Retro Spectives

Blade Runner is one of the most exceptional and influential works of science fiction to ever grace the silver screen.  It brought the works of Phillip K Dick to life from its opening shots of geysers of flame erupting in the shadow of the Tyrell Corporation’s Egyptian skyscrapers.  The technology might be fantastical and the world transformed, but the people of the city were the same, and Blade Runner knows it.  To this day it is considered one of the best explorations and examinations of humanity, even if its slow pacing and flat characters might be off putting for some.

15 years after the release of the movie saw the release of the point and click adventure game of the same name.  Blade Runner (1997) follows the journey of Ray Mcoy in a parallel side story to Deckard, as he investigates bombings, hunts down replicants, and otherwise gets tangled up in something far beyond his simple job.  It was released to widespread critical acclaim, with reviewers both praising both its detailed environments and dynamic gameplay.

But 25 years later, point and click adventure games are a dead artform, cursed and largely forgotten.  Blade Runner itself got a shot in the arm with its sequel, and for many that’s the only exposure they have to this world.  Is it possible, all these years later, that this game could possibly still hold up today?

On this episode, we discuss:

• How well does Blade Runner capture the atmosphere of the movie?  In what way does it use sound, audio and animation to convert high resolution film to a low resolution, voxel based video game?
• Blade Runner’s story is extremely dynamic, with clues, identities and even entire scenes playing out completely differently for each playthrough.  Does this come across as confusing and incoherent, or is this a brilliant type of storytelling that should never have been retired?
• Blade Runner is a point and click adventure game that barely features puzzles.  Does stripping this feature fix what makes this genre rotten to the core, or has it been replaced with something far worse?

We answer these questions and many more on the 93rd episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Blade Runner OST: Frank Klepacki

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Which piece of Blade Runner media do you think is best - the book, one of the first movie cuts, or the sequel?  Is the gameplay of Blade Runner more sophisticated and clever than we gave it credit for?  Is there another modern game that uses the systems present here?  Come let us know what you think and join the conversation on our 

community discord server

!

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, as the ninth game in the series, did not radically alter the formula that made the series what it is.  Take one pinch of tactics, mix liberally with some RPG mechanics and bake together into a cohesive fantasy world, and at the end of it you’ll have a Fire Emblem game.  It did, however, introduce some new features and changes that did make it stand out.

Released for the Gamecube in 2005 and developed by Intelligent Systems, Path of Radiance was the first 3D Fire Emblem game.  It changed the magic system, introduced a new species (the Laguz), and perhaps most importantly of all had a ‘Base’ where you could regroup and make conversations happen between your different soldiers.  Bonus Experience was introduced, where completing chapters quickly or pursuing additional objectives could give you a nice bump towards levelling up.  It's easy to see why Path of Radiance is so well regarded - it introduced many mechanics that have since become genre staples.

But for all that it introduced, exactly how enjoyable and well developed are the RPG/Tactics systems in the game?  Does the story actually hold up as a well told military fantasy story?  Or is this just yet another iteration of an outdated and tired concept, with nothing to offer over modern tactics/rpg titles?

On this episode, we discuss:

• How well structured and realistic is the structural world building in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?  Is this a believable fantasy world with realistic factional conflict, or a nonsensical grab bag of moustache twirling villains and monotone heroes?
• How well developed are the RPG systems in Fire Emblem?  To what degree can you customise the units under your command, and how emotionally invested does the storytelling allow when your character roster is so large?
• Is Path of Radiance a good tactics game at its core?  Does the game provide deep tactical decision making and tossing up opportunity cost, or do the RPG systems override and restrict the possibilities open to the player?

We answer these questions and many more on the 92nd episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance OST: Yoshito Hirano, Saki Haruyama, Naoko Mitome, Atsushi Yoshida, Kanako Teramae

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Are we wrong about the vulnerability of certain units warping the strategy?  Is the concept of the Fire Emblem better embedded than we thought?  Which Fire Emblem game do you think would suit us best, that we should play next?  Come let us know what you think, recommend us a game, or simply be part of the conversation on our community discord server!

Rez, first released in 2001 for the Dreamcast and PS2, is many things.  It's a rail shooter, heralded as one of the greats of a now mostly dead genre.  It's a visual assault on the senses, with its pulsating neon wireframes and insanely animated boss fights.  It's an audio hallucinatory trip, with musical beats emanating from every killed enemy, and every shot fired rapping like a snare drum.  It is, in short, an experience unlike any other.

But for all its uniqueness, is Rez a game worth your time to play today?  Or does it only survive in our memories on novelty alone?

On this episode, we discuss:

• In what ways does Rez deliver its audio-visual experience?  Is there something special about its fusion of audio and animation, or is it just another bland rendition of cyberspace?
• How good is the music of Rez, and how much control do you as the player have over the music?  Is the player in sync with the melody, or does the game not give enough tools to the player to immerse themselves wholly in the soundtrack?
• What is the gameplay actually like in Rez?  Is it fun to actually shoot down the enemies on screen?  Or does its simplicity undermine the experience by becoming tedious?

We answer these questions and many more on the 91st episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Rez OST: Various Artists

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Wassily Kandinsky’s Wikipedia Page 

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Is the VR version of Rez worth playing through?  What Rail shooter should we play next?  Is track 3 really the worst of the bunch?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

Sly 2: Band Of Thieves released at a special time in 3D platforming history: the GTA era.  In much the same way that Ubisoft would eventually set the (dismal) standard for open worlds, Grand Theft Auto 3 went on to define how 3d action games should be made.  The three big platforming names of the PS2 - Jax and Daxter, Ratchett and Clank, and of course, Sly Cooper, all radically shifted their macro level design in the wake of GTA’s popularity.

What does that mean?  It means we’ve got an open world, instead of the more linear levels of Sly 1.  It means that we’ve now got 3 playable characters to spice things up instead of just playing as Sly.  And it means that we’re moving the focus away from platforming to instead give players a hundred different things to do - minigames galore!

But does this wide and splashy approach to a platformer yield a more compelling experience than the more focused and restrained platformers that came before it?  Or did GTA make Sly 2 take a turn for the worse?

On this episode, we discuss:

• In what ways does Sly 2 utilise its open world, both narratively and mechanically?  Is it there just for the sake of it, or does it more than justify its existence?
• Has the storytelling and atmosphere of Sly 2 improved over Sly 1?  Does the move away from a more abstracted type of platforming actually matter?
• Does Sly 2 delight with its focus on novel minigames, or does this come at the cost of deeper and more engaging mechanical gameplay?

We answer these questions and many more on the 90th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Sly 2 OST: Peter McConnel

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Listen to Pat’s appearance on the Retro Hangover Podcast for Duke 3D here!

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Use Bobtff under interlacing settings in your emulator for the cleanest visuals

By 1999, when Gorky 17 released, the genre of tactics games was definitely well trod.  X-COM, Final Fantasy Tactics, Jagged Alliance - these were all heavy hitters, and many consider them to still be masterpieces to this day.  But the Polish developers at Metropolis Software were not to be cowed, and set out to put their own spin on sequentially murdering monsters on rigid tiles.

Unlike other tactics games, this would be a short and tight game, clocking in at 10 hours.  Unlike other tactics games, it took cues from survival horror games such as Resident Evil, both in presentation and in its seemingly strict resource management.  Encounters were made immediately meaningful and challenging, and the notion of grinding to gain an advantage was almost entirely tossed away - a seemingly odd decision in what was ostensibly a tactics RPG.

But did these slavs bite off more than they could chew in trying to craft a tactics game in the shadow of what came before?  Is it actually possible to balance the tight resource deprivation of survival horror with tactical manoeuvring?  Or does Gorky 17 just play like a mish mash of different cliches, struggling to present anything unique to justify playing it?

On this episode, we discuss:

• Are the resources provided to the player over the course of the game well balanced?  Or does Gorky 17 have a fundamental issue with its item economy that leads to radically different experiences from the early to late game?
• Does the absolutely bizarre RPG progression systems in this game actually make sense, or are they as nonsensical as they appear?  Does veterancy with weapons round out the base system?
• How well constructed are the tactical battles of Gorky 17?  Are there meaningful decisions to be made in your fights, or are these combat puzzles too easy to solve?

We answer these questions and many more on the 89th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Gorky 17 OST: Adam Skorupa

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Are the sequels to Gorky 17 actually any good, or were we slagging them off for good reason?  What other tactics games are worth our time to play?  Should games be able to be effectively bricked if you make too many wrong decisions?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

Tyrian 2000 is, to this day, regarded as one of the greatest shmups ever made.  It boasts a continuous campaign that goes for 5 episodes and 50 levels, a ludicrous array of guns to dock your ship out with, and a varied and creative enemy roster.  The game is stuffed to the cracks with bonus content - secret levels, unlocks, minigames - even fighting game special moves tied to each ship!

It's not hard to see why it has garnered so much praise.  And compared to its bullet hell brethren, it's a far more forgiving game, with no limited lives system and a hull capable of withstanding more than a few shots.  But is variety and spicy secrets really the key to a great video game?  Does what dazzled back in 1999 still add up to an enjoyable and deep experience today?

On this episode, we discuss:

• How does the economy of Tyrian 2000 work?  Does tying credits to score achieved make Tyrian more about power gaming than your intrinsic skill at piloting your ship?
• Tyrian 2000 allows you to freely swap out pieces of kit with no penalty to your credits.  Is this an instance where free re-specs should be celebrated, or is there a cost to allowing such freedom?
• What is the focus of the moment to moment gameplay of Tyrian 2000?  Is this a game about avoiding damage, or maximising your damage output?

We answer these questions and many more on the 88th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Tyrian 2000 OST: Alexander Bradon

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Do the hidden difficulties prevent the game from being so much of a power snowball, or do they make it even more important?  Is Pat a heretic that should be burned at the stake for using mouse controls?  What shmup should we play next?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

Before we had Resident Evil and Silent Hill, we had Ecstatica.  First released in 1994 for MS DOS, Ecstatica blew critics away at the time of its release with its stunning ellipsoid based character models and realistic environments.  You play as a simple traveller stopping in town to water their horse - which turns out to be the worst decision they could have made.  Within seconds of setting foot inside this village you are immediately beset by horrors and demons, witness scenes of sadism and torture, and must struggle to even stay alive.

But while at the time of release the graphics were stunning, the gameplay innovative, and the atmosphere chilling, can we truly say that’s the case today?  Do Ellipsoids really stand up to scratch close to 30 years later?  And can the primitive gameplay possibly hold a candle to all the innovations in resource and inventory management that define survival horror today?

On this episode, we discuss:

• Ecstatica sees you attacked and chased by monsters within seconds of you starting the game.  Is this a good gameplay experience, or should there have been a more gradual ramp up of horror?
• How deep are the combat and puzzle mechanics in Ecstatica?  Are they enjoyable, terrible, or functionally non-existent?
• Do the graphics of Ecstatica hold up today?  Do the fixed camera angles detract or add to the immersion of the experience?

We answer these questions and many more on the 87th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Ecstatica OST: Andrew Spencer

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Does Ecstatica have any more hidden interactions that we missed?  Is the sequel any better, or is it more of the same?  Are there any other survival horror games that we should check out?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

Mario Kart has long been king of the Kart Racer.  Ever since it debuted back in 1992 on the SNES, it seems that every other entry has lived in its long shadow.  But back in 1997 we saw a challenger emerge to contest its throne: Diddy Kong Racing.

Both developed and published by Rare, Diddy Kong Racing was critically acclaimed at the time of its release.  It had a hub world to drive around in and select races from, a different take on powerups, and most dramatically of all had 3 different vehicles to race in.  It was loaded to the gills with content yet unseen in the kart racing genre - boss battles, minigames and its famous silver coin challenges.  With a list of features this long, how could it not be better than Mario Kart?

Well, we’ve learned through experience that just because something is a feature, doesn’t make it an additive one.  And while Diddy Kong Racing does things differently to Mario Kart, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it's better.  Does Diddy Kong Racing deserve its reputation as being ever better than Mario Kart?

On this episode, we discuss:

• What is it like to actually control your kart, plane and hovercraft around the tracks?  In what way do the different drift and sharp turns affect the racing experience?
• How good is the level design of Diddy Kong racing?  Does the challenge and enjoyment come from the fundamental course design, or from the placement of powerups and boost tracks?  
• Are the silver coin challenges everything they’re cracked up to be?  Do they redefine the entire racing experience, or are they just annoying roadblocks to overcome in trying to finish the rest of the game?

We answer these questions and many more on the 86th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Diddy Kong Racing OST: David Wise

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Is Diddy Kong Racing the best kart racer ever made?  If we were to cover a Mario Kart game, is there one that stands heads and shoulders above the rest?  Did you struggle as much as we did with the Wizpig boss battle?  Come join the conversation and let us know what you think on our community discord server!

For all of our complaints, we did enjoy Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.  While it failed to maximise its different elements into a creative challenge, its core gameplay is just as good as it was in the first title.  So when we remembered that an entire coherent Co-op campaign was released alongside the main game, it seemed like an excellent opportunity for us to suit up and demonstrate our brilliant stealth chops to one another.  We were hoping we would breeze through it in a few hours, particularly after we had complained so profusely about how easy the original game was.

Things didn’t go quite as we expected.

Grab a cup of hot chocolate and get comfy as we laugh and curse our way through the trials and tribulations of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Co-op.

On this episode, we discuss:

• The Co-op mode introduces a suite of special ‘partner’ moves that can only be executed in tandem.  Did these change our strategic approach to stealthing, or were they just elaborate keys?
• How well does the level design facilitate a second player?  Were there substantial changes to the single player level design to reflect the additional set of goggles, lockpicks and guns?
• What shenanigans can you get up to in Co-op to make your teammate mad?  Does a level of jankiness and confusion enhance the Co-op experience?

We answer these questions and many more on this special bonus episode of Retro Spectives!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

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Rakuzo’s guide on reddit to get Chaos Theory Co-op working

Pat’s article on Halo 2 Co-op

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What was your experience like playing the Co-op of this game?  Did you find the end of mission 4 as frustrating as we did?  What other Co-op games should we play?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

Star Wars: Republic Commando received good press when it first released back in 2005.  Instead of playing as a Jedi, you play as a stormtrooper, albeit a gifted and specially trained one.  You lead missions with your 4 troop squad set during the height of the Clone Wars, taking down enemy artillery, investigating derelict spacecraft and doing reconnaissance on contested worlds.  It was considered a fresh and well executed fusion of the broader fantastical world of Star Wars with the more frontline perspective more common to Call Of Duty.

But can a tactical first person shooter built to run on the original Xbox still be enjoyable to play today?  Do the character and story moments feel boring and generic in the face of the hundreds of military shooters that have come out since?  Is Star Wars: Republic Commando a hidden gem, or does it deserve the moniker of being yet another 7/10 game?

On this episode, we discuss:

• Just how ‘tactical’ is this tactical first person shooter?  Are context sensitive commands a seamless and user friendly way to do tactics, or does this rob the game of any potential tactical complexity?
• What did we think about the sharper focus of Republic Commando’s storytelling?  Is this a memorable story and cast of characters, or would it have been more interesting to not just get dropped in the role of a generic trooper?
• How well does the level design facilitate your tactics and movement through each environment?  Are they large enough to allow you to properly make use of your 4 man unit?

We answer these questions and many more on the 85th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Star Wars: Republic Commando OST: Jesse Harlin

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Star Wars: Republic Commando fix mod.

ThaBeasts Diddy Kong Racing Video.

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Is Star Wars: Republic Commando the diamond in the rough that everyone says it is?  How do you think it compares to the Jedi Knight series?  Which Star Wars game should we play next?  Join the conversation and let us know what you think on our community discord server!