Nate, Sebastian, Ryan, and David all gather to read their way through Next Generation magazine's "Top 100 Games of All Time," a list published in September of 1996 (just about how far we've gotten in our historical journey so far!). The boys try to keep it together through more that two hours of discussion, featuring games predictable, surprising, inscrutable, unmentionable, and baffling. Fair warning: things sometimes go off the rails.
Nate and Sebastian are joined by Lucy and Kari to discuss TOMB RAIDER, Eidos and Core Design's 1996 game of sexy grave robbing. We discuss problematic heroines designed to appeal to 17-year-old boys, the uncomfortably imperialist premise of raiding tombs in general, and why people should be nice to wolves. Kari longs for an archaeologist girls can look up to, Lucy shudders over gratuitous death animations, and Nate reveals the secret services provided by local business "BuzzZinga Vapors."
Nate, Sebastian, and Jordan are once again joined by Em to discuss SUPER MARIO 64, Nintendo's revolutionary platformer that created a new paradigm for how to construct a digital playground in three dimensions. We talk about the brilliance of a camera that simultaneously allows for developer suggestion and player control, the welcoming hub world that is Peach's Castle, and how all 3D games from this point forward are indebted to this particular outing of the Italian plumber. Sebastian makes a Star Wars reference in Ryan's absence.
Nate, Ryan, and Jordan gather to discuss NIGHTS INTO DREAMS, Sega's 1996 game about an androgynous harlequin who defends bullied teens by performing aerial acrobatics and collecting orbs to restore the physical manifestation of their virtues. It's... a lot. On the way, the boys discuss their own personal nightmares and the unfortunate story of the Sega Saturn. Jordan tries to wrap his mind around the game's imagery, and Nate educates everyone on the legendary Segata Sanshiro.
SHOW NOTES:
Segata Sanshiro commercial compilation:
Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan gather to discuss QUAKE -- sort of. Nate tries to find some nice things to say about the game's aesthetics, the boys discuss the earliest games they played over the internet, and we ponder whether any "machinima" has ever been important. Nate brings up the Patterson Bigfoot film, Sebastian makes a joke about Adele, and Ryan turns the episode into a cavalcade of Nine Inch Nails puns. At some point, we discuss QUAKE a little bit.
Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan are joined by special guest Brock Wilbur to discuss RESIDENT EVIL, Capcom's 1996 horror adventure that launched a sub-genre by being stingy with its ammo. Join us as we discuss how early 32-bit games began to integrate the techniques of cinema, sample some abominable voice acting, and lambaste the Umbrella Corporation for constructing a truly inconvenient workplace.
Nate, David, and Jordan gather to discuss SUPER MARIO RPG: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN STARS, our last game of the 16-bit era and a parting of the ways for game developers Square and Nintendo. Come for the discussion of how a third-party developer crafts their own quirky vision of the Mushroom Kingdom, stay to hear a conspiracy theory about the existence of an evil Yoshi. Nate calls a character a "store-brand Wario," David has trouble with acronyms, and we read too deeply into an optional boss.
Nate, Sebastian, Ryan, and Andrea sit down to discuss POKEMON RED and BLUE, the first iteration of Nintendo's pop culture juggernaut. We talk about middle school, siblings being brought closer together through the power of trading Pokemon, and Tim Horton's-themed Pokemon. Come to hear the debate over whether insect battling is really a thing, stay to hear which of your unlucky hosts spent their seventh-grade class trip to Toronto caring for a Tamagotchi instead of a Pikachu.
Nate, Sebastian, and Jordan gather to discuss CHRONO TRIGGER, the time-traveling RPG from Square. We discuss our feelings on spoilers, abstraction in storytelling, frog men, and eldritch horrors from beyond the stars. Come for the dissection of how a game is paced, stay to learn which of your hosts thinks Chrono Trigger is the best game on the SNES.
SHOW NOTES:
At one point, Nate accidentally refers to the "Kingdom of Zeal" when it should OBVIOUSLY be "Queendom." He has been banished to Mt. Woe for this indiscretion.
Nate, Sebastian, and Jordan sit down to discuss WIPEOUT, Psygnosis' futuristic hover-racer from the early days of the original PlayStation. We talk cyberpunk aesthetics, mid-'90s techno, and the movie HACKERS. Sebastian brings up Seabiscuit, Nate admits his middle school love for The Crystal Method, and Jordan learns whether it's better to fall off or stay on the proverbial wagon. There is a surprising lack of actual wipeouts.
SHOW NOTES:
Tim Wright's Bandcamp (CoLD SToRAGE):
https://coldstorage.bandcamp.com/album/slipstream-wipeout-volume-one
Nate, Sebastian, David, and Ryan gather to discuss Westwood Studios' COMMAND & CONQUER, one of the games to popularize the Real-Time Strategy genre in the mid-'90s. We talk terrible FMV story sequences, LAN parties, and how difficult it is to open yourself up to new genres even as an experienced game player. Come for the discussion of the rivalry between Command & Conquer and Warcraft, stay to hear about Ryan's new start-up indie terrorist organization. We also talk a lot about Dune.
SHOW NOTES:
“SPACE!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niZpcdp2v34
FMV cutscenes (GDI):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUqr9iBs_50
FMV cutscenes (Nod):
Episode 50! Join Nate, Sebastian, David, and Jordan as we discuss eight games we've skipped over in our journey so far, with special bonus pre-recorded segments from Ryan and Kari! Our extremely disorganized conversation covers:
E.V.O. - SEARCH FOR EDEN
ACTRAISER
TERRANIGMA
DONKEY KONG COUNTRY
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO?
FINAL FANTASY LEGEND III
XCOM: UFO DEFENSE
ULTIMA V: WARRIORS OF DESTINY
Is this in any way a comprehensive or meaningful assortment of games? No! Except, of course, that they're games we love. Come listen to us attempt to explain why!
Nate, Sebastian, and David are joined by new guest Andrea to discuss EARTHBOUND, a Super Nintendo RPG unlike any other. We discuss sentient piles of vomit, terrible ad campaigns, a man who becomes a dungeon, Canadian whiz kids, and whether dogs are an essential part of the American Experience. Andrea explains her childhood obsession, Sebastian draws comparisons to The Blob, David gets teary-eyed remembering his wedding, and Nate infuriates Andrea by finding the Sword of Kings unreasonably quickly.
SHOW NOTES
Nintendo localize Mother 3 you cowards
Nate and David sit down to unpack THEME PARK, Bullfrog Productions' amusement park management simulator. Nate explores the limits of his tastes in games, David explains his curious predilections for order as a child, and they both recoil in revulsion over the tasteless game over cinematic. Come for the unpacking of a unique sub-genre of videogames, stay to find out who Nate calls "a cross between Willy Wonka and Clippy the Paperclip from Microsoft Word."
SHOW NOTES:
The morbid “Game Over” cinematic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmc5KR8dEJE
Planet Coaster trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o16e9daqGko
Buy THEME PARK on Gog.com:
Nate and Sebastian are joined by Ryan and David to discuss SUPER METROID, the seminal space bounty hunter adventure from 1994. We discuss the birth of the "Metroidvania" sub-genre, sequence breaking, and some things that games can do in ways that other media can't. Warning: Nate says "Heavens to Super Mergatroid" once, which seems inadvisable. Due to user error, Sebastian continually refers to Kraid as "Graig."
SHOW NOTES:
The Metroid comic that ran in Nintendo Power:
https://imgur.com/gallery/yQiV9
Nate and Sebastian are joined by Lucy, who knows more about basketball than the two of them put together (which isn't saying much), and Ryan, who recorded his audio in his bathyscape at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, apparently, to discuss NBA JAM, Midway's extreme basketball extravaganza from 1993. Listen in to discover who is on fire, who's heating up, who's making shots FROM DOWNTOWN, and whether any of our hosts have enough money to buy a bucket.
Boom shaka laka.
SHOW NOTES:
GDC postmortem on NBA Jam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp3Os2kk6V4
Sports Illustrated oral history of NBA Jam:
https://www.si.com/longform/2017/nba-jam-oral-history/index.html
Nate and Ryan are joined once again by Em Marko of Abnormal Mapping to take a look at the most influential game ever named after a throwaway line in a Tom Cruise movie: DOOM. We discuss WADs, deathmatch, and Ryan's deep love for Star Wars: Dark Forces. Come for the discussion of how a couple dudes in Texas revolutionized the way we interact with virtual environments, stay to find out what the heck Ryan is referencing when he labels something "That Thing You DOOM."
SHOW NOTES:
“It Runs Doom!” Tumblr
Liz Ryerson’s article at Waypoint about “Absolute Life Conversion” and DOOM WADs
https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/paq5bz/alt-doom-mod-stalker
The video that Em referenced with BioShock and John Romero:
Nate, Sebastian, and Jordan sit down for a brief dissection of VIRTUA FIGHTER, Sega's ground-breaking 3D fighting game from 1993. We talk about the metaphor of a game "camera," Jordan's "ground game," and getting a "ring out." Being "wrung out?" Look, I'm no fighting game expert. I just mash the buttons and hope I flip somebody.
Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan gather to discuss RIDGE RACER, Namco's arcade racing game from 1993. Or, maybe not. We talk about arcades, early polygonal games, and the ushering in of the 32-bit era (a little ahead of schedule). Nate tells the story of how he got his PlayStation, Sebastian and Ryan learn about the theme song to Daytona USA, and a special guest appearance is made by William, age 2.
SHOW NOTES:
Ridge Racer soundtrack:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5MAATZlrqOhGQ6trLJ-iFCg2_TrGuEOU
The Ocean Hunter:
Nate, Sebastian, and David are joined by special guest Em (of Abnormal Mapping) to discuss Cyan's seminal adventure game MYST. We talk about escape rooms, linking books, abandoned places, and terrible FMV acting.
SHOW NOTES:
Em's playthrough of Myst:
Abnormal Mapping (support their Patreon!):
https://www.abnormalmapping.com/
Nate and Sebastian are joined by Jordan and Ryan to pay respects to the late, great SEGA GENESIS, a console which was otherwise going to be given short shrift by our episode schedule. Come for Sebastian's effusive praise for Uncharted Waters: New Horizons, stay for Nate's attempt to describe the physical appearance of Vectorman. We touch on the trend of environmentalism in Genesis games and Nate gushes about the soundtrack to Streets of Rage 2.
Also, sorry about the eight million music cues in this episode. You can blame Nate for that one. WARNING: This episode contains fifteen full seconds of the Sonic Spinball options menu music.
SHOW NOTES:
Proof Nate wasn't lying about the Rings of Power title screen cheat code:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyBB8Dr4JSI
Several of the games discussed in this episode are available on Steam:
Nate and Ryan go mano-a-mano to discuss MORTAL KOMBAT, the 1992 arcade game from Midway and Acclaim that introduced the world to Fatalities and spearheaded a moral panic about the state of the medium. Nate endures the filmic adaptation, Ryan calls Sub-Zero a "frost wizard," and Kari manages to put the baby to bed long enough to pop in to tell a story about how her mom put the kibosh on her brother's copy of MK for the Sega Genesis. TOASTY!
SHOW NOTES:
1993 New York Times article:
Mortal Kombat: The Album (YouTube):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL577E545387C04A3E
Mortal Kombat series Fatalities compilation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ6G2Lau9EE
“Mortal Monday” TV spot:
Nate, Sebastian, and David gather to discuss SUPER MARIO KART. Nate plays the contrarian, David advocates not drinking and driving, and Sebastian marvels at yet another early-'90s TV spot. Nate proposes a new podcast specifically dedicated to kart racers, and Sebastian claims that racing is "boring" and "not fun." David hits him with a red shell.
SHOW NOTES:
Super Mario Kart TV spot:
Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan sit down to discuss WOLFENSTEIN 3D, the grandfather of the first-person shooter. We talk schlock, grindhouse aesthetics, and how deeply ingrained genre-specific controls have become in gaming. Sebastian refers to musical stylings as "tang" for the second consecutive episode, and Ryan watches too much History Channel. Nate gushes about Bj Blazcowicz's soft voice.
SHOW NOTES:
Manual PDF: http://www.abandonia.com/files/extras/23636_game_extra_1.pdf
Browser version: http://3d.wolfenstein.com
Nate, Sebastian, Ryan and new guest Kari tackle 1992's THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST, the most delicious(?) game we've yet encountered. We talk about the advent of lore and world-building in games, "canon," and whether the impulse to arrange all the Zelda games into a coherent timeline is reasonable (Nate: no, Ryan & Kari: absolutely).
SHOW NOTES:
Illicit scans of some Zelda comics:
http://www.zeldacapital.com/comics.php
Buy Shotaro Ishinomori's manga legitimately:
The SNES manual in PDF form:
The ROM hack that lets you play co-op LttP:
https://kotaku.com/new-link-to-the-past-mod-lets-two-zelda-players-share-i-1797019696