September 1982: Dig That Clown...He's Real Gone
by Diamond Feit
When did clowns transform from symbols of whimsy to sinistrous incarnate? I remember going to the circus as a child and seeing Bozo the Clown on cable TV an...
2022-09-04 13:01:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection is finally here, meaning we now have the chance to officially play over a dozen TMNT games from the eight and 16-bit era—most of which never saw a re-release! But how did this compilation come together, and what are the specific quirks of the many, many turtle-based games it contains? On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey, 2022-08-29 07:01:04 +0000 UTC View Post
August 23, 1997: "For England, James?" "No, for the Nintendo 64"
by Diamond Feit
I've always found the first-person perspective in video games to be exhilarating. From early wireframe arcade games like Atari's 2022-08-28 13:01:03 +0000 UTC View Post
We've returned once again to our LucasArts adventure game miniseries, and, this time around, we're covering a game that mostly goes ignored by fans of the genre: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure. Yes, Lucasfilm's adventure game legacy kicked off with a direct adaptation of a Lucas-affiliated movie (Labyrinth), so it shouldn't be too surprising that, after a few original titles, the talented developers found themselves working once again in the world of licensed games....
2022-08-26 07:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Right! You’ve all had your fun with Darkstalkers and whatnot, now it’s time to go back to school with stern taskmaster Stuart Gipp and mischievous but likable head boy, Dave Bulmer, as they explore the ridiculously esoteric world of edu-tainment software via the usual method of rambling anecdotes. Naturally the focus here is on a Very English Education, but the message is the same—pay attention in school and you too could grow up to be a Retronauts presenter!
A fun fact a...
2022-08-22 11:00:44 +0000 UTC View Post
August 15, 1997: It's Dark and Hell Is Hot…in space
by Diamond Feit
I've tried to steer clear of religious topics for this column as certain people find the subject very sensitive, but I have a complicated view of faith. I grew up in a Reform Jewish hou...
2022-08-21 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
What: Our "Video Games Based on TV Shows" panel, live at PAX West 2022
When: Sun, Sep 4, 2022 at 2:00 PM
Where: Sphinx Theatre (Sheraton, Level 3)
Who: Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, and Mike Drucker
Please check out the offic...
2022-08-20 19:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Of all the fighting games Capcom made in the 1990s that didn't involve streets or alphas, DarkStalkers made the biggest splash with its all-monster cast, experimental gameplay mechanics, and exquisite animation. With only three arcade releases (plus two more exclusively in Japan), the series didn't last long, but it left an impression on fans that lasts to this day thanks to DarkStalkers alumni appearing in other titles, not to mention the recent Capcom Fighting Collecti...
2022-08-15 11:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
July 28, 1997: The King of Fighters moves towards final destiny
by Diamond Feit
Imagine if Capcom released a brand-new Street Fighter game that suggested, on the title screen, that this would be the series' finale. Imagine if two popular characte...
2022-08-14 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Your patron-exclusive episode this week is also a patron-request episode. That's wild! But not as wild as this week's topic: Jumping Flash! and, by extension, developer Exact. Patron Scott Rothman absolutely twisted our arm to make us (that's myself, aka Jeremy Parish, and Todd "kidfenris" Ciolek) talk about a series and studio we love.
Although the bulk of this conversation revolves around Robbit (mon dieu!), we cover the full span of Exact's career, beginning with their...
2022-08-12 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The '00s Spider-Man movies might have put Sam Raimi on the map for most filmgoers, but the previous 20 years saw him experimenting in just about every genre. And most Raimi fans agree his greatest work to date is Evil Dead 2, an unexpected horror/comedy that—over the past 35 years—went from underground sensation to the most re-released film in the history of physical media. This week on Retronauts, join Bob Mackey, 2022-08-08 07:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
It's been a long time since the Retronauts East crew gathered together (remotely, even), and it's been even longer since we talked about Star Wars games. Well, actually, you'll need to wait a little longer for Star Wars game discussion—this is the first episode in a trilogy about the prequel Star Wars trilogy, and we're treating this entire trio of podcasts as a cohesive whole. So—rather than talking about the movie and related games this time around, we're simp...
2022-08-01 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
It had to happen eventually, so during the holiday season of 1994, a cinematic Street Fighter adaptation found its way into theaters. And despite having a higher level of quality than the previous year's Super Mario Bros. movie, Street Fighter didn't receive a warm welcome from American audiences. But is this cheesy romp crafted by the king of '80s action movies actually better than its "so bad it's good" reputation? On our latest Patreon exclusive episode, listen in as Bob Mackey and Henry G...
2022-07-29 07:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Outer space is big, frozen, and lonely, but Toys for Bob's Star Control galaxy is a lovingly-tended well of warmth and imagination. The original Star Control brought a rich Spacewar! combat experience to the Amiga, DOS, and Sega Genesis, while Star Control II terraformed story-heavy adventure games.
Nearly every modern adventure game owes something to Star Control II in particular. Its alien races—from the feverishly imaginative Zoq-F...
2022-07-25 19:41:00 +0000 UTC View Post
July 19, 2002: "His best friend is a talking pump" "SOLD!"
by Diamond Feit
Nintendo needs Mario. I know that sounds a little silly; Nintendo owns Mario, he does what they say, shows up where they say, and he'll never grow old or get mixed up in any scanda...
2022-07-24 12:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Shredder's Revenge feels like a bit of a fever dream, don't you think? The TMNT game we've all been wanting since the mid-nineties, but for some reason never received, despite a few weak attempts in the likes of Turtles in Time Re-Shelled and Arcade Attack. But it's here now, it's happened, and, in this episode, host Stuart Gipp and delightful guest (and TMNT fan) Joe Modzeleski of Limited Run Games set aside an hour or so to absolutely gush about it from the heart....
2022-07-18 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
July 1982: Welcome to the jungle, king
by Diamond Feit
As I grow older, I've come to terms with the fact that I can't possibly consume every piece of media or even understand why certain things become popular in the first place. I've aged out of the key demog...
2022-07-18 01:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Good morning, or perhaps evening if you find yourself on the opposite side of the planet from me. I'm Jeremy, and I'll be your host this episode as we take a searing, groundbreaking look at a little-known corner of video game history: A cult classic series called The Legend of Zelda.
You may never have heard of these tidy, tiny adventures from a plucky upstart developer called "Nintendo," but to those in the know, they leave a lasting impression. This week, Diamond Feit a...
2022-07-15 12:29:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Text adventures: what are they, and where did they hide all the graphics? Until now, these questions have gone unanswered. But this week, we'll be looking at the world of games that existed before any kind of mandatory visual component—and continue to exist to this very day. And we have a real expert on hand: Aaron Reed, author of the upcoming comprehensive text adventure respective, 2022-07-11 07:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
June 9, 1982: Greetings, programs!
by Diamond Feit
I can't think of a device more integral to my life, my employment, and my leisure time than the computer. I turn it on when I wake up in the morning, I spend hours upon hours of my day sitting in front of it,...
2022-07-11 06:37:54 +0000 UTC View Post
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...
2022-07-04 11:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
June 1982: It's PECULIAR like Donkey Kong JUNIOR
by Diamond Feit
I wonder how many of us appreciate the oddity of Nintendo's rise from a playing card and toy manufacturer to a global video game powerhouse. Before Super Mario Bros, before the NES, Nint...
2022-07-03 12:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
In 1982, a wrinkled, candy-loving demon landed on earth, and soon became one of the most beloved fictional creatures to ever spawn from the silver screen. Yes, this week, we're talking about E.T.: the extremely beloved feature film that proved Steven Spielberg could basically make any kind of movie—and make it a hit. And, of course, there's a little Atari 2600 game worth discussing as well; it's indicative of what caused the video game crash, but not entirely to blame. So pound som...
2022-07-01 07:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
June 23. 2002: Ain't no party like a PARGON party 'cause a PARGON party don't stop!
by Diamond Feit
Readers in their early 30s might not know that Nintendo used to maintain very strict controls over what types of games made it to their consoles, particularly N...
2022-06-29 12:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Lock and load, everyone, we are running and gunning our way through the most explosive series on the NEO GEO (and beyond): Metal Slug. Born from ex-Irem employees who just wanted to blow stuff up, the original 1996 arcade release delivered high-stakes action via the finest animation seen on the platform. Many sequels followed, with the series even enduring the bankruptcy of SNK and the demise of the NEO GEO itself.
In 1993, Mega Man X players watched with horrified fascination as a red Reploid named Zero sacrificed himself to give the titular Mega Man X a fighting chance at saving humanity. We needn't have worried: The old boy was just fine. In fact, Zero's talent for dying and coming back to life eventually earned him a title spot in Mega Man Zero, a 2002 platforming/adventure game for the Game Boy Advance.
Zero awakens decades after the events in the Mega Man X 2022-06-20 20:59:09 +0000 UTC View Post
June 19, 1992: Merry Christmas Mr. Wayne
by Diamond Feit
Have you seen The Batman yet? It feels like just yesterday that the casting choice of Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne sparked the usual cycle of "fan" outrage and angry petitions, but once the m...
2022-06-20 07:38:31 +0000 UTC View Post
A couple of months ago (back in episode 451, if memory serves), Ray Barnholt and Brandon Sheffield and I kicked off a discussion about one of the all-time movers-and-shakers of video gaming: Taito. Our previous episode largely centered on their early days—the formation of the company and the rocky hit-or-miss titles that followed in the wake of Japan's first-ever video game blockbuster, Space Invaders. This episode may not have anything quite so foundational as Invaders, b...
2022-06-17 14:07:06 +0000 UTC View Post
After taking off during the go-go '90s, Kirby had a bit of an identity crisis in the 2000s. With HAL hard at work on the resource-intensive Smash Bros. games, they barely had time to work on their once-signature series, outside of a few remakes—leaving them with no choice but to leave their pink puffball in the hands of other developers. And all of this was happening as Kirby's hit 100-episode anime hit the airwaves! So what did this terrible decade have in store for HAL's famous food monst...
2022-06-13 07:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
June 6, 2002: Justice for Juste
by Diamond Feit
I don't want to play the role of grammar police or lingual prescriptivist but whenever I hear the word "overrated" my temper flares up. All tastes are subjective and everyone gets to use language in a way that fe...
2022-06-12 15:21:00 +0000 UTC View Post
