Retronauts

Nadia Oxford time-skips through the history of gaming with Jeremy Parish, Jared Petty, and Ash Paulsen to discuss one of Squaresoft's most curious experiments: Secret of Evermore, their attempt to create a game in America, by Americans, for Americans.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Diamond Feit, Nadia Oxford, and Stuart Gipp band together to debate the relative merits of Mario games (the 2D ones, that is) with former professional game-ranker and universally reviled Mario-opinion heretic Jeremy Parish.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Unfortunately, Nintendo just delayed Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp indefinitely due to real-life circumstances. But this week, in the spirit of American sticktoitiveness (and because we didn't want to change the schedule), we're looking back at Intelligent Systems' surprisingly long-lived turn-based war strategy series. Over the course of 20 years, Advance Wars boiled down the incredibly complex design of PC war strategy games into a colorful, console-friendly experience that could still be surprisingly difficult. So join Bob Mackey, Henry Gilbert, and Chris Daniel as the crew looks back at the lighter side of inhumanity.

Retronauts is a completely fan-funded operation. To support the show, and get two full-length exclusive episodes every month, as well as access to 50+ previous bonus episodes, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

The Retronauts East team finally finishes what they started at the beginning of the year by talking about the rest of 1982's gaming milestones before moving ahead a decade and very nearly not finishing a discussion of 1992. Like you're SO surprised. Edits by Greg Leahy, and cover art by John Pading.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

You're listening to a free preview of Retronauts Episode 442: Jurassic Park. To hear the rest, and get two exclusive extra episodes every month, access to our previous Patreon-exclusive episodes, and early access to ad-free podcasts, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

The time for yolking is over. Or, more accurately, has just begun. Stuart Gipp and Dave Bulmer reconvene to discuss the immortal Dizzy series.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Diamond Feit, Stuart Gipp, and Alex Fraioli break out the ink ribbons and travel back to 1998 to investigate bizarre murders outside Raccoon City in this episode about Resident Evil (1996, 2002, and 2002 again)

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Jeremy Parish and Kevin Bunch of Atari Archive unleash a cascade of questions to bounce down an isometric pyramid of conversation as they chat with developer Warren Davis about the making of his iconic arcade mascot character action game, Q*Bert.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more and listen to the full episode at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Despite existing for nearly 30 years beforehand, it took until nearly the '90s for the X-Men to find their way into video games. And it should come as no surprise that the IP's Renaissance during that decade coincided with some of the most notable games to ever feature Professor X's collection of special youngsters. (Though the aughts blessed us with a few worth talking about as well.) On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey, Henry Gilbert, and Gary Butterfield as the crew examines the most entertaining adaptations of this group of super-powered freaks who just might be an allegory for something.

Retronauts is a completely fan-funded operation. To support the show, and get two full-length exclusive episodes every month, as well as access to 100+ previous bonus episodes, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

Jeremy Parish, Joe Modzeleski of Limited Run Games, and Porkchop Express of MisterAddOns.com revisit a topic from long ago (episode 62!): The many evolving options for experiencing classic games in top quality. The play field keeps changing...

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Jeremy Parish wanders into the tall grass and randomly encounters Kat Bailey, Shivam Bhatt, and Casey DeFrietas for the first episode of a deep dive into Generation 1 of Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon series. Be sure to catch (listen to) 'em all!

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Retronauts is a completely fan-funded operation. To support the show, and get two full-length exclusive episodes every month, as well as access to 100+ previous bonus episodes, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

You're listening to a free preview of Retronauts Episode 430: Twin Peaks. To hear the rest, and get two exclusive extra episodes every month, access to our previous Patreon-exclusive episodes, and early access to ad-free podcasts, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

Cover art by Nina Matsumoto.

What is a Zool? Why is there so much fruit? And why do you tilt "up" to jump? All these questions and more answered in a double-feature podcast featuring a chat with Dave Bulmer and a backup interview with the Zool ReDimensioned team!

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Senior Japan correspondent Diamond Feit goes inside Vitei in Kyoto to speak to studio founder Giles Goddard and Chuhai Labs producer Mark Lentz about 1080 Snowboarding, Giles' history with Nintendo, and indie game development.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Jeremy Parish, Stuart Gipp, and Sandeep Rai celebrate 10 years of Sony getting a life. Because that's what Vita means: Life. The history and highs (OK, and lows) of one of the greatest pieces of handheld video game hardware ever. Truly a touching episode.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Let's be honest: things weren't too hot in the year 2002. In between two pointless wars, and in the midst of a huge economic downturn, Americans couldn't even turn to their friend the television for comfort—this was the explosion of reality TV, after all. But in the midst of all this chaos and depression, the video games were pretty dang good! This week on Retronauts, join Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, Henry Gilbert, and Kat Bailey as the crew peers back into the not-too-distant past to see what 2002 meant for gaming.

Retronauts is a completely fan-funded operation. To support the show, and get exclusive episodes every month, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

Jeremy Parish, Ben Elgin, Jared Petty, and Benj Edwards greet 2022 by looking back to the major events of gaming 40 and 50 years ago. (Naturally, this episode only covers about half the planned content as we dive deep into the medium's pivotal events.)

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

You're listening to a free preview of Retronauts Episode 424 Preview: Holiday Special 2021 - Totally Pokemon. To hear the rest, and get two exclusive extra episodes every month, access to our previous Patreon-exclusive episodes, and early access to ad-free podcasts, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

When is a game not just a game? Continuing our series on the fighting game franchise that changed the world, host Diamond Feit and returning guests Shivam Bhatt & Matt McMuscles explore the world of Street Fighter II-related media.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Like dust in the wind, Nadia Oxford leads Jeremy Parish, Anthony John Agnello, and topic-requesting patron Lorenzo Hulzebos across the sands of time to explore (and re-explore) Atlus' cult-classic time-travel RPG, Radiant History. Art by John Pading; edits by Greg Leahy.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Jeremy Parish places a secret message in the classifieds to summon conversational assassins Diamond Feit and Matt Alt to discuss the legacy, history, and video games of the perfect machine of snipe: Golgo-13. Don't stand behind him!

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Can you believe it? Our little podcast has now been around for 15 years! (That's the crystal anniversary for all of you out shopping for gifts.) So instead of reflecting on classic games this week, we've decided to do some self-reflection by talking about where we've been, where we are, and where we're going on this wacky rollercoaster ride we call "podcasting." And, in the back of half of this episode, we respond to your questions and comments about 15 years of Retronauts. Thanks again for all your support, and here's to 15 more!

Retronauts is a completely fan-funded operation. To support the show, and get exclusive episodes every month, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

Henry Gilbert, Bryan Auer, and Wesley Fenlon heed the call of Jeremy Parish's whistle and race to gather as much information about Nintendo's Pikmin franchise as possible, then return it to the Onion before sunset. Edits: Greg Leahy; artwork: Shaan Khan.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

You're listening to a free preview of Retronauts Episode 418: Batman: The Animated Series Games. To hear the rest, and get two exclusive extra episodes every month, access to our previous Patreon-exclusive episodes, and early access to ad-free podcasts, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

Stuart Gipp, Jeremy Parish, and John Linneman of Digital Foundry crash-land on the bizarre structure known as the 20th anniversary of Bungie's Halo: Combat Evolved and immediately set about blowing things to smithereens. Art: Shaan Khan; edits: Greg Leahy.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts!

Jeremy Parish, Kat Bailey, Ray Barnholt, and Stuart Gipp turn back the hands of time two decades once again, this time with a too-huge-to-hold-comfortably episode commemorating Microsoft's entrance into the first-party realm with Xbox.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Jeremy Parish, Shane Bettenhausen, Aaron Littleton, and John Hurst gather together in a top-secret offshore oil reclamation facility to investigate the secrets, the history, and the alarmingly prescient plot twists of Hideo Kojima's divisive masterpiece.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more (and enjoy the full episode) at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Video games were but the fevered dream of a madman when Charles Addams invented his creepy, kooky cartoon family 85 years ago, but in the futuristic year of 2021, Gomez and his clan of freaks have quite the collection of interactive adaptations under their belts—most of them designed to make children as miserable as Wednesday herself. On this episode of Retronauts, celebrate Halloween as Bob Mackey, Henry Gilbert, and Todd Ciolek dive deep into the surprisingly rich and unsurprisingly gloomy world of Addams Family video games. You'll never realize you craved a Dan Hedaya-based platformer until now!

Retronauts is a completely fan-funded operation. To support the show, and get exclusive episodes every month, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

Having explored the legacies and games of the rest of the primary Super Mario franchise cast, Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, Henry Gilbert, and Stuart Gipp gather together to wrap it up by talking about, uhh, that one guy. The green one. Whatshisname.

Edits by Greg Leahy; art by Amanda Pruitt.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

You're listening to a free preview of Retronauts Episode 412: Dark Souls. To hear the rest, and get two exclusive extra episodes every month, access to our previous Patreon-exclusive episodes, and early access to ad-free podcasts, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

10 years ago, Bethesda's open-world role-playing adventure Skyrim took the world by storm. A winter storm. Because… winter is coming? Anyway, Jeremy Parish, Jeff Green, Kat Bailey, and Ray Barnholt look back at a decade of never completing the main storyline.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Art by Nick Wanserski; edits by Greg Leahy.

Show regular Nadia Oxford power-ups to co-host status to challenge Jeremy Parish and Kurt Kalata to a battle of wits (or at least opinions) about the Castlevania series: Which games are best, which are worst, and why are our rankings objectively correct?

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

By request of patron Jeff Vlasek, Jeremy Parish gathers together with Frank Cifaldi, Jason Wilson, and Nadia Oxford to discuss the mysteries and magic of game manuals. They're a lost art! But are we better off that way?! Cover art: Step Sybydlo.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

When the plucky developer Wolf Team set out to make a Super Famicom RPG on a grand scale in the mid-90s, the resulting production nearly destroyed the group, but resulted in Tales of Phantasia. Now, nearly 26 years later, the Tales of series stands as one of the few b-tier RPG brands from the 90s that's still going strong with regular installments, while the Star Oceans and Wild Armses of the world have fallen by the wayside. On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey, Victor Hunter, and Destructoid's Eric Van Allen as the crew discusses just where the Tales of series has been over the past quarter-century.

Retronauts is a completely fan-funded operation. To support the show, and get exclusive episodes every month, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

Stuart Gipp makes his hosting debut as he intrepidly leads the charge to discuss the history of LEGO games with Jeremy Parish and Jeff Vlasek (by patron request!). This episode is guaranteed to be more enjoyable than stepping on a LEGO brick in the dark!

You're listening to a free preview of Retronauts Episode 406: Crazy 'Bout Chocobos. To hear the rest, and get two exclusive extra episodes every month, access to our previous Patreon-exclusive episodes, and early access to ad-free podcasts, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

This Week in Retro host Diamond Feit carjacks the main mic from Jeremy Parish and Bob Mackey this week to steer the crew into a wild and possibly illegal look back at the first truly pivotal game of the 21st century: Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto III.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Todd Ciolek and patron Bill Nielsen join Jeremy Parish to tackle a request to slip loose the surly bonds of Earth and explore Sony's Vita masterpiece Gravity Rush. Also, New Wave Toy's Shilo Prychak recounts the history of the Replicade mini-arcade line.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Jeremy Parish, Ray Barnholt, Shivam Bhatt, and Shane Bettenhausen convene to celebrate Metroid's 35th anniversary AND the finale (?) of the series with Metroid Dread by looking back at all that Samus Aran brought to gaming. Turns out it's a lot!

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more, and hear the full-length version of this episode, at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

35 years ago, a tiny team at Nintendo R&D1 crunched their way through a the development of a weird little game called Kid Icarus: a quirky, slightly alienating action-RPG starring a chubby angel who can't stop falling through platforms. Despite the lead character's prevalence in marketing from the early NES days, and his role in the classic Captain N cartoon, Nintendo barely seemed interested in touching this IP ever again, and let it lay dormant after a farmed-out 1991 Game Boy sequel. Then, 20 years passed, and along came Kid Icarus Uprising: a reboot known more for giving players tendonitis than it is for being a faithful, well-crafted revival of a classic series.

So what's the deal with Kid Icarus, and is it doomed to once again sit untouched for decades? On this episode, join Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, and Ray Barnholt as they examine the Kid Icarus trilogy to determine which of its qualities should rise to the heavens, and which should be cast into the Underworld. Secrets of the Eggplant Wizard will be revealed!

Retronauts is a completely fan-funded operation. To support the show, and get exclusive episodes every month, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

Jeremy Parish, Stuart Gipp, and Henry Gilbert join forces with patron Andrew Olivera to handle a topic request: The Kirby games. It's kind of a big topic! Unlike Kirby, you could say we bit off more than we could chew... swallow... whatever.

You're listening to a free preview of Retronauts Episode 400: Garfield Games. To hear the rest, and get two exclusive extra episodes every month, access to our previous Patreon-exclusive episodes, and early access to ad-free podcasts, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon at patreon.com/retronauts.

The Retronauts East crew gets together again for the first (and last?!) time since last year's lockdown to talk about the only topic that truly matters: The games that got us hooked on the hobby. It's a little bit about history, and a lot about love.

Edits by Greg Leahy; art by John Pading.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, Chris Kohler, and Stephan Reese muster all their Nintendo knowledge and an alarming amount of fuzzy nostalgia to talk about the 30th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System launch and the console's early days.

Art by Greg Melo; edits by Greg Leahy.

Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

Jeremy Parish, Henry Gilbert, Ray Barnholt, and Stuart Gipp waaaaaaind down their in-depth survey of the Wario Land series with this look at the frog-bombin', level-escapin' entries on GBA and Wii, and everyone agrees: We waaaaaant more!