The thing about the Spectrum or the C64 is, you got one or the other, and loved it to death. Now you have all them people 25 years later, bitching at each other on forums about which is better.
They both blow, IMO. Spectrum was an eyesore and had no RPGs, C64 was drab and all the arcade ports were a disaster.
C64 had a great RPG library, and most of the exclusive games were pretty legit. Anything that was a port was a frigging shitheap.
At the time I could see why the C64 did so well. It was pretty cost-effective and had alot to offer.
but nowadays, the DOS versions load lightning fast and DOSBox takes care of everything. No need to emulate the C64 w/ 4 double sided disks for the same game experience... -_-
I am not anti-MSX, but I will defend C-64.

Not that C-64 needs defending...
ON GAMES: I find it odd that you so readily dismiss C-64 when you acknowledge the decent stable of software. The library of games is C-64's strength. So many wonderful, at times eccentric, titles. That is why I love it, still,
today. I am discovering new titles that I never had a chance to play back in the day.
ON MUSIC: Oh, well, of course I love all the SID tunes... again, it's the vast array of great music that keeps me returning. Now, C6-4 did not emit anything as warm/smooth/polished/sophisticated as PCE's PSG, but SID's are just as intoxicating.
Anyway, the C-64 is quite playable today (real hardware), IMO