8-bit Microcomputer - The Latest in Retro Video Gaming News

Tue. Dec 9th, 2025

8 Bit Programmer's & Game Artists Retro Gaming ZX Spectrum

BBC Republishes Video Game Documentary from 1984

25 June 2025 RGN Admin

“Commercial Breaks: The Race For Santa’s Software” Documentary Shows Game Developer Imagine Going Bust It was more than forty years ago today… When in 1984 the BBC airs a documentary…

Video Game Spotlight: BS Treasure Conflix (Satellaview)

This game is an interesting hybrid that is part adventure/RPG and part mode 7 airship-dogfighting simulation. It was available in Japan only through the Satellaview satellite streaming service in 1996. The game was developed by legendary RPG developer SquareSoft. The game follows airship pilot and treasure hunter Voice as he is hired to find a mythical treasure by a mysterious client Gilmore on the planet Walden. The game is split into several main sections: the town mode where the main character can interact with NPC's at the various bases located throughout the land for clues to the whereabouts of hidden treasure. The mode 7 overworld in which you have control over the airship and can use a scanner to search for hidden treasures after the revealing of intel from NPC's at the various bases. The other section is the airship-dogfighting battles which occur during various stages throughout the game.

In addition to the aforementioned game sections there are a couple more elements that are core to how the game works. After finding the treasures after obtaining clues to their whereabouts as intel from the hunter's office. Intel must first be purchased or obtained by talking to NPC's before it can be detected and found on the overworld map screen. When the location of a treasure is found an artifact is obtained which can then be sold at the hunter's office, to specific NPC's or to collector's at an auction. With money obtained from finding artifacts various upgrades can be made to the player's airship such as armor, engine, rudder and weapons. The more the airship is upgraded the easier future battles become, allowing you to progress through the game's story. It may sound very basic however it's executed brilliantly and the result is an excellent game as you would expect from SquareSoft during the mid 1990's.

As the game was released for the Satellaview Super Nintendo broadcast service in Japan, the game is only available in Japanese, but thanks to the efforts of fans there is an English patch available which can be applied to the ROM file. The whole game is fairly short as it was designed as a short downloadable game that was probably only meant to keep gamers busy for a week or so after which they would have finished it and moved other games that were newly available the following week. The entire game can be finished in about 4-6 hours but it's a very entertaining few hours. It would have been great if SquareSoft had developed this into a full-length game as the whole experience is over far too quickly. We highly recommend this game for fans of Super Nintendo RPGs and SquareSoft games.
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BS Treasure Conflix LongPlay Video - Retro Game News YouTube Channel

Hardware Spotlight: Hori SGB Commander

I had no idea that this controller even existed until I came across it on eBay a couple months ago. It's a controller designed specifically for the Super Game Boy. It has buttons that are specific to the Super Game Boy functions and will do nothing when playing Super Nintendo games unless it is changed to "SFC" mode using the little switch in the middle of the controller which will restore the L, R, Y and X buttons. When playing Game Boy games through the Super Game Boy you only need the B, A, Start and Select buttons which means that these buttons can be changed to specific SGB functions. The different buttons are mute, speed, color and window which are mostly all self explanatory. The window button changes the border surrounding the game screen and the color button switches between the available color palettes.

The controller is very attractive and is very reminiscent of the Game Boy and Super Game Boy aesthetic. The buttons are colored just like the original DMG Game Boy with maroon A and B buttons, while the function buttons are whitish-grey, the body color of the DMG. The d-pad is black and the start and select buttons are a dark grey. The entire controller is whitish-grey like the function buttons and all the buttons are labelled in a striking dark blue. The same color is used for the words "Super GAME BOY" which are printed right at the top and in the middle of the controller. It even has a fake grate mimicking the DMG's speaker holes in the bottom right corner. This controller is extremely attractive, robust, well made an absolute delight to use. However they are rare and command prices on eBay of around $100 (AU) or more.

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Tag: 8-bit Microcomputer

BBC Republishes Video Game Documentary from 1984

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