Pod 'em Up! - The Video Game "Book Club" Podcast

GTA: Vice City is a well-loved title in the franchise, so we thought the perfect game to introduce to Ollie, who has never properly played a GTA game before. Find out how it goes down, as we play and discuss Tommy Vercetti's 80's crime spree, and the appeal of gaming's most notorious series in general. We've got loads more too in this lengthy episode, including our impressions of 0...

This month we're playing a delightful metroidvania called Ufouria: The Saga for the NES. Yes, that's right, the NES! "Where's the NES??"... is what 40-50 year old Americans constantly shout at us, in regard to its lack of appearance on our British podcast. Well, finally, you've got it! We're doing an NES game... that wasn't released in America. If that doesn't...

We return to the Mario/Wario Land series as we take a look at Wario Land II for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. Genius game design or unnecessarily annoying? You'll have to listen to find out! Elsewhere, we answer the burning questions: What's up with that baby in Death Stranding? Can an Xbox controller mount a hacked Switch? How was the Mario Galaxy movie? How is ScreenBound 5-dimensiona...

In this episode we're playing a lovingly hand crafted treat for the eyes in the form of Harold Halibut for Steam, GOG, PS5 and Xbox, resulting in a very interesting discussion. Elsewhere, we're picking fights with just about everyone and everything this month, from arcade ticket machines and (especially) AI, to pessimistic Panzer Dragoon fans, online fighting game fanatics and speed runner...

We look back fondly on the days where a company could release a fun arcade racer with a cool gimmick, without it being a boring racing sim that's bogged down with licensing agreements - it's Split/Second (aka Split/Second Velocity) in the book club, for PS3, 360 and Steam! Meanwhile, Tibbs becomes embroiled in the latest argument to grip the Sonic community, and Ollie gets similarly angry at one o...

On this final episode of 2025, we look back at Future Cop: L.A.P.D. for the PS1 - the entry in the Strike series that was never to be. Still a great game though, but how will it fare in our annual Pod 'em Up Awards, which of course is also happening in this very episode! Also in this bumper end-of-year episode, we're skirting around some sensitive issues in our analysis of those other game...

Just how strange is life, anyway? Very, apparently, if you're playing 2015's excellent time travelling, episodic, narrative-driven adventure game, Life is Strange. I'll be honest, our anti-spoiler policy means that we can't fully delve into some of the more interesting aspects of this beautiful game during the normal discussion of this on the podcast. So for anyone who has already...

This month we're playing one of our most obscure games yet, as Tibbs reaches down deep into his pile of childhood Amiga disks, and pulls out the rarely discussed Universal Warrior - a top down shoot 'em up with an interesting robot-building slant! This episode is also packed with other trinkets to enjoy - including but not limited to: Nintendo Direct, Virtual Boy, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reav...

Tails is going on an Adventure in the book club this month, and he's bringing all his (game) gear with him! Find out more about this curious and rarely discussed foray into the metroidvania genre, where no other Sonic the Hedgehog game has been before, or since. Plus, we do our usual Pod 'em Up appraisal of Gamescom (i.e. mostly just listing some boring new games that we're not that in...

It's another double whammy book club this month, as we discuss both the Mega Drive and arcade versions of the title that cemented Sega's love affair with the king of pop - Michael Jackson's Moonwalker! We continue the movie theme, as Tibbs plays RoboCop: Rogue City, Ollie takes a trip to the cinema to see Jurassic World: Rebirth (not a game, granted, but still worth talking about), the...

This time on the book club, we're playing a game that definitely puts comedy above all else as we take a trip to the North, with 2024's hilarious indie gem, Thank Goodness You're Here! In this surreal British sitcom of a game, we'll be meeting such characters as greengrocer Rog with his massive head, Brigadier Bean Tin, and the mysterious man who passes raw sausages through holes i...

Let's find out if this obscure Japanese Dreamcast release gets any love from Ollie and Tibbs.. we're playing L.O.L. Lack of Love - the life simulation game set on an alien planet in the midst of a human terraforming operation. Elsewhere in the ep, we are of course chatting about the Switch 2 and its game announcements.. and we might touch just a little on those eye-watering prices too! Plus, Tibbs...

In this episode, we celebrate one of the most standout, wacky and hilarious platformers of the 16-bit era, as we take on the original Earthworm Jim for the Mega Drive! In addition, we discuss the very impressive fan-made static recompilation of Sonic Unleashed for the PC, Tomb Raider 4, 5 and 6 Remastered, some promising demos from Steam Next Fest, and more! Incoming Indies: Rad Venture's seco...

In this episode, we take a look at 2023 indie gem Cassette Beasts, an RPG that has you recording monsters onto cassettes and using them to battle rangers and archangels on your quest to escape the mysterious island you now call home. Better then Pokemon? Let's find out! We also touch on what little we currently know of the recently announced Switch 2 and kill some time with a little video game...

Our end of year special is upon us nice and early this year! NiGHTS Into Dreams on the Sega Saturn is being played in a particularly lengthy book club segment this time, as we go fairly indepth on all aspects of the Sonic Team classic - we also touch on Christmas NiGHTS and the Wii sequel too. Plus, the highlight of the Pod 'em Up year - our 2024 book club awards, in which we rank the games we've...

We're celebrating our 64th episode with not one, not two, but THREE (count 'em) games in this bumper edition of the book club this month, across the Commodore 64 and Nintendo 64 systems! Mayhem in Monsterland reveals what the C64 is truly capable of, and Spacestation Silicon Valley provides some great puzzles and silliness. 1985's quaint British platformer Monty on the Run, however, brings us the...

We're pointing and clicking once again this month, this time with Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror, for PS1 and PC! Plus, we discuss the ridiculous price tag of the PS5 Pro, the Plucky Squire, Rugrats, wrestling, tabletop dishwashing and slippery knives! Incoming Indie: Fading Skies - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/distantbluegames/fading-skies mail@podemup.live | podemup.live | @podemup

We're earning some serious kudos (...) with our latest book club pick - the Dreamcast's stylish racing masterpiece that's not afraid to throw some cheesy tunes at you - it's Metropolis Street Racer! Plus, we answer the following questions: - How can Europeans stop killing games? - Will Mad Max ever understand the meaning of friendship? - What is the correct way to fuss a cat? Find...

This month our friend Rik is back - this time as guest co-host - to discuss classic point-and-click adventure (and head-scratch 'em-up) Discworld II: Missing Presumed..!? for PC, PlayStation and Saturn. Also found elsewhere in this show, Dave the Diver, Forza Horizon 4 and AstroBot! mail@podemup.live | @PodEmUp | podemup.live

Celebrating both our 60th episode and our 6th birthday, this edition of the podcast hosts Corn Kidz 64 in the book club - a recent PC/Switch 3D collect-a-thon platformer that harks back to the N64 era in a highly convincing manner. Other games that we touch on include Hi-fi Rush, Penny's Big Breakaway, Samba de Amigo: Party Central and Super Star Path. Plus Ollie weighs in on the Knuckles TV s...

In the book club, we play Ape Escape - the PS1 game that showed 1999 that it needed to invest in that shiny new DualShock controller, after all. Or maybe not, let's see. Plus, Nintendo goes head to head with Yuzu and.. wins, almost immediately, and Tibbs tells us about the recent Tomb Raider remastered games. We'll level with you - due to various reasons, it's not exactly our best epis...

Little known Nintendo platforming hero, Starfy the starfish gets his turn in the spotlight at last this month, as we feature his underwater platforming antics in the book club - we're discussing The Legendary Starfy, for Nintendo DS. Elsewhere, Tibbs has finally given the Zelda games a proper go, having immersed himself in not one, but two of the most well known entries in the franchise! He&#3...

It's our (slightly belated) end of year show, and we're taking The Simpsons: Hit & Run for a spin in the book club, for GameCube, Xbox and PS2! The perfect excuse to load the show up full of Simpsons chat, quotes, clips and songs! And of course it wouldn't be an end of year show without the Pod 'em Up awards, where we hand out points to our favourite games from the book club th...

Time for a little Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in the book club? You'll hear no objections from us! Listen to what we had to say about the original DS game that lead to the popular courtroom franchise! Elsewhere, we've an extra chunky review of Sonic Superstars, and we also dip into the likes of Super Mario Wonder, WWE 2K23 and Alien Hominid Invasion. All this whilst trying to evade the hi...

This month, the book club covers the Japanese exclusive, Captain Rainbow for the Wii - A Nintendo-published game with Nintendo characters, yet it has a reputation for rude humour, swearing and inappropriate content!? Ollie and Tibbs investigate! Elsewhere, we jam pack the news section with Xbox preservation concerns and Nintendo Direct musings. We also discuss the departure of Charles Martinet as...