Hmmm, which brings me off topic again: SD-Snatcher is a foooking great game, but it's not technically impressive. Same goes for Solid Snake and the MSX2 version of Kings Valley 2. Apart from Space Manbow, are there any other (really) technically impressive Konami games for MSX2? I can't think of one, at the moment... The decent looks, amazing audio and excellent gameplay often made the Konami games as cool as they were ands still are...

I think you shouldn't think too lightly about the technological achievement of the games. The brilliance may be hidden behind the gameplay. Actually putting it together so that such a high level of gameplay is reached within the limitations of the system is not easy at all. It is something you don't really notice until you try coding it yourself.
Of course they also did their share of bad things (like the delay in KV2), but in general I think they're still technically impressive.

I agree with snout: there are no impressive effects or technical efforts in most Konami games. Of course, the SCC/SCC-I development or the mapped ROMs are huge steps, but I'm just considering the coding itself here. What is most remarkable about Konami's productions is the superb design and the way in which all the different elements (graphics, music, effects, gameplay and learning curve) are set up altogether. That is what makes a game a piece of art: the exact balance of all its components.
When it comes to MSX(1) games, my statement is not true for all its production. Games with the complexity of the Nemesis saga have an amazing technical background (combination of sprites and software sprites, number of enemies moving, animations of the big bosses, etc.).

By the way, and this is only an incidental question: would it be possible to generate a patch to convert the back up of my original KING'S VALLEY 2 cartridge into that strange customised KING'S VALLEY 2 (the one of the level design contest). Or, at least, would it be possible to make a loadable file with those new stages?
I'm not asking the feasibility of this, but the "potential legal issues"

Try to make a relatively smooth scroll as in SD-Snatcher... With all those moving enemies as well....

the secret: a game-director

Really, in the demoscene there were way too often ppl that made descisions about things they weren't skilled enough for, and other ppl weren't able to self-reflect on their own stuff enough. What you need is in external director who creates a vision of the game and knows how things should look, sound and move. Ofcourse, that director is not affraid to say that things suck... Naturally, in the demoscene there wasn't always the choice of choosing between gfx or music, it was usually like 'use what we have' and 'do what we can', while @ Konami there was prolly a larger group of ppl from which a director picked the right team-members.
Anyway ... no matter how things were or are,... I think this was the main difference between the scene and a gamecompany like Konami.. or Compile, or Microcabin, Falcom, .. etc.

pitpan, do you mean to convert those stages back into ELG files?

That's it, BiFi. Because those stages do not belong to Konami, do they?

I'm not sure, but I'm afraid the developers of those levels transfered their copyrights to Konami when giving them permission to publish those levels in a special edition. IIRC even the MC(C)M competitions involved transfering copyrights to the MC(C)M to make publication on disks, CD-ROMs etc. as easy as possible. MSXdev and the MRC Challenges might be exceptions on this one

if it was published in the rules beforehand it's indeed copyright Konami. By entering the contest they gave permission to publish the levels in a special contest version when they turned out one of the winners.

Too bad then!

There are some pages around with custom made levels, but maybe it would be also a good idea for a MRC Challenge. Or even levels for the King's Valley Plus (the disk version included in the second disk of the Konami Games Collection I).

Anyone interested?

@ Snout: you are so right about SD-Snatcher & Solid Snake that are not technically impressive... besides the slow game play everything is perfect... but that slow gameplay is disturbing.... if I play the game now... in the eighties/nineties it wasn't disturbing but now-a-days it is...

What I find technically a very good game is the Maze of Galious.. it plays so smoooooooooooooooth...

MOG is simply AMAZING. I agree with EvilGranddaddy. Great gameplay, good story, nice GFX (for msx1), brill muzax and what not.
one of the best ever.