Living La Vita Loca

"Let's have a look at what you could have won..."Welcome to another edition of #FreeplayFortnightly where we both pick a video game that we want to play and keep it secret from our co-host. We then review each game on the podcast and ask our co-host to score the game out of 10 based on our review. Simple? You bet we are!The games we've picked out for random review this week are:• Spyro Reignited Trilogy (2018, Xbox One)• Bullseye (2021, PS4)Unfortunately it turns out that you can, in fact, beat a bit of Bully...There's definitely no special prize for guessing which creature wins the day between a bull & a dragon this week. Bully's original run as a TV show (1981-1995) only just witnessed the dawn of the PS1 but the Spyro franchise was still producing games on the PS1 long after the PS2 had already been released in Japan.Who would have thought they would both intersect with brushed up video game releases on the 8th generation of home consoles? Our podcast apparently... Enjoy the pod.

A 150th anniversary is known as a sesquicentennial. I'm not sure anyone will be bothered about using a posh word like that around here to celebrate our 150th episode...Yes, we know, we didnt expect to STILL be here churning out poorly constructed opinions about video games either but we've grown rather fond of our podcasting time together which is what matters the most. Perhaps today's contest will finally put an end to our kindness though...We've taken the Top 25 PS2, Xbox & Gamecube games (as determined by IGN.com) and pitted them against each other in a positional match of 'This, that or t'other one?'There's no fairness about it or anything sensible like that. We work our way up from the video games positioned at number 25 on all 3 lists and decide which game should stay at each position. This is a chunky pod (140 mins you're never getting back!) so we've drafted in one of our best pals, Kyle Taylor, to help wade through the 75 games up for discussion.Its all here... Functional spreadsheets, inane list building, crap arguments... Some things never change.Enjoy the pod!

Feel the rhythm. Feel the rhyme. Get on up, its podcast time... Hi guys! Which discipline are you enjoying the most at the 2026 Winter Olympics so far?Is it Rich travelling around recreating the Little Chef 'Olympic Breakfast' in a roadside layby OR is it Fazz pressing his unprotected face against a well used ice track to sup cheap flavoured vodka? If the answer is any of the above then the first 10 minutes of this is the podcast for you! After grinding through this (barely related) Winter Sports introduction we land, three full 360-degree rotations later, squarely at the feet of 1080 Snowboarding (1998, N64) & its VR spiritual successor Carve Snowboarding (2021, Meta Quest 3S).Find out what these two video games have in common and why there's room for both in your backlog (and your front room!)Finally, we round things off with a solitary trip to the snowy summit of Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders (2025, Xbox Game Pass). Back in 2019 Lonely Mountains: Downhill was a breath of fresh air from developers Megagon Games so why does Fazz feel Snow Riders fails to hit those same peaks this time out?Enjoy the podcast.

Welcome to episode 5 of Dryve January (which has now leaked in February)! We're putting the pedal to the metal this month to provide you with reviews of popular racing/driving video games from throughout the years.'Micro' is defined as 'one millionth the size of something' which, in reality, is pretty bloody tiny. Perhaps 'Centi Machines' might have been more accurate when it comes to the popular 1/150th scale model toy range but its nowhere near as evocative a name as 'Micro Machines' (1993, Mega Drive).First released on the SNES in 1991, this game was ported nearly everywhere and its one that Fazz holds close to his heart from his childhood. It may be the reason he takes any crushing defeat in his stride nowadays... You've not been emotionally destroyed until youve been stuck racing through some baked beans residue on a breakfast table.Across the way on the pod table, Rich tries to get to grip with Gravel (2018, PC). This off road, arcade racer landed more with a clunk than a splash critically but we're here to help you stop wondering if its worth paying £2.49 for the deluxe edition when you see it hanging around on digital storefronts. Surely its worth as much as a half pint of John Smiths down the local?Lets find out together. Enjoy the pod

Welcome to episode 4 of Dryve January! We're putting the pedal to the (twisted) metal this month to provide you with reviews of popular racing/driving video games from throughout the years."You know, I have one simple request, and that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads" We're sure this is what Rich will have been muttering under his breath when the laser on his PS2 had trouble playing The Simpsons: Hit and Run. Was this the untimely demise of the Dryve January schedule?!? No! Our solution: Find a PS2 driving game that is dual layered and goes just as hard as Hit & Run. Enter Gran Turismo 4 (2004, PS2), the 4th best selling PS2 game of all time, to save the day. It's not often the hero of the hour arrives in a Honda Civic but we're pretty 'Z-spec' around here so its probably fitting.Whilst Rich enjoys a PlayStation franchise that started 3 decades ago, Fazz checks out another series that burned brightest on the PS1 but seems to carry less influence in 2026... or does it?Twisted Metal (1995, PS1) started over 30 years ago and has been rebooted a few times already. A recent, well received TV adaptation has led Fazz to try the series out for the first time, starting with its original iteration. Can he see past the dated graphics & shoddy control system to find something that hits his Sweet Tooth? Tune in to find out on this week's Living La Vita Loca podcast!

Welcome to episode 3 of #DryveJanuary! We're putting the pedal to the metal this month to provide you with reviews of popular racing/driving video games from throughout the years.Which phrase is it that Rocky famously espouses in 'Rocky Balboa'?"It's not about how hard you hit, its about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done." We think this phrase perfectly describes our volatile & explosive racing pair this week...First up, Rich provides fireworks for you with a rowsing review of Burnout 2: Point of Impact (2002, Gamecube). We discuss how much 'impact' this series' innovative crash mode had on the arcade racing genre in general and on therefore on Fazz's game of choice this week, Split/Second: Velocity (2010, PS3). Oh and Burnout 3: Takedown (2005, PS2) is the best Burnout video game ever released. This is a fact. The internet says so. It accidentally steals the show! We're not sorry.Enjoy the pod

Welcome to episode 2 of #DryveJanuary! We're putting the pedal to the metal this month to provide you with reviews of popular racing/driving video games from throughout the years.This week, we're taking a view on a couple of early 2000's heavy hitters. Oddly enough, one entry has gone on to be an integral part of the biggest video game franchise ever witnessed whilst the other series hasn't had a fully realised home console entry in over 20 years...Up first are Rich's initial thoughts on the newly released Analogue 3D which Fazz has been harassing him to share for a few weeks now. With that out of the way, we speed through his feelings on F-Zero GX (2003, Nintendo GameCube) which come hot on the heels of his glowing review of F-Zero X last week. Does the extra 'G' add enough G-uice into GX to best its N64 counterpart and, if so, why is there now zero F-Zero?Next up, Fazz has flown over to Liberty City to visit the remastered version of a video game that is, to him, probably the most "important" video game of all time, Grand Theft Auto III: Definitive Edition 2021, PS5). Does that mean its actually worth playing through in 2025 or did you just have to be there? Enjoy the pod.

Happy 2026 podfans and welcome to #DryveJanuary! We're putting the pedal to the metal this month to provide you with reviews of popular racing video games from throughout the years.12 months ago, Rich threatened to derail our entire planned month of vehicular mayhem by "just reviewing F Zero games". He's here to make good on that threat starting off with F Zero X (1998, N64). What is it about F Zero that floats Rich's plasma-powered hovercar to such lofty heights? Lets hope hes full of energy in his review.Fazz, meanwhile, chooses to keep things a little more grounded but only just. Why? Well, he's waging a war against gravity too but on motocross bikes and er, unicorns, in Trials HD (2009, Xbox Live), Trials Fusion (Xbox One, 2014) & Trials Rising (Xbox One, 2019). Legend has it, he is on attempt #1876 of 'King of the Hill'... his own personal Everest. Trial(s) and Error? More like 'Error, error, error, error, error... controller smash'.Enjoy week 1 of #DryveJanuary 2026!

Hi there...Welcome. Come in. Take a seat. Relax. We've come a long way together in 2025...- 50 episodes (thus far). - Over 100 video games reviewed.- Nearly 2 days worth of audio content (if "audio content" means "acoustic bile"). It's all here on an erotic but well maintained spreadsheet and we're about to grade the living shit out of it...Yes, its back, our annual episode where we retroactively rank all of our video game reviews in each ridiculously, arbitrary score bracket and decide which video game will rule supreme.Mmm. Glorious.We bet you've never been so excited to find out which contestant will be crowned 'The best 3/10 video game that Living La Vita Loca podcast reviwed this calendar year'? Gather your workbook documents of choice, surround yourself with auditing equipment and dive in with us. Conditional formatting has never been so fun!Thank you for listening this year. Enjoy the pod!

Is there such a thing as a "Christmas Shoot 'em up"? Yes there is. Its called Deathsmiles II. Its very good.Have we played Deathsmiles II for the festive season because that would be relevant and make sense? No. Instead, have we picked 10 random shmups and distributed them equally between both co-hosts in an attempt to determine which video game would theoretically top the music charts as the equivalent of Christmas number 1? Yes. Are we probably insane? Also yes. Join us in this ridiculous 2 part exercise as we rank some of the best (and most average) shmups we've ever played: - DoDonPachi DaiOuJou (2002)- Darius Gaiden (1994)- Earthion (2025)- Danmaku Unlimited 3 (2017)- Raging Blasters (2021)- Andro Dunos II (2022)- Raiden V: Directors Cut (2019)- Crimzon Clover World EXplosion (2020)- Thunder Force IV (1992)- Radiant Silvergun (1998)Merry Shmup-mas one and all!

Is there such a thing as a "Christmas Shoot 'em up"? Yes there is. It's called Deathsmiles II. It's very good.Have we played Deathsmiles II for the festive season because that would be relevant and make sense? No. Instead, have we picked 10 random shmups and distributed them equally between both co-hosts in an attempt to determine which video game would theoretically top the music charts as the equivalent of Christmas number 1? Yes. Are we probably insane? Also yes. Join us in this ridiculous two part exercise as we rank some of the best (and most average) shmups we've ever played: - DoDonPachi DaiOuJou (2002)- Darius Gaiden (1994)- Earthion (2025)- Danmaku Unlimited 3 (2017)- Raging Blasters (2021)- Andro Dunos II (2022)- Raiden V: Directors Cut (2019)- Crimzon Clover World EXplosion (2020)- Thunder Force IV (1992)- Radiant Silvergun (1998)Merry Shmup-mas one and all!

"You thieves! You thieves… You filthy little thieves! Where is it? Where is it? They stole it from us. My Precious."We can't help but feel that Gollum wouldn't condone this week's podcast with his clear no-nonsense policy on pilfering...Welcome to part 2 of our deep dive into the Uncharted series. We conclude proceedings with a review of the 'Legacy of Thieves' collection. Released in 2022 for the PS5/Windows, this collection features remastered versions of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016) and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (2017). Long lost family, deception, intrigue, drama, globe trotting, crates and of course, the 10000x multiplier... Pirates! As the Black Eyed Peas once said, "Lets get Uncharted in here".Enjoy the pod.

There is very little blurb needed to sell this one. Rich (Nate) and Fazz (Sully) once again welcome Fiona (Elena... mmm, maybe Chloe, actually) to the pod booth to help us navigate a course through the Uncharted series. Over two episodes, we're deep diving every home console release of the PlayStation exclusive series from Naughty Dog. Let's hope we don't bump into El Dorado whilst we're down there...This week it's the turn of 'The Nathan Drake Collection'. Released in 2015 for the PS4, it includes the remastered versions of Drakes Fortune (2007), Among Thieves (2009) and Drakes Deception (2011). There's no time to waste as fortune & glory awaits. Now, does anybody know what is Tibetan for "RPG"?!?Enjoy the pod.

Hi pod fansHere be bonus treasure dug up from our archive. Way back in March 2023, we launched our podcast with a review of Uncharted: Golden Abyss (PS Vita).Prior to our coverage of the whole (home console) Uncharted series over the next two weeks, we've excavated our previous opinion on the handheld effort from 2012.Enjoy this low effort bonus episode of Living La Vita Loca!

"Hello there children!"Welcome to another edition of #FreeplayFortnightly where we both pick a video game that we want to play and keep it secret from our co-host. We then review said game on the podcast and ask our co-host to score the game out of 10 based on our review. Simple? You bet we are!The games we've picked out for random review this week are:• South Park: Chef's Luv Shack (1999, PS1)• Batsugun: Special Version (1994, Arcade via Steam) 'Bullet Hell' vs 'Butthole hell'...One of the best shooter games ever vs 'Asses in Space'...Getting spanked over and over by a video game vs spanking a monkey over and over in a video game...Come on down to Living La Vita Loca Podcast and have yourselves a time!

Ey up Pod-packLast Autumn, we gave Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story a 9/10 review (Episode 76). We couldn't get enough of the stellar gameplay and fascinating yarns provided by Minter via Digital Eclipse. We wanted more... Rather than head back into Minter's older back catalogue, we decided to take a look at some of the more recent video games which weren't covered on the Llamasoft compilation. Hand(held)ily enough, one such game is a PS Vita exclusive... kinda...TXK (2014, PS Vita) is a tube shooter based on Tempest, which had already been reimagined by Minter as Tempest 2000 in the mid 90s. TXK was a little TOO based on Tempest/2000 for Atari's liking and legal pressure ensured it never left the PS Vita. Fazz ignores those wrangles and concentrates on tube tangles instead.Next up, Rich wriggles his way through Minter's VR-enabled action shooter Polybius (2017, PS4) which performed well commercially and critically at the time. Interestingly, after this release, 'The Yak' & Atari decided to kiss and make up to release Tempest 4000 (2018, PS4). Tempest 4000 started life out as a VR version of TXK but Atari asked for the VR aspects to be removed and we were left with effectively an updated console version of TXK after all. What a kerfuffle!Speaking of kerfuffles, we round off proceedings with a conversation about the latest release from Digital Eclipse and why it has had a less than (Llama)soft landing. Enjoy the pod.

Well... nobody saw this coming... a video podcast! We've jumped the shark. Thats it. Theres definitely a VR app for jumping over sharks somewhere right? We should really check the Meta store sales. With Rich indisposed with actual real life family this week, Fazz roams unchecked and unhinged in virtual reality. Straight after 2 glasses of wine and an episode of Celebrity Traitors felt like the right time to record our first foray into video. Not only that but video recorded in VR! Luckily, Fazz can speak more shite than any treacherous celebrity ever could so hopefully the audio side holds up just as well.We check out some of the apps available on the Meta Quest 3 and use our freaky little arms to play some Walkabout Mini Golf in Wallace & Gromit's house. Hopefully the weird little virtual appendages help explain Fazz's lack of sporting prowess!Enjoy the VOD

ObjectiveDefinition: Factual, verifiable information that is not influenced by personal feelings or bias. SubjectiveDefinition: Based on an individual's perspective, feelings, or opinions.Which of the above definitions best describe our podcast and why do we bring this up? Well... it's time for one of THOSE kind of reviews. You know, the reviews where we provide highly subjective opinions sitting slightly, erm, 'adjacent' to the realm of popular judgement? Yeah, one of those...Firstly, after an inauspicious start to proceedings, we blast our way through a review of Infected (2005, PSP), a zombie, dual gun shooter game as brain dead as its undying antagonists. A PSP exclusive that is completely ridiculous and overblown? No wonder Fazz's synaptic nerves are tingling.From there, it's onto the main cour(p)se as Rich feasts upon the Resident Evil 2 Remake (2019, PS4). One of the most influential, stellar video games of all time received a remake in 2019, which in turn was heralded by all as a triumphant reimagining of a classic. So why is Living La Vita Loca not necessarily loco for Leon or in cahoots with Claire? We KNOW it's a great game but why is it not a great game for us?You'll have to make it past one of the most brainless introductions in podcast history to find out... mmm 'brains'... Enjoy the pod.

Welcome to another edition of #FreeplayFortnightly, where each co-host chooses a video game that we want to play and keep it secret from our pod partner. We both play through the aforementioned game and then ask our co-host to score the game out of 10, based on our review. Simple? You bet we are!The games we've picked out for random review this week are:• Ghostwire: Tokyo (2022, PS5) • Firewatch (2016, Xbox Series)If you enjoy spending time finger blasting demons (careful now...) or critiquing the work of 'Fire Lookout' heroes then this is the episode for you!Enjoy the pod.

Your favourite two muppets are back together for the first time in a while as Rich returns from his Japanese jaunt. This is handy as this weeks episode of Living La Vita Loca Podcast is sponsored by the letter 'E'! (Yes, Sesame Street is officially considered to be part of The Muppets)Why are we sponsored by 'E' you most definitely ask us? Well, we've gone with a theme this week. We've managed to pull together three puzzle games, where the ultimate aim is to escape, and they all begin with the letter 'E'. (It was rather easy, economical and effortless weirdly.)Something scary must have happened to Rich on the Japanese subway because he's decided to review an unsettling adventure video game all about... being stuck in the Japanese subway. The Exit 8 (2023, PC) is a bit of a cultural phenomenon in Japan and has already spawned a successful movie adaptation. Can you escape its gravitational pull? Slightly less terrifying but no less perplexing, Fazz opts to prattle on about a pair of PSP puzzlers. Exit (2005, PSP) and Echochrome (2008, PSP) were both well regarded on release and have probably had their fair share of play time on the Japanese transport system in the past. Can they escape the ire of our drab scoring system and leave Fazz ecstatic? Embrace the E on this edition of Living La VEEta Loca Podcast.