Remember The Game? Retro Gaming Podcast

Super Mario Bros 2 is the oddball of the NES Mario Bros games. Along with Super Mario Sunshine, it's the oddball of the entire Super Mario series. But you know what? I like oddballs.* *I rewrote that about ten times, and that was the least creepy sounding thing I could come up with... I like Super Mario Bros 2. A lot. I owned Super Mario Bros 1 & 3 as a kid, but never got my hands on the second one. So any chance I had to play it, I jumped all over it. I couldn't wrap my little mind around it! You could pick up bad guys and throw them at each other! (Before picking up Koopa Troopa shells, this was crazy). There were weird potions that took you into an alternate universe, and that's the only place you could find mushrooms. Stars floated up from the bottom of the screen. You could play as Princess Toadstool (old school) and Toad!?!? Where'd this game come from???? As we would all later find out, it came from Japan. Because they decided that the kids over in North America that played Nintendo weren't good enough to play the game they originally wanted to release as Super Mario Bros 2. And after playing that original sequel (released everywhere as The Lost Levels years later), there were right.  But this episode isn't about the sequel we didn't get (there's already an episode of the show about that game, The Lost Levels - Episode 26 if you're interested!), it's about the one we did. Super Mario Bros 2 is a beauty of a game. It introduced gameplay mechanics to the Mario Bros series that still exist today, like Birdo, Shy Guys, and the Princess's floating ability. It's still as fun to play in 2019 as it was in 1988, and it's about damned time it got it's own episode of the podcast.  My buddy/fellow comedian/improv king David Rae is my guest this week, and we have a great chat about the Cousin Oliver of the Super Mario Bros series; Super Mario Bros 2. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

26 Kesä 201953min

One of my favourite things about doing this podcast is that I'm discovering new retro games all these years later. Particularly when it comes to Sega. You're going to see more Genesis love in year 2 of this show, and it starts with today's game; Shining Force. **On that note, if you haven't played a game that's covered on the show, I encourage you to give the episode a listen, anyways. Maybe it'll peak your interest and help you discover a new game to play as well! (And please let me know if that ends up being the case!)** Shining Force is rad. I just recently played through it on my friend Miklos's suggestion, and I loved it. It's a great tactical RPG (imagine an RPG board game). You and the computer move your characters around on a grid style map, taking turns attacking each other. Most maps have various landscapes throughout their tiles, and they can provide offensive and defensive strategies. It's like playing RPG chess in a way. And Shining Force is one of the grandfather's of the genre. I think I described it as the Dragon Warrior of tactical RPGs. For better and for worse.  While the gameplay itself is fun, and it contains many of the elements that have caused me to completely fall in love with the tactical genre (strategy, levelling up characters, and a stiff challenge) it has a lot of faults, too. Clearly, this was a learning process for the developers, and some of the mechanics are ancient and frustrating to work through. Menu navigation is a nightmare. So is inventory management. It's just clunky and boring. Luckily, that makes up just a small portion of your experience with Shining Force. I found myself gritting my teeth and slogging through the standard "village between battles restock" that comes with most RPGS, because I knew another fun battle map was waiting on the other side. Tactical RPGs have become one of my favourite styles of video game, and it was really cool playing what some consider the Super Mario Bros of the genre. It has it's warts, but nothing that ruins the experience. My buddy Miklos came through with a killer recommendation by suggesting I give Shining Force a shot, and he joins me on the show this week to talk about why it's so awesome. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

19 Kesä 201957min

I can't believe we've made fifty episodes of this train wreck of a podcast! And speaking of train wrecks, today we're talking Super Mario 64! (Just kidding!)Kind of.  I won't lie to you, loyal reader/listener/fellow nerd. The core Mario series is my favourite in all of gaming. But the first foray into the world of 3D just didn't grab me. I remember getting this game as a kid, and yeah, I played the hell out of it. But it never took over my life like it's two dimensional brethren did. I was way more into Mario Kart 64, which we got at the same time. I struggled with the camera, the controller, and just didn't enjoy it as much as I did Mario's other adventures.  Having said that, I came into this podcast ready to rip Mario 64 a new ass. And I just couldn't do it. I think that's a true testament to the genius of this game and just how groundbreaking it was. I wanted to spend an hour trashing it, and every time I tried I found myself bringing up something it did right. Watching clips of the game in preparation for this episode, I was mesmerized by the music and the world Nintendo created for the launch of the Nintendo 64. It's truly a masterpiece. I want to hate it, I think I hate it, I'll tell you I hate it. But....I don't. Super Mario 64 is one of the most important video games of all-time. I thought it would make a perfect topic of conversation for the 50th episode of "Remember the Game?", and I brought my buddy Mark McCue with me.  Thank you so much for listening to the show. Whether you've listened to all 50 episodes, cherry picked the ones about games you know, or this is your very first one, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

12 Kesä 20191h

In a world where sports video games have become deep, complex, virtual simulations of their real-life counterparts, Ice Hockey still stands out. It's the epitome of the saying "Less is More". Sure, if you're looking for a hockey game where you can develop rosters, play 100+ hours of a franchise, and manage my salary cap, there are better options. But if you just want to play a quick game of hockey against a friend, and have a really good time doing it, it's still hard to beat Ice Hockey.  It's not a very deep game. You play against either the computer or a friend in a single game, and that's it. No seasons or tournaments. You get to pick from one of six national teams, and then you make up your four man roster. You can pick between skinny players (fast but wimpy), medium players (meh), and heavy/fat players (slow but powerful), and you can mix and match to create any combination of four that you want. And within that lies the genius of Ice Hockey. Do you roll with a team of four skinny players, skate circles around your opponent, but get knocked off the puck every time somebody sneezes? Or do you load up on heavyweights and just hope the other team skates into one of your guys? It might not be as deep as navigating the AHL looking for a fourth line winger, but it works perfectly. The combinations are practically endless.  I guess technically there's 256 combinations. But whatever. The gameplay is insanely simplistic and easy to pick up. Steer your highlighted player with the D-pad. "A" passes or steals, and "B" shoots or changes players. The D-pad controls your goalie at the same time, which is also really fun. I'd argue that controlling the goalie in Ice Hockey is as fun as controlling the goalie in any hockey game ever made. And that's it. Most of the basic rules from hockey are here, and you just try to score more goals than your opponent. There's no load times, no rosters updates, it's just simple, arcade hockey. And it's awesome.  Most people compare Ice Hockey to it's NES counterpart Blades of Steel. I knew a ton of people that owned one, but I don't think I knew anybody that owned both. I preferred Blades of Steel as a kid, but I think Ice Hockey has held up infinitely better over the years. It recently released on the Nintendo Switch as part of their NES Online service, and I can confirm it's as fun to pick up and play today as it was over thirty years ago. It's not perfect; and it certainly isn't worth paying anymore than a few bucks for these days. But for my money, it's the Ric Flair of Nintendo sports games. One of the all-time greats, and I love it.  My buddy David Rae does too. He's my guest this week, and we had a ton of laughs talking Ice Hockey. I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as we did! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

5 Kesä 201944min

They might seem silly now (they're not silly at all, by the way) but in the mid 90's, the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers were in control of every kid on the planet. Who didn't love the "teenagers with attitude"??TV show(s), movies, actions figures, comic books, the Rangers were everywhere. Video games were inevitable. I remember wanting to get my hands on every Mighty Morphin' thing I could during my phase a Ranger junkie. Especially the video games. But the only one I ever owned - and played for that matter - was the self titled game on the Super Nintendo. And when I was young I thought it was incredible, albeit a little easy. As a jaded, grumpy old man now, I can see it for what it is. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers on the SNES was a half-assed, cookie cutter beat 'em up. On a console that boasted incredible beat 'em ups like Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, Maximum Carnage, Final Fight 3 and (insert your favourite game that I missed here), not to mention the undisputed king of beat 'em up - TMNT IV: Turtles In Time, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers came up short in every possible way. It snuck by on the back of the franchise itself, and while many of us played and loved it as kids, it's aged terribly. I could beat this game as a kid without breaking a sweat. I'm not great at games now, but man did I suck back then. You just ran left to right, punching generic putties over and over again. Being able to pick from Jason, Trini, Zack, Kimberly and Billy before each level was cool, but they all pretty well controlled identically. And once they morphed from their teenage selves into their Power Ranger counterparts, they were simple palette swaps of one another. Some of the boss fights were kind of cool, but the two minutes it took to beat them didn't make up for the ten minute slog you went through to get there. The game ends with a couple Street Fighter style battles between Megazord and some villain, and they're only slightly more fun than the countless putty fights before them.Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers isn't a great game. But it's based on a great franchise, and it kicks my nostalgia sensors into overdrive. My buddy Andre is back this week, and we're talking about the video game and the Rangers themselves, and we had a hell of a time doing it. Plus, I snuck the theme song into the beginning of the episode :) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

29 Touko 201945min

Everyone knows that most video games based on The Simpsons, sucked. But, everyone played video games based on The Simpsons. I know I did. I think I've played every Simpsons video game ever made, except for The Simpsons Skateboarding and The Simpsons Wrestling. It didn't matter how big of fan you were, one look at the back of those CD cases was enough to realize these games were real life versions of Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge. But I played the rest of them. I owned a lot of them, too. Including The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare.  For the record, I loves me some Simpsons. Admittedly, I'm one of the old school fans that doesn't care for the last fifteen years of the show. But in it's glory days, I was flat-out obsessed with the show. I watched a couple hours of it every day. My parents knew it, too. And they knew that Santa would look like a hero if he could combine my love of The Simpsons with my love of video games. Christmas morning, a Simpsons game found it's way into our house more often than not.  I'm sure we'll do episodes of this show about some of those other games down the road. Today, we're talking Bart's Nightmare. I had it for the SNES, and I actually really liked it. I think the plot of the game isn't terrible. Bart falls asleep doing his homework, and you have to go through his dreams/nightmares to get the 8 pages of his homework back before he wakes up, which happens when you get a game over. The more pages you collect, the better grade Bart gets on his paper. OK. Maybe it is terrible. But I liked it. I still do. It has issues, and they're the same issues that plague almost every Simpsons video game. The controls (at times), are awful. It's hard as balls. Frankly, it's a stupid game. But they nail some of the cameos and references to the show, and that's why I liked playing these games as a kid.  I never beat it, but I didn't care. I have great memories of fighting Homer Kong, flying through the sky as Bartman, and popping bubblegum on Principal Skinner's head. I like this game. My buddy Darren does too. He joins me on the podcast this week, and we finally dive into the urine-soaked hellhole that is the world of Simpsons video games on Remember The Game? And I know, I could have said peepee-soaked heck hole.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

22 Touko 201947min

There may not be another game in my "illustrious" gaming career that I have fonder memories of after a single play-through than The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. I played through it one time, on my GameCube back in the day, and never turned it on again. Not because I didn't like it, but because I just ended the game feeling....satisfied. I've seen the criticisms of Wind Waker. Too much time is sent just floating around on the boat. The art style looks too childish. I was going to list a third one, but honestly, that's all I can really remember ever seeing anyone bitch about when it comes to this game. The "too much time on the water" complaint is slightly justified. I never felt it was a chore, but I guess I could see where someone is coming from. Anyone that complains about the art style is straight up crazy.  For my money, this is the best looking game in the Zelda series (and yes, I'm including Breath of the Wild). I'm infatuated with the way this game looks. From the first time I saw it, I thought it was gorgeous. I think it's aged incredibly well, and I'd love to see another entry done in the same style. It's like playing one of the best looking cartoons ever. The bright colours helped make the time drifting around on a boat seem light and enjoyable. I'm not a graphics guy in the least, but I'd play this game again just to get another look at it.  I'm a pretty fair weather Zelda fan. Mario has always been my guy, and while I've played a nice chunk of Link's games, few of them would be on the short list for my favourite games ever. Link To The Past, Link Between Worlds, and The Wind Waker would be the exceptions to that rule. I absolutely adore this game, and I pray the HD Wii U port we got a few years ago finds it's way onto the Switch soon.  My buddy Mark is back this week. We've talked about a few Zelda games already, and we were both hella excited to add The Wind Waker to that list. Kick back, relax, and let's go on a boat ride! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

15 Touko 201947min

The whole concept behind this podcast was to talk about the games we played as kids and to stir up those feelings of nostalgia, and that's exactly what A Boy and His Blob does for me. My brother and I played the hell out of this game as kids. We never owned it, but we rented it. Over and over and over. Everyone remembers doing that with a game or two back in the day, right? By the time you stopped renting it, you could have just bought the damned game with all the money you spent! We never came anywhere close to beating it, either. And honestly, without the internet, I doubt we ever would have. But we didn't care.This game was built to be played alongside the internet. Tons of trial and error, and hard to solve puzzles. You play as "boy" - I don't remember them actually saying what his name was - and this blob thing follows you around. I didn't know it back in the day, but apparently the object of the game was to collect treasure (that was in caves under the ground) to buy vitamins to feed bad guys back on Blob's home planet. Oh yeah, and you had a ton of different jellybeans to feed blob, and when you did, he turned into different things like a ladder, a bubble, and a blowtorch.Yeah...It didn't tell you what each flavour of jellybean did to blob, either. You had to feed him different kinds of beans, and see what happened. We kept a handwritten list of what bean did what. And then once you knew you could make blob into, you had to figure out where to use him to stay alive. Because everything killed you. Falling, enemies, spikes, water, falling rocks, ugh. This game had a ton of flaws, but I still have a soft spot for it. My buddy and fellow comedian Ty does too. He's my guest this week, and we look back at our adventures dying alongside Blob as kids. Grab a bag of ketchup jellybeans, put your feet up, and go for a ride back in time with us, won't you? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

8 Touko 201941min