Smashterpieces

Ladies and gentlemen! It’s finally time! Tighten up your gi, grab your fan, and put on your… Freddy Krueger gloves? (Why???) It’s time to find out who truly is the King of Fighters! That’s right, it’s time for our episode on the game representing the Legendary Wolf, Terry Bogard, it’s Smashterpiece #24: The King of Fighters ‘95. As our second fighting game for the show, how does it compare to our last one Street Fighter II? What characters did we tend to gravitate towards? Is Joe still really bad at fighting games? Just what is Days of Memories, and why do we have to play it immediately?

Join us next time as we infiltrate a secret military base in Smashterpiece #25: Metal Gear Solid

It seems we have at last arrived in a world of arts and crafts, a pop up book with denim skies and cardboard cliffs. It’s finally time to turn the page and talk about Smashterpiece #23: Yoshi’s Story. Being our first game featuring Totaka’s Song to being the first instance of Yoshi having the voice we’ve all grown accustomed to hearing, this perfectly normal platformer is exactly what we expected- wait, what? It’s a score attack game? … Huh. Do we think the score attack format hurts or helps the game overall? Why is it kind of weird that this 2D sprite based platformer released on a home console in 1997? What’s the most important piece of the soundtrack and why is it Yo Yo Yoshi? All this and more in today’s episode!

Join us next time as we build our teams and fight our way to the top in Smashterpiece #24: The King of Fighters ‘95

Head out into the hangar, hop in your Arwing, check your G-Diffuser, and strap in! We’re off to Venom, and nothing is going to stop us! That’s right, it’s time for us to take a journey into space in Smashterpiece #22: Star Fox 64. Miles Allen (AKA Solharath) joins us as we discuss one of the Nintendo 64’s most iconic rail shooters. How does playing on modern hardware (the Wii U or 3DS) compare to playing on the original console? How does the more arcade score attack style gameplay really benefit the game overall? And what about the Landmaster? All this and more in today’s episode!

Join us next time as we go on a journey to restore happiness and eat fruit in Smashterpiece #23: Yoshi’s Story

HARK! What’s that in the distance? A beep? Perhaps a boop? A buzz, even? Whatever you call it, the answer is that it’s a blast from the past! That’s right, it’s time to talk about Smashterpiece #21: Game & Watch Gallery, a Game Boy title released in 1997 pretending to be a handheld device released in 1980. What’s the history of the Game & Watch itself? What were our feelings when comparing this title’s Classic and Modern versions of the available games? Is there even any music worth talking about here? All this and more in today’s episode!

Join us next time when we jump into an Arwing and take off into space for Smashterpiece #22: Star Fox 64

We have arrived at the end of this journey, as Meteor approaches and the roar of Weapon can be heard in the distance. At long last our trip through Final Fantasy VII has come to a close, the planet is saved. Ultimately what did we think of a game often called one of the greatest JRPGs ever made? How do we feel about the final sequences, the trip down to Sephiroth, and the final battle with the one winged angel himself? What did Matt learn about the mess of a localization this game received in 1997? All this and more in today’s finale!

Join us in 2020 when we take a trip back to a world of LCD with Smashterpiece #21: Game & Watch Gallery

The end is in sight, but we still have a few loose ends left to tie up. As we journey, grieving and broken, it’s time to learn about who we really are and gear ourselves up to save the planet. This is our penultimate discussion on Smashterpiece #20: Final Fantasy VII, in which we finally take to the skies and then try to throw a rocket at a giant ball of magical energy in space. You know, your average every day stuff. How do we feel about the revelation of who Cloud really is? What did we think about what seemed to be Cid’s redemption arc? And who the hell is Reeve? All that and more in today’s episode!

Join us next time as we finally finish our journey, fighting one of the most famous final bosses in video game history.

Prep your tears and fuel up your broken airplanes, cause we’re back on the road and continuing our adventure through Smashterpiece #20: Final Fantasy VII! Today’s discussion takes us all the way to the end of disc one, featuring our final two party members, a ninja village, a romantic date, and one of the most famous deaths in all of gaming history. Who did we woo into going on a date through the Golden Saucer? Why couldn’t they have delayed Cid’s launch? What the hell is up with Cait Sith 2? How did the death of a party member make us feel? All that and more in today’s episode!

Join us next time as we seek revenge on Sephiroth, and attempt to stop the incoming apocalypse!

The adventure continues as we come back for the second part of our discussion on Smashterpiece #20: Final Fantasy VII. Come join us as we take our first steps onto the world map and finally begin exploring the wide world of Cloud and co! This episode covers the events from the end of Midgar to the end of Cosmo Canyon, and in that span of time we find ourselves hearing stories of the past, taming Chocobos, gambling our time away, and learning about the lifestream. What do we think of Sephiroth, possibly the most iconic villain in JRPG history? Why does Joe think the Chocobo Farm is running a grift? Cait Sith who? All that and more in today’s episode!

Join us next time as we continue our adventure to find Sephiroth and save the world!

At long last, the long awaited beginning of our journey is here! Time to get morally grey and bomb some reactors because I guess the planet is dying? Our new dad with a gun arm said so, so it must be true! That’s right, it’s finally time to talk about Smashterpiece #20: Final Fantasy VII. We’ve made it out of Midgar, which from what we’re told means the game’s really about to start. What do we think of the game’s intro? How do we like the materia system so far? How do the victory fanfares sound throughout the Final Fantasy franchise? All this and more in today’s episode!

Special thanks once again to Peter Spezia for editing assistance on this episode, we’ve basically hired him to help out from now on so hopefully things move smoother from here.

Join us next time as we travel into the wider world of FF7 and meet one of the most legendary villains in gaming history!

What’s that I see? Suddenly your features are so much more defined, so much bigger, so… polygonal! It might be because Smashterpieces has finally made their way into the third dimension with Smashterpiece #19, Super Mario 64. Join us, alongside NWR’s Jordan Rudek, as we discuss what may well be the most influential and historically significant video game ever made, one that wrote the book on 3D gaming and launched the industry into the future. What are some things about the game we think didn’t age so well? What are our favorite and least favorite worlds to explore? Why do we keep mentioning Croc? All this and more in today’s episode!

Special thanks to Peter Spezia for editing assistance on this episode!

Join us next time as we begin our journey to save the lifestream in Smashterpiece #20: Final Fantasy VII