Comparison

Profanation vs iMSX2

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Profanation

Embark on an adventure through a pyramid filled with traps and creatures. Guide Johny Jones, mutated by an ancient spell, to find keys and recover his normal appearance by mastering jumps and navigating 45 challenging rooms.

Highlights
  • Navigate 45 pyramid rooms
  • Master short and long jumps
  • Avoid traps and enemies
  • Collect keys to restore appearance
  • MFI Gamepad support
  • Virtual joystick and on-screen buttons
Features
Read full description

The story begins like this... Telegram... ---------------------------------------- Johny your remedy is in the great pyramid STOP Go to the tomb of Abu Simbel and drink the spell STOP ----------------------------------------- T H E G A M E ---------------- Johny Jones have been mutated by charm of Abu Simbel. He has converted a strange creature that only conserves his enormous nose. He is forced to travel to Egypt to the pyramid where is the tomb of Abu Simbel, and where it must arrive after discovered the keys that will lead him to this place. If he obtains it, he will recover his normal appearance. The pyramid is filled of traps and creatures who will suppose a serious obstacle for our pretensions, and the only weapon is our skill to be jump from a side to another one without falling in the claws of our enemies, or the traps that are in all places. He can do long or short jumps, according to the situation in which one is. You must complete all of 45 Rooms, you have 20 lives, when you enter into a new room you will have a new life as divine thanks. You have Long jump and short jump. Good Luck Johny. C O N T R O L S ----------------- MFI Gamepad supported, Virtual Joystick and virtual Buttons on Screen... Button X or A -> Short Jump, Button Y or B -> Long Jump, Analogic or Digital pad to Johny moves. -=-=- Idea By Dinamic - GFX By Alberto Moreno "Grihand" - Powered By Ivan Cerra "Nibble" -=-=-

About

iMSX2

Play classic MSX and MSX2 games on your iPhone or iPad. Load games from ROM, MX1, MX2, DSK, or ZIP files. Features include save states, Bluetooth controller support, customizable buttons, and screen filters for an authentic retro experience.

Highlights
  • Play classic MSX/MSX2 games
  • Load games from ROM, MX1, MX2, DSK, ZIP
  • Save and load game states
  • Bluetooth keyboard and controller support
  • Customizable button layouts
  • CRT and scanline screen filters
  • Load BASIC programs
Features
Read full description

Experience Classic MSX and MSX2 Games on your iPhone/iPad with iMSX2! Turn your iPhone/iPad into a portable MSX2 emulator with iMSX2! Emulate classic MSX and MSX2 games in ROM, MX1, MX2, DSK or ZIP format Key Features: · Play Classic Games: Relive the nostalgia of playing your favorite MSX and MSX2 games right on your iPhone/iPad. · Run Your Cartridges: Reproduce MSX and MSX2 cartridges from ROM, MX1, MX2, DSK and ZIP files and enjoy them on your device anytime, anywhere. · Save States: Save and load game states and the configuration type easily (iCloud) · Bluetooth Compatibility: Support for Bluetooth keyboards and game controllers. · Customizable button layouts: Edit the button positions for each orientation and enjoy full compatibility with shells like GAMEBABY and PlayCase. · Choose Your ROM Type: If your rom is not loaded correctly, try to select from various ROM configurations including "Normal", "Type K", "Type K SCC", "Type ASC16", "Type ASC16 SRAM", "Type ASC8", "Type ASC8 SRAM" and "Type ASCII16-X". · Screen filters: Enjoy a more authentic and customizable retro experience with CRT and scanline filters. · Fast forward: Speed through gameplay with the new fast forward mode. · Load Your Own BASIC Programs: Run your own programs in BASIC format directly on your iPhone/iPad. · Powered by C-bios: iMSX2 is built using C-bios for the utmost accuracy and compatibility. · Custom BIOS support: Import your own BIOS files to enhance compatibility and personalize your emulation experience. · Improved Disk Support: Play more MSX disk games with improved DSK compatibility, multi-disk support, on-the-fly disk swapping, and user disks for saving data in supported games. · Auto-fire: Added switches to enable auto-fire for the A and B buttons. · Designed to be very basic: With a beautiful and user-friendly interface for both portrait and landscape orientations. · The app does not require an internet connection, contains no ads, and does not store user data. It also takes up little space. What's Next: Stay tuned for even more enhancements! Constantly working on improving iMSX2 and adding new features to provide you with the best MSX experience on iOS. LZ4 Library Copyright (c) 2011-2020, Yann Collet C-BIOS Copyright (c) 2002-2005 BouKiCHi. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2003 Reikan. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2004-2006,2008-2010 Maarten ter Huurne. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2004-2006,2008-2011 Albert Beevendorp. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2004-2005 Patrick van Arkel. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2004,2010-2011 Manuel Bilderbeek. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2004-2006 Joost Yervante Damad. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2004-2006 Jussi Pitkänen. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2004-2007 Eric Boon. All rights reserved. emu2413 Copyright (c) 2001-2019 Mitsutaka Okazaki Z80 Emulator micro MSX2+ Copyright (c) 2023 Yoji Suzuki.

Screenshots

Profanation4 screens
iMSX24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Profanation at Free against iMSX2's $1.99. Profanation also leads on review sentiment (87% vs 59%) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). iMSX2's advantage is rating (3.4 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (10 vs 2). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Profanation is free to download; iMSX2 costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iMSX2 holds the better App Store score, 3.4 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iMSX2 has 10 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 87% of Profanation's written reviews are positive against 59% of iMSX2's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Profanation versus iMSX2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterProfanationiMSX2
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating3.0 (2 ratings)3.4 (10 ratings) — better
Positive reviews86.7% of reviews — better59.3% of reviews
Number of ratings210 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperIvan Cerra de CastroEnrique Enguix

Customer experience

Profanation

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive86.7%
Neutral10.0%
Negative3.3%

iMSX2

All ratings10 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral30.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews27 reviews
Positive59.3%
Neutral22.2%
Negative18.5%

In-app purchases

None

Profanation

No in-app purchases

None

iMSX2

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Profanation free?
Profanation is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is iMSX2 free?
iMSX2 costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Profanation or iMSX2?
iMSX2 is rated higher. Profanation averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while iMSX2 averages 3.4 from 10 ratings.
Do Profanation or iMSX2 have ads?
Neither Profanation nor iMSX2 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Profanation or iMSX2?
Profanation ships an update every 3 weeks, and iMSX2 every 3 weeks. Most recently, Profanation was updated on October 14, 2026 and iMSX2 on October 18, 2026.

Other comparisons