Retronauts Episode 171: Namco's arcade history, pt. 2
Added 2018-09-17 12:11:08 +0000 UTCAs promised in last week's not-Micro episode, here were have another journey into the arcade catalog of a coin-op legend. This time it's Namco, and unfortunately the hits are a little thinner on the ground than they were in our previous Namco episode. There are some classics, no question, but also lots of instances where everyone involved seemed a little lost at sea, trying to match the success of Pac-Man, Galaga, and Xevious. You don't create Hopping Mappy if you have a clear creative direction, after all... but things will improve considerably next time we do one of these. Please look forward to it.
Description: The Retronauts East survey of Namco's arcade legacy continues! Jeremy, Benj, and Chris tackle the coin-op doldrums of 1983-1985 while dreaming of more interesting days to come.
Comments
“What do you do after you make Pac-Man?” “Plant corn.” Lost it at this.
2018-10-10 15:48:40 +0000 UTCI listened this this, and I think this is the best episode we've ever recorded. Take, for example, this exchange: Chris: "Look at Pac-Man." Jeremy: "What does he represent?" Chris: "He represents a circle. With a missing triangle of various sizes."
2018-09-18 21:02:58 +0000 UTCWe'll tackle Star Trek one of these days for sure!
Retronauts
2018-09-18 19:05:02 +0000 UTCAfter the Sub Rosa tangent I'm looking forward to the inevitable episode about Star Trek TNG+its games. Some of them are okay! Also man, Sky Kid, my friend had that in elementary school and we played the hell out of it. I can't explain why you shoot the girls and they turn into... creatures, but it's full of weird stuff like that - swooping near the sun or certain buildings and billboards (or the Statue of Liberty!) get you odd animations and sometimes bonus points. I may have been more excited for it being in the Switch collection than Splatterhouse.
Kevin Bunch
2018-09-18 18:02:58 +0000 UTCI've always felt with the explosion in popularity of rogue-like/Metroidvania games like Dead Cells, Chasm and Hollow Knight - Bandai Namco could make a killing by making a new Tower of Druaga. Before we knew what Code Vein was, I actually thought it might have been a Tower of Druaga Dark Souls-esque reboot.
Phazonmasher
2018-09-18 15:42:20 +0000 UTCNice Aeon Flux reference, Jeremy. That was my favorite episode!
Erick Hohnstein-Van Etten
2018-09-18 14:52:11 +0000 UTCYay! I’m not the only one who thinks Dragon Buster’s main character sprite is an awkward mess
John Simon
2018-09-18 04:05:49 +0000 UTCAlso, I had to watch some footage of Pac-Land after this... I love that the high scores on the attract screen are presented with "They are good friends Pac-Man in the Pac-Land"
Matt from Hidden Machine
2018-09-17 17:47:12 +0000 UTCThis whole time I was confusing Mappy with Flicky
Matt from Hidden Machine
2018-09-17 17:29:42 +0000 UTC
