The Cane and Rinse videogame podcast

Star Wars plus BioWare RPG sounded like manna from heaven to many of us when it was announced in 2001. Happily, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - created by a number of the same folks who had worked on the likes of Baldur's Gate II and Neverwinter Nights, was greeted rapturously. Leon, Brian, Leah and Rich (who nominated this one as his personal selection for the year's podcasts) party up t...

You have died from dysentery. Well, not really, but one of your party members probably did. In this installment we cover the edutainment game The Oregon Trail. Join Brian, Jesse, Rich and Ryan as they head west on a wagon train and discuss what makes this game effective enough to warrant a 50 year history with over 25 different entries. Does this simulation of westward, colonial expansion hold up...

The Cane and Rinse ninjas shimmy their way across Japan and the USA taking down IP-infringing baddies (Spider-Man, Batman, Rambo, The Terminator and even Godzilla) in their third Shinobi series podcast. Leon, Chris Worthington, Michiel and returning guest Ben Cartlidge (Video Wizards, One Credit Classics), run the gauntlet of SEGA's first 'designed for the home' entry into its 80s slide 'n dice fr...

Forty years ago our eyes were blown from their sockets as they witnessed what appeared to be Disney cartoon quality graphics arrive in the arcades. Of course, we soon found out that the reality of actually playing these LaserDisc games wasn't perhaps what we initially dreamed, yet still Rick Dyer and Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair (and to a lesser extent, sci-fi sequel Space Ace) would become legends i...

Not such a long time after the sequel hit stores, we got the crew together to review Respawn's first movie franchise license game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Leon, Brian, James and Karl have all wanted to be Jedis (or possibly Sith) to some extent, so did this game allow them to live out their space fantasies? As you'd hope for such a recent and successful game, we also have plenty of posts fro...

This week, the Cane and Rinse podcast journeys back to the Year of Luigi to cover a sequel twelve years in the making - Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, also known as Luigi's Mansion 2 on the Nintendo 3DS. Host Ryan Zhao is visited by three ghosts James Carter, Jesse Fuchs, and Brian Edwards - as they review this 2013 handheld exclusive in eye-popping 3D.

The Game Boy Advance game library featured many renowned Super Nintendo titles released on a hand held device for a newer and more portable generation. After the success of Metroid Fusion, Nintendo R&D1 opted not to port the beloved Super Metroid, choosing instead to return to 1987's Metroid from the NES and Famicom for inspiration. Not simply with the aim of making the original title more accessi...

The game that gave its name to an industry-changing engine (or was it the engine that gave the game its name?): Unreal. Before it spun off into mainly multiplayer arenas, Unreal started life as another echelon-defining PC fps. Leon, Chris O'Regan and Jon - along with community contributions - remember the game's undeniable late 90s 'wow' factor (for those who had a PC capable of running it), as we...

Another long standing 'wrong' righted, as the Cane and Rinse podcast finally covers a SEGA made Fighting game. Leon, Michiel, returning guest Dan Clark and Karl - whose pick for the show this was - team up to recall the fever dream match that was Fighters Megamix. Along with community contributions, we get into just what makes a SEGA fighter, and just what is meant by the terms often associated wi...

Square Enix's beloved Final Fantasy series collides with hardcore action gameplay from Team Ninja, the studio famous for Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden and Nioh. Do these two styles come together like peanut butter and jelly or clash like oil and water? Join the Warriors of Light, led by host Leah as she, Chris and Rich - along with community correspondents - discuss her pick for Volume 12, Stranger...

For the first time in its 11 plus year history, Cane and Rinse covers a game based upon the popular space opera franchise, Star Wars. Leon, Chris Worthington, Tony and guest Dean Swain of The Retro Asylum podcast climb into the less than comfy X-Wing cockpit for a blast of Atari's 1983 vector graphics arcade smash. As usual the panel and community contributors attempt to sum up what made the exper...

Our Michiel's pick for this year's Volume of shows is Konami's series of cute, comedy shmup capers, Parodius. Leon, Chris Worthington, Michiel (obviously), Ryan and community contributors debate pronunciations, contemplate nonsense and revel in the surreal ridiculousness of octopi, penguins and pigs taking on an interstellar armada of absurdity.

Six down, two to go! The most epic Ryu ga Gotoku game yet gets its own, hefty discussion as Leon, Brian, Leah, Michiel and community correspondents tread the path of taciturn criminals with hearts of gold, as well as carving out a career for forthright and righteous young pop idol, Hakura.

Another case of, "This game is how old already!?" as Guacamelee! turns 10 (ten). Leon, Brian, Leah, new contributor Sean Fletcher and community correspondents come together over Drinkbox's luchador-themed Metroidvania arcade adventure plus wrestling. As is the Cane and Rinse credo we discuss what we consider to be the game's success and shortcomings across all departments, from art and music throu...

Not before time, a Vanillaware game finds itself under the Cane and Rinse microscope. Leon, Brian, Leah and Michiel party up in order to brawl with a D&D-inspired menagerie of monsters on their quest for the titular headwear. Along with vital contributions from form and Patreon, we of course get into the game's striking art style, music and gameplay.

In this podcast we explore the world of Moss and its anthropomorphic inhabitants.  Delving into the world created by Polyarc, the people behind Moss and Moss: Book II are Chris, Jon and Tony, who venture into the games' wonderfully realised series of dioramas. Please listen to find out how the trio of hosts guided Quill in her quest to save Moss.

Nearly 10 years on from our previous Animal Crossing series podcast - and three years on from the release of the behemoth Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Switch, Cane and Rinse gathers once more around the campfire to talk towns and villagers. Leon, Brian, Chris, Ryan and community correspondents consider what was gained and what was lost between New Leaf and New Horizons in terms of both gamepla...

Time to tackle your fears and crack some skulls in Condemned 2: Bloodshot.  Join Brian, Jon, Leah, and Tony as they examine the 2008 release, discussing whether or not time has been kind to this survival horror title. Is this elusive game worth your time to track down or does it deserve to stay on the backlog?

Continuing our coverage of SEGA's side-scrolling ninja series, Shinobi, we arrive at the second instalment - Shadow Dancer. This time he's brought his dog. And he's a Very Good Boy. Leon, Chris W. and Rich also compare and contrast the original arcade Shadow Dancer with its later Mega Drive adaptation, subtitled The Secret of Shinobi. There's even time for a look at the 8-bit Master System version...

More than 11 years since we covered the original Dead Space and its first sequel, a different Cane and Rinse panel convenes to consider its less well-received trilogy concluder. Leon, Karl and Leah suit up for solo and co-op conversation, gameplay discussion and debate around the game's controversial microtransactions, backed up and augmented with contributions from the forum and Patreon communiti...

In which we explore Simogo's 2013 metatextual point and click adventure, Year Walk. Burying themselves in Scandi folklore, Leon, Brian, Ryan and Thomas set out into the dark woods, cold and hungry, in a bid to know their futures. Listen in if you wish to find out just what they saw in the creaky, bitter night.

This week, we kick off our twelfth volume of podcasts with an exploration of the absurd and jazzy worlds of musician and game developer Cosmo D. Ryan, James, Chris, and Thomas take a musical journey through these bizarre spaces.

So we arrive at the conclusion of yet another mighty Volume of the Cane and Rinse videogames discussion podcast. In a change to our originally scheduled programme, we decided to give ourselves an easier time at the close of the year by taking on A Short Hike. Leon, James, Josh, Leah and community correspondents help Claire in her mission to the top of the Hawk Peak Trail, and although her main mis...

Just another day at the end of the world, chatting up demons, eating magic worms, and exploring labyrinths…..so many labyrinths. Join Brian, Leah, and Rich as they explore the apocalypse with the first game in Atlus’ long-running SMT series: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne.

Whether it's the third, fifth, sixth or even seventh instalment in the series, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (Akumajo Densetsu) was the epic culmination of its Famicom/NES trilogy. Leon, Jon, Michiel and returning guest Ben Cartlidge of One Credit Classics thrash out what it takes to beat this notoriously challenging 8-bit instalment with one or more characters, plus we have memories and opinio...