Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Brave Fencer Musashi.
Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross cram-jam Super Mario Galaxy.
3D Mario is a tricky thing. Though Mario 64 forged a path, it arrived at a different feeling and flow than we were used to in our 2D Mario games. Over a couple of iterations, it feels like Nintendo finally arrived at the apotheosis of SM64-style play... and then they promptly abandoned it. So, let's take a close look at this weirdo entry in gaming's most established series.
Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross blast off and crash down with Starflight and Toe Jam & Earl.
This is the "Genesis Games that Want to be PC Games" special, as we look at two bizarre console titles from the early 90s. Starflight is the prototypical galaxy exploration simulator, with a wide world and tons of character. Meanwhile, Toe Jam & Earl is an early take on a rogue-lite whose style doesn't quite make up for its mechanical shortcomings.
Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross gang up to talk about Team Fortress 2.
For our fifth anniversary show, we wanted to do something special. We wanted to play a classic game with our community, and it turns out choosing Team Fortress 2 was a great move. Team Fortress goes way back, but Valve has taken the formula and engineered and iterated it to the point where it's a joy to play. Huge thanks to everyone who played with us!
Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross launch through the latter portion of Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium.
It's now time to leave Motavia and head to Dezolis, because the Algo solar system is in peril. Can we fix the systems, retrieve the data, and conquer the Darkness?
Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross link up to talk about Deus Ex: Invisible War.
How do you follow up a masterpiece? Almost never with another masterpiece. Invisible War has some real problems, but taken on its own it's a perfectly competent shooter with some really great ideas and a fantastic reveal. Don't expect a game that redefines any genres, and you'll be fine.
Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross expound upon the many expansions for Fallout: New Vegas.
Here, in part three, we visit Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road, the four expansions released for Fallout: New Vegas in the year after the main game dropped. They're varied and diverse, but they contribute to a single overarching story in a way that most DLC packs just don't, really.
Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross indulge in the side quests of Fallout: New Vegas.
The Mojave wasteland has a wealth of things to do, and we try to cover them all. This episode covers all of the companion side quests, and then goes around to different factions and settlements to take care of errands for them, too.
Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross take a gamble on Fallout: New Vegas.
Talking about Fallout 3 this previous winter really put a fire in us... Though we were underwhelmed by the Capital Wasteland in the moment, all roads led back to pining for the Mojave. So here we are, talking about Fallout: New Vegas, a triumph of video game writing and design, where player choice is emphasized and rewarded.
This first episode of a monthlong series hits on the main questlines of New Vegas, with an emphasis on the Yes Man and NCR lines, although we address all of the ways the story can resolve. Next week, we'll talk about the side quests.
Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross take Oregon Trail and Typing of the Dead to school (for show and tell).
Edutainment is, inherently, kind of lame. We can all smell a "message" coming a mile away. But the best examples can make you forget you're learning, and stand up as great games in their own right. So we've taken a ubiquitous classic of edutainment, Oregon Trail, and paired it with Typing of the Dead, a relic of Sega's weirdest days. And it turns out that sometimes, learning can be fun.
Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross rumble through Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time and Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara.
Brawlers have a reputation for being simplistic and exploitative. They're a game design born of economic opportunity, engineered to accumulate quarters with frequency. But divorced from that, there are examples of brawlers with surprising depth and ingenuity. Turtles and Mystara are both great examples of the form, chosen by our community of Patreon backers.
