Retronauts

Matt Alt, author of Pure Invention, joins Jeremy to discuss his research into the impact of technological innovation on the growth of Japanese society in the 20th century, and how it shaped video gaming. Cover art by Nick Wanserski.

Jeremy Parish, Shane Bettenhausen, and Nadia Oxford break quarantine to return to Transylvania for an in-depth look at the original Castlevania for NES and its many, many alternate versions and remakes through the years. Art: Greg Melo

Come sail away with Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, and Henry Gilbert as we turn back the hands of time more than a decade, somehow, to revisit Mario's most cosmic journey of all time: Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 for Nintendo Wii.

Believe it or not, there are topics we've never covered in the past 14 years of Retronauts, so it's always a treat to shine the podcasting spotlight on a subject that's gone untouched. And this week, we're talking all about cowboy games: the genre that traces its roots back to the very beginning of the medium, and only recently came back into vogue thanks to the wildly popular Red Dead Redemption...

Jeremy Parish crosses realities to recruit Nadia Oxford and Jared Petty for an in-depth discussion of controversial Squaresoft RPG classic Chrono Cross on the occasion of its 20th anniversary in the U.S. (No weird accents or speech quirks… we pwomise.)  Artwork by Leeann Hamilton. Retronauts is a listener-supported show. Please help keep things running and get early access/exclusive backer-only ep...

You're listening to a free preview of Retronauts Episode 316: Nintendo Leaks. To hear the rest, and get two exclusive extra episodes every month, access to our previous Patreon-exclusive episodes, and early access to ad-free podcasts, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon .

Jeremy Parish and Diamond Feit set the wayback machine for feudal Japan to learn about the secrets of the Samurai Shodown series from Brandon Sheffield, who trawled the SNK archives to research and write the Samurai Shodown Collection. Art: Shaan Khan.

A diverse double-header this week as Jeremy Parish fields a patron request from Joseph Wawzonek to discuss Sony's Ape Escape before a chat with game archivist Leonard Herman about the history of chronicling game history. Art: John Pading.

The exciting conclusion to the saga we began back in... episode 283?! We talk about—yes—more really bizarre and nonsensical gaming input devices. For the full episode, go to patreon.com/retronauts

We're just a few days out from the release of Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise, so it's about time we take a look back at the first game that just happened to turn ten years old earlier this year. Back when it launched in 2010, Deadly Premonition stood as a budget oddity, at first only seen as a wacky, broken game that cribbed a little too hard from Twin Peaks. But over time, this open...

Just in time for another Toadstravaganza in the form of Paper Mario: The Origami King, Jeremy Parish joins Bob Mackey and Henry Gilbert to talk about the history of Nintendo's pluckiest little demi-mascot, Toad. He's the best! (Or so he says.)

You're listening to a free preview of Retronauts Episode 310: Silent Hill 2. To hear the rest, and get two exclusive extra episodes every month, access to our previous Patreon-exclusive episodes, and early access to ad-free podcasts, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon .

USgamer's Mike Williams joins Jeremy to discuss the early days of Ubisoft's virtual history sim Assassin's Creed, then patron Andrew Oliveira steps in to walk us through the history of Sega's mech-powered brawling cult fave Virtual On. Art by Shaan Khan.

Friend of the show Shivam Bhatt features this week as we talk about two gaming topics dear to his heart: Sid Meier's Civilization and (by patron request of segment guest Bill Nielsen) Magic: The Gathering.

The days of remote access segments continue as Jeremy chats with Danny Russell from Sega UK about the evolution of Sega Forever, then connects with patron Mohammed Taher about hard-rockin' Famicom anime soccer RPG (whew) Captain Tsubasa. For the full episode (and access to all our patron-exclusive content!), go to patreon.com/retronauts and subscribe to the show at the $5/mo. level. Enjoy!

We've got a mighty haul of listener comments and questions from our last three Monkey Island episodes, so this week we've brought on series expert Nina Matsumoto ( Thimbleweed Park cover artist and designer at Fangamer ) once again to help us make some informed responses! Plus, after months of sitting on them, we finally read and respond to your requested input on our video game apparel episode! A...

The Retronauts East crew reunites (virtually) to complete their journey through the 2020 Years in Review Revue, wrapping up with a look at 2010—a year overflowing with greatness! Jeremy Parish, Chris Sims, and Ben Elgin buckle beneath its weight.

You're listening to a free preview of Retronauts Episode 304: Back to the Future. To hear the rest, and get two exclusive extra episodes every month, access to our previous Patreon-exclusive episodes, and early access to ad-free podcasts, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon .

The original power trio (Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, and Ray Barnholt) talk about the system that isn't a Game Boy. It's the Game Boy Color! A completely distinct platform! One that often gets overlooked. In this episode, we un-overlook it.

Star Trek! Mega Man! These topics have nothing in common! Please enjoy two unrelated segments as Jeremy speaks to Diamond Feit about the very first Star Trek movie and its games before chatting with Nadia Oxford about very first Mega Man RPG.

Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, Kat Bailey, and Jason Wilson form up a guild and venture into the verdant history of Atlus's Etrian Odyssey series. Subscribe at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts for access to this and ALL exclusive episodes!

Our LucasArts adventure miniseries continues this week as we explore the developer's first (relatively) high-res adventure: 1997's The Curse of Monkey Island. This late-'90s release had a lot going against it: the series creator had left the company years ago, the two guys responsible for most of the previous games' humor and design were busy with other projects, and this third entry in the trilog...

In this blast from the past, Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, Steve Lin, and Jason Wilson get together to talk about the worst games ever created by our favorite developers—and do our best to find a glimmer of goodness in the bad.

You're listening to a free preview of Retronauts Episode 298: Final Fantasy VII Remake. To hear the rest, and get two exclusive extra episodes every month, access to our previous Patreon-exclusive episodes, and early access to ad-free podcasts, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon .

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of its launch, Sega Saturn is paid tribute by Jeremy Parish, Diamond Feit, and Stuart Gipp. The good (its games!), the bad (executive infighting!), and the ugly (umm... its Symphony of the Night port?).