MSX Turbo R Review - The Obsolete Geek

Here is an in-depth look at the rare MSX Turbo R computer from Panasonic!

[@boozydaboozer]

Cool, I imported the GT version of this machine back in the 90's. Pretty expensive, both quite worth it. The increased performance of the R800 was most noticeable with BASIC programs. Any decent programmer would use the VDP interrupt routine to keep their games running at the same speed regardless of CPU speed. Quite a lot of games actually ran better in R800 mode, not because of the increased CPU speed but because of the improved handling of writing and reading I/O ports that could lead to problems if a mandatory delay time was not obeyed in Z80 mode.

[@VSigma725]

TURBO! Japan just loved the word turbo back then.

[@ollekehoever9072]

How wonderful Rob this review. I used to own a Panasonic Turbo R as well in 1990, i imported it from Japan to The Netherlands, unfortunately it only had 3 games or so and the support was cancelled for MSX long way before that. But great your review!

[@obsoletegeek]

How cool! I bet it was very expensive to obtain in 1990.

[@ollekehoever9072]

Back toen it coaten 1900 dutch guilders; now 1900 euro's so yes it was quite expensive importing it

[@mbe102]

Man, I really like your videos, and i'm not sure whats going on, or if you've just not had time to make them, but I really miss them man. Hope things are okay, and look forward to more content when you get around to it :).

[@heart.wyred_official]

The good ol´MSX times

[@SkyeWelse]

Thanks for doing this overview video Rob. I think this will be pretty informative for those interested in getting into MSX and needing to decide between getting either a MSX2/MSX2+ or Turbo R. I have a Turbo R GT and I wanted to explain just a bit more information that may be valuable in helping folks with making that decision. While the Turbo R can play any MSX1 through Turbo R games, it will only play games either on rom cartridge or disk based formats. It isn't classified as being completely 100% backwards compatible due to the fact that is has no option for hooking up a cassette player / recorder to play cassette games. While cassette games are very old and likely won't play for much longer, simply having a CD with the wave files of those games and or wave files directly played from say a digital device should be enough to load up without much issue provided the MSX machine has a Line In for audio. That's the one downside I'd say for the Turbo R aside from the price. Next, even though there weren't too many games for the Turbo R released, there are some very interesting developments in the MSX scene which is still very active that makes use of the Turbo R's extra power. It might be worth it for those who really want to get involved with MSX development in the future, especially with the extra enhancements such as the GFX9000 (or compatible hardware) and the Moonsound OPL4 sound card, virtually turning the MSX Turbo R into what would have been the MSX3. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos on MSX! www.usamsx.com

[@EmilianoFraga]

+SkyeWelse That talk about cassette compatibility. When the TR was launched, 1990, cassette media was already obsolete. Panasonic WSX also has no cassette plug on it and no one complains. . Also, please take a look on MSX Data Pack Vol 3. This is a ASCII book series about the MSX Standard. ASCII had the rights over MSX standard on that time. On this book ASCII states clearly that TR has no cassette interface, as the natural evolution of the 1983 first version of MSX Standard.

[@speccysrule3678]

TBH, I couldn't see much differenncce between the Z80 or TURBO versions apart from the display being a bit sharper & brighter on the turbo! Exlent sound though! BTW I love programing Z80 code, It's sooo easy and fun!!!

[@mattx5499]

Too bad that they released it instead of 16-bit MSX with Z80 on board for backwards compatibility. The idea of a computer made by dozen of companies was great. All these different designs are freaking fascinating. Also having a machine with built-in floppy drive and cardridge slots was a blast.

[@rickonami]

Awesome!

[@jaydy71]

Nice video, but one small correction: The R800 is not a RISC type processor at all. It has the same instruction set as the Z80 with a few instructions added, but it is a lot more efficient than the old Z80.

[@snesfan8935]

Some day I'll buy Turbo-R.

[@opendog7]

2:38と2:56の横スクロールのシューティングに置いてはMSXturboR(CPU違い)では無く 正規に横スクロール対応のMSX2+(VDP違い)以降に依るものです。 MSX2でのスムーズ横スクロールはバグ技/裏技の利用に等しい事を行っているので 無理が有るのです。

[@AndreSilva-de2cd]

Each time you ask Nishi (MSX creator) the same question, the answer will be different. He said once for example that the Turbo R was named after his car at that time (Bentley Turbo R). So, take the "R stands for RISC" story with a grain of salt.

[@Kw1161]

You should try the SymbOS system on the Turbo R.

[@weezerbluealbum5984]

Hey, what was the music used during the comparison?

[@VenomStryker]

@Rooflesoft Games No wonder the music sounds like Gradius, since this was also developed by Konami. Their music team had some awesome chip tunes back in the day!

[@samcoupe4608]

Have u seen wolfenstein on c64 super cpu n zx spectrum next?

[@leonardoantonio8756]

Pretty interesting, nice japanese konpyuutaa! haha

[@joseadolphobrandao4665]

What is the name of the game at 3:47 ?

[@andresortega516]

How do you switch to 'high speed mode'?

[@fr_schmidlin]

There are BIOS functions for that. On MSX-DOS2 and Nextor, you can use the CPU command to easily change between the speed modes.

[@blackinwoman]

the board was cheap (made from Phenolic paper) ? like in megadrive 2 ?

[@fr_schmidlin]

No. It's a fiberglass PCB.

[@jW-kr5xn]

I was looking for motorcycle, then I clicked into this......

[@mvl71]

I have both now :)

[@NesNyt]

Can u use google translate on it to resd kanji

[@zsewqthewolf1194]

put SymbOS on it

[@samcoupe4608]

Get wolf!

[@ravengaming4143]

Whoa, F-Zero on MSX? But was it legit or a bootleg version?

[@jpdl1790]

it's a clone called f-zeru ex

[@ravengaming4143]

JPDLgames Yeah I thought so. Pretty neat to have a 8-bit version of F-Zero with the scaling effects, albeit considerably more pixely (understandably).

[@gunmatheretrogamer747j]

Raven Gaming a homebrew

[@PLAN50]

Too bad MSX died. Main problem was that it didn't innovate. Turbo-R was introduced years behind Amiga 500 and lacked in basically all aspects.

[@glufke]

"It's an incredible gaming machine...". ----> Shows a bunch of MSX1 games :-D

[@samcoupe4608]

No there iznt

[@NesNyt]

God they make ugly looking products, look at that dashboard

[@StefanHomberger]

Such a beautiful machine. The main reason I want one of these alongside an MSX2, is Illusion City.

[@BigGfromSA]

My dream MSX machine.

[@electricadventures]

Very well done getting hold of a Turbo R, a machine I would like to get one day. Probably the main piece of MSX hardware missing from my collection when it comes down to it. Would have loved to have one back in the day, then perhaps there would be more games for it now :) I do intend on finally breaching the MSX 1 barrier and bringing out some enhanced versions of my games, will have to look into how hard it is to add adaptive support for the Turbo R when I get to that stage.

[@pedroserapio8075]

The PCB and soldering points look amazing.

[@BFG69000]

Nicely produced video, thanks!

[@LastofAvari]

Hey Rob, thanks for the great review!

[@travistaylor3186]

MSXturboR one of my dream computers on my wish list. One day I'll have one.

[@pychoncy]

In Spain only one shop sold MSX TurboR computers in the early nineties. They were very expensive: the A1ST costed €721 and the A1GT €841

[@RockyBergen]

Awesome review! Keep it up. :D

[@Oldsukerbole]

Great machine and nice review. Somehow I always have a soft spot for MSX computers. But in 1990 you where probably much better off with an Amiga (in Europe at least).

[@CollectingRetro]

Great video! From what I could tell it seemed that Space Manbow was running slightly faster? Was it just a plain MSX2 on the right side or 2+? What other shoot em ups were also featured?

[@EmilianoFraga]

Nice video. Congratulations.

[@SANPARR1]

Cool - Congratulations

[@Mechakick]

Hey homes, I noticed the MIDI on the front of the box, I run emulated FM Synthesis in Cubase but I'd love to have the direct hardware... Do you know if either of the Turbo R models or the other MSX2's with the built-in FM would be better for MIDI programming and playback?

[@Dawwwg]

No the MSX-MUSIC hardware uses the YM2413 OPLL (OPL2 Light) chip, the same as the Sega Master System. This is not bad, but not as good as regular OPL2 (YM3812) or 3 or 4 (which Cubase is probably emulating). For your purpose I'd suggest a Roland MT-32 or MT-64 just any decent 90s MIDI keyboard.

[@tetsuoshiva]

Is there a way to launch the GUI you show at 4:27 from the Online MSX Emulator at WebMSX?

[@ArnauddeKlerk]

No. WebMSX only features MSX1, MSX2 & MSX2+. No Turbo R. Take a look at the OpenMSX emulator. This can do the job.

[@skins4thewin]

R800 vs Z80 footage looks virtually identical, aside from it looking like your Z80 footage is being taken via Composite vs RGB for the Turbo R. If they were both using RGB I don't think there would be any discernable difference aside from MAYBE some very slight smoother scrolling on the R800.

[@airthrow]

Rob just curious what is your Japanese ability?

[@obsoletegeek]

airthrow I know zero Japanese!

[@airthrow]

robivy64 Just curious because I'm on all the FB groups for these J-PC's, I want to get some next year but I can only read Kana and don't remember very much of my highschool Japanese at all....good to know I can still get plenty of enjoyment w/o it. :)

[@benjaminbaker7952]

+airthrow what facebook groups if i may ask?

[@airthrow]

+Penjama TheRainMan MSX Computer Fanland, NEC PC-98 Club, and Sharp X68000 Club.

[@PrekiFromPoland]

I wonder how does Metal Gear 2 run on the Turbo R.

[@pychoncy]

Fast as hell: hold the SHIFT key while the MSX TurboR boots. The game will run in R800 mode.

[@fr_schmidlin]

There's a patch to enable turbo support on MG2, then it runs at the correct speed without any slowdowns.