Franchise Festival

Chris, Hamilton, Spencer and special guest Eddie V ( @thatretrocode ) discuss the development, gameplay, and stage design of Capcom's Mega Man 2 . Don't miss Eddie's work over on The Boss Rush Network !

Chris, Hamilton, and Spencer embark on a new season covering Capcom's 11 classic Mega Man side-scrollers. Unfortunately, in order to appreciate the heights which the series would later reach, this requires taking a critical look at the franchise's inauspicious 1987 debut. Even so, there's always joy to be had in learning about abandoned concepts and early installment weirdness ! Sources on develop...

Hosts Chris, Spencer, and Hamilton got into the eggnog and decided to cover the Resident Evil: Death Island CG movie as a Christmas bonus show. It may not have been a great film, but we all had a great time talking about it! Happy holidays, friends!

Hello listeners, this is your Franchise Festival host Chris. We just wanted to provide a few quick announcements: (1) There is no new episode on the public feed this month, as we’re taking a short break between seasons to recuperate and enjoy the holidays with our family and friends. (2) Patrons will get our annual Game of the Year podcast on or around December 15th. If you’d like to hear it, plea...

Hamilton, Spencer, and Chris offer their final thoughts on the topics covered in Season 3. Along the way, they recount their favorite and least favorite games in these franchises, whether there are any similarities between Supergiant and Sonic the Hedgehog, what they'd like to see in the future. Finally, Season 4's topic is announced at the end... This episode, like all episodes in Season 3, was m...

Hamilton and Chris explore Sonic the Hedgehog's first "open zone" adventure, Sonic Frontiers (2022). Along the way, they discuss the game's development, its peculiar minigames, and how well it succeeds at shifting the franchise away from linear stage design. Noteworthy sources include interviews with Sonic Team Creative Officer Takashi Iizuka by IGN and Eurogamer .

Spencer and Chris get downright crunchy with Supergiant's Hades (2020), working through the finer details of how its gameplay systems interact with one another to produce one of the best roguelikes of the last decade. Along the way, they explore how Hades was made and how the elusive good ending plays out. Sources MCV Interview with Jen Zee Gamasutra Interview with Greg Kasavin Noclip Documentary...

Chris and special guest Celeste Roberts go in-depth with NoCode's Stories Untold (2017). Along the way, they manage to discuss Zork (1977) , Cold War-era cyanide tooth capsules , and the Alien film franchise . For more from Celeste, please check out the Boss Rush Network , Another Zelda Podcast , and Read Only Magazine ! Also, this episode was guest-edited by Carly Pryor! You can find more of her...

Chris and Hamilton recall the first 20 years of Sonic the Hedgehog by taking a close look at Sega's Sonic Generations (2011). Along the way, they discuss what happened to the property over the preceding decade and why some characters' names were changed during the localization process.

Chris and Spencer discuss the development, gameplay, characters, and story of Supergiant's Pyre (2017). Enjoy! If you'd like more details on how Pyre was made, we recommend NoClip's documentary on the subject .

Chris and Spencer discuss The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - including development details and what's changed from Breath of the Wild - in a largely spoiler-free informal addendum to Season 1. Sources: - Nintendo Developer Roun d table - Washington Post Interview with Eiji Aonuma by Gene Park

Chris, Hamilton, and special guest Rosalie discuss the development, gameplay, and plot of Sonic Adventure 2 (2001). Along the way, they also explore the game's amazing soundtrack and what led Sega to exit the home console market in the early 2000s. Let's escape from the city together, folks! You can find Rosalie online at littlerecordgirl.com and on Twitter at @lilrecordgirl .

Chris, Spencer, and special guest Stephanie (from the Boss Rush Network ) discuss their impressions of the Resident Evil 4 remake several weeks after its release, paying special attention to changes from the original's gameplay, characters, and enemies. You can find Stephanie on Twitter at @klimov_author .

Chris and Spencer discuss the development, gameplay, and story of Supergiant's Transistor (2014). Check out NoClip's documentary for more information on how this game was made!

Chris and Hamilton discuss one of the best platformer games ever made: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles ! In this episode, you'll learn about Sega's evolution from its arcade origins, how Sonic the Hedgehog was created, and McDonalds' unlikely role in this game's notoriously bifurcated release. After working through the game's history, your hosts wrap things up with a thorough look at every zon...

Chris and Spencer kick off the third season of Franchise Festival with a discussion of Supergiant's Bastion (2011). Along the way, they explore how the game was made, analyze the enemies and weapons in each stage, and make the case for both ending choices. Noteworthy Sources: Noclip - "The Making of Bastion"

Chris, Hamilton, and Spencer offer their final thoughts on the Resident Evil franchise. Along the way, they discuss favorite games, locations, characters, and monsters, while also speculating about what might be next for Capcom's beloved survival horror behemoth. Stick around to the end for an announcement about Franchise Festival's Season 3 topic!

Chris and Hamilton are joined by returning guests Arielle ( @huggablehipster ) and Kamijace ( @kamijacegaming ) to discuss Resident Evil Village . As they dive into its plot and cut content, the crew explores how Covid-19 impacted development, how well the Duke fits into the game world, and which monster scares them the most. Be sure to subscribe to Arielle's YouTube channel Huggable Hipster and K...

Hamilton, Spencer, and Chris discuss Capcom's Resident Evil 3 Remake . Along the way, they explore the game's development, assess the merits of Nemesis' glow-up, and debate how this controversial game compares to the universally-beloved Resident Evil 2 Remake .

Chris, Hamilton, and Spencer finally return to Raccoon City for a discussion of 2019's long-awaited Resident Evil 2 Remake . Along the way, your hosts explore the game's development, the magic of Mr. X, and how the characters have been updated from their blocky 1998 forms. For more on how the game was made, we encourage you to check out Capcom's own series of Resident Evil 2 : Roundtable videos fe...

Chris, Spencer, and Hamilton are joined by special guest Adam Bucceri to discuss the development, gameplay, and plot of Resident Evil 7 . Our longest episode yet include cut enemies, tips to get you past the toughest bosses (spoiler: crouch), and plenty of praise for the franchise's scariest moments. A quick content warning, though: this episode includes descriptions of some pretty graphic violenc...

Chris and Hamilton discuss the criminally underrated Resident Evil: Revelations 2. Along the way, they uncover cut content, encounter the series' best invisible monster, and explore the surprising thematic connection between this game and Frictional's Soma (2015). Noteworthy Sources: Interview: Resident Evil Revelations 2 director talks about the game’s story, structure, and cut content Interview...

The Franchise Festival crew performs a deep dive on Resident Evil: Revelations' development, gameplay, and plot with Arielle Danan (@HuggableHipster). Along the way, we speculate about mechanical connections to Dead Space and lore connections to Resident Evil: Code Veronica. We may not have enjoyed the game as much as previous series entries, but we still had a great time discussing Capcom's attem...

Chris and Hamilton return to Resident Evil 6, working their way through its dense - well, arguably incomprehensible - plot. We've got international intrigue, a visit to the ocean floor, chainsaw arms, and even evil clones in play! This episode also covers each of the game's many bosses in detail. If you missed Resident Evil 6 (Part 1), you can find it on our website or your preferred podcast app.

Here is a collection of outtakes from our episodes on Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil 5, "Zombies!", and Resident Evil 6 (Part 1); there's an abnormally high amount of Bandersnatch talk for some reason! We appreciate your patience and will deliver our Resident Evil 6 (Part 2) episode on June 1, 2022.