Laura... Laura... Laura... LAURA!

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

A new season of Spy x Family has dropped and that sends us into a discussion about the changing ways manga has gotten adapted into anime over the years (spoilers: it's better now). Also, the 6 companies that own everything, more Monster Hunter Now, and Tom asks why he was forced to play this week's podcast game!

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

We're talking One Piece this week! Sort of! Tom is way behind in the manga, and TW watched a couple episodes of it back in 2006 or so, and also the whole thing is much older than we thought. Also, One Punch Man is still awesome.

Both of us went into this podcast ready to dump on this game, and question Nintendo for dumping random trash on their service, but ACTUALLY? Super ambitious, really impressive attempt at translating 3D graphics to the Game Boy Color. It still isn't GOOD, but we get why it's there as a technical showcase.

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

Turns out we both, independently, started playing Monster Hunter Now, the first Niantic game that has made any sense at all since they released Pokemon GO. You can definitely feel the guts of Pokemon GO - Niantic gonna Niantic, after all - but early impressions seem promising!

The second Oracle game is complete, and with it comes a discussion on Oracle of Seasons itself, comparisons between the two, and impressions of the "linked game" functionality. There's a lot to unpack in this one.

Also, Villain Bracket!

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

Dokapon Kingdom continues on a confluence of unusual events that end with hitting what amounts to a 20% critical hit and it's all TW's fault. At this point I don't even know if people care who wins as long as it's somebody.

Good. Dokapon is doing its job. Maybe it's over by now. Maybe not.

Like Zero Wing, Bad Dudes is best remembered for weird memes and that's for the best.

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

After a year, TW finally plays Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes and cannot stop gushing about it. Also, Yakuza 5 hunting, the awkward conclusion of the spiky hair bracket, and the best idea for an arcade game that will absolutely never, ever, ever happen.

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

Today's parents are introducing their kids to old video games the way parents used to try to get their kids into older music or movies - change my mind.

Related: The album name is Tubthumper. The song name is Tubthumping. I do not know why.

This is like a part 1 of this podcast, as it's impossible to discuss all of Oracle of Ages without having also played Oracle of Seasons, but I haven't played Seasons yet, so that and the linked content will be covered in a future podcast (probably later this month)!

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

Please enjoy as a deceptive mobile game with ads that are just lies offers a sponsorship and is turned down live during the recording!

Also, a Vince McMahon conspiracy theory that is factually inaccurate in several ways but still plausible, first thoughts on Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and a look into a second version of Rollergames (arcade) that is significantly worse than the main one, despite being visually impressive.

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

Tom delivers some hard truths about the reality of TW's recent game purchasing binge.

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

We discuss a random paperback book featuring fully broken-down strategies for beating the hottest video games of 1982.

Also, Gimmick is awesome and I can't believe I only just now played it. I also can't believe how many other people got paid for reviewing it without playing it at all.

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

It's time for a new week, a new game, and a new elimination bracket! We talk about Pikmin 4, the Zelda timeline and handheld Zelda games, and the weirdest possible way to play Crash Bandicoot.

Then it's Growl, a game that explodes like 400 times before you actually start playing it, and is basically average despite us spending almost the whole discussion talking about all the crazy stuff we liked about it.

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

It's shameless promotion time as TW has a sponsored stream for Lofty Sky Games! On August 8th at 7:00 PM EDT and August 10th at 8:00 PM EDT, he'll be checking out Shuyan Saga and Sky of Tides!

Also, the end of the bracket challenge!

Also, Kirby is a thing. It's not terrible but its novelty is unfortunately the best thing it has going for it.

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

Dokapon, Final Fantasy XVI, Fire Emblem, and the weirdest front-of-box feature maybe ever. We talk about things!

TW's Discord: ⁠⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer⁠

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

Tom and I have a lot to catch up on, so this podcast is a big one! Elevation sickness, Fire Emblem Engage, Tears of the Kingdom, bad hotel TVs, and Back to the Future are all on the docket this week!

Oh, and intellectual property licensing rights to popular comic book characters. For no real reason. Don't worry about it.

TW's Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

TW and Tom recap one of the wildest Dokapon sessions imaginable, briefly touch on Fire Emblem Engage, and recap all the other Fire Emblem games they've played and subsequently dropped halfway through.

Then we talk Game & Watch Gallery, which is like if you had a bunch of Tiger Electronics games but they were actually fun.

TW's Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

As TW nears the end of Disco Elysium, we try to zero in on what makes it so special, while also touching on Advance Wars, Final Fantasy XVI, and the price of T-shirts.

Then we try to talk about Pulseman, but end up talking about Pokemon instead, oops.

TW's Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

It's another Nintendo Direct Episode! We speed through the headlines we care about, talk a little about the headlines that weren't, and discuss a German Zelda coffee mug.

We also played a McDonald's advertisement this week. Grimace's Birthday is a short, browser-based game that will run on a proper Game Boy Color, and is actually pretty decent for a 10-minute romp and purely transparent ad pandering!

TW's Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

Tom and TW's first impressions of our 4-player story playthrough of Dokapon Kingdom Connect, TW has started playing Advance Wars Re-Boot Camp, and Tom has independently invented the concept of the Blue Sentinels faction in Diablo 4 PvP.

Send us an email to read on the show! ⁠theretrobreakdown@gmail.com⁠

TW's Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/dTrBruG⁠

Podcast games streamed live at: ⁠twitch.tv/timewanderer⁠

TW on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Dokapon Kingdom Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rRXZIPewc&list=PLwwyEcb3PjvWNJ3AzeTHy7GiDkQkSdsWB

Hey all, it's only been a few weeks for you all, but Tom and I haven't recorded an episode in months, so there's lots to talk about! We got Diablo, Octopath, Chained Echoes, Tape to Tape, and pool. Like, just regular billiards.

Also, we're not really talking about it yet, but we've started a Dokapon Kingdom playthrough every Monday on the Twitch channel listed below!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

After a week off, Jessi fills in for Tom this week and we talk about our recent trip to Frankfurt, public transportation, the beginning of Dokapon, and of course, comparisons of Dark Souls 2 to Dark Souls 1 after Jessi's first playthrough came to a close.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Conversation number 1 billion about what we hope Nintendo does (and does not) do with their next console starts up this week's episode, followed by a battle of disappointments that leads to us just mercilessly dunking on Spore.

The music in Code Name: Viper is by far the best thing about it. The optimal experience is just to listen to the music and forget the game exists altogether. But it was super fun to laugh about for a bit.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

"This action hero is MONEY," the back of the cracked jewel case tells us about Largo Winch, a character from a bygone era where billionaires were considered protagonists and not a reason to bring back guillotines.

This guy owns an oil company, airline, news network, and is opening a chemical plant in Venezuela, and we're supposed to root for him. Luckily, "We Have James Bond at Home" is completely devoid of any charisma or likeable traits, so the fact that his game is a special kind of terrible is fun in its own way!

Shoutouts to T of TKandM for sharing this fun little bit of nonsense with us!

Also, WARNING: INCOMING DOKAPON

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Another trip to the local game store, N64 troubleshooting, stories of ad-set at our retail jobs, and the guilty pleasures we have in eating bad food that's still good somehow.

Talking about crappy gas station food seems ESPECIALLY relevant to Wario somehow. Wario Land 3 is weird and quirky and outstanding and distinctly different from just about anything else.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

A last-minute substitution on this week's game leads to a great discussion of how we can go back in time and save Yuji Naka from himself. Also, beating up perverts with Mahjong, a short retrospective on Final Fantasy 4, and the best characters in Octopath Traveler 2.

Also, as luck would have it, Kuru Kuru Kururin is also very fun! This was a good week.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Things just kinda work out this week as we play a classic Power Rangers game just as the classic Power Rangers nostalgia movie hits Netflix. Also, this game is BETTER THAN YOU THINK ACTUALLY PLAY IT!

Meanwhile, Tom refers to Final Fantasy 2 as, and I quote, "so good." Discuss.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

We went into The Bouncer expecting a high degree of oddity, and we were not disappointed. So much so that actually describing it proved something of a challenge.

Also, thus begins the GAME FRANCHISE ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT courtesy of our friend Swoggles, who we agree at this point is essentially like an unofficial show producer.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week we eliminate four classic games from existence, correct the record on excitement for video games, and talk about Tom's bizarre dream about, ironically, Nights Into Dreams.

Burgertime Deluxe is a fun game and a decent upgrade from its simplistic original arcade edition, but don't expect too much from it, aside from a bizarre story and a shockingly high level of violence.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

TW trades in used games for the first time in a decade, E3 is cancelled again (the bigger news might actually be that it was technically un-cancelled for a time?), and we talk even more about Zelda - the final reward for Kinstones in Minish Cap, the generally assumed "original plans" for Ocarina of Time's Hyrule Field, and where you can and cannot ride a bear.

Also, we don't mention that Gargoyle's Quest is one of the first games Yoko Shimomura worked on, but MAN IS IT A GOOD ONE.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

It's a week of adulting as we talk about deciding to make grown-up big number purchases, work things, and how we both own the original Deus Ex like three times between the two of us, for a grand total of like $2.90.

Also, Kinstones are bad and they should feel bad. They say they bring you happiness and that is a lie. 10/10.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

We're back after a week off with a game that is essentially WarioWare, but made by Sega for arcades in the 90s!

Also, we talk bootlegs and hacks, as well as one game that is neither - a Famicom game where you can simulate running for the 1988 American presidential election.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Birthday! Zelda Multiworld randomizer! Kenshiro fitness boxing! New Diablo seasons! Comfort games! Games with great lore that we don't actually like! Loss of Consciousness by G-Force!

Also, we're on break next week. See you again on March 21st!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Wario gets more play this week, as we go from the first in his spin-off title to his first-ever appearance, even though he looks like a mutant from a cheap horror movie.

But more importantly, apparently Mario and Wario have been feuding over castles since childhood? When did Wario have a castle? When did MARIO have a castle? Is this all part of that forgotten lore like the time that they said all the blocks in the Mushroom Kingdom were people? These questions and more are discussed on this week's episode.

Also, apparently you can follow us on Spotify, so do that if you like!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Yes, we are aware that an hour-long podcast is considered "normal" for basically anyone else, but it's micro for us.

We still manage to cram a lot into an hour's time, though, including Theatrhythm, Hi-Fi Rush, and a brief story about a failed hair dye job.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

There's a lot to get into this week, and by that I mean "we discuss a bunch of stuff from the Nintendo Direct, almost exclusively."

Then we begrudgingly discuss Beyond Oasis, a game that is violently average and betrays every high expectation we have of it with its absolutely boring mediocrity I MEAN YOU'LL HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE TO FIND OUT

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Reminder that Sonic Mania is the best Sonic game and it's not close.

Also, Marvel Snap is fun. I've realized since recording this that rationing your energy is how they push you into the shop, but honestly I'm having fun just with the decks I have now, so it's all good!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope continues to be exceptionally fun, expect when it gets dull, and occasionally mean? Also, we pick our favorite Mario, Zelda, and Megaman games, and ALMOST go off on a rant about Sonic, but we're saving that one.

Mario Golf is interesting, because it's completely obsolete in every way, and yet is still pretty much the blueprint for better, more modern Mario Golf games. It was an interesting experience if nothing else. RIP Plum and Sonny.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

The game with 5 very expensive songs and a famous announcer is essentially an improved sequel to RPM Racing, even though TW is more familiar with the predecessor. It's good, but definitely not meant for a single sitting.

Also: getting angry that you own things, not understanding achievement boosting, and TW's stint as a Kusogrande host! Also, which game would you want a Hideo Kojima-directed sequel for?

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

I'll be honest, this is also a Mario Party 1 podcast, because we essentially talk about both. Yes, the skin on our palms will indeed come up, of course.

We also discuss Wings of Vi, the extreme need for content moderation on Know Your Meme, and the fact that the Deception series is just Home Alone with anime gore.

Also, I would say you DON'T need to watch Initial D, but I'm enjoying it.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Listen, I just want to say that all of the accounts I mentioned have been cashed out and closed as of the time of this episode's release. Don't gamble, kids.

Anyway, we're starting this year off right, with Castlevania Symphony of the Night for the Tiger Game.com! We haven't played a DS game, but sure, let's hit the Game.com.

This is an unreleased prototype of a game that was made for the Game.com and then cancelled. Shoutouts to Stop Skeletons From Fighting for revealing this weird, amazing port's existence to us and the rest of the world!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Happy New Year and welcome to technically sort-of our 4th year of The Retro Breakdown!

We're starting this one off with a deeper discussion on River City Girls 2, some lesser-known games that we've been enjoying, and what anime we want to see a smaller indie-style game of, which leads to us discovering that we played the exact same 1990's card-based RPG in Japanese without really knowing what was happening.

Our first game of 2023 (or technically one of our last of 2022) is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: The Manhattan Project, a fun but brutally-difficult game that definitely feels like it lands right between the arcade port and Turtles in Time.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

It's that time again! We played video games for 47 podcasts this year, and now it's time to separate the amazing ones from the ones we totally forgot about and never want to talk about again.

From Sonic 3 to Riven to Home Alone (again), please enjoy the Retro Breakdown's 2022 Tier List!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

It's December, and that means it's time for our third annual review of an awful Home Alone game, this one for Genesis (and not actually THAT awful?)

We also talk River City Girls 2, Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core: Reunion, Bayonetta 3, and TW's stint on GDQ.

FACT: This Home Alone game has a Pain meter, and that basically makes it the best Home Alone game by default.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

I suppose technically it can't be plagiarism if you're just sampling your own music, but still, give that ending theme a listen this week.

Anyway, Tom and TW have a look at an upcoming Disney remaster this week, while also talking about their completely opposite reactions to the original announcement of Kingdom Hearts. Also, what video game world would you want to live in after the game's ending?

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Sorry about the unannounced hiatus last week! Travel and the holiday got in the way.

Anyway, TW is back from Korea and so now we're catching up on things and apparently we're sports fans now?

Pang! is a fun arcade game that you may know under the name "Buster Bros.," and you almost definitely do NOT know by the name "Pomping World." But it's worth a play!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

A completely forgettable Game Boy Ninja Turtles experience is saved by a bizarrely-written manual and some excellent Michiru Yamane tunes.

Also, TW has friends in Korea that keep independently taking him to the same places, we have a mostly spoiler-free discussion of the end of Infernax, and we weigh in on the enjoyable nonsense that is Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

More Korea misadventures from TW, some God of War talk from Tom, and the inevitable bit of Dragon Ball discussion from the both of us peppers this week's show. Also, the first 3 executive orders we would make as President of Video Games (hint: almost none of them have to do with actual games).

Pilotwings 64 is a bizarre game and for some reason we spend the first 10 minutes talking about the exaggerated anime proportions of one of the most polygonal female characters available at the N64's launch, but the rest of it is also definitely worth getting into as well.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

TW's Korea adventures continue with a mint chocolate burger that is a real thing, and you can watch the full reaction at the following YouTube link: https://youtu.be/xk2AHOZVIlo

We also discuss our hype to hate-watch Sonic Frontiers and revel in its inevitable weirdness, and there's a story in there about accidentally taking a shot of vodka at a grocery store.

End theme is the Single Player theme from ChuChu Rocket, which was released during this week (November 11th) in 1999.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Please bear with some issues with sound quality and attentiveness quality this week! TW is exhausted having just arrived in South Korea, and is not using usual equipment, so the mic quality is less-than-perfect and also I'm exhausted.

But anyway, we discuss Spider-Man, the MCU in general, trying to explain video games to non-gamers, and the odd feeling of being in that "in-between" skill gap where you're better than your friends at games, but not good enough to do anything competitive. Here's the ProZD video I sent Tom in the middle of that discussion.

Dr. Mario 64 is just Dr. Mario, but you should definitely try Flash mode, it's pretty great.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

We have a game this week! Perhaps the most weirdly obscure game we've ever played on the channel, this week we hit Riding Fight, a Taito arcade game from 1992 which is a beat 'em up but on future rocket hoverboards.

It sounds like a disaster, but is actually fantastic! Other topics - Retroarch is a pain to use, so is Windows 11, and music we'd like to have as our life soundtracks.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

EDIT: Original audio accidentally was missing a bunch of tracks, so it sounded like I was basically having a conversation with myself. Please download the episode again, the corrected audio should be available now! - TW

Hideki Kamiya has banned himself from Twitter, Tom and TW have differing approaches to holiday decorations, and Lost Judgment is over (again).

It's another podcast with no game, but we have fun things coming up! Send us more questions/comments to read out on the podcast!

Ending theme is "JeweL OF THE END" from Yakuza Dead Souls.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Welcome to the Retro Breakdown, the show where sometimes there is no retro breakdown! We've decided that once in a while, we're going to have to shift into simple "talk show" format to give us more time to play longer games, or simply when we're short on time. So there's no game this week, only talk!

This won't be a permanent change (we already know what we're playing next week!) but we felt like we'd been mailing in some recent episodes while we've been busy with real life stuff, so this is a change to give ourselves "permission" to take an extra week to play, but still record an episode if need be.

Let us know what you think! Also, this would be a great time to send more questions!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

It's American football season, which is vaguely of interest to me and probably very few listeners, but that's okay, because this is barely a football game anyway. It's more of a licensed Saturday morning cartoon game, but like, the kind your mom didn't really approve of. It's also just legitimately not very good.

And speaking of not very good, Google Stadia has finally arrived at its inevitable destination! Let's talk about where it all went wrong (everywhere, from the beginning), and one place where they actually went right.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Yes, the sound quality is weird this week, it should be back to normal next week, I promise! Jessi is back for another podcast as Tom is out and my computer is in pieces! There's a lot of real life stuff happening this week, which we will explain in detail, and then talk about Claymates, which is NOT Clayfighter (but it turns out is made by the same people)!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

We break new ground this week by trying out our first ever fangame (aside from the SMZ3 randomizer, sort of), which is a reimagining of Castlevania in the classic Doom engine!

Also, basically every game company on Earth had a digital showcase this week, so we talk about a small sliver of that, but honestly it mostly comes back to the three new Like a Dragon games coming out, including a long-awaited Western release (and remake) of Ishin!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Tom is out this week, so Jessi joins us again for a podcast featuring the May 2001 iteration of the Official U.S. Playstation Magazine Demo Disc! It featured 9 playable demos, 8 of which actually worked!

Join us as we work through first impressions of:

• Disney's The Emperor's New Groove
• Cool Boarders 2001
• Ape Escape
• The Legend of Dragoon
• Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
• MediEvil II
• Syphon Filter 2 (sort of)
• Metal Gear Solid
• Tekken 3

and also just talking about buying used games at garage sales and the need for remakes on some of these.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Welcome to the new, hopefully consistently shorter format of the Retro Breakdown, where we do basically all the same stuff as before, just for less time.

This week, topics include TW's newly-chipped front tooth, Rumbleverse, Metal Gear Solid, and how different Rocky 1 is from its sequels.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week we try to do a quick podcast and it still ends up being almost two hours.

I blame Wave Race 64 for being unnecessarily good, and a technical marvel for its time. It is actually STUNNING, even now.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week, TW shamelessly shills a marketing project he worked on, Tom jumps into Live A Live, and Nintendo joins the "corporate sexual harassment" club and every single corporation is terrible.

Later, TW grapples with the fact that he didn't get good enough to like Guardian Heroes as much as he wanted to, even though it's probably still objectively really good.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

TW drops another "Weird Anime Review" (though this one isn't quite as off-the-rails as Birdie Wing), we discuss game ratings scales ranging from GamePro to a random public-access gaming TV show, and we talk how much is too much when it comes to game developer/publisher malfeasance. The answer is depressingly nuanced.

You know what's NOT nuanced, though? Crusader of Centy, a game that looks like it's trying to be The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, but then veers into Illusion of Gaia territory and MAY have helped inspire Undertale?

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

By listener request (thanks Andrew), we're doing Riven, one of the few PC games we've played for the show thus far!

Also, Tom reveals the arcane secret to his elevated gameplay times, David Cage gets to make a Star Wars game, and TW discusses the time management philosophy that leads him to never watching movies.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week, TW can't not talk about Xenoblade Chronicles 2 again (yes, 3 just came out, catching up takes time), but also we talk about Red-Ring Xbox 360 home repair methods, games that could have used more time in development, and saving the wrong person in Mass Effect.

Also, Journey to Silius has a great history behind its development, and a great soundtrack, and that's all I'll say about it here.

But here are some supplementary reading materials! https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2020/12/sunsofts-the-terminator-development-history/

And the initial promo teaser! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBpJB2NmUOg

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

I forgot I watched Birdie Wing this week, so I completely derail a perfectly good Pokemon Puzzle League discussion to talk about this show that  is incredibly confused and wants to be some combination of mafia-driven Battle Golfer Yui and a school-life rom-com with strong lesbian energy. It's terrible and I love it.

Other topics include a Cyberpunk 2077 post-mortem, being disqualified from tournaments for smelling bad, spoiler culture, and how long leftovers can sit in the fridge before you throw them out.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

The discussion of Tecmo's successful-for-some-reason-and-immediately-forgotten-about Mighty Bomb Jack, surprisingly, has absolutely nothing at all to do with the the later discussion of throwing controllers, but both conversations do in fact happen.

Also on tap is talk about Fire Emblem: Three Hopes, overwhelming amount of systems in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and a weird chain of thoughts that goes from the new Kirby dessert game to taking pictures of things in Japan (it doesn't connect at all in the way you think).

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Yes, this is the "All Your Base Are Belong to Us" game, and YES we talk about it and ABSOLUTELY YES we play the song.

But boy, it sure is a good thing this game is remembered for something, because it is the most mediocre, "just okay" game we've played in a while.

We also talk about the concept of the gaming "time vampire," Yuki Naka's weird pettiness, and the Metal Gear Rising SGDQ run controversy.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

A last-minute swap brings us Target Earth, a game about mechs and stuff, I don't know. It's called Assault Suit Leynos in Japan, where it is the first in a series of games that has a very confusing naming convention.

Other topics: EA still wants you to think single-player games are dead, Nintendo nearly misses their window to put out some games in June, SGDQ is over, and nobody remembers about Red Ash.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

What's next on Switch Online's Nintendo 64 service? We talk about the best and worst of what they could add, and which rights might be too expensive for them to bother. Somehow this leads us to talk about Charlie Blast's Territory, and the Army Men RTS.

Other topics include the novelty of Switch Sports wearing thin, the Halo Juneteeth debacle, and what games could use more or less story.

And then there's Kirby 64, a game about mashing your abilities together and making Kirby do funny stuff.

Also, settle this for us - is Kirby's Air Ride a "real" Kirby game?

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

The new TMNT game is out, there's probably a new Nintendo Direct coming soon, and TW initially stopped at NieR ending A. Also, Kusogrande 7 has begun, and TW got a Top Gun game co-designed by Don Mattrick, which is hilarious.

Meanwhile, Blaster Master is a fun game with problems that lays an interesting foundation but is far too concerned with wasting your time to fully deliver on it. It is, however, a really interesting and generally enjoyable playthrough, minus a couple of major sticking points.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

We have a lot of catching up to do! We recap what we've been playing for the last month, take two pieces of listener mail, and talk about Fire Emblem Heroes, Cedar Point (the amusement park), and what in the world "European Extreme" means. There's a lot. We talk about a lot for a long time.

And then we talk about pinball. The NES game Pinball is the general focus of the podcast today, but also just, generally our histories with pinball and what tables/digital games of it we've enjoyed in the past. We try not to make the episodes this long anymore, but we haven't talked in over a month, so there was a lot to discuss!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Jessi's back for another week, as we discuss some of the first games we bonded over in the early part of our relationship, including NBA Jam, Guitar Hero, and Persona 3.

We also discuss the good and bad points of Nintendo Switch Sports, the Trials of Mana remake, and whether or not our hometowns had a Blockbuster Video in the 90s.

We talk about the 90s a lot on this show, I realize, and I do not apologize for this.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

I know it's probably not strictly "retro," but it's more than 10 years old, we'll take it! Anyway, Jessi (@lavieclarinette) is back to talk about her first-ever playthrough of Dark Souls! 

We manage somehow to go the entire two hours not talking about Sif, but we DO talk about most of the bosses, some of her biggest trouble spots in the game, and also what a great season this has been for anime. Watch Spy X Family, thank us later.

If you'd like to watch Jessi absolutely RIPPING through Dark Souls as a first-time player, you can check out the playthrough at https://youtu.be/9k8Ar0C32xk!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

VISUALSHOCK! SPEEDSHOCK! SOUNDSHOCK!

NOW IS TIME TO THE 68000 HEART ON FIRE!

Alien Soldier is a MASTERPIECE. In this episode I will excitedly explain why.

Also, a better-late-than-never discussion of Square Enix selling most of its Western output, Tom brings a movie quote quiz to the table, and we discuss the mid-00's game industry.

But seriously though, play Alien Soldier. Wow. Really wow.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week we talk more about news that is hopelessly out-of-date, and a Nintendo Switch game about catching food Pokemon.

I'm serious this is a real game we couldn't even make this up if we tried: https://www.play-asia.com/tabe-o-ja-for-nintendo-switch/13/70ej8r

Meanwhile, Golden Axe sure is a product of its time, isn't it? It took me an embarrassingly long time to learn that his name is Ax Battler because he battles AGAINST the guy with the axe, not because he uses one himself.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Because we definitely don't talk about Dragon Ball Z enough on this podcast, we have an excuse to do it again! Tom picked up Dragon Ball FighterZ, and so I had to ask him what the deal was with Goku Black, and we end up talking about Yamcha cheating in baseball.

Also, we talk VR games that would be amazing with better VR technology, and Mappy Land somehow comes up again.

Then we jump into our second-consecutive ninja-themed game with Ninja Warriors, a Natsume-developed beat-em-up that nobody remembers. It's a mixed bag, honestly.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

There's been a lot of Sega-related news lately, so we decided to hit all of it at once. Sonic Origins is coming out and the preorder chart looks ridiculous, Streets of Rage is getting a movie, and Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi are getting new games, but they might be awful?

Also on tap is Ninja Gaiden and the Worlds of Power game novelizations from the 1990s that I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week, we talk about letting people enjoy things and not being a judgmental jerk just because people do things differently from you. This isn't brought on as some sort of passive-aggressive thing, it's just us reflecting on how we used to be less compassionate people.

Also, Gachapons! Faygo! Nintendo Switch Sports! And two podcast games for the price of one, even though that price is "free" and neither of the games are very good!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

We dive even deeper into the Treasure library to find what is maybe the LEAST "Treasure" game yet in Light Crusader.

Also, Kingdom Hearts 4 gets announced, and people immediately determine the location, size, and price of Sora's apartment in Tokyo, because it's 2022 and that's just what people do now. Also-also, we do an awful lot of showing our age as we talk about a bygone relic known as "long distance phone plans."

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week, we talk Vampire Survivors, and TW plugs in an old iPod from a thrift store for some reason.

But nevermind all that, DOUBLE DRAGON 2 IS WILD WHAT IS UP WITH THIS GAME ACTUALLY

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Breath of the Wild is delayed to 2023, is it a sign of a new console launch? TW's been playing stuff in Mystery Fun Fest, where he learned that Fall Guys is somehow actually more fun now than at launch! Also, we talk about how annoying it is when you can tell advertising is successfully manipulating you.

Literally the only reason we played Avenging Spirit is because of Tom digging up the ridiculous box art differences between regions. We had to know why it was like that, and it somehow ended up making sense almost immediately. And then it turned out to be a surprisingly good game from a bizarrely obscure development studio (but published by Jaleco, which is honestly more of a running gag at this point than anything).

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week, Alex Zandra, aka Zandravandra, joins TW on the show to talk about the very first games she made as a teenager in the 90s, The Quantum Blade 1 and 2! These games were featured in Kusogrande 6, but they were very much worth talking about more because they are an absolute CELEBRATION of mid-90s indie games.

So we get into talking the design ideas behind the game, the joy of starting and finishing a passion project regardless of quality, learning from mistakes, Final Fantasy MIDIs, and the state of the internet in the mid-90s (shoutouts to FFGaming, TW's long-dead Final Fantasy fansite with information that was just straight-up incorrect). Also Elden Ring.

Thanks to Zandra for being on the show and sharing in the love of these and her other creations! Check the links below to follow Zandra on Twitch and Twitter, check out her books, and play many of her games for yourself!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

Follow Zandra on Twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/zandravandra

And also Twitter! https://twitter.com/zandravandra

Read Zandra's Books! http://books.zandravandra.com/

There's a new Kirby game out this week, so we decided to go back to the game where he just turns into a wheel, instead of just stretching his skin over an entire car. Real talk, that new Kirby game seems fun, so maybe don't let the weirdness of the body deformity stuff turn you off - or do, it's your call.

Also discussed: GPU prices are coming down, La-Mulana is still weird, and the current meme question: are there more doors or wheels in the world today?

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

So, it turns out Tom hasn't seen anything at all about Final Fantasy Origin: Stranger of Paradise. So if you would like to hear Tom's live reaction to the bizarre trailers starring main edgelord Jack Garland, that's here in this podcast!

We've also got talk about Amazon Luna, sorta talking about the Sony State of Play, and finally getting into Sin and Punishment, a Treasure game which we now very much recognize as EXTREMELY TREASURE. It's good, but it is Metal Wolf Chaos levels of "what is happening?" anime nonsense, which makes it both better and worse.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week, John Romero doesn't make anybody anything, because Kemco made this game. Welcome to the little-known Game Boy Color version of Daikatana, a completely different game from its infamous original! This is a downright playable Zelda-like that tries really hard to pull off the convoluted story beats of the original game, to hilarious effect.

The North American release of Big Sword was cancelled, so we played the unreleased prototype version that Romero himself dumped the ROM of on his own website some 20+ years ago!

Also: We talk about how Discord got its name, the "Gaming Pentathlon," and a neat little meta touch to the opera scene in the Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster! And some other stuff, as usual, you know how it goes.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Before I forget, here's a link to the official source where you can hear the FANTASTIC tracks for this game recorded by Megan McDuffee, RichaadEB and DEMONDICE! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzt65O3BsmY

Anyway, Gabe Newell came out from his pile of money to let everyone know that crypto sucks, and it was glorious. Also, we talk HD-2D, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and PC Elden Ring problems (though neither of us are playing it so that's mostly hearsay).

Full disclosure, River City Girls Zero is technically a brand new re-release on Switch from Wayforward, but it's just a souped-up port of Shin Nekketsu Kouha: Kunio-Tachi no Banka, a Super Famicom game from 1994, so IT COUNTS.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week we delve into the okayest game maybe ever on the podcast! Along the way, we talk about video game camping, Road Rash 64, and the director of Super Mario RPG's initial concept for the game, in which Mario rides a horse.

Also, now accepting your votes for worst underwater area in video games! Oh, and we talk about Infernax a bit because it's more interesting than Joe and Mac.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

In case last week's episode wasn't enough sports talk for you, TW puts way too much time into Retro Bowl and talks about it!

Also, this week's extra-large episode involves a lightning-round discussion of the February 2022 Nintendo Direct, why Vine died but TikTok thrives, and the design problems of Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

Then we talk a LOT about Banjo-Kazooie, a game that is awesome until it isn't, but it still pretty good but also totally reframes the way we see Rare as adults.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

It's time for SPORTSBALL, because Tom randomly bought me a handheld game console containing 7 different NES sports titles from Jaleco: Bases Loaded (1-4), Hoops, Goal!, and Racket Attack. So I demanded he play them as well and we do a podcast on ALL OF THEM.

They're mostly terrible, with one ESPECIALLY bad one and some pleasant surprises (listen to the theme at the end of this episode - it's from Bases Loaded 3, which was composed by the guy who did the sound effects for Street Fighter 2).

Other topics - Sony buys Bungie, my changing game-buying habits, and if Nintendo will ever introduce a centralized achievement system.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Another week, another game that would have completely changed my opinion on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive if I would have played it 25 years ago. It's Contra: Hard Corps this week, a Contra game that is completely off the rails even by Contra standards.

Also, my wife Jessi is playing Dark Souls for the first time, and we discuss what games we would like to see get Netflix adaptations - the answer is "a lot," but also "literally none" (it's complicated). 

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Sorry everyone, I didn't feel like tracking down an MP3 of Sonic Boom, so you're just getting game music. But if Jessi and I actually do a Sonic CD episode, we'll get it in there!

In the meantime, you can just listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnVboYhEe5Q

Anyway, Tom is back this week, and we dig into our first game from the Switch Online's Genesis collection, *checks notes* "Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor," or MUSHA. It's a scrolling shooter with mechs and stuff. So that's neat.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

TW's wife Jessi (@lavieclarinette) guest-hosts on the first podcast of 2022, as we tackle Sonic 3 & Knuckles (kinda) for the first time!

We didn't really have to ask each other how our holidays were, since we were actually there for it. So instead, we look ahead to upcoming 2022 releases and talk about what we're excited for!

More guest hosts are scheduled for the future, but Tom should be back next week!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

IT IS TIME! Our year-end episode where we take every game we did for the podcast in 2021, and rank them on a tier list.

From Startropics to Home Alone, every game goes into one of five categories based on how strongly we would recommend someone actually play them yourself. Also, look for the video version on YouTube!

Thanks for a great 2021, we'll see you again next year!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Well, we have now played a Home Alone game in consecutive Decembers, and that now means that it is a set-in-stone tradition that nobody can ever disrespect or refuse to acknowledge because that's how traditions work. You do something more than once and then everyone has to do it forever, right?

We also discuss the weirdest games we can recommend, and Tom's dreams of the destructible environment future.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

TW recaps the end of Rabi-Ribi, the YouTube-exclusive series he's been playing, and begs the developers to give those girls some pants, while Tom is playing through Dragon Quest 11 in the 2D demake mode.

Actraiser, meanwhile, is the third Quintet game we've played on the podcast, and also the first for that studio! It is a bizarre combination of Castlevania platforming and city-building simulator, and it's definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Which is to say the parts are kinda bad, but the game really isn't!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week, everyone learns way more than they ever wanted to about a neuroscientist who took a bunch of LSD and tried to get dolphins to communicate with aliens.

Which is somehow less weird than the ACTUAL plot of Ecco the Dolphin, a game everyone thought was about swimming around with your dolphin buddies, but is actually a horror story about aliens harvesting all life on Earth to turn it into a meat milkshake.

Also, I guess there's a Chrono Cross remake in the works, so that's pretty cool maybe!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Stories of awful travel experiences, games we liked but didn't expect to, and of course, me intentionally mispronouncing my wife's username feature today.

Yoshi's Story is both a good game and also a bad game, with a structure that is unique, interesting, ambitious, and pretty much terrible. I don't know, it's hard to say it's bad, but it's just... I dunno, just listen to the episode, you'll see.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Why is there a new Popeye game? Why is it like that? Why does it cost TWELVE DOLLARS? We may never know the answer, except that we already do, because it's "money."

Anyway, here's a classic Castlevania game that bridges the gap between the classic stage-based platformers and the later titles that made "Metroidvania" into a term. No, I will not call it Search Action.

If you play this game, do yourself a favor and play as Maria. Girl is OP.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

TW recaps his Extra Life charity stream and attempts to explain why it has taken so absurdly long to finish Lost Judgment, and somehow we end up talking about Mario Odyssey?

Thanks to Swoggles for this week's "Bait Mail" on how to introduce a new gamer to classic/retro games!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

A change of gears into a bizarre-but-fun puzzle game that Nintendo decided to drop on its NES Online platform a few months ago. It's hard to really recommend it, but we try anyway.

Oh, by the way, this game is Solomon's Key 2 (the prequel), but they didn't call it that in North America for reasons we don't entirely understand.

Also, we talk about NFTs and establish that if you think you understand it but you're still confused, that actually means you understand it perfectly because it actually makes no sense and nobody can defend it. So naturally Electronic Arts will be investing in it.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

It's time to dig deep into the bag for one of the oldest and most obscure games we're covered so far! No but seriously, we didn't cover basically the entire Metroid series up to this point to NOT talk about the triumphant return of 2D Metroid. It may not be "retro," but that's okay, it's GOOD.

Along the way, we talk about that one guy who decided to make himself the Main Character of Twitter by trying to make speedrunning a political battlefield. We laugh a lot about it, especially Tom, our resident ACTUAL FOR-REAL PHD, who has seen way too much of people trying to sound smart while not actually having anything coherent to say.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week, the multi-media sensation that wasn't: Vectorman! A game with great animations that they want to make ABSOLUTELY sure you see! Apparently they wanted this to be a movie, and it basically was, but unfortunately it was many years later and it wasn't about Vectorman and also the movie was Wall-E.

Also, we talk Sora in Smash (timely, I know) and discuss the difference between good-natured trash talk and outright bullying, and how easily there can be a lot of bleedover between the two.

I showed Tom a video of incredibly high-skill trolling in Smash, and if you would like to see that video yourself, it's here: https://twitter.com/imonly5feet/status/1444749963372662789?s=20

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

We interrupt this month's Metroid chain combo because we're busy playing Metroid Dread for a soon-to-be-released episode.

This week, we complete the Donkey Kong Country trilogy and our bad opinions about them. Along the way, there's more Kusogrande talk, and we reminisce about our first forays into emulation on old potato PCs in the 90s, including the weird graphical bug that made Chrono Trigger unplayable (for a while).

By the way, yes, Kiddy Kong is terrible, but not in any way that actually matters.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Nintendo Direct! Bayonetta 3! 3D Kirby Game! Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games coming to Switch Online! And I guess there's a Mario movie being made or whatever, who even cares about that.

We continue our run through of the mainline Metroid games this week by talking about the Game Boy sequel that nobody talks about but everybody should know about.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

After several podcasts of teasing it, it's FINALLY time to talk about Metroid! Or, one of them, at least. The ORIGINAL one. The one everybody always tells us not to play.

So, the question is: Should you actually bother playing the original NES Metroid? Or should you just start with Zero Mission, the remake for GBA? The answer is... complicated.

Also, TW gives a reluctant credit to Nintendo's maddeningly frustrating method of handling their franchises. Because hey, at least none of them are Assassin's Creed. 

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week, TW and Tom talk way too much about Metroid, TW gushes about Atelier Escha and Logy, and we discuss how difficult it is to use items in a video game.

Later, Tom surprises with a revelation that shouldn't be that surprising, but still kinda is.

By the way, we're going to bumble around with a lack of classical music knowledge later on, but because of the magic of "being able to look things up after the fact" (and being married to a classical musician), I can officially note that the name of the piece is "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by J. S. Bach. You know it, even if you don't think you know it.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

We get a sneak-preview at future Metroid podcasts, as TW has started playing not one, but two different Metroid games, and can't help but talk about them!

Also, we marvel at how far the world has come in such a short time just by differences in what we feel comfortable making jokes about.

Day of the Tentacle isn't a major offender in this, but it does get us thinking and talking about it, and honestly, it's pretty cool to see how we're trying to be kinder and more welcoming as a society in only a few short years.

Thanks to Alianin for requesting this game!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Tom and TW struggle to come up with ANYTHING to talk about this week, probably because this game just sucked all the life out of both of us.

But also, TW is into volleyball because of the Olympics, and we talk about the different flavors of speedruns.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

In one of the absolute most bizarre narratives either of us has ever encountered, Tom and TW take their shots at the little-known Battle Golfer Yui, a game that is part-golf, part-RPG, part visual novel, and ALL WEIRD.

Also, we offer a definitive answer to whether or not Breath of the Wild is a "true Zelda game."

Thanks to https://twitter.com/romtranslator for putting in the work on this fan translation so we could enjoy this bizarre experience!

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week we toss in the quarters for an unlikely choice, Elevator Action Returns, which is, in fact, the sequel/reboot to 1983's Elevator Action, a game which I always thought sounded like something dirty.

Along the way, we talk about Atelier Rorona, problematic elements of Rabi-Ribi, and how the battle music in Grandia 2 sounds like it's introducing an off-brand Monday Night Football broadcast.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

I hate this game. Normally I try to be a little coy about our thoughts so as not to spoil the verdict.

Not this time. I hate this game as much as it hates me. The podcast is just to find out why.

(or you can watch it happen at https://youtu.be/qmA4z6RnhJw)

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week's game comes as a request from stream viewer Alianin! Thank you for supporting the show!

Earthworm Jim is a complicated game, in that its aesthetics are incredibly dated, and live squarely in the 1990s, and yet the quality still holds. Too bad the mechanics didn't.

Also featured: TW complains about the ending of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and Tom discusses what in the world is happening in the Final Fantasy 8 universe.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

We're back to normal this week after recording a few episodes in advance, and we have a ton of stuff to catch up on! Tom and TW are both playing some new stuff, and we find time to dunk on Stadia for a bit before getting into the loosest definition of "retro" yet.

We played the second Famicom Detective Club game, which TECHNICALLY only released a couple months ago for Nintendo Switch, but is a remake of a story that originally hit the Famicom Disk System in 1989, so we figure that counts. That counts, right? It's our show, so we say it counts.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

It has been one year of The Retro Breakdown already, and we wanted to do something really special for the podcast to celebrate. We decided it would be a cool to take on a true classic RPG.

Thing is, Tom and I have already played Final Fantasy 6, multiple times. But you know who hadn't? Our wives!

So, please welcome Jessi and Leticia to the podcast, as they talk about their first experience with the classic JRPG, and Jessi's first real experience with a Final Fantasy game!

Also, please excuse the sound quality in this episode, as this is the first time we recorded the podcast in the same room. Turns out 4 people on one microphone sounds a little different than 2 people on 2 microphones. We'll be back to normal next week.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

It's 8 games in one today, as we do a lightning round of games Tom made me play! The Typing of the Dead is the main attraction, but we probably spend more time talking about the N*SYNC game for Game Boy Color.

Other games on the docket include:

Captain Novolin (SNES)
Snacks'n Jaxson (Arcade)
Dragon Spirit: The New Legend (NES)
LSD Dream Emulator (PS1)
Screaming Mad George's Paranoiascape (PS1)
Rex Ronan: Experimental Surgeon (SNES)

One of these games is actually pretty good. But you'll have to listen to find out which one! Or play them yourself I guess, but listening to this is DEFINITELY easier.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week, Dean and Tom are shocked to find out they have a fan. It's honestly pretty cool. Thanks for writing in, Bruno!

We do a super-on-time discussion of the Nintendo Direct from E3, complain about Mario Party, get hype about Mario Golf, and discuss why Nintendo is so hyper-protective whenever somebody wants to make a fangame (looking at you, Metroid).

Then it's Alisia Dragoon time, where we talk about easily one of the best games I won't remember. THAT GAINAX COVER ART, THOUGH.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

E3 Discussion continues, and we recorded this before the Nintendo Direct, so please enjoy us predicting what would come up, and being EXTREMELY WRONG.

Breaking News: The Smash reveal wasn't Dante or Nero.

Phantasy Star 2 is interesting in a lot of ways, but you have to be in a particular MOOD to enjoy it. It's a shockingly mature game for 1989.

Send us an email to read on the show! theretrobreakdown@gmail.com

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Tom inadvertently invents a new phrase this week, and I don't let him off the hook for it!

We discuss the first wave of E3 news, the weird Devolver MaxPass+, and struggle to stay on topic regarding Sonic Spinball. You be the judge - is this the least we've EVER talked about a game that is the supposed topic of our podcast? I mean, it definitely is pinball, though.

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

It's a BIG episode this week! We've got a Subathon announcement (that's at 2pm, June 26, 2021 at twitch.tv/timewanderer, by the way), discussions of incentives, we've got tangents about Dragon Ball Z licensed games and MMOs!

And, we have our first ever LISTENER EMAIL! Which reminds me, if you would like to have your message read and discussed on the podcast, you can send it to theretrobreakdown@gmail.com! This is an email that has existed since the podcast started, I just kinda... forgot to tell everyone.

Anyway, Tom also has a history lesson on the strange cross-cultural experiment that was the Sega Technical Institute, and how it brought us Comix Zone, a game that is super cool, despite being more style than substance.

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Spanky's Quest came out on Nintendo Switch Online this week, and we take a look at the latest bit of random shovelware they've put on the platform!

This is a great podcast to listen to if you'd like to know about a video game involving a monkey popping balloons with sports balls in them, or if you'd like to know whether a puffed corn snack flavored like an orange creamsicle is actually good or not.

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Tom and TW get a little bit into the weeds this week talking about controversial topics like not wanting people to die for no reason, and recognizing obviously baseless conspiracy theories.

ANYWAY, we're 2/3rds of the way through our SNES Donkey Kong retrospective, and it's been enlightening for sure. I think we both expected to like these games more than we actually do, but the opinions are just really complicated.

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

TW and Tom give their super-on-time thoughts on Lost Judgment and what basically amounted to a Yakuza Direct. TW goes off about the game hype cycle and boils it down (eventually) to three main features that matter.

Then, we SHAKE SHAKE into Mischief Makers, a Treasure game from the Gunstar Heroes squad that has some really great moments, and some really, really not okay moments. Always interesting to see those mid-90s anime tropes go from "not funny" to "not at all acceptable what is WRONG with you."

I want to like and defend you, Japan. Why do you make it so difficult?

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

We have been playing a LOT of video games this last week, and we talk about a bunch of them. New Pokemon Snap, Fights in Tight Spaces, Donkey Kong Country 2, Mischief Makers (this will be next week's podcast), Yakuza 3/4, NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... there's a lot of stuff we run through, as well as a total lack of self-awareness from TW.

If you missed TW's playthrough of Terranigma, you can catch it on YouTube, where episodes are going up about every other day! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwwyEcb3PjvVV5ROPwJoF2m7J-y4N2oks

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week, Tom talks about a run through one of TW's childhood classics, and we get sidetracked a lot talking about Technos Japan and the wild trek its properties have taken.

Also, TW talks about how NieR Replicant is making him just cry all the time, and Tom gives his thoughts on the Mortal Kombat movie, which are... mixed?

Anyway, go play River City Girls, it's great.

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

This week, Tom leads the way, as he knocked out Phantasy Star in like a couple days. Along the way, we also get into a discussion about issues with historical realism in fiction.

And this leads us into a somehow mostly safe-for-work-except-not-really discussion about the origin of particular sex acts.

Also, TW is tired in this one, so be nice to him, plz.

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Tom and TW expose a total lack of experience with substance use this week as we talk about what it might be like to play Dotstream while high.

The big takeaway from this week is that we're both really happy when weird, minimalistic games like this actually get some measure of support from big companies. Feels good, man. Especially when they're actually fun and interesting.

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

More tangents than usual this week, as Tom and TW discuss the reality of Nintendo introducing digital game downloads in the mid 1990s, but somehow not understanding the internet in 2021.

Wario's Woods was the last officially-licensed game released for the NES. It came out in 1994, and it's actually kinda awesome - unless puzzle games aren't really your thing, in which case it's still pretty cool.

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

There's no ACTUAL April Fools joke in this podcast, but there is a lot of discussion about April Fools in general, and consideration about the POSSIBILITY of doing an April Fools joke. If anything, last week's podcast was an April Fools joke, where we just play the game and record the podcast live. Yeah, let's say it was that.

Anyway, the NES iteration of Double Dragon is on tap this week, a game that is super fun for as long as it decides to be, and is otherwise just really rude.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Okay, kind of a weird thing this week, as we recorded this episode of the podcast WHILE also playing the game together and recording the gameplay footage. I DO NOT KNOW if this is going to be enjoyable to listen to, but we figured we'd try it out. Either way, we'll be back to our normal format next week.

If you'd like to see the video version of it, check it out at https://youtu.be/A1Vl8oer4rA

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

Tom and Dean talk about our experiences with Monster Hunter, speedrunning, and of course, Wild Guns. We manage to not talk TOO MUCH about Yakuza this week.

YO, WILD GUNS THO, AMIRITE? LIKE FIVE PEOPLE MADE THIS GAME and also here's that box art we laughed at.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer

TW's gotten himself hooked on La-Mulana, the puzzle-platformer/Metroidvania where the only way to figure out the way forward is to learn, and then painstakingly document the lore.

Tom, meanwhile, is full steam ahead on Yakuza 3, and looks to be on pace to clear the whole franchise by May.

Mario Galaxy makes an appearance towards the end there, and we are both apprehensive about our own opinions on it.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk32JK477nT0KU5Vte7aPfg

We cover 4 games in one podcast today! Technically 7, since we also talk about Yakuza, CrossCode and La-Mulana.

We talk about the magic of arcades then and now, and those moments when video games make you feel super smart. And then I choke a bunch, and the podcast is over. It's a good time.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk32JK477nT0KU5Vte7aPfg

It took us almost 3 months, but we finally dragged ourselves through Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, the official translation of the first-ever Fire Emblem game for the Famicom. We're not really mad about it, except for the one thing at the end that I get probably way too animated about because WHAT ARE YOU DOING, NINTENDO, WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk32JK477nT0KU5Vte7aPfg

Dean's first classic DOOM game is DOOM 64, played on the PS4, which is bizarre enough on its own. This is one of those weird ones where we basically spend the entire time complaining about the game even though we both really liked it.

We also spend a great deal of time talking about game monetization, how it has changed over the years, and how the $70 price point makes no sense.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer

First, Tom and Dean talk about how cool it is being a foreigner in countries that don't hate foreigners.

Then, the conversation of Super Valis 4 goes off the rails as we look into whether there was another Valis game after this one and OH NO THERE IS BUT NOT LIKE THAT.

Also featured, a very short, spoiler-heavy discussion of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, which we both played and liked, and you should also play and/or watch. I can thoroughly recommend this playthrough because it is mine: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwwyEcb3PjvUANlbolPiFiBPO1mQtnj0t

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

It's a special episode this week as TW makes Tom play all three of the games he played in the Kusogrande Grand Finals! And he actually did play two of them!

TW talks about his feelings on the tournament overall, and then we discuss the merits of each of the three games in the final. For being three games making up the finals of a bad video game tournament, it wasn't as bad as you might expect.

The games are:

Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers (Nintendo 64)

Homey D. Clown (PC)

Maximillian B. (Atari 800)

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

The ending of Maximillian B: https://clips.twitch.tv/BlindingVictoriousMetalPeoplesChamp

Trip World is a short game that we talk about for a short time. But we fill the space with talking about how Konami became the worst company because of staff treatment, how stock trading is just gambling, and how the yakuza are probably behind a lot of Japanese business decisions.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Bad stuff about Konami: https://kotaku.com/report-konami-is-treating-its-staff-like-prisoners-1721700073

Ironically, a large amount of hype for Donkey Kong Country had nothing to do with the actual game. That seems to have made the discussion even more interesting.

I mean, it MAY have only been interesting to US, but still.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

That Cyberpunk Roadmap: https://assets.rockpapershotgun.com/images/2021/01/cyberpunk-2077-roadmap.jpg

Welcome to 2021, where things probably won't get worse, maybe. Tom and Dean talk a lot about going back to Final Fantasy 6, then discuss how hard Startropics tried to get them to hate it.

It wasn't bad, though. Just really mean. I dunno, it's complicated.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

The "Letter": https://i.imgur.com/S0zffVp.jpg

Jessi Plays FF6: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwwyEcb3PjvVHDIWa8ud7qUynawph7Fkt

It's the end of 2020, finally! It's time for a retrospective on the good times - and in the case of this podcast, that means talking about video games and trying to ignore almost every other thing that happened in 2020.

This week, we rank every game we played for The Retro Breakdown this year on a tier list. This is the first podcast that will have a video version as well!

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

TierMaker video: 

Tom relives his childhood (in more ways than one) with our first DOS game on the Retro Breakdown, Home Alone! It's a first in a lot of ways - for starters, we unintentionally started recording the first half of the podcast before actually playing the game. We are in fact both staring at the start screen for the game, and end up talking about a bunch of other things, but I was recording video, so we decided to use it!

Anyway, if the audio is kinda weird in the first half of the podcast, that's pretty much why. Sorry about that.

Make sure to tune in for our very special year-ending episode next week, where we put every game we played this year on a tier list!

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Play it Yourself!: https://playclassic.games/games/platform-dos-games-online/play-home-alone-online/play/

This week, we talk about the absolute best thing the Sega Saturn brought to our lives. We also spend a little time talking about NiGHTS Into Dreams.

Maybe we're missing something here?

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Manual: https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Sega_Saturn/Manual/formated/NiGHTS_into_Dreams..._-_1996_-_Sega.pdf

Tom and Dean talk about console version differences, Tim Follin, and the change in the video game hype cycle.

But mostly, we talk about James Pond 2: Operation Robocod, which is certifiably the most bizarre game we have played for the podcast yet.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Manual: https://segaretro.org/images/2/21/James_Pond_2_MD_AU_Manual.pdf

TW and Tom have somewhat differing opinions on one of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive's swan song games. But then a mid-90s EGM interview sets off an age-old debate:

"IT LOOKS LIKE THIS GAME HAS COLOR IN IT, DOES THAT MEAN IT'S FOR BABIES?"

TW has words about this, and maybe derails the conversation.

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

EGM Interview on Ristar: https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_65/page/n217/mode/2up

Manual: https://segaretro.org/images/a/a1/Ristar_md_us_manual.pdf

We finally did it. We finally recorded our episode about Mario Sunshine, after weeks and weeks of hinting at it. We have differing, but overall mixed opinions. At the end of the day, it's still a Mario game, and it's good.

BUT...

(Dean's note - I kept meaning to bring this up during the discussion, and I forgot, but I think it bears mentioning. This game has one of the most disappointing Bowser fights in the entire franchise. It feels like a FIRST Bowser fight, not the FINAL one.)

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Manual:

https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Nintendo_GameCube/Manual/formated/Super_Mario_Sunshine_-_2002_-_Nintendo.pdf

Tom and Dean hit the record button getting ready to talk about Super Mario Sunshine, and then just agree to talk about Kusogrande, Yakuza, and 13 Sentinels. Because not every Retro Breakdown needs to have a retro breakdown.

I don't know, we're making the rules up as we go.

Yeah, it's hard. It's punishing. But there's a beautiful logic that makes it all work, and we think that's beautiful.

Well, Dean does. Tom sort of enjoyed it, but also never wants to see it again.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Manual: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clvs/manuals/common/pdf/CLV-P-SABDE.pdf

That link to Dean's Nexus store: nexus.gg/TimeWanderer

The Peace Keepers is what happens when you take the basic premise of "walk to the right and punch things," but then you make the punch not work.

That being said, there is some fun to be had here, largely in the the wild translation, and the story of how it came to be. Game localization in the 90s was a wild experience.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

More info on the Peace Keepers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peace_Keepers

Summary of multiple Endings: http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/snes/d/pk.htm

Nobody needs to be told at this point that Super Mario 64 is a good game.

But we're gonna do it anyway, as well as discuss the 3D All-Stars collection in general and try to keep ourselves from talking about Mario Sunshine instead. We also discuss favorite/least favorite stages, and talk a bit about the game's place in history.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Mario 64 Manual: https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Nintendo_N64//Manual/formated/Super_Mario_64_-_1996_-_Nintendo.pdf

It's funny, because that's what the game is called. But also, THAT'S WHAT THE GAME IS CALLED.

This game was okay, but if there's one thing to know about it, it's that the composer for Contra also did the music for S.C.A.T., and he said S.C.A.T. was his favorite soundtrack to make. Legit confirmed this game's music is better than Contra's.

Probably.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

S.C.A.T. Manual: http://www.digitpress.com/library/manuals/nes/SCAT.pdf

We've covered lots of obscure stuff on the podcast, so we decided to treat ourselves to a game with a bit more of a reputation, despite it not even being the best game in its own franchise on the SNES.

There's lots of talk about weird dark Kirby lore, and the amusing introduction of ability combinations, many of which involve Kirby brutally torturing one of his animal friends (usually Kine). There is also a decent amount of getting angry about Heart Stars, because seriously what is the deal with Heart Stars why are they like this.

TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Kirby’s Dream Land 3 Manual: https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Nintendo_SNES/Manual/formated/Kirby-s_DreamLand_3_-_1997_-_Nintendo.pdf

In a first for the podcast, Dean and Tom review a NEW game! Two Scoop Games reached out to us about playing their new game Kick Bot, a two-button precision platformer built around wall kicks and double jumps.

There's only an 8-level demo available right now, with the full release due out in early 2021, but there was still plenty here to discuss.

DISCLOSURE: This is not a sponsored podcast, but we were given early access to the demo by the developers. We don't like the game because we have to, we like it because it's cool.

You can wishlist or grab the demo for Kick Bot at https://store.steampowered.com/app/1136290/Kick_Bot/

We field another request this week in the Vic Tokai cult classic Clash at Demonhead. This one had us talking about the wild nature of 1980s-90s video game localization, the absurdly ambitious design of some NES games, and of course, one of the most incredible bad ends in all of video games.

There is also some Yakuza talk, and a bit about the results of Dean's most recent Kusogrande match.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Clash at Demonhead Manual

This week, Jessi makes us play Karnov, the game about the fire-breathing Soviet strongman who fights... I dunno, dragons? Dinosaurs? Whatever happens to be there. We discuss the... INTERESTING sound design, including the one pretty-good song and also all the other not-so-good stuff.

Despite Karnov being sort of a standard-bearer for NES garbage, we sort of enjoyed it in a "generic NES platformer with weird design" kinda way. Also, we talk a little bit about the PS5 reveal.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Karnov Manual: http://www.thegameisafootarcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Karnov-Game-Manual.pdf

We try out a new format this week - no random banter, just Retro Breakdown.

Which is good, because Illusion of Gaia has a LOT to talk about. Even the instruction manual refers to spoilers as a "loss of innocence." Now I understand why. This game has some STUFF.

Fair warning - and this applies to basically all of these podcasts - spoilers are basically happening throughout the episode. If you care at all about playing this game fresh (and I think you should!), be warned.

Hang out with us on Discord!

Illusion of Gaia Manual

Dean's IoG playthrough on YouTube

We start with light breathing.

Then, Tom shares his recent not-so-guilty pleasure, Dean gets mad at Nintendo for inevitably ending up with his money even though he hates what they're doing with the Mario 3D All-Stars collection, and the guys diverge on Shadow of the Ninja.

Shadow of the Ninja is a 1990 platformer for the NES by Natsume that is derivative but solid. After some discussion (and a little ranting), they end up with different final impressions of it, but we can both agree that the soundtrack is AWESOME.

We don't mention him by name in the podcast, but the game was scored by Iku Mizutani, a former Konami employee who also did the music for the original Metal Gear.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

Shadow of the Ninja Manual: https://www.retrogames.cz/manualy/NES/Shadow_of_the_Ninja_-_NES_-_Manual.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_the_Ninja

If you've ever wanted to hear two people start a discussion about a game by saying, "There isn't anything about it that's really bad," but then dump on it for the next 45 minutes anyway, this is your episode.

Jump Force, Dragon Quest spinoffs, Battletoads, and Triscuits share the spotlight this week on the Retro Breakdown. Tom talks about the games he's been dusting off to finish, and Dean gushes about the new Battletoads reboot and its ability to do every genre reasonably well.

Afterwards, we jump into a breakdown of Operation Logic Bomb, which gets deemed "the okayest game I've ever played."

Thought experiment of the week: Is "not as bad as you thought" a negative review or a positive one?

Tom and Dean talk about SGDQ, the massive original Xbox controller, and briefly touch on the new Battletoads, amidst a rant about how much we hate modern airline travel.

Then, we discuss UK-only release Action Man: Robot Atak, a game which has us digging into the history a 1960s line of European G.I. Joe-like toys... and the unfortunate two-season animated series it spawned in 2000. Along the way, we will discuss how many checkpoints is too many checkpoints, and how this game found that line and then tripled it.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

About Action Man: https://actionman.fandom.com/wiki/Action_Man_Wiki

"What the..."

Dean and Tom discuss Vice: Project Doom, a NES game that is all over the place on the quality scale. We've got aliens, clones, genetic experiments, shadowy organizations, and a hilariously threadbare plot trying but failing to hold it all together. Will we, in fact, live long enough to see ourselves become the villain?

Also, hey Sega, please localize Yakuza Ishin. It might be the only thing that gets Dean to stop talking about Fall Guys.

Tom and Dean come into the podcast this week prepared to give lukewarm reviews on Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, but then hype each other up remembering it and totally change their minds.

But before that, Tom talks about the PS4 Spider-Man game and the change in how licensed games have been handled in recent years, and Dean defends old trashy licensed games because he's doing sorta good in Kusogrande.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

This week’s instruction manual: https://manuals.sega.com/genesismini/

"Palm trees.... and 8."

This week, Dean refuses to stop saying "Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden," Tom wants everyone to feel sad, and the guys record a 3-hour podcast after deleting the first 2 hours of aimless conversation. Calculated.

We discuss what it means to be a "retro" game, the "right" way to release content over time, and the difference between series reboots that try to "remake" their franchise versus "re-imagining" them (and which one the new Battletoads game will be).

Later, we trash Final Fantasy Adventure before ultimately admitting we both loved it, 80-page manual, spotty localization, confusing "puzzles," and all. Honestly, this might just be a pretty good off-brand Zelda game.

Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

This week’s instruction manual: http://www.thegameisafootarcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Final-Fantasy-Adventure-Game-Manual.pdf

This week we talk about what's happening with loading times, Dean badly explains Fall Guys, and Tom shares his ultimate console modding dream.

Then we talk about Demon's Crest, the game with the raddest title screen of all time, but the WORST final boss. This game seriously sent us on a rollercoaster of opinions.