Comparison

Art Collector vs iMSX2

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

Head to head
About

Art Collector

Walk to discover and collect digital art from global museums and collections. Earn XP, unlock new features, and curate your unique collection through seasonal drops and weekly events. Your steps directly translate into artistic rewards.

Highlights
  • Collect real-world digital artworks
  • Discover art from museums worldwide
  • Trade, gift, or destroy art
  • Curate sub-collections
  • Participate in seasonal drops and weekly events
  • Earn XP and level up through walking
Read full description

— Turn Your Steps into Art — Walk to unlock real-world artworks and grow a unique digital collection. Every time you hit a step milestone, you’ll discover a new piece. — Discover & Collect Real Art — Discover artworks from museums and collections worldwide. Keep your favourites, trade with others, gift pieces to friends, or even destroy art you don’t want. Curate sub-collections that reflects your taste. — Seasonal Drops & Weekly Events — New art arrives all year. Collect limited-time seasonal pieces, join weekly challenges, climb leaderboards, or take things slow and unlock art at your own pace. — Level Up as You Walk — Reach step goals to earn XP, increase your collection capacity, unlock avatars, and gain access to more community features. — Private by Design — We only read your step count to unlock rewards. No location tracking, no storing or analysing your activity data.

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

Art Collector4 screens
iMSX24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Art Collector at Free against iMSX2's $1.99. Art Collector also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.4) and review sentiment (100% vs 59%). iMSX2's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On ratings volume and update cadence 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

Art Collector is free to download; iMSX2 costs $1.99 up front. Art Collector sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. iMSX2 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Art Collector holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 10 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Art Collector's written reviews are positive against 59% of iMSX2's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Art Collector ships an update every 2 weeks, iMSX2 every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Art Collector versus iMSX2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterArt CollectoriMSX2
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better3.4 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better59.3% of reviews
Number of ratings410 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB8 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperKarl SimsEnrique Enguix

Customer experience

Art Collector

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

iMSX2

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

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Art Collector

One-time1
  • +10 Collection Slots$1.99
None

iMSX2

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Art Collector free?
Art Collector is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is iMSX2 free?
iMSX2 costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Art Collector or iMSX2?
Art Collector is rated higher. Art Collector averages 5.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while iMSX2 averages 3.4 from 10 ratings.
Do Art Collector or iMSX2 have ads?
Art Collector shows ads; iMSX2 does not.
Which is updated more often, Art Collector or iMSX2?
Art Collector ships an update every 2 weeks, and iMSX2 every 3 weeks. Most recently, Art Collector was updated on October 15, 2026 and iMSX2 on October 27, 2026.

Other comparisons