retronauts

Episode 467: Boktai

Added 2022-07-04 11:00:05 +0000 UTC

Just in time for a holiday in which people like us (nerds) have a slightly higher-than-average chance of going outdoors and experiencing the boiling radiation of Earth's nearest star against our sun-staved flesh, we have an episode dedicated to a game designed specifically to force us out of doors and bake in that nuclear fire: Kojima Productions' Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand. Built around the sort of gimmick cartridge they literally don't make anymore, Boktai came equipped with a UV-reactive sensor that could detect solar energy and channel it into the actual game as a weapon to use against the undead. A cool concept! Sadly, the two games that appeared in the U.S. shipped in autumn, greatly reducing their value as motivators to drive kids outdoors.

Fortunately, the solar sensor could also read blacklight energy, giving stoner college kids circa 1978 a huge edge.

Anyway, Shane Bettenhausen, Stuart Gipp, and I all have plenty to say about these games! Just remember to wear your sunscreen and hydrate properly. Also, as a quick note, this episode was slated to be a patron-exclusive but jumped ahead in the schedule to become a standard episode, in case you're wondering what in the heck is going on with all that exclusivity talk.—Jeremy

Cover art by John Pading, and edits by Greg Leahy.

Music this episode:

08:36 - The Sun Is in Your Hand: Basics
18:06 - The Sun Is in Your Hand: Master Otenko
31:17 - The Sun Is in Your Hand: Immortal (Hel Fight Phase 2)
40:26 - The Sun Is in Your Hand: Purify | Shin Bokura no Taiyou: Gyakushuu no Sabata: Crossover
48:33 - Solar Boy Django: Cemetery
1:00:49 - Lunar Knights: New Culiacan
1:13:02 - Lunar Knights: Laplace
Closing - Lunar Knights: Dawn of the Sun