The MSX version of Thexder is coming to Switch on November 19

D4 Enterprise is bringing the MSX conversion of Game Arts' mech action shooter Thexder to Nintendo Switch on November 19 under its EGGCONSOLE banner, priced at 880 yen in Japan and $6.49 on western storefronts, as reported by Ryokutya2089.

This isn't the game's first appearance on the Switch eShop. D4 Enterprise put out the original NEC PC-8801mkIISR edition back on October 26, 2023, just a month after kicking off the EGGCONSOLE line with Bothtec's Relics. Having two separate 8-bit computer versions of the same game on one modern console sounds redundant at a glance, though Japanese PC ports of that era differed enough in hardware limits, stage layouts, and sound chips that they often play like cousins rather than clones.

From Game Arts' debut to Compile's MSX cartridge

Created by Hibiki Godai and Satoshi Uesaka, Thexder launched on the PC-8801 in April 1985 as the very first release from Tokyo studio Game Arts, which later built its reputation on Silpheed, Lunar, and Grandia. You pilot a Hyper Dual Armor unit through the subterranean mazes of the asteroid Nediam to destroy its magnetic field generator, swapping on the fly between a ground mech and an agile fighter jet.

The mech fires auto-targeting homing lasers that lock onto swarming enemies, and you can pop a protective energy shield at the direct cost of your main health reserve. Running out of energy ends your run immediately with no mid-stage mercy, because 1985 computer game designers generally viewed player comfort as a character flaw. Despite that punishing difficulty, the game became a runaway hit, selling over one million copies across its many global conversions by 1990, helped in North America by Sierra On-Line's 1987 DOS and Apple IIgs ports.

When it came time to adapt Thexder for the MSX architecture in 1986, the port was handled by Compile, the studio later known for Aleste and Puyo Puyo. Fitting the game onto a ROM cartridge meant trimming the PC-88 original's 16-stage structure down to a 10-stage infinite loop, and reworking the soundtrack (including its chiptune take on Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata) for the MSX's three-channel PSG audio chip. Even with fewer levels, it's widely regarded as a much stronger conversion than Square's choppy 1985 Famicom port, which traded the signature continuous laser beams for standard pellets. I'm curious to see how Compile's tighter 10-stage loop feels back-to-back against the sprawling PC-88 release on a Switch screen.

Where else you can play it

D4 Enterprise has spent more than two decades cataloging Japanese computer history on Windows through its subscription-based Project EGG service, which previously hosted the PC-88, FM-7, and MSX editions of Thexder in Japan. Outside of those PC archives and the 2009 Thexder Neo remake on PSP and PlayStation 3, official ways to buy the game in English have been scarce.

Like the rest of the EGGCONSOLE catalog, this MSX edition is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch eShop and won't be hitting Steam, PlayStation, or Xbox. If you don't already own the PC-8801mkIISR release from 2023, that version probably remains the better starting point for newcomers since it holds the full 16-stage layout, while this $6.49 follow-up is squarely aimed at MSX devotees and Compile completionists.