Remember The Game? Retro Gaming Podcast

Remember The Game #68 - Sim City

**Game talk starts at 12:40**

 

I can't believe how many people played this game back in the day. It's awesome, but it's also kinda nerdy, even by video game standards. It's slow, quiet, there's no bad guys (except the ridiculous crime rate that will inevitably plague your city). It doesn't seem like a game kids would be interested in. But man oh man, we were. 

 

Almost everyone I knew that had an SNES had Sim City. The fact that it was a launch title for the Super Nintendo probably helps, because after Super Mario World, there weren't too many options. Sim City was my first trip into the simulation/city planning genre of video games, and I loved it. I played the hell out of this game. My brother and I would spend hours just staring at the TV, not even doing anything because we were out of money and waiting on our taxes to come through, and it was still a blast. 

 

Sim City is responsible for sparking my love of this genre of video game, and it's funny because I still adore them today, but I rarely play them. As an adult in a fast moving adult world, I rarely have the time to just sit down and spend an hour designing a virtual city anymore. These types of games are endless, and when I get a gaming session in these days, I feel like I have to get closer to the end of a game to enjoy myself. Which is stupid. This game is fun, and that's all gaming should be. I wish Nintendo would re-release this game somewhere so we could dink around with it again...

 

It would be perfect on the Switch, in case you're reading this, Nintendo. PERFECT.

 

Anyway, Sim City is rad. My guest David Rae agrees. We didn't expect this episode to be as long as it was, but once we get rambling about sky-high crime rates, people whining about their taxes, and Bowser attacks, we couldn't stop. Enjoy this week's show!

Remember The Game #67 - Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

**Game Talk starts at approx. 17:20**

We all know that Nintendo has this weird hobby of taking their phenomenal catalog of older games and making it as hard as humanly possible to play them. That's precisely what they've done with Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. It's available on the Gamecube, if you buy a Gamecube, a memory card, and a copy of the game somewhere (which isn't cheap these days). It's also available on...oh wait, that's it. 

Much like many of the other great Gamecube titles, TTYD has been left in the past. And that really sucks, because this game is so, so good. The original Paper Mario (Nintendo 64) was a great concept. This game takes it's predecessor's charm, battle mechanics, gameplay and obviously it's graphics, and polishes them even more. It's plagued by a little more backtracking than I would like to see, but that's a minor hiccup in an otherwise brilliant game. 

You obviously control Mario - er, Paper Mario - and you're on a mission to collect the seven stars that control the seal on the thousand year door. You also have to save the Princess again (surprise). Bowser keeps showing up, too,  but he's the comic relief this time around instead of the villain, and he's legitimately funny in this game. You make friends with a bunch of odd characters, including a shy Koopa Troopa, a know-it-all Goomba, and an old Bob-omb pirate, and it's the way they change not only your battle strategy, but the areas of the over-world you can access that keep the game moving. This game has hints of Metroid-Vania in it, and that's usually all it takes to hook me. 

I originally was going to break down the combat and villains, too, but then you'd have no reason to listen to the episode. Longtime show supporter, first time guest Bradley McCue joins me this week, and we set a new Remember The Game? record for episode length this time around. There's a lot to talk about here, so quit reading and get listening!

Remember The Game #66 - Sonic The Hedgehog 2

**Game talk starts at 14:05**

Whenever I talk a Genesis game on the show, I feel like I'm doing my part to help re-build the bridge that Nintendo and Sega kids burned down in the 90's. And honestly, I'm really enjoying most of these Sega games. It's like discovering a treasure trove full of retro games that I've had a chance to play, and it's been really fun to try some of the games Genesis kids grew up obsessing over and considering the best that their console of choice had to offer. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is at the top of that list. 

 

I've always been torn on Sonic The Hedgehog. I love the character, the universe, the look. I collected the comic books, watched the cartoon show (Steve Urkel voiced Sonic, if you didn't know!), but I never got super into the games. Primarily because I didn't have a ton of access to them, but also because I just wasn't sure if I thought they were fun. The speed concept was cool, but I found it semi-gamebreaking. You want to go fast, but when you are you don't always have time to react when an enemy pops up. If you go slow, you have time to deal with the bad guys, but it feels like you're playing wrong. I always thought maybe I just didn't understand how to play Sonic.

 

Well, I played quite a bit of Sonic 2 on the Sega Classic Collection package that came out a couple years ago, and it was the first game I jumped into when I hooked up my Sega Genesis Mini. Not necessarily for this podcast, either. I just loved the graphics, liked the music, and found myself wanting to play it over and over again. And really, that's the best thing you can say about a video game, isn't it? Much like Super Mario World, Link To The Past, and Donkey Kong Country, I just find myself never getting sick of playing Sonic The Hedgehog 2. It's just...fun!

 

My buddy Miklos thinks so, too. He's one of the biggest Sega fans I know, and this week, we're continuing to tear down the Console Wars wall by talking about Sega's poster child. Everyone should play Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and we'll tell you why on episode 66 of Remember The Game? Enjoy!

Remember The Game #65 - Sega Genesis Mini Review

**Review starts at 14:05**

If you didn't grow up playing the Sega Genesis, is the new mini adaption of it worth your money? That's the question I set out to answer on this week's podcast. 

 

Not only did I not own a Sega Genesis, I hardly knew anyone that did. I honestly didn't even realize Sega's little Sonic Station was as popular as it was until I was an adult and started to get into game collecting. I've played the original 3 Sonic games, a little NHL, and some Lion King. When Sega announced the Genesis Mini, I was intrigued. This could be my chance to play the few Sega games I remember from my childhood, right?

 

Wrong. Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and the Lion King aren't on it. Neither is a single sports game. Unlike the SNES Classic, most of the games we associate closest with the Genesis didn't make it into it's miniature counterpart. If you grew up loving the Genesis, and you know all about their other titles, like Phantasy Star IV, Shining Force, Ecco the Dolphin, and Gunstar Heroes, then I could understand why this thing would have you excited. But what if you didn't? 

 

Are these games worth playing in 2019 if they don't trigger those warm and fuzzy nostalgic feelings? Is the Sega Genesis Mini Sega's answer to the SNES Classic? Or is it another Playstation Classic? *shudder* Should you spend your hard earned money on this thing? Have a listen and I'll tell you.

 

I'm solo this week for the first time in the history of the podcast, and I actually did some homework this week as well. I feel I've put together a very entertaining, thorough, and honest review of the Sega Genesis Mini from the viewpoint of someone that grew up considering the Sonic Squad to be the enemy. I'm proud of this week's episode, and I hope you enjoy it. 

Remember The Game #64 - Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master

** Game talk starts at 15:30**

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Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (Shinobi III moving forward, that title is too long) is what retro gaming is all about. The graphics, the music, the gameplay, the difficulty. It nails it. I played this for the first time in my life almost 26 years after it released, and if you told me it was a retro-inspired indie title that just came out this year, I'd believe you.

It seems to me like Shinobi was Sega's answer to Nintendo's Ninja Gaiden series. You play as a bad-ass ninja, running from left to right, wall jumping and killing bad guys. You die a lot. But admittedly, I never really felt like the deaths were cheap. Ninja Gaiden has caused a few controller throws in it's time, but I don't know if Shinobi III has. The game is hard as fuck, but there weren't too many instances where I felt my deaths were cheap. It nails, for better or worse, that classic 90's "play it over and over until you can beat it" model.

When I think of the Sega Genesis, I think of Sonic, sports games, and Disney. I think most Nintendo kids feel the same way. But that little black box has some phenomenal games in it's library that I feel have been passed over undeservedly. This game is one of them. I had a fucking...blast...playing through this game on my Switch, and I'm pretty excited to talk about it on this week's podcast. If you've never played it, give this episode a listen. We may just convince you.

I say "we", because as always I'm joined by a fellow nerd. This week, my buddy Miklos returns to the show. You may remember him from our "Sega vs Nintendo" and "Shining Force" episodes. Mik was a die-hard Sega kid, and I owe him a great deal for helping to open my eyes and show me that the Genesis had more games than just crappy over-rated platforms about a little blue rat. (I kid, I kid...mostly). Enjoy the podcast!

Remember The Game #63 - Virtual Bart

**Game talk starts around 13:45**

 

When I launched this podcast, my idea was for my guests and I to reminisce about the games we played as kids. Both good games, and bad. It's taken 63 episodes, but we're dipping into the really bad end of the pool. Worse than Power Rangers. Worse than Bart's Nightmare or Boy and his Blob. Hell, this is worse than the last fifteen years of The Simpsons. Today, we're talking Virtual Bart.

 

This was one off the few Simpsons video games I never owned as a kid. We rented it a couple of times, and I wanted to like it. I mean, it was The Simpsons! But I never got into it. I can look past the faults of most Simpsons games because I loved the show so much, but this game sucks. Half of the mini games are borderline unplayable. The controls are hot garbage. A few cameos by various characters from the show aren't nearly enough to salvage this piece of crap. 

 

You play as Bart (obviously), and he gets strapped into a VR machine at a scene fair. The opening cutscene is actually the best part of the game. The machine then turns into a gameshow style wheel. The player stops it, and whatever image Bart's head stops on decides what mini-game you play. I have no idea what happens if you finish all the levels, because I can't beat most of them. 

 

We'll explain what they all are this week. Listen to this podcast and move on. If you want The Simpsons to ruin your day, just watch one of the modern episodes of the show. They're all way better than Virtual Bart. 

 

I hate this game. My buddy Chris is my guest this week, and we have a couple beers while we tell you why it sucks on this episode of 'Remember The Game?'. Enjoy the podcast, and then try to forget this game. 

Remember The Game #62 - Resident Evil 4

**Game Talk starts at 10:25**

Now, I don't throw around the word "masterpiece" very often. But this game? This game is a masterpiece. 

It's freaking Resident Evil 4. Practically a lock to show up on any respectable 'greatest games of all-time' list. Originally released as an "exclusive" for the criminally underrated Nintendo Gamecube, it's been ported to everything over the last fourteen years. Literally everything. There's probably a SNES version of this game now. And that's ok. This game is incredible, and it should be ported to everything so everyone gets a chance to play it. 

I remember playing through it for the first time on my Gamecube. I had never really gotten into a Resident Evil game up to this point. This one dropped, and the reviews were insane. People were calling it the greatest game ever made. I thought that seemed a little extreme, but I was looking for something beside Mario sports games to play on my 'Cube, so I gave it a chance. When I reached that first village, and realized I had complete control over how I tackled all these creepy hillbilly people that wanted to kill me, I was hooked. 

The atmosphere in this game is INSANE!! The music isn't great on this week's episode, because there isn't any. Capcom did a phenomenal job of setting the mood and making you constantly pay attention to your surroundings. The way that creepy little tune kicks in whenever bad guys are approaching was genius, too. It never gets old. 

The graphics have held up, too. I just played the Switch port of this game a couple months ago, and I'm happy to report Resident Evil 4 still looks great. It has a very dark, almost foggy aesthetic to it, and it really adds to the tension and feel of the game. I never found myself trying to figure out what I could and couldn't interact with, which I find can be an issue with some more realistic looking titles. 

I only really have two minor issues with RE4. The controls (Wii version aside, apparently), take a little getting used to. And the story can be tough to follow. But the controls felt fine after a couple hours of play, and the story doesn't really matter. You have to save the President's daughter, and that's good enough for me. 

This game is the bee's knees. My guest Patrick thinks so, too. We'll tell you why over the next hour or so. Enjoy!

Remember The Game #61 - Pokemon Snap

**Game talk starts at 13:00**

 

The fact that we haven't seen a Pokemon Snap re-release, remake, or sequel on smartphones, the Wii U, or the Switch is almost mind-boggling. 

 

And then you remember it's Nintendo...

 

We all played this, right?? I remember this being one of the few games I could play with my brother and not fight (much). Pokemon Snap. You're on rails, and you can't die. You just take photos of Pokemon. Might sound silly in 2019, but holy hell this game was a big deal twenty years ago.

 

Outside of the cartoon, we hadn't really seen much of Pokemon outside of their pixelated Game Boy iterations. Getting to see all of our favourites (and that loser Charmander) out in the wild was pretty damned cool. Being able to throw apples at them to make them happy or angry was even cooler. And flipping through your roll of film to find your best photos and using them to impress a weird old man? The coolest. 

 

That's all Pokemon Snap was. Try to get Pokemon to react to something you did, so you could snap killer photos of them. The better your photo, the better the score. That's it. No fighting. no bosses, no real drama or story. It didn't need it, though. There was something so addictive about constantly trying to get a better shot. You could play levels over and over looking for secret paths or different ways to cause the pokemon to do things you could get new photos of. And obviously, the biggest hook (for me anyways), was constantly exploring in hopes of finding a new pokemon. I don't think all original 151 were in here (which is very weird), but enough were there to justify running the levels or and over again. This was, in 1999, the closest we'd seen to Pokemon in real life. 

 

This game SCREAMS for a sequel or remake with today's technology. Being able to spin around with your Switch, take photos, and then post your best ones online would be fucking awesome. Because admit it, when you got a killer shot of a Charizard looking all pissed off, you wanted to show it to everybody. Anybody. Someone other than that stupid old man Oak...

 

This wasn't the deepest game in the world, but it didn't matter. It was huge. We all loved it (whether we admitted it or not), and my buddy Andre and I had a hell of a time looking back at it. Give us a God damned sequel, Nintendo!!!

Remember The Game #60 - Video Game Collecting

"My name is Adam Blank, and I'm a recovering retro game collector." 

I love looking at video game collections. I used to love collecting them myself, too. But it can be an expensive hobby. It takes up a lot of space (particularly if you do it like I did and try to collect everything at once). After a couple of years, I had amassed a decent little collection. I was having fun, but I was also spending more money than I should have been. And eventually I realized that I didn't even want to play most of the games I was buying. I love retro video games, but let's be honest; there's a lot of crappy games from back in the day. 

After some deep soul searching, I decided to sell off most of my collection and move on to a new hobby. I was buying crappy video games I'd never heard of with money I could be spending on new games I wanted to play (or y'know, stuff like bills and food). I kept only my SNES and about a dozen of my favourite games. And once the virtual consoles and retro collection compilations started launching and becoming more readily available, I even got rid of my Super Nintendo. I was out, and I was ok with it.

I miss my game collection once and a while. Sometimes I even get the urge to jump back into the hobby, but I take one look at the prices people are asking for their NES games and their Sega Genesises (what's the plural of Genesis? Geneseye?), and it quickly goes away. Prices have exploded on retro gaming gear since I collected, and it's a rich man's game in 2019.

Prices are a lot higher than they were fifteen years ago, because the demand is there. I'm not sure why people are so hungry for these old games today, though. Is it because people just want to play the games from their childhood? Maybe they see pictures of collections posted online, think to themselves "that looks awesome" and try to do it themselves? Maybe it's just people thinking if they sock away old games they'll get rich off them in thirty years (you probably won't). For whatever reason, retro game collecting is a big-time hobby these days, and while I think prices are too high, I love it. 

I don't have the money, space, or patience to collect video games anymore, but I still love the hobby. I could read and talk about it for hours. I have great memories of my collecting days, but if I was to start collecting again today, I'd take a different approach than I did right out of High School. My buddy Patrick is another former collector who feels the same way, and on this week's episode of the show we had a great time looking back on our days of blowing all of our money on video game cartridges, as opposed to the video game downloads we blow it on now. 

We're going to try and do a few more of these conversation style episodes moving forward. If you like it, please let me know. If you hate it, REALLY let me know. I just want to make you happy. 

Remember The Game #59 - Street Fighter II

We're finally making our way into the arcades. Admittedly, I didn't really live near one growing up, so my experience with stand up cabinets is pretty minimal. And while I don't have a ton of playtime under my belt, I know damned well what a big deal Street Fighter II is. 

*For the record, I used the SNES box art because it fit well in the thumbnail and it was the cleanest art I could find. But we talk a little bit about the arcade, a little home port, a little variation and re-releases; we're all over the map this week*

 

Street Fighter II considered one of the greatest fighting games, and video games, of all-time. It's Turbo port is a lock to be in the top 10 of any "best SNES game of all-time" list. It's one of the most popular arcade machines ever made, up there along Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. I'd love to know how much money this game and it's variants have made Capcom over the years. It frustrates me that is legit may be the biggest video game in history that I just cannot play...

 

I've always been terrible at the fighting genre of my favourite hobby. Aside from Mortal Kombat 2 (which I owned growing up) and a little bit of Smash Bros, I haven't really put any time into trying to get good at them, either. Fighting games are a unique animal, because you can play and practice against the computer all you want, and it just won't prepare you for battle against a skilled human opponent. A big gap in the skill levels of two players is as crippling in fighting games as it is in any genre of video game. I didn't have much money as a kid, and when the odd chance came along to play arcade games, I sure as hell wasn't going to pump my quarters into getting my ass kicked. Especially if the Ninja Turtles cabinet was nearby. 

 

But my pal David Rae did. And he's my guest this week, helping me breakdown the iconic Street Fighter II franchise. I know how much this game means to some of you, so I really did my best to do your game justice. I hope you geeks like it! 

 

"HADOOKIN!" or whatever it is...