Ghost released

A few months ago we reported about the development of a new game. After that it escaped our attention until a proud buyer showed his blue cartridge on the MSX Home Computers group on Facebook. Francisco Téllez de Meneses delivered and Matra released. Ghost is out now and everybody with a cartridgeslot can enjoy it.

As described on the website of Matra, Ghost is a Metroidvania kind of adventure. A hint to Konami's Maze of Galious is mentioned as well, and rightly so. But where Maze of Galious is situated in a mythical history environtment, Ghost takes place in a futuristic space station. Ghost, the main character in the game, has one mission: a computer went mad and now in control of the Dallas Space Station. This has to end and it is your task to guide Ghost through a puzzle of no less than 100 screens, devided over five maps to achive this.

On Youtube Francisco Téllez de Meneses released a video which shows five minutes of game play. This video explains the stuff shown so the viewer already knows what they can expect. The music will put you right back on that comfy end of eighties chair and the graphics can match the products from that era as well. It has all the specs of a a well crafted brand new game from the days gone by.

All is presented on a fresh blue cartridge in a colourful cardboard box. As a bonus a mini CD was added with lots of extras and other goodies. All this for a mere € 25,-. So if you're a gamer, this game would be entitled a mandatory recommendation.

Please visit Matranet to get hold of your copy.

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By Grauw

Ascended (10862)

11-07-2017, 22:13

Ordered and on the way .

The gameplay in the video looked really smooth and tight and fun, you can tell this guy is an experienced game developer! Looking very much forward to playing it!

By enribar

Paragon (1233)

11-07-2017, 22:18

A really very good game!!! Some technical solutions never seen on MSX at this level!

By hamlet

Scribe (4113)

11-07-2017, 22:53

This game is awsome. I did buy it, because I wanted to share shipping cost for Popolon and did´nt expect too much.
Wanted to test it and lost one night. Absolutely Metroidgalliusvania.
Wow!
Buy it.
And it even comes better. It´s nice packaging includes a mini CD with maps and artworks on it.
Buy it.
I have to go back to the Dallas now.

By wyrdwad

Paladin (934)

11-07-2017, 23:03

I got my game in the mail on Friday and played through it over the weekend (after having previously played through it on Steam, where it was released under the name "Mini Ghost"), and it was just as fun the second time around. It's such a fantastically designed game, with perfect pacing and level designs, a great challenge level, and graphics and gameplay that really defy all expectations of what the MSX1 can do (seriously, how is this not an MSX2 game?!).

I absolutely recommend this wholeheartedly to anyone who even remotely enjoys this style of gameplay, as it's pretty much impossible to be disappointed. And if you like it, I recommend the PC indie game it was based on, too, "Ghost 1.0" -- as well as Francisco's previous game, "Unepic," which is just as amazing. This guy is just a fabulous indie developer through and through, and I am without a doubt a fan of his for life -- I will buy any game he releases from here on out, without question.

As fair warning to anyone who's played the Steam version "Mini Ghost," however, I feel I should let you know:

The MSX version does not feature any of the sub-weapons from the Steam version of the game.
The MSX version does not feature the medical bay from the Steam version of the game (though you don't really need it, since you can recover your health by resetting and entering your password to continue).
If you're playing with a gamepad, the MSX version is locked to using up to jump, button 1 to attack, and keyboard controls for all other functions. Button 2 is not used, and there is no means of reconfiguring the game's controls.

The CD was also a really nice inclusion, though I do wish it would've included the game's soundtrack -- I really like the PSG arrangements of the Ghost 1.0 music!

These minor omissions were all initially a bit shocking to me, having come off the Steam version, but I very quickly realized that the game is more fun without relying on sub-weapons, the medical bay is unnecessary, and it takes no time at all to get used to pressing up to jump (it's the Galious way, after all!).

And in the end, these are all just nitpicks anyway. The game is, overall, an absolute masterpiece, and should be played by anyone who enjoys MSX gaming. It's so nearly perfect, I have to nitpick in order to even sound remotely critical.

-Tom

By Latok

msx guru (3977)

11-07-2017, 23:08

Thanks for all the enthusiasm! I decided to order both Popolon and Ghost.... Arriving shortly

By wyrdwad

Paladin (934)

11-07-2017, 23:11

Latok wrote:

Thanks for all the enthusiasm! I decided to order both Popolon and Ghost.... Arriving shortly

Hey, that's exactly what I did! And definitely no regrets here: both are awesome.

-Tom

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (7003)

12-07-2017, 08:31

Having finished Ghost 1.0 on steam I had to buy Ghost for msx
Tonight I will give a try to the cartridge I hope

By andrea.denara

Expert (73)

12-07-2017, 09:44

A curiosity...
Is there the big boss in the msx version?
If yes, how is moving? In the pc version is moving smooth as a big sprite

Thanks

By Lord_Zett

Paladin (807)

12-07-2017, 15:42

nice a real great game. was playing it on pc from steam

By wyrdwad

Paladin (934)

12-07-2017, 16:45

andrea.denara wrote:

A curiosity...
Is there the big boss in the msx version?
If yes, how is moving? In the pc version is moving smooth as a big sprite

Thanks

There are four bosses, yeah. And they don't move smoothly in the MSX version, but they move consistently -- they move one tile at a time, meaning they're background objects that are being dynamically moved as necessitated by the battle.

-Tom

By Sander

Founder (1875)

12-07-2017, 22:45

Amazing graphics. BTW: what we call indie today now far surpasses the big studios from back then. Aackosoft bought games from individuals also and then published them. A lot of what is made for MSX today really is of high quality. I really think often that calling software homebrew or indie really doesn't do it justice. It somehow sounds less, while it isn't. So, only when you are a game studio like Bioware or EA it isn't indie? In the beginning indie meant (ok at least for me) that the game producer also published the game. Now it's all steam or one of the other platforms.

On topic: great game, I got it too. Must buy. And don't forget that Matra reissued a lot of earlier published games so a lot of sold out games are now back in stock. Get them while you still can. Because look at the Goonies 'R good enough game for instance: sold out never to return. Prices on Ebay are 5 times the initial price now.

Konami MSX games are already an investment, but I also see a bright future for these Spanish gems. 25 euro, how can they make a game with box, cartridge, programming, pcb, electronics and cd-rom for 25 euro, spent time for running a website and going to the postoffice, handle e-mails and customer care and still have food for eating? Let keep MSX alive, support the developers and buy their stuff. Even if you only use emulators. See it as an investment then. It will pay off later.

By syn

Prophet (2148)

12-07-2017, 23:09

There is nothing wrong with the term indie IMHO. It usually just means that there isn't a 200-man team with a multi-million dollar budget behind it.

I generally prefer indie games or games by smaller studios.

Ghost looks nice, very good job!

By wyrdwad

Paladin (934)

12-07-2017, 23:12

Hear, hear! I remember a lot of people were disappointed when the Coleco Chameleon KickStarter died, because they wanted to recapture that feel of buying new, high-quality cartridge-based games, and felt that with the Coleco Chameleon scrapped, that would never happen. Meanwhile, I was over here, buying up games from Matra, MSX Cartridge Shop, Repro Factory, and KAI Magazine, and amassing a huge collection of new-in-box, high-quality cartridge games -- exactly what Coleco Chameleon backers felt they needed a whole new system to accomplish.

I say, if you want to collect new cartridge games of staggeringly high quality, look no further than the modern MSX indie scene. This is where it's at, and has yet to let me down. There are new indie games released for MSX practically every month, and virtually every one of them has been a gem!

-Tom

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (7003)

13-07-2017, 13:48

After few minutes of game I was totally captured by the exploration.
The level design and the game play are absolutely professional.
There is a lot of coding and great ideas in characterizing the different level areas.
Greetings to unepicfran

By Manuel

Ascended (19817)

13-07-2017, 22:06

Is this coming in the direction of what MOAM would be?

By wyrdwad

Paladin (934)

13-07-2017, 22:55

I get the feeling this is too short a game to really be what MOAM promised to be, but they come from similar roots. MOAM was inspired by La-Mulana, right? And La-Mulana was, in turn, heavily inspired by Maze of Galious.

Well, Fran got his start making Unepic, which was itself heavily inspired by Maze of Galious. He then followed it up with Ghost 1.0, which seemed to be heavily inspired by Unepic. And this is a prequel to Ghost 1.0, which wears that original Maze of Galious inspiration on its sleeve even more than Unepic did.

So the genre and inspirations are about the same, but I feel like the approach -- and certainly the length -- is probably very different.

-Tom

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (7003)

14-07-2017, 08:23

Moam... lost memories...
I think it will never be completed, but huey is more optimistic. Who knows...

By msxski

Resident (62)

14-07-2017, 14:26

Cartridge only? I would buy this if it was cassette.. Would that be possible with this game?

By ricbit

Champion (438)

14-07-2017, 18:42

Is this game available as paid download?

By Sander

Founder (1875)

15-07-2017, 13:57

If you want to download and play the Steam version would be the alternative. But, you can always ask Matra. Which has zero post on this site so email would be preferred I suppose.

By Chanur

Supporter (6)

16-07-2017, 14:32

Looking great, what payment methods do they accept?

By Grauw

Ascended (10862)

16-07-2017, 15:16

Paypal or bank transfer.

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (7003)

16-07-2017, 15:32

There is already a cracked version of ghost mini on a well known social... Disappointing...
Anyway the crack is partial. Those who will download the pirate version will be disappointed as well

By wyrdwad

Paladin (934)

16-07-2017, 21:16

Why would anyone even bother cracking a game that's $2?! Man, people are the worst sometimes!

-Tom

By ricbit

Champion (438)

17-07-2017, 16:23

I asked Matra, there is no paid download. Guess I'll play the steam version.

By Chanur

Supporter (6)

19-07-2017, 16:13

Grauw wrote:

Paypal or bank transfer.

Thank you

By Francisco Tellez de Meneses

Expert (128)

06-04-2018, 22:31

Sander wrote:

"25 euro, how can they make a game with box, cartridge, programming, pcb, electronics and cd-rom for 25 euro, spent time for running a website and going to the postoffice, handle e-mails and customer care and still have food for eating?"

Good question!
It turns out that I lost money with Ghost for MSX.
The amount I had to pay for the poster from Azpiri is higher than everything I earned so far.
But I knew it in advance, so I published "miniGhost" on Steam and I could recover everything :-)

msxski wrote:

Cartridge only? I would buy this if it was cassette.. Would that be possible with this game?

It's a 32Kb ROM, so technically it's possible.

By syn

Prophet (2148)

06-04-2018, 22:48

Im a huge fan! I bought ghost on msx and also minighost and ghost 1.0 thought i havent played 1.0 yet. Hope to see more of your stuff on msx!

By Grauw

Ascended (10862)

06-04-2018, 23:16

I think the awesome cover art was worth it though . Really a big surprise release for me, Ghost, and I was really impressed by the high quality. I too hope we will see more releases in the future .

By Sebbeug

Champion (406)

07-04-2018, 23:05

Totally fan !
I finished GHOST MSX version... So i just bought the steam version !!!
Waiting now for Ghost 2.0 for MSX...

By sd_snatcher

Prophet (3687)

07-04-2018, 23:08

Same deal here. I purchased the cartridge, and devoured the game to its end. It's certainly a new classic for the MSX.

By tiziano.s.marcozzi

Rookie (25)

21-04-2018, 19:21

i can't find a way to reach the deeper rooms(there are 4 of them if i remember well) beneath the ship. Is there a clear way to reach them?

By FiXato

Scribe (1743)

06-10-2018, 22:14

Mini Ghost is currently 50% off on Steam, according to IsThereAnyDeal

By Grauw

Ascended (10862)

24-07-2019, 00:25

Ghost 1.0 was released on PS4 this week, and it’s very nice, I just finished it!

By Thom

Paladin (715)

30-12-2019, 16:43

Just finished the game (Mini Ghost for Windows). It was a lot of fun! The end boss was pretty hard to beat, but after hysterically pushing my space bar into mashed potato, the only thing left is to get the game song out off my head.

BTW, what is it about that Minimagos game from the same author? Instructions are only in Spanish and I don't get past a screen where one must select a couple of icons.

By FiXato

Scribe (1743)

16-06-2020, 01:49

JSYK, Mini Ghost is part of the Itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice & Equality, which still has about 7 hours left before it closes.

By ren

Prophet (2071)

17-06-2020, 13:45

Yeah, that's a nice offer to miss out on

By avtiger27

Supporter (10)

17-06-2020, 15:27

Thanks for pointing that out. Got the bundle but it's so large I had no idea Ghost was in there.

By Briqunullus

Paladin (863)

18-06-2020, 13:57

I'd love to see a (paid) download version for MSX as well.

By JGM

Master (149)

29-08-2020, 16:57

Today I've finished this cool game... It is a must have for anyone with a msx!

By Sebbeug

Champion (406)

29-08-2020, 19:07

Agree ! Master piece !

By M-A-D-M-A-X

Expert (128)

11-10-2020, 11:42

Game finished on MSX.

A very good game but to short

By timbru

Rookie (32)

17-10-2021, 14:29

With matra sadly closing shop.. does anyone know whether there will be a re-release of this somewhere some time? Having missed it before I would be very interested. Failing a hardware version I would also gladly pay for a legal download.

If there is a definite no as an answer then I guess I will put up an ad in see if someone is willing to sell.

By Briqunullus

Paladin (863)

17-10-2021, 14:51

Yes! I have contacted Unepic Fran a few weeks ago. He is planning a re-release of his games with MSX Cartridge shop. Both in physical and digital form. He expects this to happen this month. Keep an eye on his Twitter!

By timbru

Rookie (32)

17-10-2021, 14:56

Awesome! I’m not on Twitter but will keep an eye out. I’m confident more people here would be keen.

By The Apeman

Champion (272)

17-10-2021, 20:04

Awesome! I played this game at the fair yesterday and would love to own it.

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (7003)

23-11-2021, 17:51

By accident I have seen this C64 title on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI4Xzn894ec

It reminds something...

By gdx

Enlighted (6644)

24-11-2021, 01:12

There is like... uh, how to say ... a great inspiration.

By Timmy

Master (200)

24-11-2021, 01:48

I haven't clicked on that link but I've seen that game earlier. I think that if I want to make a similar platform game with many rooms within 64K, I might want to re-use this look too.

It seems to be an effective way to pack a lot of rooms in small amount of bytes. If 1 (or more) byte can represent 3x4 tiles of a screen, then it's a good compression.

(Although it is also possible that the author was inspired by the Steam version instead.)

By Briqunullus

Paladin (863)

19-02-2023, 22:00

I have bought the digital version of the game from Unepic Fran directly. It's a great game, it plays very well. In the end I managed to finish it. And because I was afraid to get lost, I have created a map for it. Of course I'd like to share it with all of you.

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