Netflix has released an interesting documentary showing how video games were made in Spain in the ’80s.

it’s a legend The Golden Age of Spanish Software, which took place in the 1980s and early 1990s? Yes and no.

It is true that in the 8-bit era, when the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPU, MSX or Commodore 64 computers were dominating Europe, it existed in Spain. An “industry” of dozens of companies selling video games across Europe. Some, such as Dinamic, Opera Soft, and Topo Soft, have been quite successful.

But it is also true that most of them were family owned, groups of friends no older than 18 or 20 who come together to create video games without any financial backing or company structure behind them. And so this industry is almost gone When 16-bit computers arrive, demanding PCs and consoles A lot of money to build huge teams and video games.

In the late 80s, a game for the ZX Spectrum, created by a group of children slightly older than 16 years from Seville, became quite popular: Captain Seville.

Its original name was El Capitan Blood Sausage, based on a homemade comic by one of its creators. However, Dinamic, then Spain’s largest video game company and which was to handle the distribution of the game, did not like the name and decided to change it to a more commercial one. Captain Seville.

it was a very difficult platform title where the hero gains strength when he eats a blood sausage. But it was fun and had that touch of Andalusian humor that made it so popular in 1988. However, it was a commercial failure because at the time 80% of the games played are pirated. well The group of young talents that created it disbanded.

if you want to try Captain SevilleThere is a free PC version with improved graphics that you can download here.

All this history is told The documentary We Don’t Like Captain Blood Sausage! The Golden Age of Spanish Softwarewhich aired on Prime Video a long time ago but arrived on Netflix in June.

An interesting documentary showing us. How was a good piece of 80s Spanish video games created?: Groups of friends who get together in the afternoons after graduating from high school or college and create games entirely by hand, but are 16 or 17 years old.

If you like retro video games, it’s worth it as it shows lots of videos from that era and includes interviews with industry legends like Victor Ruiz of Dinamic.