Welcome to another edition of #FreeplayFortnightly where we both pick a video game that we want to play and keep it secret from our co-host. We then review each game on the podcast and ask our co-host to score the game out of 10 based on our review. Simple? You bet we are!

The games we've picked out for random review this week are:

• Ridge Racer V (2000, PS2)

• Heading Out (2024, PS5)

What?! Ridge racer? Again?? Literally 3 episodes later?!?

Look, we've told you guys a dozen of times, this is just a place where we record our thoughts on video games and it's actually your own fault if you happen to listen to us. Read the small print people!

Whilst you do that, why not listen to Rich help Fazz tackle some 25 year old suppressed memories locked away in 'Ridge Racer V'?

(03:05-27:30)

Okay, okay... if you're truly done with Ridge Racer now, how about a completely different type of racing game where you actually spend most of your time engaged in a fantastical narrative adventure with roguelite elements? Good, we have your attention once more!

Jump in the passenger seat as we out run our fears/weird accidental wrestling bouts together in the intriguing indie 'Heading Out'.

(27:30-End)

Enjoy the pod!

Small print: Never promise to be any good at anything EVER. You'll only disappoint people as much as we disappoint you on a weekly basis.

Dear listener... we really need your help...

​It’s pretty hard to link a marginalised 2004 PSP launch title with a massive 2017 PS4 flagship adventure. The good ship 'Podblurb' is heading straight through choppy seas and taking on water fast!

​Think... think... Ooh, wait. Seas? Ships?? PORTS?!? It’s tenuous, but grab a lifejacket, it’ll have to do!

​Rich takes us back to 'Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower' (2004, PSP), a port of the Japan-exclusive Dreamcast fighter 'Vampire Chronicle for Matching Service' (snappy name). Never heard of it? Rich is about to right that wrong for you. He’s kind like that.

​Then, Fazz dives into a port you’ve definitely heard of... Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (2024, PS5). Okay, fine, it’s a port/remaster hybrid thingy, but these segue seas are rough! You gotta let us off. You’re kind like that.

​Fazz has several burning questions: Why did this game need an overhaul just seven years after launch? Does Sony really view 'Horizon' as a primary pillar of Playstation brand? And why is a best-selling newer original IP actually divisive amongst modern gamers?

​Now... how do we sink this doomed port promo once and for all? ​Erm... Cheeky Vimto anyone?!

"Space... the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. It's five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone boldly gone before"

That 5 year mission has actually lasted 60 years Kirky boy. Let's hope someone has emptied the septic tank in the toilet by now...

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the airing of Star Trek: The Original Series (8th Sept 1966), we have seconded a far more competent leader to our crew deck this week.

Captain Fiona has boarded USS La Vita to provide a Star Trek 101 (1701? Apparently that's cool) lesson to the usual waster crew members who just hang out on the poop deck playing video games.

To help facilitate the boot camp, Fiona has chosen to review Star Trek Resurgence (2023, Steam) which is rarer than a collectible Star Trek Astrotank due to being delisted from most digital storefronts recently. Is it still worth seeking out this oddity to play?

Chief Engineer Rich does at least have a general understanding of Star Trek media. As such, he has chosen to engage with several video game entries to a "minimal" extent.

He dips his toes into some timey wimey travel heading back to Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (1992, PC) and Star Trek: Bridge Commander (2002, PC) for a 'wee' bit as Scotty would say.

As for Fazz? Well he's a true 'Holodeck Filter Cleaner'. Absolutely zero idea what is going on. We're not sure he even knows what a 'trek' is? Further studies of his idiocy are underway as we speak..

Interested in listening to this episode of Living La Vita Loca? Click the play button and make it bloody so...

Hi podfans!

A long while ago (167 episodes ago in fact) we reviewed 'Ridge Racer' (PSP) and 'Ridge Racer' (PS Vita).

It turned out 'Ridge Racer' was still good in 2023 and 'Ridge Racer' was still bad in 2023! We also discussed Jalopnik.com's 'Ridge Racer' ranking from the same year to see if we could work out which 'Ridge Racer' was the best that had ever ridged?!?

It seemed as though the series had been inconsistent throughout the years and we didn't have enough knowledge to understand which edition is the best version at the time so we left it there like an itch one day you really should address. A bit like fun 'Athlete's Foot' if you will...

It turns out TODAY is the day we scratch that itch. Mmm satisfying... Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidge Raaaaaaaaacer is back on Living La Vita Loca podcast and we're sure you all couldn't be more... ambivalent... about our discussions on the long dormant series.

We're concentrating on a couple of home console iterations this time out. Rich takes us on a flying lap around R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 (1998, PS1), the sixth edition of the series from a five year span in the 1990s. Can a game 28 years old still slip into top gear easily?

Meanwhile, Fazz drifts around the potential dilemmas of Ridge Racer 7 (2006, PS3), an updated port of the maligned Ridge Racer 6 exclusive on the Xbox 360. Could a console hop provide the racing machine with the jump start it desperately needed?

Finally, we totally nail a 'Ridge Racer' ranking of our own because we KNOW thats what people want to hear from an amateur video games podcast in 2026.

Enjoy the ridge!

Hi Podfans

Welcome to another edition of #FreeplayFortnightly where we both pick a video game that we want to play and keep it secret from our co-host. We then review said game on the podcast and ask our co-host to score the game out of 10 based on our review. Simple? You bet we are!

The games we've picked out for random review this week are:

• Fear Effect (2000, PS1 via a 2024 remaster port)

• Train Sim World 6 (2025, Steam Deck)

There are plenty of destinations to choose to navigate your train engine via on this week's episode:

Reading? Plymouth? Leeds? A brothel in a Chinese backwater town? Literal Hell itself?!?

No, you did read that correctly.

All aboard the crazy train! This one is a fun ride...

Did you know there are over 100 Mega Man games in existence?

There's Mega Man, Mega Man X, Mega Man ZX, Mega Man Legends, Mega Man Battle Network, Mega Man Star Force and Mega Man: In Da House...

Okay, we may have made that last one up but you get the point. If you've never played Mega Man before (Looking at you Fazz, you barbarous savage!) then where do you even start? Well, at the beginning of course. Sort of.

Whilst Fazz does dabble with the original game iteration via the excellent Mega Man Legacy Collection, he actually focuses his attention on 'Mega Man Powered Up' (2006, PSP), a remake of the original game which is now 20 years old itself. Is it still full of power in 2026 or has it ran out of juice?

Next up, Rich dives deep into another branch of the Mega Man bloodline via the 'X' series. He's gone in search of a rare Mega Man entry that struggled to be mega-popular when it was released. What brings him to this rusty end of town?

Mega Man X7 (2003, PS2) was widely derided at time of release. Can Rich find anything left to appreciate in this edition at all or is it best left to rot on the (s)crappile?

All this and more on this week's Living La Vita Loca podcast!

Gather round podfans and let us tell you a tale...

This is the story of 3 lads from opposing sides of the Pennines who have forged a sacred 'Bond' over the internet like it's peak 2003 MSN messenger chat.

They come together from different tribes to break bread (burger buns) and potentially small bones in their weak trigger fingers over Arcade Club cabinets in Leeds.

They laugh, they compete, they cavort...

They also handily provide an excellent spoiler free review of 007 First Light (2026, PS5). Well, @scottmassey83 and @gamingwithjamo do... Fazz just sits there and bemoans the potential state of Daniel Craig's undercarriage in Casino Royale.

(Seriously though, Le Chiffre knocks the absolute 'Living Daylights' out of his... erm... 'Goldeneye'?!?)

Anyways, this story is 'For Your Ears Only'.

Enjoy the pod.

Mmm... tasty, tasty podcast spam topics...

You know the kind... the kind of podcast spam topic created completely on the hoof because one of your podcast hosts is on holiday and overall effort levels are loooooooowwwww?

Yeah that kind. The tastiest kind of podcast spam... So what delicacy are we shoving down your throat this week? Only a few of the most important questions ever asked by humankind...

"Which video game console do you find most aesthetically pleasing?"

"Which video game console is a bit of cad? A bit of wildcard?!"

"Which video game console makes you want to throw bleach in your eyes and beg for mercy to the Titan Theia herself?!"

(She's the Goddess of Sight in Greek mythology don't you know?)

'Wii' told you they were really important questions that need answering. Yeesh, I nearly puked just mentioning it...

Finally, we get YOUR feedback on YOUR most aesthetically pleasing video game consoles of all time.

Enjoy the podcast. What?! No, you can't have your time back! Unbelievable...

Persona... Mario Kart... Portal... Pokemon Mystery Dungeon...

What do all of these random games have in common? That's right, they're all successful spin off editons of previously well established video game franchises!

Well done you for answering the question correctly! Here is a podcast episode as your prize...

This week, we're heading away from the well trodden path of plain old regular games to enter a jungle of Far Cry spin offs.

First up, Rich takes on the neon soaked, 80's inspired Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (2013, PC). Something completely different from previous 'Far Cry' games (ironically), Blood Dragon is short, sweet and has reptiles with fricking laser beams attached to their heads. Sounds easy enough to love right?

Next up, we're a little bit closer to vanilla 'Far Cry' but there's definitely silly sprinkles & wacky sauce poured on top of this one too.

Fazz ventures back to 10,000BC via his PS (time) Portal to the world of Far Cry Primal (2016, PS4). This one is less 'Walking with Dragons' and more 'Mauled by Mammoths or 'Harassed by Honeybadgers'. At least we didnt get carried away by an eagle like that goat does...

Grab yourself a bowl of raw rat blood and embark on a spirit walk with us this week on Living La Vita Loca podcast.

​"I got soul but I'm not a soldier... I got soul but I'm not a soldier..."

​Well, if your pod hosts wouldn't make great soldiers, perhaps they would make a superb sorcerer or a perfect pilot instead? Hopefully, we're about to find out...

​Firstly, Rich flexes his magical muscles in Soul Sacrifice (2013, PS Vita). It was touted as the handheld's 'killer app' when it launched, but as one of the few heavy hitters still trapped exclusively on the system, is it actually worth surrendering your time to?

​Fazz follows up with a review fly over of Kamikaze Lassplanes (2024, Nintendo Switch) - a crossover between an ecchi visual novel and a shmup where the overpowered aircraft you pilot are also female love interests. Because why the hell not?!?

​Strap into your cockpit and sacrifice some time for this week's Living La Vita Loca podcast!