Go Back and Play

Nate, Sebastian, and David spend some time reminiscing about FINAL FANTASY, a game near and dear to their hearts. Come for the discussion of how the game unfolds itself before the player, stay for the sordid tale of the boys' proudest and most shameful undertaking. Also, we discover how much it would cost you to buy an intact box of Swedish Chef-themed breakfast cereal "Croonchy Stars." SHOW NOTES...

Nate and Sebastian are joined by newcomer David to discuss MANIAC MANSION, the game that put LucasArts on the map and spawned a new genre: the "point-and-click" adventure. Come for the jokes, stay to find out which one of us microwaved a hamster.    SHOW NOTES: YouTube playlist of Maniac Mansion TV series episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqA06yA79_IkUWxugT-RSkP6diKpo1Hib Hint poste...

Nate and Sebastian have a quick discussion about R-TYPE, one of the best shmups of the 1980s. Learn about Nate's encounter with Edward James Olmos, Sebastian's favorite game box art of all time, and how games can be overwhelming in a way much different than other media.  SHOW NOTES: Sebastian's favorite game box art of all time: https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/9/93770/2364533-snes_ph...

Nate, Sebastian, and Jordan gather to discuss METAL GEAR, a game about being sneaky and talking on the radio. We discuss donuts, the commonalities of codec conversations and Shakespearean soliloquies, and how a game can be anti-war but pro-soldier. Jordan tries not to get too deep into the weeds of Metal Gear lore.  SHOW NOTES: A picture of the Metal Gear cover next to a promotional still from Ter...

Nate, Sebastian, Ryan and Jordan all gather to discuss Dragon Warrior, one of the earliest breakout JRPGs. Come for discussion of grinding and exploring, stay to hear a long digression about slow TV and to find out who drank an entire boot full of beer this weekend (it was Sebastian). 

Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan gather to discuss The Legend of Zelda, the biggest open-world game they've encountered so far and the origin of yet another of gaming's longest-running series. Come for the discussion of the dichotomy between textual and meta-textual information, stay for Ryan's daddy issues and to find out what kind of bed sheets Sebastian had as a child.  SHOW NOTES: Original NES manual...

Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan are joined by special guest Lucy to discuss The Oregon Trail, staple of all '80s elementary classrooms. Come to hear about the hardships of cross-country emigration in the 1840s, stay to find out why Ryan means to take pictures of his local Cinnabon.  SHOW NOTES: GDC Post-mortem of The Oregon Trail with Don Rawitsch:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdGNFhKhoKY Game Infor...

Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan gather to discuss Gauntlet, the arcade game that popularized four-player co-op and raised the bar for game narratives with classic lines like "WIZARD NEEDS FOOD BADLY." We discuss the tensions between cooperation and competition, four-player games we've loved, and Ryan's nostalgia for sword and sorcery. 

Nate, Sebastian, and Jordan convene to discuss Super Mario Bros., one of the truly revolutionary games. Naturally, they quite bungle it. Learn, in this episode, how Nintendo revitalized the home console market, why Sebastian thinks SMB is an "elegant" game, and why Nate would be comfortable being married by the ghost of Captain Lou Albano.   SHOW NOTES: Super Mario Bros. 3 commercial: https://www....

Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan discuss Tetris. Maybe the best game ever made? Listen to Nate relate the mixed-up story of the game's intellectual property rights, listen to each host's pitch for the filmic version of Tetris, and find out which block Ryan thinks "has a nose." SHOW NOTES: Tetris on an oscilloscope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmFPQJRkb5s "Tetris: From Russia With Love" (BBC Documenta...

Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan gather to discuss Marble Madness, gaming's most spherical pastime. Come for our discussion of the game's awesome music, stay for the beginning of Sebastian and Ryan's life-long blood feud over whether or not Star Wars is trash. All hate mail can be delivered directly to the @GoBackandPlay twitter account, addressed to Sebastian. Show notes: You can play the original arcad...

Nate, Sebastian, and Jordan gather to discuss Dragon's Lair, the arcade game that ran on Laserdisc and looked just like a cartoon! Because it was a cartoon. We talk about Don Bluth films, "Quick Time Events," and problematic damsels. 

All four boys sit down to unpack E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600, frequently saddled with the title of "Worst Game Ever." We discuss whether we think that's a fair assessment, as well as why the videogame market crashed in 1983 and whether we were ever gifted any terrible games. Ryan makes several off-color jokes, Jordan brings up "Custer's Revenge," and Nate eats from a bag of Rees...

Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan return from holiday hiatus to discuss Robotron: 2084, the apocalyptic action classic that popularized the twin-stick shooter. Come for a discussion of robots and flashing lights, stay to learn Ryan's grievous misconception about the Williams Sonoma corporation and Sebastian's morbid fascination with Sean Connery's outfit in "Zardoz."  This episode is rated "Explicit" beca...

Nate makes a terrible financial decision, Sebastian loses it at a commercial for breakfast cereal, and Jordan reveals which terrible videogame console he owned as a child. All in the pursuit of a malevolent ape named DONKEY KONG. This episode is rated T for Teen, because Jordan says a swear.  Relevant clips from the 1983 Donkey Kong Saturday morning cartoon show: https://youtu.be/B2ks97n8x8M https...

Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan discuss the origin of interactive fiction, the efficacy of weasels as a rat-control solution, and whether Dolly Parton is a time traveler from the future. Along the way, they consider Infocom's seminal classic text adventure: ZORK. Join us as we dive into the Great Underground Empire, and stick around to see if anyone gets eaten by a grue.  Guest starring Kari as the voic...

Ryan extols the virtues of the first scrolling shoot-'em-up, Sebastian wonders about the morality of sacrificing the people you're meant to save rather than letting them become mutants, and Nate wonders if Defender is the origin of videogames' accessibility problem. Come for the historical context, stay to learn the title of Nate's hit R&B single from 1996.

Nate and Sebastian are joined by Jordan Fehr to discuss Missile Command, the premier mutually-assured-destruction anxiety simulator! Hear the boys talk about the fear of imminent nuclear annihilation, the angst of choosing between protecting soldiers or saving millions of innocent lives, and how nice it is to play an arcade game with a trackball.  Rated explicit because Jordan says a swear.

Nate and Sebastian wax nostalgic about terrible board-game adaptations, Ryan invents his own backstory for the ghosts, and everybody is just generally a hot mess in this examination (maybe?) of Namco arcade classic Pac-Man.

Our intrepid hosts discuss the Atari 2600 classic Adventure, a timeless story about a featureless rectangle and the mystical artifacts it discovers on its journey. Come for the discussion of the first open-world game, stay to find out which of the three dragons is the meanest.

Nate and Sebastian discuss Asteroids, the Atari arcade classic about... asteroids. We also discuss terrible Asteroids knock-off "Maelstrom," NASA missions, and whether or not Sebastian's dog is a Good Boy.  Ryan, who hates space, was too afraid to be on this episode.

Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan consider Space Invaders this week, the Taito arcade classic that swept Japan and created a shortage on the 100 yen coin! Maybe. Listen to the boys discuss the original cover shooter.

Nate and Sebastian consider the arcade driving classic Night Driver. They are joined by Ryan, who drives while wearing sunglasses at night so he can so he can... does anybody remember the next line from that song? I don't think anyone does. 

In this episode, Nate and Sebastian discuss Pong, why Pong isn't an Olympic sport, and how Pong can bring us closer to our friends... and our enemies.

Nate and Sebastian kick off their trip through videogame history with the granddaddy of all space shooters -- Spacewar! Learn about the PDP-1 supercomputer and what it's like to fight a war... in space.