Legion Gaming Podcast

This week's episode is a chronology of our favorite console launch games. You only get one chance to make a first impression and a launch lineup can sometimes make or break a system's chances at success. The initial offering of games have the heavy task of appealing to a wider audience in an attempt to be THE reason you're picking up an expensive new console.  Deucy and I put together some of our favorite hits and misses from everything from the Atari 2600 to PS5. It's a looser discussion, but it's also an interesting examination of how console makers would respond to the constantly shifting game industry to have the biggest launch ever.      Email us:  LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast

We covered the original Resident Evil and its remake last year and we're continuing tradition this week with Resident Evil 2! The highly anticipated sequel finally released in January 1998 after numerous delays that included restarting the project from scratch. Resident Evil 2 would kick off what is widely regarded as one of the greatest years in gaming that included Metal Gear Solid, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Half-Life, and StarCraft just to name a few. RE2 set a new benchmark for sequels and made a lasting impact for anyone willing to explore the zombie infested streets of Racoon City. Deucy and I revisit what was originally planned for Resident Evil 1.5 before a series of doubts led Capcom to scrap the entire project and redesign the game. We'll also get into the remake and how it successfully reimagined the horrors of the original that left us dying to experience the nightmare all over again.    Our next episode releases on 11/4 and it all about the Best Launch Games   Email us:  LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast

We're continuing our month of horror this week with Devil May Cry! What was supposed to have been Resident Evil 4 ended up evolving into one of Capcom's best-selling franchises that spawned four sequels and a divisive reboot. We're revisiting the iconic 2001 original and its controversial, but definitely over-criticized, 2013 reboot and talk everything that led to the creation of Dante and the gothic demon hunting world that's enchanted us for over two decades. I've played DmC: Devil May Cry a ton, but you'll get a SSS-mokin fresh take as Deucy shares his experience playing the definitive edition for the first time.  Both games have a lot to talk about so pull the trigger and press play!   Email us: LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: @LegionGamingPodcast

October is already here and we're kicking off our month of horror with the 2008 classic Dead Space! Just short of it's 18th anniversary on October 13th,  Deucy and I dissect the survival horror classic that proudly replicated its Alien and Event Horizon influences to create an unforgettable sci-fi horror experience that's best described as "Resident Evil in space." We also cover the amazing 2023 Dead Space Remake and how it manages to make everything that happened on the USG Ishimura even more terrifying to explore while retaining the immersion and atmosphere that was so strong in the original.    0:00 - Intro and What We've Been playing 29:10 - Dead Space    Join us again in two weeks when we cover the Devil May Cry series and you can look forward to this year's special Halloween bonus episode on October 31st covering Resident Evil 2!   Email us: LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast BlueSky: LegionGamingPod.bsky.social  

Riddle me this, riddle me that, who's celebrating 30 years of the big, black bat? This week, we once again invited our friend Vito to talk about the 30th anniversary of Batman Forever and all of the tie-in games. This our Bat-mania of that was larger than Batman '89.  The movie was released in June 1995 and we revisit its history and everything that led to Warner Bros. giving directing duties to Joel Schumacher after the financial failure of Batman Returns. Forever’s drastic change in tone was obvious and was an edict by WB  to make Batman more appealing to a younger audience and that's exactly what it did despite the campy feel that was divisive among critics and fans.   And with Batman Forever came tie-in games.. we revisit all four versions that were released on Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Game Gear, and GameBoy and a game most people have never played or heard of - Batman Forever: The Arcade Game for the PS1 and Saturn. You don't need much of Batman's detective skills to uncover that the original console versions were terrible but you might be surprised about the arcade game! Batman Forever and its games hold you, thrill you, kiss you, and ultimately kill you so join us as we dive into Gotham once more.      Email us:  LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPod

Our 'Reboots, Remakes, and Remasters' episode gave us the itch to revisit the Crash Bandicoot series this week. Crash was heavily influenced by games like Donkey Kong Country and Naughty Dog's gorgeous, vibrant, and expressive platformer gave the Playstation the mascot it was missing. Deucy and I cover the core four games (including  the excellent Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time) and CTR: Crash Team Racing including the remaster of the first three games Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.    Email us:  LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast

This is a huge week for game releases, especially for two in particular: Gears of War: Reloaded and the long awaited remake Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater! With that, we wanted to talk about some of our favorite reboots, remakes, and remasters and what all of them actually mean. We cover some of the earlier 8-bit and 64-bit era remasters/remakes and revisit how the Resident Evil Remake would become the new influential benchmark how to transform an old experience. Since then, it seems there's new remasters/remakes/reboots every single week. Let us know what reboots, remakes, or remasters are your favorite by emailing us to following us in Instagram!   Email: LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast BlueSky: LegionGamingPod.Bsky.Social

We've slowly been going through the Metroid series and today we have another episode revisiting the 2002 classics in Metroid: Fusion and Metroid: Prime. Both games were leased on the same day in 2002 which probably made it the greatest day ever if you're a Metroid fan. We cover the history and development of both games (including how pissed people were back then about Prime being a first person game) and revisit both games and talk about their influence and impact over the last 23 years. These are two of the best games in the Metroid series and made for a really great episode. See you next mission!   Email us: LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPod

This week is all about high octane carnage as we dive into the entire Twisted Metal series! This series was really special for my brother and I so we invited him to revisit each of the games and how a simple idea of cars and rockets became of the most influential car combat games ever. Twisted Metal: Season 2 has just released so this episode is the perfect catch-up for everything you might've missed or forgotten.    Email us: LegionGamingPodcast@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast

We've made it to Episode 64 and there's no better way to celebrate than sharing our Top 10 Nintendo 64 Games! The iconic successor to the SNES may not have been nearly as successful as the PS1, but that didn't stop it from becoming the king of multiplayer gaming and genre defining classics like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This was a really exciting episode for us to record since we got to revisit playing so many of these games together. I talk about how we almost got a Nintendo Playstation and what led to the last major cartridge based system we'd see.    0:00 - Episode start and what we've been playing 18:50 - The History of the N64 39:40 - Top 10 N64 Games   Email us:  LegionGamingPod@gmail.com   Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast  

We're pulling a Clayfighter with the episode numbering here and that's because Episode 64 will be all about our Top 10 N64 games. But before that, we decided to talk about the BEST games we've played so far this year. As mind blowing as it feels, 2025 is already half over and it's already been been a stacked year for new games. DOOM: The Dark Ages, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Mario Kart World,  are just a few on top of some of last year's games we've finally gotten to. The back half of the year is even bigger which will make our annual Game of the Year episode that much more difficult. Let us know about some of the best games you've played and visit us in two weeks for our Top 10 N64 Games with Vito!   Email us: LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast

This could be the most offensive episode we've ever released! We've all played games that may have had the best reviews, endless praise from gamers, or sold millions of copies and somehow just never held our interest. Today's episode is a great discussion about how and why some of the biggest games never hooked us. Both of us have varied but different tastes so there are some painful discussions about how series like God of War or Cyberpunk 2077 just didn't click.    Let us know what games you wish hooked you! Email: LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast

Racing fever is in the air and we've both got a need for speed this week so Deucy and I are sharing some of our favorite racing and driving games! Both of us have played a lot of racing games over the last...35 years.. and we've rounded up some classics like R.C. Pro-Am and some more modern games like Forza Horizon and Split/Second that had us glued to our seats for hours. I definitely lean more on the arcade racer side and Deucy moreso on simulation racers so we've got a pretty awesome episode no matter what you prefer. Strap in for the ride and then let us know what some of YOUR favorite racers are!   Email us:  LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast BlueSky: LegionGamingPod.bsky.social        

We're concluding our Bond anthology and covering 007's final decade in the gaming world. EA undertook a huge task trying to follow up Goldeneye after it set  the console gaming on fire and they actually made some great games! Deucy and I revisit the last of the Bond games starting with 2001's arcadey-but-still-awesome Agent Under Fire which led to the best games Bond would ever see with Nightfire, Everything or Nothing, and From Russia with Love - but things got really interesting when the Activision era started with Quantum of Solace. We cover the tumultuous history of Bond games, especially leading into the final near-disaster that was 007 Legends. 0:00 - Episode start and what we've been playing 24:18 - Topic start   Email us: LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPod BlueSky: LegionGamingPod.bsky.social  

We covered the first era of James Bond games in Episode 57 and there's no way we couldn't dedicate an entire episode to Goldeneye! We invited Vito and Randy to revisit one of the N64's most legendary and influential games. Goldeneye is synonymous with console gaming and multiplayer and we talk about how it started off as a Virtua Cop-like rail shooter before it evolved into one of the most iconic first person shooters in history.   0:00 - What we've been playing and Switch 2 preorders 23:33 - Goldeneye start   Email us: LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: @LegionGamingPodcast    

FINALLY, we have come BACK with another wrestling episode! Wrestlemania has passed and we thought we'd go on our own road to nostalgia and cover all of the PS1/N64 WCW & WWF wrestling games. We're go through 14 games released between 1996 and 2000 start with WWF: In Your House and WCW vs The World to the truly legendary and hall of fame worthy WWF No Mercy on the N64.  Not everything we talk about today is a slobberknocker, but the three of us had a great time talking about the foundations of today's wrestling games and everything good and bad about wrestling during the late 90's.   Join us in two weeks as we invite our friend Vito to talk about one of the most important console games EVER - Goldeneye!   Email us: LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast

We've decided to anthologize all of the James Bond games and this week we're covering releases from 1982 until 2000. Goldeneye on the N64 was the first major 007 game for many people, including us, but Bond had almost 15 years of games before that. We start with the 1982 U.K. only release of 'Shaken But Not Stirred' and all the way through the Twisted Metal/Driver-inspired 007 Racing for PS1 in 2000.   Goldeneye is such a massively influential game that we'll be doing a whole deep dive episode - keep an eye our for that in early May and we'll later cover the rest of the Bond games too!   0:00 - Intro and what we've been playing and Switch 2 News 21:10 - Topic Start   Email us at LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast BlueSky: legiongamingpod.bsky.social  

Street Fighter II recently celebrated its 34th anniversary and it's one of my favorite series of all time. I grew up with fighting games and none made more of an impact at the arcades and fighting games than Street Fighter II. We invited our friends Randy and Juan to talk about the origins of fighting games, the original Street Fighter and each version of its iconic sequel. SF2 lead to a HUGE boom of fighting games and the four of us share our memories and why this series is still going strong after over 35 years. This game is a special one for all of us so enjoy! Opening: What we've been playing lately Main topic: Starts at 15:15   Email us! LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Find us and follow: @LegionGamingPodcast BlueSky: legiongamingpod.bsky.social

Super Mario Kart on the SNES was an instant classic that spawned an iconic series that's spanned over 33 years at this point. Deucy's birthday wish was to rank all of the Mario Kart games and we invited our friend, the 8BitBarrister Vito, to join us! We go through each game in chronological order and share our individual ranks before we total them to score the DEFINITIVE Mario Kart ranking. It's a really fun episode on one of the most beloved series of all time - let us know your rankings are!   Email us: LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: @LegionGamingPodcast BlueSky: @legiongamingpod.bsky.social

Beat 'em ups have had a huge resurgence in the last five years or so. The genre was at its peak in the early 90's until it slowly fizzled out over the last couple of decades, partly because there wasn't a whole lot of innovation. What's old is eventually new again and we're celebrating "Beat 'Em Ups Strike Back" in this episode as we dive into three games that all have their own legacies from the past - Streets of Rage 4, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, and Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind! SoR4 and TMNT particularly injected new life into the genre and Rita's Rewind is the newest game that went back to it's early 16-bit roots. If you want to revisit our past episode that covered each of these series, check out the list below!   Episode 27: Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Episode 40: The NES TMNT Trilogy Episode 43: 16-bit TMNT Games + Tournament Fighters Episode 51: Streets of Rage Trilogy   Send us an email or find us on Instagram! Email: LegionGamingPod@gmail.com Instagram: LegionGamingPodcast