Rise and shine, dear listeners - rise and... shine. It’s another Random Non-Rose Episode! This time we are delving into Half-Life 2 for the PC! Looking back at a game many have said is one of the greatest games of all time is a challenge, but our intrepid hosts have their crowbars ready. Host Chris leads the squad in a live recording to talk about Gordon Freeman’s second (NEVER THIRD... we see you, Valve... we see you...) adventure fighting the Combine, head crabs, and sometimes OBS. OH MY! A game that does not fall into a single genre leads to rambling, inserted comments, and lots of snark. From the innovative gravity gun to dumb AI “SORRY FREEMAN,” Half-Life 2 has a lot to offer and a lot to talk about. 
 Even if you joined us live on Twitch (@gwgwshow), Host Chris added in a little extra cause there was STILL more he wanted to say! Time, Dr. Freeman? Is it really that time again? Take a listen and find out!

Random Non-Rose 3: Half-Life 2

Join Chris and Katie as these thirtysomething siblings journey through their childhood archive of cartridges, discs, and emulators to relive the cherished and challenging times of their video gaming youth and find out once and for all if the classics of the 80s and 90s game consoles hold up to a modern playthrough.  From NES to PS2, Genesis to GameBoy, and even a PC game here and there, they’re reminiscing, replaying, and reviewing some of the all-time retro classics, and maybe a few all-time clunkers too.

Video Games

Games & Hobbies

Hobbies

Games

Leisure

Let's all hop along, hop along onto the wagon... why?  Because we've got a trail to ride my friends, a trail to O-re-gon!  And what'll we do on our way way over there?  Why, we'll... Get dysentery! Get robbed! Break limbs! Get stranded! Go hungry! Die of thirst! Get bitten by snakes! ...and fail to ford a few rivers! Because that's the way it goes, down yonder O-re-gon way! Guess what this episode's all about?  If you were in elementary or middle school around when we were, you'll be having flashbacks about now to the greatest text-based edutainment game located in every school in the country right about now! 
 If not... hop on in and get your learn on!  TO OREGON!

Episode 53 - The Oregon Trail

It's a-me... YOSHI!  After 51 warm-up episodes, the hosts of the show have finally gotten enough podcasting under their belt, and are ready to tackle the most important game in history, SUPER MARIO WORLD! Why is it the most important game ever?  Well obviously, because it was the debut of ME, Yoshi!  Not some stupid horse, not a sidekick, but the hero of the series.  Letting that bumbling Mario get where he needs to, protecting him, eating everyone he can't beat by himself... let's be real, he'd never have found all those level exits without me! 
 Now, what did these two intrepid hosts think of my game, going back to play it?  Did they like the new and expansive world?  Did they love my auto-scrolling levels?  Were they enthralled by the colored Switch Palaces?  How did they enjoy re-visiting all of Bowser's minions? 
 There's really only one way to find out... twirl-jumping yourself over to hitting the Play button and checking it all out, of course!  And don't you DARE think about sacrificing me to my doom just so you can make a particularly long jump!  I REMEMBER....

Episode 52 - Super Mario World

It's-a-me, AGAIN!  Geno and Mallow (and, I guess, Mario, Peach, and Bowser) are back (tell a friend!)... in SUPER MARIO RPG!  Not to be confused with Episode 5 of our dear podcast, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. The heroic journey is undertaken once more, and our favorite heroes and all their early-Nintendo snark are ready to save the castle from Mack... I mean, Claymorton, and Smithy.  With the help of Frogfucius and his KeroKero Cola... I mean, Frog Sage and Croaka Cola... Ok, so there are definitely SOME things that changed, but overall?  Like 95% the same game, and that 95% is glorious, and of the changes, beyond the renames, we got our very favorite thing... QUALITY OF LIFE improvements!  (Sorry, Producer Lisa). Was this a joy to come back to and play?  (Spoiler: it was).  Was it beautiful?  (Spoiler: it was).  Do we miss needing to save manually?  No spoilers, gotta listen to find out THAT important detail! A beautiful remake, an amazing original game, almost the entire script kept in-place, and a great Mario property... talk about a recipe for success!  Jump in and hear the full thoughts!

Random Non-Rose 6: Super Mario RPG (Remake)

Everyone remembers the lyrics to that famous song... "I come from a land down under, where rubies do gleam and lamps thunder..." -- that's the one, right?  Well it should be, because the Cave of Wonder definitely qualifies. We're going far, far into the future (look it up!) and to the land of Agrabah, to join everyone's favorite street rat and everyone's even-more-favorite monkey companion... DISNEY'S ALADDIN (and Abu!), to defeat Jafar, and have very little interaction at all with Genie, which is a crying shame.  Darn you, Disney, and your pissing off of Robin Williams by breaking your word to him! 
 If ever there was a game that would do well with this crew, it's one with difficult platforming, stress-creating levels without save points, poor texture graphics, and significant differences depending on where you played the game.  And this one's got it all! 
 What did they forget while playing?  Why, the number one rule in Agrabah, of course.. 
 Gotta keep One jump ahead of the breadline One swing ahead of the sword Only steal what you can't afford (that's everything!) 
 Did they make it?  Did they save the princess?  Did they save Agrabah?  Was Jafar defeated? 
 THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO KNOW!  Hop on for this magic carpet ride, and give it a listen!

Episode 51 - Disney's Aladdin

Fiiighting Trainers by moonlight... Maaaaking friends by daylight... Never running from a real fight... they are the ones called Pokémon! What do you get when you cross a senile old man who can't remember his own grandson's name, a pair of eleven-year-olds who are cast out into the world to fend for themselves in a never-ending Battle Royale of literal MONSTERS, a pair of people who are out there to destroy you for really no good reason, and the world's most powerful creature (Magikarp)? 
 You get Pokémon Red and Blue, of course! 
 Comin' at ya from the good old Game Boy, we've got Weedle, we've got Rattata, we've even got ourselves an ONYX!  Come one, come all, and explore the glory of a world that's just totally ok with kidnapping countless creatures, tossing them into pocket-sized balls, and making them fight for their lives until you decide you're done with them and discard them! 
 So grab your red-and-white ballcap, tell the old man what his grandson's name is, and go off and complete his life's work for him while he hangs out in his lab!  IT'S POKEMON TIME!

Random Non-Rose 3: Half-Life 2

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