RGN April Round Up - Part Two: Hardware
April in 2025 was a big month in retro gaming, lots of news of the hardware and especially the FPGA front. As mentioned in “Part One: Gaming” the ModRetro Chromatic had completely sold out and was now only available through GameStop and a small 66 unit pre-order that I found on Dragonbox.de. Collector’s had another chance to get a colored first edition which I posted about as soon as I found it, they even shipped internationally so hopefully someone saw the post and secured themselves an original 1st Edition. Now if you don’t live in the USA it can be very tricky and/or expensive to obtain now since GameStop is the only retailer still selling them. I’ve only just noticed this but the GameStop Chromatic 1st Edition is actually colored like a NES. If you look at the corner markings it’s grey, black and red which are the colors of the old “toaster-style” NES. Now that I realize that the aesthetics have grown on me and I like the way it looks better then the “midnight” color-scheme of the first edition since it’s pretty much just all black. But at the end of the day, consider yourself lucky to be able to get any variation of coloring as long as it’s a Chromatic, as while it is nice aesthetically, it is the tough alloy shell, sapphire crystal screen and genuine FPGA internals that make it a highly sought after machine for Gameboy Color enthusiasts.
MiSTeR Multisystem2 FPGA Multi Console System
Some really big news in the FPGA realms, a brand new multi console FPGA system has been announced. It contains FPGA hardware that can replicate a number of different cores, games are loaded via an SD card reader at the front. Additional functionality can be unlocked by plugging in specific cartridges, for example you add a PlayStation cartridge that gives you a couple controller ports as well as a connection for the lightgun which otherwise would not be accessible without the original console. You would not need to buy an Everdrive or any other flash cartridge leaving the cartridge slot on the machine free for expansion purposes. There are two main versions, the digital version is focused on gamers that just want plug and play type hardware, just one HDMI connection that can plug into any modern television and be able to just start playing straight away.
The other option is more geared to the enthusiast gamer that wants the ability to connect to older televisions and get the post possible picture for their hardware with other added functionality like ethernet cable port that can be used for online play (for example). That is called the Analogue version and it costs £252.00 while the cut-down digital version is £204.00. Pre-orders are being taken at the HeberShop at RetroCollective.com right now as they tally up how many units they need to manufacture to start shipping systems out by August 2025.
I was blown away when I heard about Super Tilt Bro. a brand new homebrew for the NES that came out mid-last year. This special thing about this game that separates it from all other NES homebrews, is the fact that it has a special FPGA wi-fi chip tacked onto the cartridge PCB allowing online multiplayer on original Nintendo NES hardware! What’s more the game is inspired by the popular Super Smash Bros and focus’ around a similar gameplay experience however I believe that is all open source which allows for everything to be able to be modified so downloadable content can include new levels, character, gameplay mechanics, mission objectives and any other part of the game that you can think of. There isn’t really any limit to the amount of user modification that is possible.
The kickstarter campaign to raise funds to release the game on the special physical cartridge hardware begun in March 2023 and went until April of 2024 with the first shipments of the game being sent out in June 2024. While that was some time ago now, there are still over 30 units available for sale at homebrew factory ready for shipping out straight away for €55.00 plus extra for shipping depending on your location in the world.
I said that I’d look at more games but since this part is about hardware we looked at a game with built-in wi-fi function along with an actual piece of hardware. Together with the ModRetro Chromatic we have looked at enough hardware to examine another game that I touched on at the end of Part One. That game is one that we reported on fairly early on in the month so it may have been forgotten after being overshadowed with the news in the latter half of the month. The ambitious multi-console point and click adventure game inspired by NES Maniac Mansion is being worked on in the background. We have played the Super NES demo version which was released not that long ago and were able to explore most of the town screens in the game, excluding the mansion. The mansion was partly explorable in the PC demo but I don’t like the humor that comes across with speech and prefer the SNES version to be honest. They go a bit overboard with their comedic sound effects and it hurts the immersion of playing the game.
The Super NES version has very deep and atmospheric music perfectly suited to the ambience of the world. The lack of voices is much better as you can image the tone that is being set rather than have it ruined by something that feels out of place for the story. To me it kind of feels a bit more serious then Maniac Mansion and it’s mostly serious in it’s story. Every version of this game is going to have different puzzles and solutions which means each game version is a completely different (but similar) game. The use of skills that you learn along the way is a good idea, it’s been done in Shadowgate and Quest for Glory series both adventure games with the ability to learn skills. You can still pre-order this game for any of it’s available consoles at the Straynaus Kickstarter Webpage. If you think about it this is a really unique way to make you think what version you should buy when you pre-order. The game will be different depending which system you choose so the emphasis is one choice of console, you will need to know your consoles well to get the best matching Cronela’s Mansion game for you.
Additional RGN April News
Well that makes up most of Part 1. In the next few days Farming Simulator 16-bit for Sega Mega Drive will be officially shipping out to pre-order customers. If you want the Limited Edition green cartridge with the label, case, instructions and everything you can still pre-order the Deluxe Version which has a lot of stock remaining still. Only you’ll get the official sound track and some other promotional material. In rom hacking news, there has been a new hack of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA) called “Fire Emblem: The Hag in White”. I haven’t mentioned it anywhere else in the website however it was released on the 24th of April so it counts last months news. Enjoy a whole new story as a unique spin-off has been created from a cast of different characters in the Fire Emblem world. Follow huntress Kyra as she is dragged into a whirlwind of tragedy and hope in equal measures. Find the patch file from the relevant link at the bottom of the page.
Here is a bit of random news of other stuff I’ve discovered last month. There is an anime movie trilogy series called Gall Force which I believe was a big inspiration to the creation of Metal Slader Glory. There are three movies to watch and the story makes the most sense if watched in order. Our webstore has only opened up in late April and we already have a couple rare and sought after PS3 games up for sale (Australian customers only ATM). If you are a serious PS3 collector then these are some games that you would definitely want in your collection. Speaking of games that you will want for your PS3 collection, check out our article titled Playstation 3 Top 10 Rare Imports – PART ONE.
Relevant Links
- Straynaus’ Kickstarter page for Cronela’s Mansion [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cronelasmansion/straynushttps://retrogame.news/final-nintendo-power-game-gets-translated/] Pre-Order Cronela’s Mansion from Straynaus’ Kickstarter Page
- Kickstarter Game Inspired by Maniac Mansion on NES get’s Multi-System Physical Release in 2025 [https://retrogame.news/kickstarter-game-inspired-by-maniac-mansion-on-nes-to-get-multi-system-physical-release-in-2025/] RGN article about Cronela’s Mansion as the kick-starter campaign just ended.
- Farming Simulator Get’s a 16-Bit De-Make for Sega Mega Drive [https://retrogame.news/farming-simulator-gets-a-16-bit-de-make-for-sega-mega-drive/] Essential info first posted near the start of the pre-order period, Limited Edition now sold out.
- New Aftermarket Gameboy Color Released – The ModRetro Chromatic [https://retrogame.news/new-aftermarket-gameboy-released-the-modretro-chromatic/]
- Fire Emblem: The Hag in White (Nintendo GBA) [https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/8968/] Hack of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones for GBA. Romhacking.net project and patch download webpage.
- Super Tilt Bro. [https://retrogame.news/super-tilt-bro-homebrew-game-allows-online-play-on-real-nes-hardware/] RGN article about Super Tilt Bro. homebrew online multiplayer game for Nintendo NES
- PlayStation 3 Top 10 Rare Imports – PART ONE [http://retrogame.news/playstation-3-top-10-rare-imports-to-add-to-your-collection-part-one/] Games you’ll want to add to your PS3 collection
