The Retro Breakdown

Dean's first classic DOOM game is DOOM 64, played on the PS4, which is bizarre enough on its own. This is one of those weird ones where we basically spend the entire time complaining about the game even though we both really liked it. We also spend a great deal of time talking about game monetization, how it has changed over the years, and how the $70 price point makes no sense. Discord: https://d...

First, Tom and Dean talk about how cool it is being a foreigner in countries that don't hate foreigners. Then, the conversation of Super Valis 4 goes off the rails as we look into whether there was another Valis game after this one and OH NO THERE IS BUT NOT LIKE THAT. Also featured, a very short, spoiler-heavy discussion of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, which we both played and liked, and you should a...

It's a special episode this week as TW makes Tom play all three of the games he played in the Kusogrande Grand Finals! And he actually did play two of them! TW talks about his feelings on the tournament overall, and then we discuss the merits of each of the three games in the final. For being three games making up the finals of a bad video game tournament, it wasn't as bad as you might expect. The...

Trip World is a short game that we talk about for a short time. But we fill the space with talking about how Konami became the worst company because of staff treatment, how stock trading is just gambling, and how the yakuza are probably behind a lot of Japanese business decisions. Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG Bad stuff about Konami: https://kotaku.com/report-konami-is-treating-its-staff-lik...

Ironically, a large amount of hype for Donkey Kong Country had nothing to do with the actual game. That seems to have made the discussion even more interesting. I mean, it MAY have only been interesting to US, but still. Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG That Cyberpunk Roadmap: https://assets.rockpapershotgun.com/images/2021/01/cyberpunk-2077-roadmap.jpg

Welcome to 2021, where things probably won't get worse, maybe. Tom and Dean talk a lot about going back to Final Fantasy 6, then discuss how hard Startropics tried to get them to hate it. It wasn't bad, though. Just really mean. I dunno, it's complicated. Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG The "Letter": https://i.imgur.com/S0zffVp.jpg Jessi Plays FF6: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwwyEcb3Pj...

It's the end of 2020, finally! It's time for a retrospective on the good times - and in the case of this podcast, that means talking about video games and trying to ignore almost every other thing that happened in 2020. This week, we rank every game we played for The Retro Breakdown this year on a tier list. This is the first podcast that will have a video version as well! Discord: https://discord...

Tom relives his childhood (in more ways than one) with our first DOS game on the Retro Breakdown, Home Alone! It's a first in a lot of ways - for starters, we unintentionally started recording the first half of the podcast before actually playing the game. We are in fact both staring at the start screen for the game, and end up talking about a bunch of other things, but I was recording video, so w...

This week, we talk about the absolute best thing the Sega Saturn brought to our lives. We also spend a little time talking about NiGHTS Into Dreams. Maybe we're missing something here? Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG Manual: https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Sega_Saturn/Manual/formated/NiGHTS_into_Dreams..._-_1996_-_Sega.pdf

Tom and Dean talk about console version differences, Tim Follin, and the change in the video game hype cycle. But mostly, we talk about James Pond 2: Operation Robocod, which is certifiably the most bizarre game we have played for the podcast yet. Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG Manual: https://segaretro.org/images/2/21/James_Pond_2_MD_AU_Manual.pdf

TW and Tom have somewhat differing opinions on one of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive's swan song games. But then a mid-90s EGM interview sets off an age-old debate: "IT LOOKS LIKE THIS GAME HAS COLOR IN IT, DOES THAT MEAN IT'S FOR BABIES?" TW has words about this, and maybe derails the conversation. TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG EGM Interview on Ristar: https://archive.org/details/Electron...

We finally did it. We finally recorded our episode about Mario Sunshine, after weeks and weeks of hinting at it. We have differing, but overall mixed opinions. At the end of the day, it's still a Mario game, and it's good. BUT... (Dean's note - I kept meaning to bring this up during the discussion, and I forgot, but I think it bears mentioning. This game has one of the most disappointing Bowser fi...

Tom and Dean hit the record button getting ready to talk about Super Mario Sunshine, and then just agree to talk about Kusogrande, Yakuza, and 13 Sentinels. Because not every Retro Breakdown needs to have a retro breakdown. I don't know, we're making the rules up as we go.

Yeah, it's hard. It's punishing. But there's a beautiful logic that makes it all work, and we think that's beautiful. Well, Dean does. Tom sort of enjoyed it, but also never wants to see it again. Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG Manual: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clvs/manuals/common/pdf/CLV-P-SABDE.pdf That link to Dean's Nexus store: nexus.gg/TimeWanderer

The Peace Keepers is what happens when you take the basic premise of "walk to the right and punch things," but then you make the punch not work. That being said, there is some fun to be had here, largely in the the wild translation, and the story of how it came to be. Game localization in the 90s was a wild experience. Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG More info on the Peace Keepers: https://en....

We went off on some tangents before starting to talk about Super Mario 64. Normally I'd just delete those, but I figured you might want to hear some of them, so here!

Nobody needs to be told at this point that Super Mario 64 is a good game. But we're gonna do it anyway, as well as discuss the 3D All-Stars collection in general and try to keep ourselves from talking about Mario Sunshine instead. We also discuss favorite/least favorite stages, and talk a bit about the game's place in history. Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG Mario 64 Manual: https://www.gamesd...

It's funny, because that's what the game is called. But also, THAT'S WHAT THE GAME IS CALLED. This game was okay, but if there's one thing to know about it, it's that the composer for Contra also did the music for S.C.A.T., and he said S.C.A.T. was his favorite soundtrack to make. Legit confirmed this game's music is better than Contra's. Probably. Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG S.C.A.T. Manu...

We've covered lots of obscure stuff on the podcast, so we decided to treat ourselves to a game with a bit more of a reputation, despite it not even being the best game in its own franchise on the SNES. There's lots of talk about weird dark Kirby lore, and the amusing introduction of ability combinations, many of which involve Kirby brutally torturing one of his animal friends (usually Kine). There...

In a first for the podcast, Dean and Tom review a NEW game! Two Scoop Games reached out to us about playing their new game Kick Bot, a two-button precision platformer built around wall kicks and double jumps. There's only an 8-level demo available right now, with the full release due out in early 2021, but there was still plenty here to discuss. DISCLOSURE: This is not a sponsored podcast, but we...

We field another request this week in the Vic Tokai cult classic Clash at Demonhead. This one had us talking about the wild nature of 1980s-90s video game localization, the absurdly ambitious design of some NES games, and of course, one of the most incredible bad ends in all of video games. There is also some Yakuza talk, and a bit about the results of Dean's most recent Kusogrande match. Discord:...

This week, Jessi makes us play Karnov, the game about the fire-breathing Soviet strongman who fights... I dunno, dragons? Dinosaurs? Whatever happens to be there. We discuss the... INTERESTING sound design, including the one pretty-good song and also all the other not-so-good stuff. Despite Karnov being sort of a standard-bearer for NES garbage, we sort of enjoyed it in a "generic NES platformer w...

We try out a new format this week - no random banter, just Retro Breakdown. Which is good, because Illusion of Gaia has a LOT to talk about. Even the instruction manual refers to spoilers as a "loss of innocence." Now I understand why. This game has some STUFF. Fair warning - and this applies to basically all of these podcasts - spoilers are basically happening throughout the episode. If you care...

We start with light breathing. Then, Tom shares his recent not-so-guilty pleasure, Dean gets mad at Nintendo for inevitably ending up with his money even though he hates what they're doing with the Mario 3D All-Stars collection, and the guys diverge on Shadow of the Ninja. Shadow of the Ninja is a 1990 platformer for the NES by Natsume that is derivative but solid. After some discussion (and a lit...

If you've ever wanted to hear two people start a discussion about a game by saying, "There isn't anything about it that's really bad," but then dump on it for the next 45 minutes anyway, this is your episode. Jump Force, Dragon Quest spinoffs, Battletoads, and Triscuits share the spotlight this week on the Retro Breakdown. Tom talks about the games he's been dusting off to finish, and Dean gushes...