Retro Spectives

Long before PlatinumGames was revolutionising the 3D brawler space with titles like Devil May Cry 3, Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, they worked on a title called Viewtiful Joe.  Taking cues from comic books, power rangers and superhero films, it's a cel shaded stylistic beat ‘em up that makes an average Joe the hero of its tale. Joe must use his movie inspired superpowers to kick ass, defeat evil and save the girl!

But how fun is it to play all these years later?  Has the 2D beat ‘em up genre been entirely eclipsed by its 3D brethren?  Is Viewtiful Joe still a Viewtiful game, or does it hide poor gameplay behind is panache?

On this episode, we discuss:

• How well does Viewtiful Joe implement its visual inspirations?  Is it a slapdash coat of paint to make it stand out, or does it go far deeper?
• Does the game have  a regular and enjoyable fighting 'rhythm’, or does the constantly replenishing power bar lead to a more stilted and unsatisfying experience?
• Does Viewtiful Joe deserve an Oscar for acting AND scriptwriting for fantastic scenes like this one?

We answer these questions, and many more, on the 24th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

If you enjoyed the show and would like to continue the conversation, feel free to head on over to our Discord which you can  find here or on our website. Thanks for listening!

On the 15th of November, 2001, the Xbox launched with a tremendous bang.  Not since Super Mario World for the SNES had a launch title been so well regarded.  Halo invented, and went on to define how console FPS games should be made - limited weapons, regenerating health, slight auto-aim - Halo made these the industry standard.  Halo was seen as a masterpiece - not just for its single player campaign, but for its fun couch co-op mode and competitive multiplayer.

But has Halo actually stood the test of time, 18 years later?  With a million sequels to its name, and the Masterchief Collection delivering a remaster of the games, is it just a nostalgic trip to visit the grandfather of console FPS?  Or does it stand up strong alongside its peers, and show the world that Halo is a true classic?  

On this episode, Patrick, James and special guest Cameron Boozarjomehri of the Sweating the Small Stuff Podcast discuss:

• How well implemented is the two-weapon system in Halo?  Is it needlessly restrictive and punishing? Or does it add to the strategic depth and tactical approaches available to you?
• How good is Halo’s level design?  Are it's inside areas just as strong as its outdoor ones?  Is its use of backtracking and reuse of assets a novel twist, or just boring and lazy?
• Will Patrick ever admit the benefits of a controller for an FPS, or will he continue to obnoxiously proclaim the superiority of mouse and keyboard?

We answer these questions, and many more, on the 23rd episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!  

If you enjoyed the show and would like to continue the conversation, feel free to head on over to our Discord which you can  find here or on our website. Thanks for listening!

Vagrant Story is one of the dark horses of the JRPG genre.  Its exposition-light storytelling is rooted in Shakespearean dialogue rather than adolescent chosen ones.  Its RPG systems are complex, but you have essentially zero control over character customisation. A rhythm mini-game forms the heart of its combat, but you’ll spend the majority of your time playing sorting through menus.  This is Vagrant Story, a mish-mash of genres and ideas, another game that defies easy explanation.

But does this all come together into an enjoyable whole?  Are Vagrant Story’s individual parts strong, and do they complement one another?  Has Vagrant Story stood the test of time, or was it a botched experiment, best left in the dungeons of the city of Lea Monde?

On this episode, we discuss:

• Vagrant Story’s plot is confusing and poorly explained.  Its characters rarely give useful exposition dumps to the player.  But is this a bad thing? Is the story more sophisticated and interesting when told in this way, or does it just lead to plot holes?
• The gameplay on display here is enormously complex.  There are many different damage systems that require deep analysis to even begin to understand.  You spend most of your time in menus trying to figure out what the most effective way to proceed is.  But doe complexity equal depth? Is Vagrant story a deep and interesting experience, or just a hard to understand one?
• Can James trick Pat into admitting that his dislike of Vagrant Story’s box puzzles means that Stephen’s Sausage Roll (the greatest game ever made - Pat) also sucks?

Find out the answers to these questions and many more on Episode 22 of Retro Spectives!

If you enjoyed the show and would like to continue the conversation, feel free to head on over to our Discord which you can  find here or on our website. Thanks for listening!

Back in the early 2000s, World War 2 shooters were in vogue.  The broader gaming audience had moved on from the more abstract settings of Quake or Doom, and were demanding real world locations, guns and lethality.  Call of Duty wasn’t the first, nor the last of these - but at the time of release it was praised for its bombastic, cinematic action-thriller feel. Before Half Life 2 or Far Cry, Call of Duty was the king of PC FPS shooters.

But how well does it hold up, all these years later?  With a staggering 15 entries alone in the Call of Duty franchise, can the original hope to compete with over a decade of (debatable) innovation?

On this episode, we discuss

• How well does Call of Duty tell its story?  Can its narrow focus on ‘soldiers in the trenches’ stand up to the globetrotting, world-ending spectacle of later Call of Duty games?
• Are hitscan based shooters fundamentally poorly designed when compared to projectile based ones?  To what degree can a skilled player overcome the sheer lethality of enemies versus repeatedly dying to random chance?
• Should Call of Duty strive for historical accuracy in its portrayal of historical events?  Or is it fine to pay homage to cinema (in this case, Enemy At the Gates), regardless of its historical authenticity?

We answer these questions, and many more, on the 21st episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

If you enjoyed the show and would like to continue the conversation, feel free to head on over to our Discord which you can  find here or on our website. Thanks for listening!

What happens when you fuse two different genres together? Sometimes you discover something special, like action-rpgs, which go on to become a dominant force in the industry at large. But there are other combinations that have struggled to reach that kind of prominence. Way back in 1992, Blizzard tried to make a side-scrolling puzzle/platformer called The Lost Vikings, a game where the player takes control of 3 vikings in turn, all with unique strengths and weaknesses. Only by working as a team can they overcome the many challenges in their way. Does this lead to a compelling gameplay experience, or is Blizzard right to have never remade this game, giving them only cameo appearances in other more successful titles?

On this episode, we discuss:

• Are difficult platforming and light puzzle solving a match made in heaven? Or do they have competing priorities that lead to a confused experience?
• Titles like Super Meat Boy and Celeste are covered with insta-death obstacles, but are usually 1 screen challenges. Is insta-death still fun on much larger levels?
• The Lost Vikings is yet another title without a music volume slider. Who figured out that there was a music mute button, and who suffered through 11 hours of pain?

We answer these questions, and many more, on the 20th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

If you enjoyed the show and would like to continue the conversation, feel free to head on over to our Discord which you can  find here or on our website. Thanks for listening!

Diablo 1 laid the groundwork for the action-RPG genre way back in 1996. We have Diablo to thank for genre staples like colour-coded loot, elite mobs and town-portal scrolls. But since then, ARPGS have evolved into incredibly complex beasts, with sprawling skill trees, crafting systems and character customisation that makes Diablo 1 look quaint in comparison.

But is high-complexity necessarily better than a game which is simple and refined? Are more realistic graphics with their anti-aliasing and 3D Graphics better than basic yet haunting hallways? Has Diablo 1 stood the test of time, or is it better left forgotten as a relic of the ARPG genre?

In this episode, we discuss:

• What creates good atmosphere? How well does Diablo 1 immerse you in its experience, and how does it compare to modern ARPGS like Diablo 3 and Path to Exile?
• The amount and types of loot available to you while playing through Diablo is quite limited - does this make loot feel more meaningful, or does it just make the game less interesting?
• Pat and James continue their classic argument about respecs. Are respecs something every game should have, or is something essential lost when you can change the nature of your character with ease?

We answer these questions, and many more, on the 19th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

If you enjoyed the show and would like to continue the conversation, feel free to head on over to our Discord which you can  find here or on our website. Thanks for listening!

Back in 2004, the Indie gaming scene as we understand it today was non-existent. If you were an independent game developer you were more likely to be at home on ad-infested websites like Newgrounds than on the shelf at your local game store. Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya changed all that with Cave Story. He showed the world that a one person project (entirely free!) could stand alongside the best games out there and paved the way for countless independent studios.

But how fun is it to play today, all these years later? Modern indie titles have access to funding through kickstarter and a wealth of experience to draw upon from successful indie studios. Just how well does Cave Story compare to modern offerings?

On this episode, we discuss:

• How good is Cave Story’s story? Is a sense of charm and fun more important than plot or character logistics?
• Does the ‘weapon level up’ mechanic provide a positive experience for the player? How does it affect the pacing of the game’s platforming and shooting?
• Cave Story+ features several ways to experience the game's visuals and music, but which one is better? Pat and James strongly disagree.

We answer these questions, and many more on the 18th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

If you enjoyed the show and would like to continue the conversation, feel free to head on over to our Discord which you can  find here or on our website. Thanks for listening!

Originally released for the PlayStation 2, Psychonauts achieved its status as a cult classic through bizarre Tim Burton-esque visuals and a novel approach to environmental story telling. Bursting at the seams with Double Fine's eccentric sense of humour, Psychonauts tells the story of Razputin, a young psychic who runs away from the circus in order to prove the worth of his oft-maligned abilities.
While Psychonauts may have mesmerised its audience back in 2005, does this big brained adventure still have what it takes today, or is this one circus act best left avoided?

In order to answer this, Pat and James ask themselves:

• What's in an art style? Psychonauts' presentation is certainly unique but is it effective at delivering its themes to the player or is it just bizarre for the sake of it?
• Most videogames need to put gameplay first and foremost, it is in the name after all. Psychonauts however is a game which eschews this idea in favour of novelty and wonder. Was this sacrifice worthwhile or has this left it a chore to play?
• Mental illness is a difficult subject to tackle, but this game does so with Gusto, albeit with a very silly coat of paint. Does this lack of seriousness harm the exploration of such heavy themes?

Find out in this fortnight's episode of Retro Spectives!

If you enjoyed the show and would like to continue the conversation, feel free to head on over to our Discord which you can  find here or on our website. Thanks for listening!

Before Metal Gear Solid, there was Policenauts. A buddy-cop meets science-fiction adventure about drugs, women and the vastness of space. While it was released to critical acclaim, it only truly came to the west in 2009 when a fan translation patch was released for english speaking audiences. Even since then however, Policenauts has floundered in Metal Gear’s shadow; never truly breaking into mainstream appeal. Is this obscurity well deserved? Or has this gem been hidden for far too long?

To answer this, we ask ourselves:

• Is a hard sci-fi setting the perfect complement to a buddy-cop drama? Or does it leave a bad taste in the players mouth?
• If Metal Gear Solid 4 was a movie, then what does that make this?
• Did legendary director Hideo Kojima’s penchant for insane details serve this game well, or does the story drown amongst the details?

Find out the answers to these questions and many more on the 16th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

If you enjoyed the show and would like to continue the conversation, feel free to head on over to our Discord which you can  find here or on our website. Thanks for listening!

Stealth games trade away much of the action in action games in order to achieve a much greater feeling of suspense. From hiding in the shadows to observing a patrolling guard, mastery is obtained through the art of patient planning. Back in 1998, Looking Glass Studios released Thief: The Dark Project , a game where you were terrible at killing but great at hiding and well, being a thief. Released to critical acclaim, Thief quickly rose to prominence and forever cemented the stealth genre’s place in the market. But can Thief hold up to the spotlight over two decades later, or has it been overshadowed by more modern takes on the genre?

On this episode, we discuss:

• How well put together is Thief’s level design? Does maze-like = good, or is it a lot more complicated than that?
• How does Thief approach its different difficulty levels, and what can modern stealth (or all) games learn from it?
• Is this opera singer the worst character in any game ever? Somehow, Pat and James disagree on this one...

We answer these questions, and many, many more (seriously, it's a super long episode) on the 15th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

If you enjoyed the show and would like to continue the conversation, feel free to head on over to our Discord which you can  find here or on our website. Thanks for listening!

Link to the Windows 10 Thief Fix here!