That Game Rules!

It’s dangerous to go alone, take this podcast! We break down everything about Legend of Zelda for the NES on this dungeon crawling episode. History and development, music and sound, and exploration with tight controls all add up to one of the best video games ever created. We talk about the memories that made us gamers, playing Zelda for the first time, and trying to figure out where we land in th...

Taking a break this week to talk about the perfect peripherals that make gaming possible; those controllers. From Nintendo to Sega, Xbox to Playstation, it's time to see how these controllers hold up against each other. What is your favorite controller? Let's talk facts, opinions, history, comments and finally rank these bad boys on another retro loving episode of That Game Rules!   Let's waste so...

Is Perfect Dark the perfect game? We join Joanna and Elvis this week for a spiritual sequel to the iconic game Goldeneye. Aliens, conspiracies, clones, A.I., and loads of cheese make this Nintendo and Rare collab another successful mission. Better weapons, more maps, and a story with more twists than a Christopher Nolan movie... Joanna had some big spy shoes to fill, so let’s load up that ammo, gr...

Streets of Rage 2 is at the top of a lot of “Best of Sega” lists. Some may argue it’s the best beat-em-up game of the entire 16-bit genre. But is them fighting words? Let’s punch and kick our way through another episode, while trying to answer the ultimate question: Can Sega really do what Nintendon’t? Grab that lead pipe, watch out for those spikey shoulder pads, and get ready to jam out to some...

Punch it, Chewie! Except, Chewie really isn’t in this game... but that’s ok. We’re talking about Star Wars today! The first home console game for the franchise that mattered, Star Wars flew into our living rooms and proceeded to promptly feed us kids our lunch, on a Death Star shaped platter. This game is hard, but is it worthy of that “NES TOUGH” title? Grab a glass of blue milk and put a restrai...

Mama Mia! Time to warp back to the Mushroom Kingdom and get into the gameplay of Super Mario Bros 3. Last week was your history lesson, but today we’re strapping on that Tanooki suit and flying off to explore all the worlds, items, secrets, and Koopa Kid madness of this NES classic. I love this freaking game and so should you! Now, swing your arms from side to side, come on it’s time to go, do the...

Let's-a-go! Super Mario Bros. 3 is a game I’ve wanted to talk about since I started this podcast. I was a kid during Mario Mania and what a time to be alive. Mario 3 brought so much to the series and cemented video games into mainstream culture. It’s a Mario and Nintendo love letter of an episode, so much Mario I had to make this a 2 parter. Join us as we take the nearest warp pipe to Japan and lo...

We join Diddy and Dixie this week for Donkey Kong County 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. A top tier Nintendo and Rare collab, featuring some of the best platforming and music from the entire genre. We go bananas on this game, talking about all the memories, soundtrack, characters, levels, and a whole barrel of nonsense. Grab that SNES controller and hit the trails as we get into jungle madness and animal m...

Reticulating Splines...  The terrain is generated and we’re ready to break down SimCity this week. From the Mac to the PC to the SNES and right into our hearts, SimCity gave game developers a brand new mechanic: Resource Management. A game you don’t “win”, with no levels, no bosses to fight and no high scores couldn’t be successful, could it? SimCity was in our houses and schools and for better or...

They’re tiny, they’re toony, they’re all a little looney. We’re diving down the rabbit hole this week with Tiny Toon Adventures on the NES. A simple game for a simpler time. Often referred to as a Super Mario 3 clone, could there be a better compliment for a game? Take your choice of Buster, Plucky, Dizzy, or Furball and let’s head to Acme Acres, where there is always plenty of stock of Anvils and...

Disney, let’s talk. You already broke our hearts in the theater with The Lion King movie. Then, you release a game that will make an entire generation cry for totally different reasons. At what point does a hard game become just plain...unfair? The claws come out today, as we try to find the good in this beautiful looking game. But, looks can be deceiving. Set your controllers to stun, grab some j...

Grab your favorite color N64 controller (green), we’re talking Paper Mario today. A game that took those fancy 3D polygons and made them sit in the back row. Paper Mario and his 2D sprites may look beautiful, but even they aren’t the stars of this game. It’s the story and the charm, the world building of the Mushroom Kingdom, and of course, the friends we made along the way. Peach has the cake in...

Wario’s games are...unique. For me, Warioland 4 is like Zombie Warrior, it slipped through the cracks. So, while I never got to enjoy the GBA during its prime (being stuck in a parenting time loop), I’m here to make up for lost time. Warioland 4 shouldn’t be this good, but Wario’s gross little self has managed to make the jump from the garbage dump right into our hearts. Grab some garlic, skip the...

Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and Raph take the spotlight once more as we travel to the sewers to kick foot and eat pizza. This was it, this was the big moment. The arcades had finally come to our living room. Save those quarters for another day, because we’re taking a dive into TMNT II: The Arcade game for the NES. Gather around with those personal pan pizzas and let’s talk about the Teenage Mutant Ninja T...

Time to ruffle those feathers... We’re talking Quackshot today because Disney, ducks, and the 90s just go together so well. Firing up the BLAST processing on the Sega today, grabbing that big, black controller and firing off plunger after plunger. Castle of Illusion, Ducktales, Aladdin, Lion King, there were lots of Disney games out there... So where does Donald land in that colorful lists of game...

Your mission this week: Star Fox for the Super Nintendo. Suit up and hop in that Arwing, because we’re blasting off to the Lylat system. A game so advanced, it required the use of a brand new Super FX chip built right into the cartridge. We’ve got an episode packed with trivia, bonus facts, and more puppet talk than is usual even for this show. Let’s join Fox McCloud and his team to take down Andr...

Don’t have a cow man, I just can’t help talking about The Simpsons constantly. This episode we take a look at the first home release game: Bart vs. the Space Mutants... and what a game it is. This thing is notoriously tough, hard to control, the sound is repetitive and... I kinda like it. Let’s put on those X-RAY specs and see through the painful playthroughs of our childhood. It’s time to take an...

Metroid II: Return of Samus is a sequel that was released exclusively on the Gameboy, 5 years after the original. A direct sequel to Metroid, we see our favorite bad ass bounty hunter Samus Aran getting right back into the alien blasting action. Featuring a mazelike world in the Gameboy’s glorious green color scheme, we blast our way through Metroids, aliens, and our own sanity. Is this game worth...

Racing out from behind Mario Kart 64’s shadow is none other than Diddy Kong Racing, the best kart game on the N64 without Mario in the title. More courses, more vehicles, upgradeable weapons, boss fights, and on and on... So why is this game not talked about? N64 and Rareware gave us some of the best games of our childhood, and then they split up to the heartbreak of us all. So, hop on that hoverc...

Holy podcast episode description, Batman! We’re talking about Batman: The Video Game for the original Nintendo. A certified NES Tough game, mixing hardcore platforming with a fun, new wall-jumping mechanic. It’s time to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, so let’s break down this game, gadgets, and levels so tough you’ll want to turn your controller into a batarang as it soars across the l...

Let’s crack this egg open. How do you follow a game like Super Mario World? Do you play it easy and just ship a new game with some new levels? Surely, any Mario game is going to sell and make the company money... But that’s where Nintendo and the people behind it differ. Nintendo likes to take chances and has a great track record of those chances working out in the best way. Yoshi’s Island stands...

DOOOOOOOM! A dark, scary game for a dark, scary January. Grab the BFG and let’s talk about everything that makes Doom what it is. The enemies, secrets, and the demon slaying weapons all combine to give us a Doom experience from a new perspective. Did Doom live up to the hype on the N64? What would that Doom 64 multiplayer look like?  Fire up that chainsaw and get the Hell in here!  We travel along...

Let’s solve a mystery, let’s re-write history. Ducktales! WHOOOhOOOO! Another killer combo from the studio that brought you Mega Man. Ducktales is a game that showed a whole generation of kids what licensed games could be....actually fun. We had been burned before by crap games featuring logos of our favorite movies and shows, but no more. This duck brings it to the table with great gameplay, beau...

Move over MCU, this is the original crossover event. Worlds collide in Super Smash Bros. for the N64. A brawling good time rocking those one of a kind N64 controllers. We’ve got Mario, DK, Link, Samus, and many more of the best properties Nintendo has to offer. Get ready to punch, kick, throw, stomp, and generally just smash your opponent around. Podcast Puuuunch!  Where were you on the eve of the...

Sonic had some big shoes to fill with this sequel, and he raced past that finish line in style. The introduction of Tails, the spin dash, and Super Sonic himself add to an already impressive game. You don’t make Nintendo sweat in the 90s and not gain some respect. So, grab yourself a chili dog and let’s talk about our favorite blue hedgehog as we see if Sega really can do what Nintendon’t.  We jum...