Retronauts

Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, Kat Bailey, and Shivam Bhatt equip their Dictionaries and set their Reaction Skills to "Podcast Debate" as they form up into a squad and take on Final Fantasy's all-time greatest spin-off: 1998's Final Fantasy Tactics for PS1.

Mario might be Nintendo's big-time mascot, but for six years of Nintendo Power, one banana-haired brat served a similar role. In what amounted to one of the first manga series snuck into the hands of American children, Nester existed as the foil to the real-life know-it-all Nintendo rep Howard Phillips, who used his insider info to humiliate a small child through a few dozen very entertaining and expertly drawn installments. On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey, Henry Gilbert, and Bill Mudron as the crew explores the brief but notable history of Nester throughout both print and games.

Jeremy Parish and Anthony Schwader look back at the checkered history of publisher Kemco-Seika—from iffy original works to beloved conversions of computer classics. And lots of Crazy Castles.

Before the launch of the go-go '90s, a certain green foursome closed out the decade with a bang. Though the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles entered the comic book world in 1984 and debuted on television in 1987, 1989 belonged to the Turtles, with weekday cartoon episodes, a movie in the works, and, at long last, a chance to be the Ninja Turtles in both console and arcade forms. On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey, Henry Gilbert, and Ray Barnholt (check out his issue of SCROLL on the TMNT games) as the crew goes sewer surfin' through the tail-end of the Reagan Decade in search of Pizza Power.

Tim Hartman and Greg Caldwell from Retrotainment talk to Jeremy Parish about the art and science of creating brand-new NES games such as Full Quiet.

By patron request, Jeremy Parish and Bob Mackey revisit the topic of classic console launch lineups from Atari 2600 to Super NES with Chris Kohler and Steve Lin. How did these first games speak to their systems—and to the state of gaming at the time?

The second part of our journey into roguelike history sees experts Jason Wilson and John Harris join Bob Mackey and Jeremy Parish to explore the protoplasmic origins of the genre's console renditions through the near-perfection of Shiren the Wanderer.

Now that Disney's live-action Aladdin movie is out, we finally have a great excuse to jump back in time 25 years to examine the animated version of that property—one that was oddly important to the 16-bit console wars. Virgin Interactive's Genesis game mostly overshadowed Capcom's SNES interpretation thanks to some still-impressive technical tricks, but the conventional wisdom about the Sega version being superior might not hold together 2.5 decades later. On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey and Henry Gilbert as they explore the Aladdin games of the past to find out which one is the true diamond in the rough.

Resident Evil 4 has quietly been one of the most influential games of the past 20 years, and now that a shiny new port is available on the Nintendo Switch, there's never been a better time to dig into the game that redefined the third-person shooter genre. Capcom took an incredible risk by throwing out nearly everything that defined the series for its fourth iteration, and even though it took four attempts to get things right, Resident Evil 4 remains an intensely playable experience nearly 15 years later. On this episode, join Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, and Zachary Ryan as the crew dives into the action game that reshaped "survival horror."

Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, Caitlin Oliver, and Brian Clark convene to discuss Nintendo's least-successful console ever: The benighted Virtual Boy. And it's not as dire a discussion as you might expect—in fact, you might even call us fans.

Jeremy Parish and Bob Mackey consult with handheld connoisseur Alex "kraeman" Forsyth about the impressive portable system that beat Game Boy to the punch by five years: The Epoch Game Pocket Computer.

Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, Ray Barnholt, and Caty McCarthy look to the present to talk about a game that succeeds by looking to the past: Sega's 2017 hit Sonic Mania. See, we CAN say nice things about Sonic.

The last survivors of the Nostromo—Jeremy Parish, Benj Edwards, Chris Sims, and Ben Elgin—transmit from deep space to pay tribute to Ridley Scott's film Alien and its influence on pop culture and video games.

This time on Retronauts, we're talking about something that's rarely a featured topic on the show: ourselves! On this special Friday installment, Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross of the Duckfeed.tv network join us in our Midwest Gaming Classic hotel room to discuss the wild and woolly world of being a self-employed podcaster. Is it exciting and exotic, with danger around every corner? Or fairly straightforward, with a lot of staring at a computer screen while concocting elaborate excuses to leave the house? We think you'll find the answer is somewhere in the middle.

Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, and Flip Grip design engineer Mike Choi talk about the most beautiful and memorable game console designs through the years. Even though podcasts, uh, aren't exactly a visual medium.

Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, and James Eldred reminisce about the halcyon days before digital distribution and demo discs... back when we had bike over to the video store so we could rent games we wanted to try out.

Live! Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, Chris Kohler, and Caitlin Oliver discuss the Game Boy's 30-year legacy. Then Jeremy and Bob talk up the magic of Mindware's Heiankyo Alien in an impromptu chat recorded bootleg-style. [Art: Cassie Hart Kelly]

This time around, we're shining the spotlight on another newer game that, like Shovel Knight, feels like the platonic ideal of a specific retro experience. If you ever liked Harvest Moon, still like Harvest Moon, or fell off the series years ago, Stardew Valley is the game for you: it takes the fundamentals of Natsume's storied farming sim, sands off its many rough edges, and expands on the important parts in a meaningful way, all while having a personality of its own. This week on Retronauts, join Bob Mackey, Kat Bailey, and Kallie Plagge as the crew explores the cute and highly addictive world of Stardew Valley.

By patron request, Wes Fenlon and Henry Gilbert join Jeremy Parish and Bob Mackey go a little buggy as they explore the history and influence of Hayao Miyazaki's manga and anime classic Nausicäa of the Valley of Wind

With the Sonic the Hedgehog live-action movie just around the corner, there's never been a better time to look back on all the actors who once brought life to Sega's little blue speed rat. Though improv master Ben Schwartz will play Sonic in the sure-to-be-great film, he's just the latest in a long line of actors—in both America and Japan—who convinced all of us that a hedgehog could speak. On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey and Henry Gilbert as they trace the surprisingly deep history of Sonic thespians. Plus: Larry King in the role he was born to play!