Searching old brazilian magazines “Micro Sistemas” for information on MSX softhouses, I found the following published letter, on Micro Sistemas 92:

“We received, for review, an adventure from the reader Lisandro Zambenedetti Granville, called CINCO ESTRELAS (Five Stars). The game was written in BASIC for MSX, and brings a series of inovations regarding more traditional adventures.

Totally graphic, the player viewpoint was relocated to the top, like, as if the player sees the view from above.This simplifies a lot the graphic representation problem of positioning and allows very complex games to be written. Without a doubt, a great idea. Another interesting point is the game controls, through pre-defined words.

Lisandro asks our opinion about his work and we decided to publish it as an incentive to other authors. The game is very interesting and captivates the player attention for a long time. All the graphic work was very elaborated, and the impression is that we are seeing a product ready for market.

Congratulations to Lisandro and we would like to review, soon, his program properly. Keep it up.”

Curious with the text, I decided to search the author on the internet, and with some luck I found his email. I wrote him asking about the game, and soon received an answer, which exceeded my expectations: the author had a MSX game, and adventure, but not Cinco Estrelas – but actually Cinco Estrelas parte 2, “A Vingança do Barão” (Five Stars part 2, “The revenge of the Baron”)!

Not only the game has the same style as the original 5 Estrelas (as described in the magazine), but this sequel is also written in BASIC – and even so, still keeps a fantastic gameplay.

Don’t waste your time, and get this game on our rare games section!