 🙂
River Raid
A staple at every party. Runs very smoothly on MSX.
Contra
Graphics again lifted from ZX, but at least it exists.
Keystone Kapers
Chasing a thief through a shopping mall — MSX pulls it off. This classic came out quite well. Though the Atari version has a somewhat better color palette and atmosphere.
Moon Patrol
Needs no introduction — a classic. A bit sluggish in the MSX version, but still fun regardless.
Bruce Lee
I'm not sure if I ran into a bad copy of this game, but a green background is a bit of a letdown.
The topic will continue, because the rest of the list is still waiting:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Choplifter, Pentagram, Green Beret, Platoon, Highway Encounter, Renegade III, War in Middle Earth, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Jumping Jack, Super Cobra, Arkanoid, Lode Runner, Rambo, The Goonies, Glider, Spelunker, Booty, Elevator Action, Laser Squad.
To sum up — a lot of these games leaned on graphics originally made for ZX Spectrum, and the MSX's tile-based mode fits ZX-style colorclash surprisingly well. The games above form what you could call the canon of 8-bit titles from the 80s — the ones most of us know from Atari, Commodore 64, or ZX Spectrum. The titles that are purely MSX in spirit, rooted more in Japanese arcade and entertainment conventions — from arcade cabinets to manga/TV-inspired titles — are a whole separate topic, coming soon.