Retro Spectives

Metal Gear Solid 2 was easily the most hotly anticipated game for the Playstation 2.  The first game had blown everyone away, and the jaw-dropping graphics of previews combined with the quality of the animation in cutscenes seemed almost too good to be true.  

Luckily for fans everywhere, MGS 2 appeared to live up to its wild expectations, getting almost universally glowing reviews.  It seemed that MGS 2 had expanded upon the first game in every single way, including having an even more convoluted story.  But for all its praise, there were hints of critique and backlash around the edges if you looked hard enough.  The change of protagonist definitely pissed a lot of people off, and opinion was divided over whether the ending was brilliant or just a self indulgent mess of ideas awkwardly stapled together.

So is Metal Gear Solid 2 still a game worth playing today?  Or are there flaws in this acclaimed classic that have been long forgotten?

On this episode we discuss:

Gameplay.

In what ways has the core mechanics of sneaking around a complex changed from Metal Gear Solid 1 to 2?  Are these differences meaningful in changing how you engage with the game, or are they just surface level changes with murdering enemies at range with a silenced pistol still being the best approach?

Characterisation.

One of the most memorable parts of the original Metal Gear Solid was its wacky roster of villains, all with their own questionably fantastical super powers.  Does MGS 2 continue this proud tradition, or are the enemy bosses in the game lacklustre in comparison?

Story.

To call Metal Gear Solid 2’s story complicated is a massive understatement.  To what degree does it manage to hold together its threads of conspiracy, philosophy and free will?  Does it all come together in a cohesive whole, or is it just a load of nonsense?

We answer these questions and many more on the 112th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Metal Gear Solid 2 OST: Harry Gregson-Williams, Norihiko Hibino

What was your favourite part of Metal Gear Solid 2?  Does Fortune get as much hate as she deserves, or should she get even more?  Which stealth game should we play next?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

You can support the show monetarily on our Buy me a Coffee Page!

Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 was a staple of many people’s PC desktop screens back in the early 2000s.  Nestled in between the big hitters like Warcraft 3 and Diablo 2 you would find this odd game that straddled the line between simulation and video game.  Developed by Infogrames Interactive, it saw Chris Sawyer continue the work he put into the first game, with more rides and tools to tweak your park to whatever specifications you desired.

Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 features over a hundred attractions, a plethora of themes and a roller coaster physics system that is completely ludicrous in terms of detail.  But in the pursuit of building a sandbox sim, did Chris Sawyer forget to add a compelling video game to the mix?  Or is this just ultimately an empty and lifeless recreation of rides going round in circles for all eternity?

On this episode, we discuss:

• Intrinsic Rewards.
  Does Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 do enough to incentivise the player with extrinsic gameplay rewards?  Are the intrinsic rewards of seeing your park grow and come together enough to make the game a worthwhile use of your time?
• UI/UX.
  How good is the UI for managing your park and specifically for building roller coasters?  How well does the game teach the player how best to run their park?
• Visuals.
  How good does the game look?  Is there more to the low pixel graphics that meets the eye, and what’s the difference between a new untouched park and one that has grown to completion?

We answer these questions and many more on the 111lth episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 OST: Allister Brimble

Do you know how to build the mighty roller coasters that we struggled so much with?  Are there actually that many differences between the first three games, or are they all essentially identical?  What other management style games would you like to see us play?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server

If you’d like to support the show monetarily, please check out our Buy me a Coffee Page!

It feels like Metal Gear Solid barely needs an introduction.  First released in 1998 for the playstation, it launched Hideo Kojima into the western spotlight and has been credited as a foundational game in the stealth genre.  It combined a cinematic presentation with a larger than life cast of villains that somehow never broke through how seriously the game seemed to take itself.  There was an attention to detail here that blew people’s minds upon release, not only in the level of interactivity but also the many easter eggs and secrets scattered throughout the game.

But for all its critical acclaim, and its renowned legacy, is Metal Gear Solid still a fun game to play today?  Every single entry in the series innovated in a big way, and Metal Gear Solid was the first 3D title to come out.  Were pundits at the time just wowed by what was essentially a glorified tech demo, or is Metal Gear Solid still a worthy title to play to this day?

On this episode we discuss:

Stealth

Metal Gear Solid is credited for the revitalisation and popularization of the stealth genre.  But just how good is the stealth gameplay here really?  Is it as good as the later games in the series, and how does it hold up in comparison to its contemporaries like Thief?

Story

The Metal Gear Solid series is famous for its batshit insane storytelling, wacky villains and twists and turns.  How well does the first game execute on its story, and how does it use cutscenes and codec calls to reveal character’s personalities and philosophies?

Action

Metal Gear Solid isn’t just a stealth game, and features a heavy dose of action particularly towards the end of the game.  How well realised are the action setpieces compared to the stealth?

We answer these questions and many more on the 110th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Metal Gear Solid OST: Maki Kirioka, Kazuki Muraoka, Togo Project

Which Metal Gear game is your favourite?  Are the original Metal Gear 1 and 2 worth playing today?  Do you prefer to play the game with or without the radar?  Come let us know what you think, and recommend us games to play on our community discord server!

You can support the show monetarily on our Buy me a Coffee page.

In the 90’s turn based strategy and tactics games were everywhere, but by the turn of the millennium the RTS genre was stealing its thunder.  So it was a surprise to most when in 2001 Advance Wars seemingly came out of nowhere and presented a tight and refined dose of tactics to the Western world.  Its jovial and enthusiastic tone won over a lot of people, but what really stood out was just how robust its systems seemed to be, promising deep tactical options far beyond what first met the eye.

Advance Wars seemingly ticked all the right boxes.  It appealed to newcomers and veterans alike, it had a charming presentation, and it seemed balanced enough to make its multiplayer battles something worth pursuing.  Why is it then, that we’ve seen no more Advance Wars games in over a decade?  Why did games of its ilk seemingly die out in the mainstream, relegated to indie spin offs like War Groove?  Does Advance Wars have something special about it worth playing all these years later, or does its stripped back design make it an ultimately boring and lackluster experience?

On this episode, we discuss:

Aesthetics and Presentation

• Advance Wars shies away from the horrors of war with its story and aesthetic, with beautifully drawn sprites and a narrative that is more about squabbling friends than armies clashing to the death.  Does this work in the game’s favour, or is it impossible to tell a war story without getting into the awful realities of violence?

UI and Learning Curve

• Advance Wars has a very clean UI, and gives the player a lot of information at their fingertips to make the best decisions.  Does this make the game too easy to the point where it plays itself, or does this clarity of information let the player learn the relative strengths of units at a rapid pace?

Strategy and Balance

• Just how well balanced is Advanced Wars, and does it really matter?  To what degree to you get to delve into the full strategic possibilities on show here within the playtime of Advance War’s campaign?

We answer these questions and many more on the 109th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Advance Wars OST: Taishi Senda

You can check out the competitive online Advance Wars community (AWBW) here!

Is the new game+ of Advance Wars really as brutally difficult as its reputation suggests?  In what way do the sequels change the core gameplay (if they change it at all?)  Which faction leader is the best?  Come let us know what you think, or recommend us a game to play on our community discord server!  

You can support the show monetarily on our Buy Me a Coffee Page!

Power fantasies are the norm for video games.  We play them to blow off steam, to escape into another world where we can let our worries drop away.  But Pulse Entertainment wanted to do things a little differently when they developed Bad Mojo in 1996.  They wanted to put the player in the little brown shell of a cockroach.  

 You play as Roger Samms, who, on the verge of embezzling a million dollars, gets transformed into a roach.  You crawl around the disgusting tenancy where you live, feebly pushing small objects in an attempt to get back to your real self.  Your options are limited, and the world is a very scary place with spiders, cats and deadly poison everywhere you go.

Does Bad Mojo, with its undeniably gross aesthetic and limited perspective bring it all together into a cohesive video game?  Or is this just a buggy mess?

On this episode, we discuss:

Aesthetics.

Bad Mojo has a very unique look and feel, thanks in large part to its 3D scanning of dead animals.  Has its visual design held up to this day?

Story.

This game comes from the glory days of the FMV sequence, long before professional actors had become commonplace in the gaming world.  Does the amateurish acting here hurt the immersiveness of Bad Mojo, or does it just give it a different feel?

Controls.

Bad Mojo has an extremely simple control scheme, with you only controlling the roach with the directional arrow keys.  Does this limit the possible depth of puzzle design, or is this a case of simpler being better?

We answer all these questions and many more on the 108th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Bad Mojo OST: Xorcist

Have you played any other games where you’re absolutely tiny in a regular world?  Are there any other games out there which share something similar to Bad Mojo’s aesthetic?  Is this the worst voice acting you’ve ever heard?  Let us know what you think on our community discord server!

You can support the show monetarily on our Buy Me A Coffee page!

Luigi’s Mansion was the cornerstone of the Nintendo Gamecube’s launch in 2001.  It sold more copies than any other launch title, received positive critical acclaim, and occupied prime place in every promo gaming machine in gaming and electronic shops everywhere.  The game promised a charming take on a haunted mansion, quite unlike Resident Evil that had come before it.

You take control of Luigi, searching for Mario after he goes missing when he supposedly wins a free mansion.  You don’t have much to help you in your quest to find Mario in this haunted mansion - a flashlight and a vacuum cleaner and what little wits you can gather are all Luigi has to arm himself against the many ghosts that occupy its walls.  It's a tried and true blend of action, adventure, and puzzle solving, but wrapped up in a very unique way.

But is Luigi’s Mansion still a compelling title to play all these years later?  Does the simplicity of the formulae grow stale even with its short run time?  And can we really do a G-rated take on ghosts and still find it interesting?

On this episode, we discuss:

Controls.

• Luigi’s mansion has a fixed camera in the tradition of survival horror games, but gives us a weird blend of regular and tank controls.  Does this control scheme work in a game where the action can be far more frantic than slowly shooting zombies in the head?

Puzzles.

• Luigi’s Mansion’s ghosts are not willing to be compressed into paintings without putting up a bit of resistance first.  How enjoyable is it to solve the puzzle of what these gallery ghosts require?

Atmosphere.

• Is Luigi’s Mansion, by its refusal to engage with the more horrifying elements of ghosts, shooting itself in the foot?  Was there a lack of narrative punch to the identities and personalities of the ghosts because of the G rated theme?

We answer these questions and many more on the 107th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Luigi’s Mansion OST: Kazumi Totaka

Do the later Luigi’s Mansion games build on the gameplay of the first to produce a deeper and more compelling experience?  Did you enjoy catching the 50 Boos more than we did?  Is there an R rated take on this genre, and if so, where can we play it? 
 Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

If you’d like to support the show, please check out our Buy me a Coffee page!

Unreal was the Crysis of its time.  It pushed PCs to their absolute limits, with its advanced shader effects and enormous levels.  It featured AI that was far beyond the stilted and simplistic enemies that people were used to.  It built an alien world that managed to straddle the line between the more abstract early era shooter and what the build engine games were doing.  And it was all wrapped up in a succinct 10 hour campaign, that eschewed genre staples like door keys and fodder enemies.  Unreal seemed to represent a true evolution of the FPS genre.

But unfortunately for Unreal, there was another FPS that was released in 1998.  And that was Half Life.  Half Life went on to become the dominant FPS in a way not seen since Doom, and Unreal’s legacy would lie more in its ongoing arena multiplayer than its initial single player efforts.

But does Unreal actually deserve to be forgotten?  Was there something magical and unique about its design that elevated it above its boomer shooter peers?  Or was it instead ultimately just a shallow tech showcase, with no real substance beneath all of its glitter?

On this episode, we discuss:

Aesthetics.

• On the surface, from a modern perspective, Unreal looks kind of ugly, with its low-res stretched textures.  But it combines this with a haunting OST, varied level design and a color palette that brings its scenes to life.  Is the famed atmosphere of Unreal as alien and immersive as it is claimed to be?

Level Design.

• Unreal has a curious blend of massive open ended architecture fused with ultimately linear level design.  Does getting rid of key doors in favour of switches lead to the player getting lost in the maze, or is there something deeper and more clever at work here?

Combat.

• Unreal boasts some very advanced AI for its primary enemy combatant: The Skaarj.  They dodge roll your rocket blasts, maintain distance against close range weapons, and are generally a massive nuisance to deal with.  But the number of enemies you actually fight at once is low, and the game is even lower on enemy variety.  Just how fun is the combat gameplay of Unreal?

We answer these questions and many more on the 106th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

—

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Unreal OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8hkDjVYXQY&t

—

Is there more to the combat of Unreal than we’re giving it credit for?  Are there any mods which improve the fundamental Unreal experience?  What is it about the level design that’s so special, and are there any other games that have built upon it?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

If you’re enjoying the show, you can support us on our Buy me a Coffee Page!

When Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers first released in 1993, it was not a crack commercial hit.  It did however instantly earn itself widespread critical acclaim, with reviewers praising its dark and disturbing story, foreboding atmosphere, and incredible voice acting.  The game brought the setting of 90’s Louisiana to life, with all the colonial baggage and real life voodoo history integrated into every little crevice of its world.

But can Gabriel Knight truly get over the ultimate sin of being a point and click adventure game?  Can voodoo be taken seriously after Monkey Island spent so much time satirising the concept?  Is this game as scary or intense all these years later?  Or has the passage of time left the narrative of Gabriel Knight without any bite?

On this episode, we discuss:

Aesthetics.

We played two different versions of Gabriel Knight - the original, and the 2014 remake.  Is one of these clearly better than the other, or do they each have their strengths and weaknesses?

Story.

How does the narrative unravel in Gabriel Knight?  Is having a slow burn story a good way to keep the player invested?  How does structuring the game into days affect how the story is told?

Gameplay.

How logical are Gabriel Knight’s puzzles?  Does having the game split into days affect the clarity of what you’re meant to accomplish each day?  Does the game avoid the fundamental issues that Pat and James have with the genre?

We answer these questions and many more on the 105th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

GK 1993 OST: Robert Holmes

GK 2014 OST: Robert Holmes

Are our critiques of the point and click adventure game puzzles valid?  What do the sequels change or improve from the original?  Is there a different adventure game out there that we should try?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

You can support the show on our Buy me a Coffee page!

Arkane Studios was founded with a dream: to create a sequel to the highly revered grandfather of immersive sims Ultima Underworld.  Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t quite secure the rights to the IP, and instead decided to make a game that was evocative of the original in every way.  Enter Arx Fatalis, a game that was released to widespread critical acclaim, but unfortunately for Arkane suffered commercially.  It wasn’t until the far more action orientated release of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic that Arkane started to see more widespread appeal.

But did the original Arx Fatalis deserve to go under the radar?  It features an unusual magic system where players have to inscribe runes on their screen to create spells.  Its level design is a complicated web of caverns layered on top of one another with secrets galore connecting them together.  And its quest design is almost puzzle-like in structure, requiring players to have their wits about them to actually progress through the game.  Does this all add up to a dream game for immersive sim purists, or is it just a messy and janky homage to a much greater game?

On this episode, we discuss:

Level Design.

How easy is it to navigate the labyrinthian caverns that make up most of the world of Arx Fatalis?  Is it easy to get lost in the web, or are objectives always clear despite the lack of quest markers?

Combat.

How enjoyable is the combat in Arx Fatalis?  How does melee combat stack up against other first person fantasy RPGs like Skyrim?  Does spellcasting give you a different approach to combat like in Dark Messiah?

Puzzles.

Arx Fatalis features some fairly involved puzzles in its dungeons, like the crypt or mysterious Hall of Illusions.  How well are these puzzles integrated into the regular gameplay and interface?  Does the game make full use of your utility spellcasting options to create the most interesting puzzles possible?

We answer these questions and many more on the 104th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Arx Fatalis OST: Kemal Amarasingham,  Simon Amarasingham

Arx Fatalis Libertatis Mod

Join the conversation and recommend us games to play on our community discord server!

You can support the show on our Buy me a Coffee Page!

Puzzles are like crack cocaine for their very special audience.  Whether it be a crossword, a logic problem, or even a riddle, unravelling them shoots a heavy dose of endorphins directly to the brain.  It is therefore no surprise that Professor Layton and the Curious Village was such a resounding success upon release, taking advantage of the portability of the 3DS before smartphones were a given for the general populace.

Combining a charming and relaxed atmosphere with an onslaught of different puzzle types, it was so successful that not only did it have many, many sequels, it even had a spinoff with Ace Attorney.  People fell in love with everything the game had to offer, right down to its devious trickery.

But has this formula of puzzles with a light story attached truly stood the test of time?  Is this better or worse than the point and click adventure games that defined the puzzle genre in the 90s?  Or is Professor Layton just a dull and repetitive ripoff of Sherlock Holmes?

On this episode, we discuss:

Story.

• How compelling is the story that exists in the webbing in between all of the puzzles?  Does its light and charming tone suit the seemingly dark mysteries that surround the curious village?

Puzzles.

• What did we think of the puzzles in the game?  Is there enough variety in puzzle types?  Can you logically push through most puzzles?  Are the ‘gotcha’ puzzles that require lateral thinking unfair, or an essential part of the Layton experience?

Hints.

• Is it possible to get stuck and unable to progress when things get too hard?  Are the hints that are available to the player reasonable without giving too much away?

We answer these questions and many more on the 103rd episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Professor Layton OST: Tomohito Nishiura 

Is there more to the story of Professor Layton and the Curious Village than we thought?  Is there another game in the series that is an absolute must play?  Which was your favourite puzzle?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on our Buy Me a Coffee Page!