Episode 11: Really, You Should Be Listening to Episode 64 [Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen]

We've been attacked by another guest host!  This week, we talk Ogre Battle, among other things.  This week is pretty heavy on other things, actually, but it's 92% by volume videogame related.  Can you battle ogres with the best of them?



Direct your Downloading units here!

(00:30) Zach!  We've mentioned him basically every episode and now he's here, like a specter from the ether.  I'm neither confirming nor denying this, but he might be a regular from now on.

(02:50) We hit the wall flying.  Or throwing.

(03:45) What we've been playing.  It's actually different this week!

(05:15) Griefing.  Also, XCOM.

(06:35) More Naruto madness.  This stuff is crazy awesome, regardless of whether you like the show.  Big on style.

(09:30) Pokemon!

(10:50) Pixelmon, the super awesome mod for Minecraft where you play with Pokemon on the map.

(12:40) Myths and legends in games and how they're dead with the Internet.

(15:30) Commensurate rewards for secrets in games and the 3D platformer collection craze.

(20:00) We finally get to the game of the week.

(23:40) A special point here: you are punished for using your best teams.

(25:40) Zach has causality issues.   Also, the Tarot system.

(30:00) We talk a bit about unit promotion that may make you think that this game sounds cool.

 (32:00) Plot!  We were told there was one.

(36:00) TL;DNL: There's some potential here, but it's wasted.  Go play Ogre Battle 64 instead.

Next week, we look at another series progenitor, The Legend of Zelda.  Zach will be joining us again, so expect outbursts of some sort.

Wander through caves and get a sword at

Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.

Episode 10: You Take the High Road, and I'll Shoot the Lasers [Gunstar Heroes]

It's full of lights and sounds and craziness!  Gunstar Heroes is a crazy anime styled action shooter that probably belongs in an arcade box.  This game has gotten a lot of praise for being a forgotten gem for the Genesis.  Is it really worth its weight in cartridges?  (That's one cartridge)



Download for Justice!

(00:30) Alex is here.  Yay!

(1:50) What we've been playing.  Alex watched what Tyler played.  Geremy played the same stuff.  Notice a pattern?  Later we find that he's actually been playing everything ever.

(3:10) Ducktales!  Woo-oo!

(4:50) Naruto: The Subtitles Continue

(6:30) We finally get to the game and break down what's going on here.  We start with the powerup system!

(8:10) Alex explains the excuse plot

(10:20) Life leeching

(12:20) My eyes!  This game has crazy amounts on the screen at a time.

(14:00) Level rundown time

(17:20) Have we mentioned that the optimal strategy is homing laser?  I CONTROL GRAVITY!

(18:45) Curry and Rice

(21:20) Transformers, more annoying than meets the eye

(22:55) Gradius!  Again.  Wait...

(27:00) Style against Depth

(31:15) Nostalgia lens, watching games, and difficulty cliffs for non-gamers.

(38:30) Wrapping up on our thoughts about Gunstar

(41:10) After the credits.  You guys know there's an after the credits?  This one's awesome.

Next week, we tackle Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen.  We have a different guest host, and talk about strategies!

Learn all about our obscure menus at

Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.

Episode 9: Ninja Legends Suck [The Legend of the Mystical Ninja]

Once a decade, when the moon is full and the spirits are restless, the lone ninja rises from the shadows to quell the growing unease in the world. Then his fat companion trips on the way up the hill and ruins the scene. This week, it's The Legend of the Mystical Ninja, who, as it turns out, isn't really all that mystical.  He does fight an octopus horde, though, so that ought to be good for something.



Download it before it ninjas away

(1:00) What we've been playing.  *SPOILERS* Geremy's been playing the stuff he was last episode.

(3:40) Mystical Ninja, with no articles, is a much better game than this.  It has bazookas.

(6:15) We start getting into the meat of this.  How generic is this game?  Very.

(10:35) Ewww... I got some Japan on my game.

(13:33) Difficulty and enjoyable challenge, and why they're not necessarily the same thing.

(17:05) Co-op is good, surprising everyone.  One person even had a heart attack upon hearing that.

(19:25) Biting off more than even Goemon's comically large mouth can chew in game design.

(20:35) Theme vs. The Translators vs. Disjointed Plot.  This game is filled with things that have no purpose.

(23:40) Grinding in my action game?  Soooo repetitive.

(26:35) Finishing thoughts and the ambition of ActRaiser.  At least this game looks good.

(31:15) Our apologies to the audience for this game.


Next time, it's Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Genesis.  You can rest assured that, if nothing else, this game is not as large a waste of money as our ninja adventure.  Additionally, we're encountering a wandering guest host!

Punch some living curry with us at

Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.

Episode 8: What Exactly is a Gradius? [Gradius]

Disclamer
***
First off, we apologize for the poor audio quality on this episode, especially on Tyler’s end.  We have a new audio setup, and he was turned down a bit further than he should have been, while Geremy was up a bit higher.  This should be fixed for the next episode.
 ***

Our zany adventures continue as we fight our way through hordes of wacky moai misfits and belligerent bionic battle suits in the arcade classic, Gradius!  This game has a record for being incredibly difficult, a testament to the adopted slogan "Nintendo Hard."  For the sake of this, we'll ignore that Gradius is on every system ever.  Listen in as we test out some new audio equipment and find out whether this game withstood the test of time.



Download all power to the forward lasers!


(2:00) What we’ve been playing and watching.

(5:30) We talk about Slender and discuss this video a bit.  NSFW (Language) www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvYrA9rCjy4

(7:00) The Assignment: Gradius

(10:00) Power-Up!

(18:00) Just how hard is Gradius?

(21:00) Gradius compared to Mario, and the transition from Arcade to Home Console.


Next week, we jump back forward to the Super Nintendo and take on some Japanese Culture with The Legend of the Mystical Ninja.  Probability of Naruto jokes 95%!  Don’t miss it!

There's no 'I' in 'Shinobwe'.  Find out why at

Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.

Episode 7: Do the Mario! [Super Mario Bros.]

Coins and noings!  It's another fantastic episode, this time focusing on the indestructible demigod of videogames.  Mario's debut is certainly a classic, but, as is my solemn opinion, the classics are not necessarily good.  Does it hold up?  Do a plumber's routine duties involve jumping on turtles?



Download it, fools!

(0:30) We have a website!  If you like our show, leave a comment or email us!

(3:00) What we’ve been playing.

(10:45) Super Mario Bros.

(14:30) Enemies in Mario.

(19:20) Freaking water levels.

(21:15) We discuss this article http://www.comicsalliance.com/2013/02/15/super-mario-bros-continuity-ask-chris-141

(22:30) Compared to later Mario Games.

(26:00) Super Mario Bros. Vs. Sonic the Hedgehog

(28:30) Final thoughts on Mario.

(30:00) Videogame Sequels

(33:00) The Legend of Zelda and Nintendo


Next week, we go even further back in the past and try to take on the legendarily difficult arcade classic, Gradius!

Lose all the powerups in a single shot with us at

Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.

Episode 6: Really, More Like the First Fantasy [Final Fantasy]

This week we tackle the progenitor of a mighty series!  Be thrilled with tales of dazzling magic, amazing sword fights, and lengthy fetch quests!  Final Fantasy, while not really resembling the plot drenched behemoths it would become, is a fairly enjoyable game.  Give us a listen and find out why!



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(1:00) League of Legends.

(4:00) Final Fantasy

(5:20) The 6 Classes

(8:20) Beginning the Game and our Parties

(10:00) Compared to Dungeons and Dragons

(13:30) The Chore of Random Encounters.

(18:00) MP vs. Tiered Spells

(22:30) Yay Fetch Quests!

(26:00) Our history with Final Fantasy.


We weren’t sure what we were going to play next at the end of this episode but, Spoiler Alert, it’s the classic Super Mario Bros., the first videogame Geremy ever played.

Wanna rescue a princess? Join us at

Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.

Epsiode 5: Double the Action. Double the Fun. Double Dragon! [Double Dragon]

Do you like fighting thugs on the streets?  Rescuing/avenging your girlfriend?  G-R-A-S-P-ing moving objects?  These guys do!  Double Dragon time!

We're back again in the fifth episode with our first double feature.  After playing Double Dragon, we decided there wasn't enough to talk about for a whole episode, so we played Double Dragon 2: The Revenge as well!  See what all the dragon punching is about!




Download right here!

(1:50) Double Dragon!

(4:30) Double Dragon II: G-R-A-S-P  Or um… The Revenge.

(7:30) Weapons in Double Dragon I&II

(8:30) Awkward Platforming and why it kills games.

(13:00) Co-Op and Multiplayer in Games

(22:00) How to improve Double Dragon.  Aka why Batman is awesome.


Sorry for the short episode, but despite playing two games, we didn’t have all that much to say on them.  Next time, we shoot for the opposite problem with Final Fantasy.

Help us find some crystals at

Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.

Epsiode 4: Do the Metroid [Metroid]

It's that time again:  new episode time!  This time, we talk about about the progenitor of one of my favorite series, Metroid!  This time around, we talk about themes of exploration and stuff, and see what Metroid did and didn't do well.  Does it stand the test of time?  Does the Ice Beam kill things?  Will I ask a standard third question?  Find out in this episode!

As a side note, I think this is our best episode thus far.  Let us know what you think!


Download

(2:17) Wanting something Vs. Having it.

(4:45) Metroid the series.

(8:30) Metroid’s game play.

(13:00) Powerups.

(18:50) The Password system.

(20:50) The goals of Metroid.

(24:30) The Bosses, Ridely and Kraid, why both are not good Boss Fights.

(29:00) Themes and Aesthetics.

(29:30) And the Final Boss, Mother Brain.

(31:30) Multiple Endings.

Oh, my, we managed to stay on topic, and we have decent audio quality.  How will we one up that?  Well, despite what we say in the podcast, Double Dragon only has alternating Co-Op, not simultaneous, so in our first double feature we play Double Dragon and Double Dragon II: The Revenge.  Don’t miss it!

Beat 'em up with us at

Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.

Episode 3: Farming Under the Light of a Harvest Moon [Harvest Moon]

You ever get the feeling you'd be better off growing potatoes and corn on you grandfather's abandoned farm to become a millionaire?  No?  Well, in case you have, you can live out that dream in Harvest Moon, everyone's favorite farming/dating/life simulator!  This seems to be a game that everyone has heard of, but few have actually played.  Is it worth trying?  Give us a listen and find out!

A quick note, this was the first one we recorded on Geremy's computer, so the sound quality was... questionable.


Download

(0:23) The First Games we ever played.

(2:26) Harvest Moon 64, and Geremy’s obsession with it.

(3:30) Why Farm Chore Simulator is fun.

(5:30) Harvest Moon

(8:10) A Hard Day’s Night, time limits in Harvest Moon.

(9:26) The Goals of Harvest Moon

(10:00) Girls!  (In Harvest Moon.)

(11:15) The Not-Girls in Harvest Moon.

(12:40) The flaws of Harvest Moon
(14:40) Multiple Endings!

(15:50) The Golden (Easter) Egg.

(20:20) Best parts of Harvest Moon

(21:16) And the worst parts.

(24:50) Reward structures in Video Games.

(33:30) We talk about Hex Empire.  If you’d like to play it, it can be found here.  http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/486811


Next week, Metroid!  A way better aliens game than Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.

Episode 2: Sonic The Hedgehog [Sonic The Hedgehog]

It's that time again, for the first, and the (not) last time!  It's podcast time!  This episode is ostensibly about Sonic the Hedgehog (see title).  We spend a while talking about game genres, crowdfunding, and other fun things near the end, which is totally related!

The downloads and show notes, as will become normal form, are below.



Download

(1:15) We get right to it.  Sonic the Hedgehog is not a good game.

(1:55) The effects of acceleration on Sonic.

(2:40) To maintain cred with the Sonic fans we espouse the awesomeness of Sonic Adventure 2.

(6:15) Continues, the level skip code, and their effect on the game.

(8:10) The Sonic bait and switch after Zone 2.

(15:00) Old Sega Commercials.

(15:40) Final thoughts on Sonic.

(18:30) Project Green Light and Crowdfunding.

(20:00) Steam

(21:56) We talk about Japanese culture like only two guys who get most of their knowledge about Japanese culture from anime and videogames can.  Also why First Person Shooters suck.

(24:40) And Why RPGs are awesome.

(25:57) Video Games are…. Fantasies?

(26:30) What makes a genre?

(27:55) The “Are games art?” thing.  Because we haven’t been sufficiently pretentious the episode.

(30:00) We talk about Doctor Who for a bit.  This episode was about Sonic Screwdrivers or something right?


Next Week, Harvest Moon for the Super Nintendo.  We’ll see if we manage to talk about it instead of everything else.

Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.

Episode 1: Welcome to ActRaiser [ActRaiser]

Hey, folks! It's the first episode, wherein we try to get this show going. Sadly, ActRaiser did not give us much to work with, so there's a bit of fluff. That said, the show notes are at the bottom of this post. Also, I've got an embedded player on this post, in addition to a download link, so choose your poison.



Remarkably useless spells and downloads!


Show Notes

(0:30) What is this podcast and what is it about?

(2:26) Who are the hosts?

(5:00) ActRaiser!

(8:32) The Enemies of ActRaiser (Besides Itself)

(10:00) We try to remember the individual levels of ActRaiser, we talk about the Bosses instead.

(11:16) We discuss the Simulation game within ActRaiser

(13:15) Why the boss fights in ActRaiser suck.

(15:10) We talk about Castlevania instead. We played it prior to ActRaiser, but didn’t record an episode, though both of us gave it very high marks.

(16:25) We play god on playing God, and try to figure out a way to improve ActRaiser.

(20:30) ActRaising Powerups.

(22:30) Your Angel Sidekick.

(25:10) Satan Vs. Dracula

(26:00) Concluding thoughts.


Next week, we play Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis, and see if the Blue Blur fares better than God.

Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
 or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
 Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.