Retro Game Renegades

A most appropriate game selection for our 50th!  It's hard to get through a whole RPG for a show, but thankfully this one was pretty familiar to all of us and it really was a pleasure to re-visit (come on, did you think I was gonna say something bad about it?).  From your hometown, to frozen landscapes of the future, to prehistoric jungles, Chrono Trigger takes you to to the edge of imagination and stitches together the fabric of time with a most obvious care.  Most appropriate indeed.  See you again?

We're back again.  This time we're in masks, capes, and overly tight tights while we take on Batman for the NES.  In preparation, I misread the room and believed that Joe and Dylan weren't partial to this game, and I was relieved because I wasn't either.  Turns out I was totally wrong and they thoroughly enjoyed it.  Tune in as we dig in to everything from level design, difficulty, to music.  Even though I am the odd person who doesn't like this game, it still has a lot to offer as an NES game.  Check it out!

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!  This week, Dylan joins us to highlight our most noteable racing games from our early childhood to the end of our adolescence.  We're talkin' NES right through to Dreamcast.  Not all racing games are easy to spend an hour talking about, so we decided to pool our ideas together and share memories of the racing games we played, or read about as we grew up.  Will you remember these titles?  Only one way to find out!  Listen now!

Picking up right where we left off, our discussion/debate on FF1 and all of its features, quirks, and characteristics continues.  It's one of those games, I think anyone who has a memory of it, has some things really embedded into their brain from it.  It's such a memorable title.  I know I am biased but thankfully I get to write this, so I guess that's that.  Hopefully some of you have fond memories of this title, and even if you don't, you can always side with Joe and hate it.  Don't miss the thrilling conclusion of RGR's coverage of Final Fantasy 1 on NES.

Oh man.  I shouldn't be writing this.  I'm WAY too biased in favor of this game.  And lord knows it ain't perfect, nor did it age well.  But keep that between us, 'cause I rarely admit that.  I especially won't admit that to Joe.  This week is another triple threat match featuring a game you'd take with you if you were stranded on a desert item and could only take a handful of items.  We welcome Dylan back for another week, and thankfully, he's totally on my side when it comes to arguing with Joe in favor of this game.  Those of you who like this game, love it, so please join us as we have a discussion aka argument about why this game kicks so much ass.  See you in there!

We've got a new special guest this week!  Dylan hops aboard with us this time for a kick at Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the Sega Genesis/Megadrive.  Here's another one that I'd frequented as a child, but didn't own a copy myself.  Sometimes when you revisit a game, you realize it was better left in the past, and this, to me, mostly qualifies as one of those games.  Don't get me wrong, super creative character design, a mascot that's still relevant, beautiful graphics, catchy soundtrack, and the most uber-mediocre gameplay ever.  It just wears out its welcome after a few levels.  But its beautiful.  Man, I have mixed feelings.  What do you think?  Jump in and listen as the trio of dudes discuss their opinions on this heavy hitter from Sega.

Whether you're into high flying maneuvers, breakdance fighting, or impaling yourself with a glowing sword for no reason, Tekken 3 has the full toolset to bring you and your friends a good time.  This game can be enjoyed alone in a refreshing amount of game modes, and when you add a friend it just seems to elevate the experience.  It's hard to pick at this one too much.  As far as fighting games go, I think this one stayed "good" more so than most of its peers.  Tune in while we reminisce about the good ol' days of Tekken 3 on the PlayStation 1.  

Another NES classic coming this week.  None of us had played this as children, and stumbled into it later in life or just for this episode.  We didn't all love it, but I can definitely understand why this title was such a hit in it's day.  It doesn't take much for the sprite style to burn into your brain (I learned it from NES Dodgeball), and the system for progression was totally fresh and new, dare I say nothing like this had been done before.  Join Steve, Joe, and Sean as we recap our plays on River City Ransom for the NES!!  See you in the streets.

This week, we're headed to the good old days of our childhood, and picking up a game that would seem unlikely to a person not have grown up at that time.  It's Disney's Aladdin, and if you're a retro gamer, I'd go as far to say this is a must play.  It just managed to make a great game.  It wore the skin of an Aladdin game, but I really think it was so well rounded that it had the potential to be a hit game even without the help of it being marketed as a title to match a then-blockbuster movie.  Join Steve, Joe, and Sean as the Aladdin recap hits your ears on RGR.

Well damn, it's about time we show some love to the TurboGrafx 16!  Full transparency, I've never seen one of these consoles in my life, and I was born in the mid 80's.  No one that I knew owned one.  I don't know if this is normal or just a thing where I grew up.  I remember seeing the commercials for this game and wishing I could give it a try.  Fast forward a few decades, and the time has come.  The game looked every bit of good as I remember, it actually had a pretty cool soundtrack too.  A little bit on the punishing side for a consoles flagship/mascot game, but we gave it a good go, and talked all the ins and outs of Bonk's Adventure.  So join us this week and let us share the experience with you.  Catch you in the airwaves!

This week, it's a triple threat as Sean joins Steve and Joe for a chat about Ninja Gaiden 2 on the NES.  I just want to say this game will ragdoll you until you learn to tame the beast, but if you manage to hang in there and skill up, you'll be playing a beautiful game with a tough design, beautiful landscaping and architecture, and a deadly soundtrack.  As of recent, show coverage tends to meander off the rails for a bit, and this episode is no exception.  Things get a little weird.  Anyway, come waste over an hour of your life on our conversation on this ancient jewel.  

One of my old bosses used to use the expression "Now there's a pair that'll beat three of a kind anyday!"  and while he was intentionally corny, it stayed in my head for years.  The phrase manifests itself today as two major players in the puzzle game, uhh, game.  There's alot to be said about both games, and alot of weird and fun childhood memories tied to them.  We aren't really putting the two head to head, but rather celebrating them in an oscillation of conversation.  With that said, join us!

A reflection of 90s culture for kids is clear to see in Earthworm Jim.  It's.... a lot.  But in a good way.  If you judge a book by its cover, you may overlook the fact that a great cast of characters had been created, backed with some of the best graphics on the console.  This game was enjoyed by many, and is a challenging platformer for anyone who wants to travel back in time and take a run at this.  So did it hold up well?  The answer lies behind that play button, so check out this week's ep as we talk about our old and new experiences with Earthworm Jim.

This week, we aren't really covering a game.  We are, however, using one of the greatest games in history as a platform to highlight a fun, stupid event from 20 years ago.  When we were teens, Joe had his very own HTML website which consisted of mostly text based articles written by him and his buddies.  If you were lucky, you could even find the odd picture in there.  ANYWAY.  Joe and his friend Greg decided to fabricate "secrets" for FF7 as an article idea, and somehow, it began to show up in search engines, and a lot of people saw it.  So many, that hundreds of comments poured in, whether they were negative, positive, confused, or just disappointed.  We take a dive into what those secrets were, and read some of our favorite comments.  For the sake of leaning in favor of PC, I had to bleep out a few unsavory terms.  Anyway, this episode is a break from the norm, and hopefully it appeals to you, because we had a blast re-discovering the idiocy of ourselves and others on the internet some 20 years ago.   

This would have been an easy way to open the podcast last year, but we were super hesitant to cover such a monster of a game so early.  We wanted to wait until we built some comfort and structure so we could deliver a quality episode when it came time to cover Super Mario World.  Well guess what?  We're just as sh***y as we always were, so you're getting it now!  This game came with my SNES, so its the first 16 bit title I've ever played, and man was it meaningful.  Replaying this was such a pleasure.  I gotta admit, I have feelings for this one. Join us as we reminisce on this launch title!  Spoiler Alert - it kicks just as much ass now as it did then.

I have no idea why, but it seems like the old school wrestling games kicked ass, and continued to kick ass through the years, including today.  This title in particular, amongst some others, stayed awesome all this time and arguably, are more fun than most current wrestling games.  Join Steve, Joe, and Sean as we sit down and quickly get sidetracked, jumping into our memories of old school wrestling, using this game as a springboard to dive into a bunch of memories and pointless conversations.  Queue up your entrance music, put your ring gear on, and join us as we take on WCW/NWO Revenge on the N64!!

Guys.  I gotta say it, even though you'll hear me say it a few times during the episode.  I begged Joe for so many years to play this game (because it kicks ass), and he just flat out refused.  FINALLY, after over a decade of pestering (and a podcast to use as leverage), Joe has reluctantly agreed to play Super Metroid.  And spoiler - he thought it kicked ass too.  Of course he would.  Come hang with us and get a recount of this classic from someone who played it over 20 years ago, and someone who is brand new to it.  Get it!!

It's that time again!  If you've listened to me weigh in on first generation 3D consoles before, I generally argue that they aren't able to stand the test of time because they were just so god awful to try and process with your eyeballs.  I really believe Goldeneye is an exception to this claim; it may be limited in graphical potential, but it was a relatively easy game to look at, and most importantly, gain and maintain your bearings as you moved about the map.  From the campaign, to the near-to-our-hearts multiplayer (perhaps the OG of multiplayer shooters, and maybe the most badass right up til Halo), we dive into our revisit of this game, nay, this historical gaming landmark that is Goldeneye: 007 on the N64.  Grab your weapon of choice and tune in while we ramble like idiots once again!!

This ain't no cult classic.  Contra was a banger of a game when it hit the scene, it held our attention long after NES was relevant.  Looking back at this title after 30 years, and its honestly hard to find flaws.  This is a perfect example of Konami firing on all cylinders and bringing us a game that ends up becoming a piece of Nintendo history.  A game that's very difficult, not built for the faint of heart, yet a game that really encourages you to get up one more time, and keep fighting for that next stage.  This week, Steve, Joe, and Sean sit down and dig into Contra on the NES.  It was deadly.

Our earliest recollection of rhythm based games, these found a way to make the PS1 just breathe differently.  A totally new way to play, with a strong emphasis on being hook-y and colorful while offering a challenge that was fun to tackle.  I can remember playing a demo disc with Parappa on it, and that's an old memory.   Join Steve, Joe, and Sean as they recount the modern dip into Parappa the Rapper and Umjammer Lammy, comparing the two and arguing a bit about things that have nothing to do with the game.  This was a really fun episode to record, so please enjoy!