Remember The Game? Retro Gaming Podcast

Find us on Twitter @memberthegame And on our new Facebook page; facebook.com/memberthegame Possibly the most beloved "bad" game of all-time, this week my friend David Rae returns to the podcast and we look back at the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES. This game was ridiculously tough, didn't control great, the graphics were "meh", but I loved it. Everyone that grew up in the era played it. Remember the f&$%ing seaweed!? If anything, it deserves an episode of this podcast for one reason; it proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Donatello is the best Ninja Turtle. Enjoy!

What do you get when you combine some of the greatest music in gaming history with some of the worst box art in gaming history? Mega Man!!  My buddy David Rae came by this week, and we talked about the first original NES game in Remember the Game history, Mega Man 2. I LOVE the Mega Man series, and MM2 was when the secret sauce was perfected. This is one of the greatest games of all time, and it was a lot of fun nerding out about it with David.  Enjoy the show!

I've wanted to talk about this movie for a 'spin-off' type episode of the show for a long time. But then we did. And I remembered how terrible it really is. I'm not a film buff, I don't pretend to know anything about movies. And if this movie wasn't called Super Mario Bros, it might have been a weird sci-fi flick that people didn't think was that bad.  But it was called Super Mario Bros. And it was that bad. As a kid, I loved it. I think most of us did. Mario and Luigi were real humans. And so was King Koopa! And...wait, what? If you like the episodes of the podcast where I get angry and wound up, this one is for you. My pal Tyler is back this week, and we had a good time trying to figure out the plot to this stupid cash grab of a movie. If that's all you care about, skip to 24:08.  Or listen to the whole thing, because there's lots to talk about!  We're launching 'Remember The Game: Expansion Pass' this Sunday, and I tell you what the first episode will be about. I also give a quick shout-out to the show Video & Arcade Top 10, that apparently everyone remembers as fondly as I do! Ubisoft is giving away free games to people that stay inside, which is cool. Nintendo rolled out a Mini-Direct last week, which is really cool. And I spend some time breaking down the rumours that Mario 64, Mario Sunshine and Mario Galaxy are coming to the Nintendo Switch, which is INSANELY COOL!!!! This week is a roller coaster of emotions. Curl up on the couch and come for a ride with me.

Playstation vs Nintendo 64. PS3 vs Xbox 360. Virtual Boy vs sanity. All among the greatest rivalries in video game history. But none of them can touch the blood feud that was Nintendo vs Sega in the 90's. This week, my buddy Miklos joins me, and we take a look back at what it was like growing up during the premier Console Wars. Miklos was a Sega Genesis kid, I had my Super Nintendo. We probably would have fought as kids. As adults, the wounds have healed. Enough time has passed. We were finally able to sit in the same room, shake hands, and talk about what it was like on the other side of the fence. I really enjoyed this episode, it was one we've kicked around for quite a while. I hope you all enjoy it, too. And hey, we're on twitter! @memberthegame And hey, we're on Facebook! facebook.com/memberthegame And hey, thanks for listening. Merry Christmas!

I have no idea how or why someone decided to have Mario and friends spend a day go karting, but I'm so glad they did! This week, David Rae and I reminisce about the game that kicked off one of the most beloved franchises in Nintendo's storied history; Super Mario Kart. This is back before the days of blue shells and golden mushrooms, kids. Battle mode, Rainbow Road, Stupid Toad.....this game is an absolute gem. Thanks for listening! If you like what we're doing, please leave us a good review, and tell a friend!

Remember when World Championship Wrestling was the hottest thing on the planet? In the late '90s, WCW was giving the WWF the fight of their lives. The nWo(s), Goldberg, Sting, DDP, Raven, Bret Hart, Ric Flair; that wrestling company from down south had one of the most ridiculous rosters in the history of the business. Pro wrestling was white hot. If you weren't watching wrestling on TV, you were playing a wrestling video game. And there wasn't a better option than WCW/nWo Revenge.  The THQ/Nintendo 64 wrestling games are the stuff of legend. I don't know if there's a video game series I've spent more hours of my life with than the four horseman of 64-bit wrestling. WCW World Tour was the first one, and it planted the seeds that would eventually blossom into it's sequel; WCW/nWo Revenge. I wasn't the biggest fan of WCW's TV product (I was a hardcore WWF guy), but I couldn't get enough of their video games. The WWF had video games - War Zone and Attitude specifically - but as much as I tried to like them, they just weren't that good. The graphics tried to look real and didn't, and the controls were a disaster.  WCW/nWo Revenge was the first "perfect" wrestling game. The graphics were bright, colourful, and a little cartoon-ish (it worked great), and it had the most iconic control scheme of wrestling game history. It didn't have things like individual wrestler's entrance music, create-a-wrestler, or a decent career mode (all things that would be added to the later THQ wrestling games), but it was finally a wrestling game that felt fun to play. Being able to play it with 3 of your friends was mind-blowing. And being able to change each wrestler's name and wardrobe added a surprising level of depth. I remember drafting a roster of wrestlers to go up against my friend Shawn's, we'd assign all of our wrestlers a certain shirt, and battle for HOURS.  If you hold a conversation about the greatest wrestling game of all-time, the two runaway answers are WWF: No Mercy and SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain (both covered in our archives, FYI!). And while those answers aren't wrong, they wouldn't be options without WCW/nWo Revenge. My favourite memory of World Championship Wrestling isn't anything they did in the ring, it was this video game.  My buddy Brad returns to the show this week, and man oh man did we have a time talking old wrestling, old wrestling games, and old Nintendo 64. Enjoy!

I can't believe we've made fifty episodes of this train wreck of a podcast! And speaking of train wrecks, today we're talking Super Mario 64! (Just kidding!)Kind of.  I won't lie to you, loyal reader/listener/fellow nerd. The core Mario series is my favourite in all of gaming. But the first foray into the world of 3D just didn't grab me. I remember getting this game as a kid, and yeah, I played the hell out of it. But it never took over my life like it's two dimensional brethren did. I was way more into Mario Kart 64, which we got at the same time. I struggled with the camera, the controller, and just didn't enjoy it as much as I did Mario's other adventures.  Having said that, I came into this podcast ready to rip Mario 64 a new ass. And I just couldn't do it. I think that's a true testament to the genius of this game and just how groundbreaking it was. I wanted to spend an hour trashing it, and every time I tried I found myself bringing up something it did right. Watching clips of the game in preparation for this episode, I was mesmerized by the music and the world Nintendo created for the launch of the Nintendo 64. It's truly a masterpiece. I want to hate it, I think I hate it, I'll tell you I hate it. But....I don't. Super Mario 64 is one of the most important video games of all-time. I thought it would make a perfect topic of conversation for the 50th episode of "Remember the Game?", and I brought my buddy Mark McCue with me.  Thank you so much for listening to the show. Whether you've listened to all 50 episodes, cherry picked the ones about games you know, or this is your very first one, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

**Game talk starts at 17:40** Back in the late 80's, everything the Ninja Turtles touched turned to gold. TV, cereal, toys, movies, music, and of course, video games. The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES (covered on episode 18 of this show!) was pretty good, but the sequel is the one everyone still loves and plays today.  Originally released as an arcade game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II blew the first Ninja Turtles game away. Gone was the "puzzle solving/platforming" single game, and in it's place was a classic side scrolling, beat 'em up that we didn't know we wanted. And it was multi-player!!!! In the arcade version, you and three friends could pump your parents' quarters into a cabinet and stand side by side, pounding on foot soldiers and classic Turtles villains like Bebop, Rocksteady, and of course, Shredder. I remember going to Chuck 'E' Cheese for my birthday as a kid and literally pumping every single token I had into this game.  Then it released on the NES. Apparently, the graphics and other specs were dialled back so it could run on the NES, but none of us noticed. They also reduced the number of people that could play at once from 4 to 2, but again, we didn't care. Every kid I knew loved this game. Some of my fondest memories are going to sleepovers with my friends when we were young and taking turns playing TMNT 2. And when it wasn't your turn to play the game, you were watching one of the movies or playing with the action figures.   This game is fantastic. Sure, Turtles in Time on the SNES did everything it did better (frankly, so did the often overlooked TMNT 3 on the NES), but everyone loved this game. I can't believe it took us 75 episodes to talk about it. But it's here now, and you should be as excited as I am.  My buddy Miklos returns to the show this week, and man oh man did we have a great time talking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. Enjoy the show!

Does anyone else hear the chorus to I Ran (So Far Away) and instantly think of Vice City? Oh, all of you? At least it isn't just me then.... Everyone played Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I know there had been the original top-down style GTA games, and GTA 3 had been out for a little while, but this seemed like the one that really kick-started the Grand Theft Auto phenomenon. I know personally, this one the first one I played. I never actually finished the story, but I'd spend hours just driving around causing chaos and running away from the police. I'd never played a game like this before, it felt so....real (for lack of a better word). The soundtrack for this game is absolutely iconic. Just driving around listening to the radio was so much fun. The amount of time Rockstar spent on the radio DJ's conversations was incredible for the time. As someone that would usually turn the sound off on my video games and listen to a CD instead (fuck I'm old), this game really grabbed my attention from an audio perspective. It was so good.  I'm sure kids that grew up on GTA V would take one look at Vice City and laugh, but for us old folks, this game was the cat's ass. I've been looking forward to uploading this episode for a while, because I know every gamer from my generation remembers ripping around, seeing if they could max out their stars and still get away from the cops. This game was like playing a movie. It's unquestionably one of the most iconic games of it's generation, and I had a great time chatting about it with my buddy Andre. I hope you guys have as much fun with this episode as we did. Find us on Twitter and Instagram - @memberthegame And check out our website! https://www.rememberthegamepodcast.com

Super Mario Bros 2 is the oddball of the NES Mario Bros games. Along with Super Mario Sunshine, it's the oddball of the entire Super Mario series. But you know what? I like oddballs.* *I rewrote that about ten times, and that was the least creepy sounding thing I could come up with... I like Super Mario Bros 2. A lot. I owned Super Mario Bros 1 & 3 as a kid, but never got my hands on the second one. So any chance I had to play it, I jumped all over it. I couldn't wrap my little mind around it! You could pick up bad guys and throw them at each other! (Before picking up Koopa Troopa shells, this was crazy). There were weird potions that took you into an alternate universe, and that's the only place you could find mushrooms. Stars floated up from the bottom of the screen. You could play as Princess Toadstool (old school) and Toad!?!? Where'd this game come from???? As we would all later find out, it came from Japan. Because they decided that the kids over in North America that played Nintendo weren't good enough to play the game they originally wanted to release as Super Mario Bros 2. And after playing that original sequel (released everywhere as The Lost Levels years later), there were right.  But this episode isn't about the sequel we didn't get (there's already an episode of the show about that game, The Lost Levels - Episode 26 if you're interested!), it's about the one we did. Super Mario Bros 2 is a beauty of a game. It introduced gameplay mechanics to the Mario Bros series that still exist today, like Birdo, Shy Guys, and the Princess's floating ability. It's still as fun to play in 2019 as it was in 1988, and it's about damned time it got it's own episode of the podcast.  My buddy/fellow comedian/improv king David Rae is my guest this week, and we have a great chat about the Cousin Oliver of the Super Mario Bros series; Super Mario Bros 2. Enjoy!

I say it almost every episode, but I'm really excited to talk about this week's game. Donkey Kong Country is easily on  "10 favourite games of all-time" list. It's a masterpiece. Donkey Kong Country is just one of those games that everybody has played. It's one of the best selling video games in history, and at one point it was even been packaged with the Super Nintendo itself. At a time when people were looking at the Sega Genesis and it's graphical capabilities, this game was the SNES's way of pushing back. It's absolutely gorgeous, and as far as I'm concerned it looks as good today as it did twenty-five years ago.  I've said it a million times, but Super Mario World is my favourite game ever. I think it's literally the perfect video game. Donkey Kong Country is just as good. Frankly, it looks better and it has better music than Mario does. The 16-bit era of video games is still the golden age in this old timer's mind, and this game is one of the crown jewels of that generation. I don't even know what to say about, I just love it that much.  I've beaten this game a million times, and I find myself going back to it again and again. The gameplay is tight, it's fun to play, it's perfect. It introduced us to Diddy Kong, and it showed the world why Cranky Kong (who's the original Donkey Kong, FYI) is the best character in gaming history.  And we got Funky Kong. And Donkey Kong is a boss. King K Rool is a dope villain. The mine cart levels! Shooting from barrel to barrel! In a blizzard!! You can ride a swordfish! So damned good. Games like Donkey Kong Country are why I started this podcast in the first place. I have so many great memories of playing it as a kid. And this week, my buddy Henry came by to listen to me talk about some of them. He had a few of his own too. Great game, great guest, great episode. Check it out.

Remember The Game is on Twitter! @memberthegame And we have a Facebook page now! facebook.com/memberthegame We're trying something a little different this week. Regular guest Mark McCue returns to the podcast, and instead of looking at a particular game, we take a look at the possibility of a Nintendo 64 Classic. Would you buy one? What games would go on it? Would it work at all? Nintendo could announce an N64 Classic at any moment, so I'm glad we got this episode out there beforehand. I'm really happy with how this episode turned out, and I'd like to try a couple more episodes in this style moving forward. I hope you enjoy it!

The NES had Super Mario Bros. The Genesis had Sonic The Hedgehog. And Microsoft's Xbox? It had Halo. And Halo is awesome.  I was skeptical of the Xbox. I remember reading a great article in a gaming magazine (remember those?) about how there just wasn't room in the gaming industry for four home consoles. At least one of the Nintendo Gamecube, Playstation 2, Sega Dreamcast and Microsoft's Xbox wasn't going to survive. In hindsight, we all know the - unfortunate - victim of the crowd selves was the Dreamcast, but I would have bet money it would be the Xbox. But, I didn't know that Microsoft had Bungie and a little someone named Master Chief in their back pocket.  When you think of the Xbox, it's hard not to think of Halo: Combat Evolved. I guess you could think of Halo 2, but whatever. It's the system Master Chief built. I vividly remember playing Halo with my friend Chris and just being blown away by the graphics and the gameplay. Until then, all I knew of first person shooters was Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and DOOM. Halo was incredible. It was like playing a movie. It raised the bar. A lot.  Some of my best memories of Halo are playing the campaign on Legendary difficulty. Getting my ass handed to me over and over and not caring. The music got you so fired up. Ripping around in Warthogs. The multi-player!! Grunts are one of my favourite villains in a video game to this day. Halo: Combat Evolved is the best.  My buddy and fellow comedian Ty joined me this week, and we took a long look back at the debut of Master Chief, the arrival of the Xbox, and the gem that is Halo: Combat Evolved. Enjoy!

Super Metroid turned 25 a couple weeks ago! A better podcast host would have caught that and ran with it, but what can you do? I don't think it cared that we missed it.  One of the greatest games - not only on the Super Nintendo, but of all-time - Super Metroid is an absolute gem. A perfect combination of action, exploration, challenge, and atmosphere (which in the 16-bit era is no small feat), it takes you on a ride. Super Metroid is so good, it served as a primary inspiration in the formation of an entire new genre of video game; the Metroid-Vania. When you look at any list of the "greatest SNES games of all-time", Samus's Super Nintendo adventure is a lock for a spot in the top 5. Considering the insane library of games those lists contain, that's a pretty incredible feather in it's cap.  I missed this one as a kid, but luckily, I caught up to it as an adult. I've probably played through it half a dozen times in the last 10 years, and it's one of those titles I keep going back to. When I think of video games, it's one of the titles that comes to mind. I love the graphical style of it so much, and when you add in the action, power-ups, and exploration that comes with it, it's everything a video game should be. I've tried playing Metroid on the NES in recent years, and while I respect the role it played in paving the way for Super Metroid, it just hasn't stood the test of time like it's 16-bit counterpart has. And while there are a lot of franchises that made massive improvements during their transition from the 8-bit generation to the 16-bit one, I don't think there's an IP that levelled up as hard as Samus and friends did.  Super Metroid is a hall of fame worthy video game. Two of my childhood friends, Daniel and Rob, joined me this week to explain why. This was a fun episode, I hope you like it.  And for the love of video games, if you haven't played Super Metroid, get your shit together. 

We're finally making our way into the arcades. Admittedly, I didn't really live near one growing up, so my experience with stand up cabinets is pretty minimal. And while I don't have a ton of playtime under my belt, I know damned well what a big deal Street Fighter II is. *For the record, I used the SNES box art because it fit well in the thumbnail and it was the cleanest art I could find. But we talk a little bit about the arcade, a little home port, a little variation and re-releases; we're all over the map this week* Street Fighter II considered one of the greatest fighting games, and video games, of all-time. It's Turbo port is a lock to be in the top 10 of any "best SNES game of all-time" list. It's one of the most popular arcade machines ever made, up there along Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. I'd love to know how much money this game and it's variants have made Capcom over the years. It frustrates me that is legit may be the biggest video game in history that I just cannot play... I've always been terrible at the fighting genre of my favourite hobby. Aside from Mortal Kombat 2 (which I owned growing up) and a little bit of Smash Bros, I haven't really put any time into trying to get good at them, either. Fighting games are a unique animal, because you can play and practice against the computer all you want, and it just won't prepare you for battle against a skilled human opponent. A big gap in the skill levels of two players is as crippling in fighting games as it is in any genre of video game. I didn't have much money as a kid, and when the odd chance came along to play arcade games, I sure as hell wasn't going to pump my quarters into getting my ass kicked. Especially if the Ninja Turtles cabinet was nearby.  But my pal David Rae did. And he's my guest this week, helping me breakdown the iconic Street Fighter II franchise. I know how much this game means to some of you, so I really did my best to do your game justice. I hope you geeks like it!  "HADOOKIN!" or whatever it is...

Find 'Remember The Game' on Twitter! @memberthegame Remember The Game Facebook Page! facebook.com/memberthegame This week, my buddy Miklos returns to the podcast, and we take a look back at what is absolutely, unquestionably, one of the greatest video games of all-time; Super Mario Bros 3 for the NES. This game had of the most insane marketing campaigns ever (it had a MOVIE made about it!!), and it lived up to all the hype and then some. Who HASN'T played Mario 3?!I love this game. Enjoy the podcast!

It took us 87 episodes of the show to talk about Naughty Dog's apple collecting, box smashing, shirt not-wearing Bandicoot, and for that I apologize. But the day has finally come. We're talking Crash Bandicoot on the show this week, specifically Crash Bandicoot: Warped (3), and I'm damned excited. If you want to skip over my rambling and get right to Crash, skip to 17:20. Also on this week's show:  - I give the second round of shout-outs to our Patreons for March.  - Reggie Fils-Aime of Nintendo fame has joined the video game nWo and is working with GameStop now. I don't want to see them go out of business, but is this too little, too late? - Happy Mar10 day! Let's talk a little Mario. And more! And once we're done with all that, my buddy Andre and I talk about Crash Bandicoot's third adventure on the original Playstation; Crash Bandicoot: Warped. Enjoy the show! And please, toss us a good review and a follow, would ya? We'll follow you back! Twitter - @memberthegame Instagram - @memberthegame And as always, $2/month will get you bonus podcasts, a shout-out on the show, and a chance to win 25% of our Patreon! Patreon.com/RememberTheGame

In early 2001, the Nintendo 64 was running out of gas. The Playstation was in full swing, and Nintendo was looking vulnerable for the first time. Their new console, the Gamecube, was only months away. The 64 was about to be left behind. But before that happened, it had one last hurrah. And that hurrah was a gorgeous RPG called Paper Mario.  Not officially a "sequel" to the beloved Super Mario RPG on the SNES, Paper Mario was our favourite plumbers second foray into the world of role-playing game. Borrowing some elements from it's 16-bit cousin - timed hits/defending in combat and top shelf writing, to name a couple - Paper Mario managed to hold onto the Nintendo charm and approachability, while still remaining a deep, competitive RPG. The combat system isn't simply a matter of tapping "A" and coasting through battles. Attacking in this game requires some form of action if you want to cause maximum damage. Little things like tapping a button at the right time or pulling the joystick to the left and then swinging it to the right help break up the monotony of combat that a lot of RPGS struggle with. Each battle feel fresh and fun. Your attacks do various types of damage to your opponents, too. In a standard Mario game, you have to jump on a Koopa Troopa before you can pick it up and use it. They managed to transition that style of gameplay into RPG combat with Paper Mario. It's an RPG that still feels a lot like a platformer/action game. There's also NO RANDOM ENCOUNTERS!!!!! How all RPGS haven't adapted that approach by now is a frustrating mystery that may never be solved. Ugh. This game is charming, gorgeous, and it's a blast to play. The writing is clever and funny. The paper art style looks great, even by today's standards. I feel that games from the 64-bit era haven't aged well cosmetically, but this game looks as good today as it did eighteen years ago. And the most important thing, in my opinion, is that it's just as fun now as it was when it launched. If Nintendo ever does release a Nintendo 64 Classic, I'd buy one just to play this game again. It's that good.  My buddy Mark McCue agrees. He's my guest on the podcast this week, and damned if we didn't have a hell of a time revisiting Paper Mario. I hope you enjoy this one as much as we did.

** Game talk starts at 15:30** We're on Twitter - @memberthegameand Instagram - @memberthegameand Facebook! facebook.com/rememberthegame And for $2/month you can get a bunch of stuff and support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/rememberthegame Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (Shinobi III moving forward, that title is too long) is what retro gaming is all about. The graphics, the music, the gameplay, the difficulty. It nails it. I played this for the first time in my life almost 26 years after it released, and if you told me it was a retro-inspired indie title that just came out this year, I'd believe you. It seems to me like Shinobi was Sega's answer to Nintendo's Ninja Gaiden series. You play as a bad-ass ninja, running from left to right, wall jumping and killing bad guys. You die a lot. But admittedly, I never really felt like the deaths were cheap. Ninja Gaiden has caused a few controller throws in it's time, but I don't know if Shinobi III has. The game is hard as fuck, but there weren't too many instances where I felt my deaths were cheap. It nails, for better or worse, that classic 90's "play it over and over until you can beat it" model. When I think of the Sega Genesis, I think of Sonic, sports games, and Disney. I think most Nintendo kids feel the same way. But that little black box has some phenomenal games in it's library that I feel have been passed over undeservedly. This game is one of them. I had a fucking...blast...playing through this game on my Switch, and I'm pretty excited to talk about it on this week's podcast. If you've never played it, give this episode a listen. We may just convince you. I say "we", because as always I'm joined by a fellow nerd. This week, my buddy Miklos returns to the show. You may remember him from our "Sega vs Nintendo" and "Shining Force" episodes. Mik was a die-hard Sega kid, and I owe him a great deal for helping to open my eyes and show me that the Genesis had more games than just crappy over-rated platforms about a little blue rat. (I kid, I kid...mostly). Enjoy the podcast!

What can I possibly say about The Legend of Zelda that hasn't already been said?It's one of the most influential and iconic games of all-time. It launched one of the greatest franchises in the history of the industry. It's an absolutely masterpiece that - for my money - is as enjoyable today as it was over THIRTY years ago. It might even be better now, because the internet is around to help you.  I didn't play this much as a kid. It wasn't until A Link to the Past that I really discovered the greatness that is The Legend of Zelda franchise. I finally went back and played through it from beginning to end earlier this year, and I've been jonesing to talk about it ever since. I think it says a ton about this game when literally every thing it did has been improved upon in different games over the years, but it's still a blast to play. It's legendary. This might be the shortest podcast post I've written so far, but I just don't know what else to say. My buddy David Rae is my guest this week, and we spend almost 50 minutes talking about gaming royalty. It's all about The Legend of Zelda this time around. Enjoy!