Unlocking What Was Cool

On April 25th 2020 Mike & Neil sat down at their desks for the first time to try and record a test episode of their upcoming podcast "The GameCube Was Cool". After being sealed away in the GameCube vault the boys are bringing it back. You'll hear a very rough version of what the podcast would become that will hopefully make you appreciate how far they've come. The boys rank their top 10 GameCube games (as of 2020) and talk about the history of the system and their plans for the podcast. Enjoy looking back on these fresh faced lads with some remastered audio for 2024.

As is tradition Mike & Neil take some time in the last episode of the year to talk about their favourite games, movies, albums, and other big events that happened in 2023. With that also comes news of 2024. The boys will be taking a hiatus for the better part of next year, taking some time to do some life sidequests and having a little break after nearly 4 years of podcasting. Mike & Neil will of course be back in the future with some exciting new plans and will have a few new episodes peppered in so keep your ears peeled for that. Until then enjoy the highlights of 2023 with the latest episode of the podcast. Thank you so much to everyone for listening and writing in this year! 

You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you? Well if you have maybe this podcast has the answer to your problems. Sit down, grab your favourite mask, and enjoy Mike & Neil and friend of the show Kira (@toonietwirls) chat about The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. With only an 18 month turnaround for development time after Ocarina, MM, the first true Zelda sequel took things on a dark turn and added in a timed gameplay mechanic allowing the user to replay the same 72 hours over and over again to stop the moon from crashing into Termina. Divisive at first but now hailed as one of the best games ever made, the gang chats about their favourite moments, the sidequests that pull your heartstrings, and the amazing story behind all of it. 

Today is a BEEG episode of the original Super Mario RPG released way back in 1996 for the SNES. Mario's first foray into the RPG genre proved extremely successful for both Nintendo and developer Square. A mix of the nintendo charm and Final Fantasy style gameplay, it continues to be one of the greatest entries in the Mario universe. The success stopped when Nintendo chose to go cartridge for their next console and Square went with Sony to create Final Fantasy 7 that made a sequel impossible (though we did get two spin-off franchises in Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi). Cam (@cpawx) joins the boys for his first ever non-zelda episode to chat about playing the original in 1997, having his Mom help him on the final boss and what it's like to play the remake 27 years later.

Oy Ginger, back from Holiday? Well the holidays are right around the corner and it's time to kick off December with one of the best stop motion movies ever made. It's Chicken Run! just in time for the sequel to be released Mike & Neil sit down and talk about one of their favourite childhood movies and one that has aged surprisingly well. With great British humour, amazing animation by Nick Park and Peter Lord and heartwarming and genuinely funny story, Chicken Run remains hilarious and easily rewatchable. Harrison from "The Only Pod Ever" podcast joins the boys to talk about his memories of this film and what he's hoping to see for the sequel. Enjoy that gravy Mrs. Tweedy!

Who doesn't love reminiscing about their favourite childhood snacks? Mike & Neil certainly love it as they "gush" (ha get it) about their favourite snacks from the 90s and 2000s on this special patreon elected episode. Sit back, relax, and listen to the boys rattle off a nostalgia filled lineup of tasty treats like fruit roll ups, sunny d, bits and bites, fruit gushers, kool aid jammers and yes, they even mention the ill-fated heinz colourful ketchups. Making you hungry? Grab a pack of dunkaroos and a handful of munchies (just not the pretzels) and enjoy the episode. 

Can you believe it's been 10 years since the Last of Us released on PS3?? Since 2013 the game has been remastered and remade, got a sequel (which is now getting it's own remaster) and a HBO tv series making it one of Sony's top selling franchises. Mike & Neil reminisce when they first saw the trailer to this game back at E3 2011 and how this was one of the titles that roped them back into gaming. The brutality, narrative, setting, design of the infected and of course the unbelievable soundtrack make this game one of the all time greats. Join the boys to chat about the world of Joel and Ellie and debate if Joel is a hero or villain.

DO A BARREL ROLL! Join Mike & Neil as they team up with Fox McCloud, Peppy Hare, Falco Lombardi and yes, even Slippy Toad to talk about one of the greatest N64 games of all time. Star Fox 64 took everything the SNES version had to offer and improved upon it while also creating an in depth world with colourful characters, amazing locales, and simple but highly entertaining gameplay. The boys are joined by friends of the show Dave and Luigi from the Remember 64 podcast to discuss why this game was so much fun in 1997 and just as much fun today. Unfortunately Star Fox the franchise has been mostly downhill ever since but 26 years on 64 still reigns as one of the best ever and still a must play today.

To celebrate the release of Spider-Man 2 (no not the 2004 movie-tie in game for the GameCube), Mike & Neil are talking about Web of Shadows, a 2008 Spider-Man game from the activision era that often gets brought up as one of the best Spidey games ever, and for good reason. The biggest inclusion is of course the ability to switch between red and black suit Spider-Man leading to all kinds of different choices and a hero and villain path to boot. We even get lesser known characters at the time Luke Cage and Moon Knight to team up with! And of course it wouldn't be a 2000s Spider-Man game without Wolverine. It's all here on your friendly neighbourhood podcast.

Halloween or Christmas movie? Well here on the Unlocking What Was Cool we truly believe that The Nightmare Before Christmas (produced but not directed by Tim Burton) is the quintessential November 1st movie. The perfect tie between halloween and christmas, this classic 76 minute stop motion animated musical dark fantasy film turns 30 this year and still holds up incredibly today. With an eccentric cast of characters, amazing songs written by Danny Elfman, and a purely imaginative storyline and setting, it's no wonder why this is one of Neil's all time favourites and we're very proud to see the popularity keep growing even without a sequel!

Hola amigos! This is a tale of crime and corruption in the Land of the Dead and a perfect candidate for our spooky game for the month of October, Grim Fandango remains a classic example of point and click adventure games from LucasArts in the 90s. Filled with amazing characters, unique settings, and some of the best music you'll ever find in a video game, Mike looks back on this incredible Tim Schaffer production. Neil is headed to the ninth underworld but luckily friends of the show Nichola and Dan have joined the party to talk about their experiences with the game and why it stands the test of time.

WE'LL CARRY ON. Welcome to the black parade, an album that defined a genre, a generation, and made My Chemical Romance one of the biggest bands of the 2000s. Gerard Way and Co. went as ambitious as possible in this 2006 masterpiece, paying homage to rock operas of the 70s while creating a unique blend of emo, pop punk, and macabre musical theatre to create a lasting piece of music that's stood the test of time. Friend of the show Branan joins Mike & Neil to talk about being a poser Emo and shopping at Hot Topic while playing Teenagers in Guitar Hero 2. 

Bop it! Twist it! Pull it! This month's patreon topic has Mike & Neil looking back at none other than the 90s and 2000s as usual but this time for the toys! A time of great toys from Kinder Surprises, McDondalds' Happy Meals, and whatever Burger King's kid's meal was called, it was a great time to be a kid. Join the boys to talk about Furbies, Tamagotchis, Hot Wheels, and many many more amazing toys from our favourite era.

Did you hear that? There's some weird sounds coming from the Unlocking What Was Cool's attic in this week's episode covering one of the best horror games ever made - Eternal Darkness. A cult classic that has been stranded on the GameCube since 2002, and developed by Canadian devs Silicon Knights, Eternal Darkness is one of the most frightening games you will ever play. Neil and Mike are joined by one of their favourite guests, @Toonietwirls who talks about her first memories playing this game and the fear and anxiety it brought with it's clever and incredibly innovative sanity effects. Listen and enjoy this GameCube revisit where the boys talk about the game for more than 15 minutes this time.

From one of the hardest hitting songs ever to open an album to a song known by anyone who grew up in the the 80s 90s or even 2000s to a beautiful ballad and an arena anthem, Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American has it all. Mike & Neil are proud to be finally covering one of their favourite albums of all time and they are joined by good friend of the show Brian to talk about the history of the record, break down some of our favourite tracks, and learn that the band was on the brink of bankruptcy in 2000 before this record help save them and their careers. Join us on looking back to a simpler time when every music video was a house party with a pool on this week's music episode of Unlocking What Was Cool.

It's time to lament the games that never were meant to come to the Nintendo GameCube. Neil and Mike sit down to talk about Donkey Kong Racing, Dead Phoenix and Super Paper Mario (which yes! did eventually come out on the Wii). There were all suitable reasons why these games and many others didn't come to the Cube but it hasn't stopped the boys from wishing and theorizing what could have been. With Rare being bought by microsoft DKRII was dead and probably will never be revived. Dead Phoenix being Capcom's 5th of the Capcom 5 was DOA and Super Paper Mario was always destined for a bigger selling console. Check it out and enjoy a trip down this cancelled memory lane.

Super Mario World is consistently ranked as one of the greatest video games of all time and frankly, who could argue that? The map, the cape, the design, the enemies, the accessibility, the secrets, the boos, star road, dinosaurs, yoshi! This game literally has it all, a complete masterpiece of exploration and platforming, Neil and Mike go back 33 years to talk about one of their favourite games of all time. Joining them is friend of the show Jed and @luigisapartment to discuss their memories, their favourite (or least favourite) secrets, and of course how Rip Van Fish is basically the Mr. X of the mario world. We hope this episode is "Just what I needed!".

EVERYBODY LOVE EVERYBODY. There've been some classic Will Ferrell movies over the years: Step Brothers, Anchorman, Talledega Nights, The Other Guys. But one movie that often gets overlooked is Semi-Pro, the "semi" true story of the ABA merging with the NBA in the late 70s. Mike & Neil are excited to talk about one of their favourite comedies of all time and one that they saw in a nearly empty theatre together over spring break in 2008. 15 years later the boys agrees it still holds up although it certainly has it's issues. Nonetheless this comedy featuring the likes of Woody Harrelson, Will Arnett and yes even Andre 3000 of Outkast boasts a great soundtrack, hilarious scenes, and even a few dunks. SOMEBODY HIT SOMEBODY!

The mid 2000s were an interesting time for Nintendo. A failing home console, a slowly to adopt handheld console, and new competition with Sony's PSP. To counter all this, the Nintendo DS is revealed as a "third pillar" in their console arsenal. Well it turns out that the DS was far more than a third pillar and ended up going on to be the highest selling console in Nintendo's history. From Nintendogs to the touch screen stylus to Pictochat and so much more, the DS captured the hearts of over 150 million people and remains a mainstay for many today. Neil and Mike dive into this patreon topic, talk about their memories with the GBA and DS and predict what Nintendo's next big leap will be.

Mike and Neil have covered 555 GameCube games and this week they are adding to that number by covering five exclusive Japanese GameCube games. Nintendo Puzzle Collection - a colourful set of Yoshi's Cookie, Dr. Mario and Panel De Pon games, Kukurin Smash - a sequel to the GBA game that's currently on Switch Online services, Robocop - That's right, a Robocop game that is made by the same developers as Superman 64 so take that as you will, DreamMix World Fighters - an insane crossover featuring characters like Optimus Prime, Bomberman, and Simon Belmont, and finally Homeland - a online RPG game resembling a mix of Animal Crossing Cubivore and Doshin the Giant. The boys are joined by Marcelo from the fantastic YouTube channel @gamecubegalaxy to discuss these games in depth and lament why we never were able to get North American ports of them.