MSX Tier 1: Welcome to MSX BASIC Hello, 198x

MSX BASIC is based on Microsoft BASIC but tailored to the standardised MSX hardware spec — think of it as a clean, slightly enhanced flavour. Let’s use it to write a colour-cycling welcome.

Code

10 COLOR 15,4,4
20 PRINT "HELLO, 198X!"
30 FOR I=0 TO 255 STEP 16: COLOR I MOD 16,4,4: NEXT I

Type this into your emulator and run it.

Each iteration updates the text colour; the screen flashes as “HELLO, 198X!” gets printed again and again.

Line-by-line

• Line 10 sets the foreground, background, and border colour.
• Line 20 prints your message.
• Line 30 cycles through different foreground colours.

Did You Know?

Because MSX was a hardware standard, you could write code on a Sony MSX and run it unchanged on a Yamaha or Panasonic. That was a big deal in the early ‘80s.

Extra Credit

• Try changing the STEP to 1 or 32 — what effect does it have?
• Use CLS at the top of the loop to make the colour changes clearer.
• Print other strings in different colours using LOCATE.