Looks like it's time to dust off my origami skills because this week's episode is all about Paper Mario, specifically the first Paper Mario game for the N64. Joining me to make some paper airplanes are returning friends to the show Nerdbomber and Techtic from the Online Warriors Podcast. For all of us, this was our first experience with the Paper Mario series and we had a great time getting to discuss this game. We talk about the history of the game's development, our perceptions of the game going into playing it for the first time, how it holds up now and much more!

Follow Nerdbomber on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/ownerdbomber.bsky.social

Follow Techtic on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/techtic.bsky.social

Follow The Online Warriors on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/onlinewarriors.bsky.social

Shout-out Song: Story of the Stolen Spirits Artist: Snore Lax Album: N/A https://gamechops.com/papermario/

End Song: Toad Town Remix Artist: Player2 & Equalyze Album: N/A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWCXSMvp5Xo

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

Want to buy some Still Loading merch? https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

MARIO MONTH IS BACK! This year's theme is all RPGs! For the next 5 weeks I will be diving into a different Mario RPG game and of course I had to start off the the original Mario RPG game, Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars.

Joining me to explore Mario's first foray into the RPG genre are friends of the show Matt Storm from Fun and Games Podcast and Eric Gess from the Unlockables Podcast. We discuss this game's legacy, how it setup Mario for future RPG games, why Booster absolutely rules and of course Yoko Shimomura's legendary soundtrack.

Follow Matt on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/djstormageddon.com

Follow Fun and Games Podcast on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/funandgamespod.bsky.social

Follow Reignite Pod on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/reignitepod.bsky.social

Follow Eric on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/unlockables.bsky.social

Shout-out Song: Yoshi Island Artist: Doni Album: Goombette https://gamechops.com/goombette/

End Song: Super Mega Ultra Pipe House [Super Mario RPG - Super Pipe House] Artist: DDRKirby(ISQ) Album: Remixes - Volume 1 https://ddrkirbyisq.bandcamp.com/album/remixes-volume-1

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

Want to buy some Still Loading merch? https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Portal is a triumph of a game and many a note has been written on it's huge success.

Ok enough of that. We are here this week to talk about Portal! The legendary first person puzzle game from Valve. I'm joined by returning guest to the show Andrew Kinsey from The EXP Point but we are ALSO joined by Pilisa Mackey, another EXP Point member and it is their first time on the show! We talk about how we all got into Portal, how the game teaches you to think in Portals, some history surrounding the game and how pervasive it was in gaming culture for a long time and still is to some extent. This one was a long time coming and I am so happy I finally covered Portal on the show!

Follow The EXP Point on BlueSky! https://bsky.app/profile/theexppoint.bsky.social

Follow Pilisa on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/cutiepiepichan/

Shout-out Song: Portal Radio Loop Artist: Jonathan Coulton Album: Portal OST https://youtu.be/jcxeENnM0yI?si=9MCP2f2ISWVvxPmr

End Song: Still Alive - Raddox Remix Artist: Raddox Album: N/A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLKKYbADEYk

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

Want to buy some Still Loading merch? https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

16 bit JRPGs are a bit of a nostalgia spot for me. I would actually classify it as more of misplaced nostalgia in that I didn't play a lot of them growing up but playing them now makes me feel nostalgic anyway. This week on the show I was lucky enough to get a review copy of a recently released indie game that takes inspiration from the 16 bit JRPG style.

I'm joined by Sam AKA Storm Beagle to talk about Beloved Rapture, an RPG made in the style of a 16 bit JRPG. He discuss what this game does to stand out compared to other games of it's kind, how effective it's story is, it's battle mechanics and we also debate if the phrase "You silver haired fuck" is a good line or not. As a small spoiler, this game kinda rules and you should go play it, but if you'd like to hear more about it, give this episode a listen!

Check out the Retrotopia Podcast! https://linktr.ee/retrotopia

Follow Storm Beagle on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/st0rm_beagle/

Check out Beloved Rapture on Steam! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2017620/Beloved_Rapture/

Shout-out Song: A Day of Languor Composer: Andreas Kotsamanidis Album: Beloved Rapture OST https://youtu.be/2ysmFcqE8h4?si=-HYpWK8g1wjPZe9S

End Song: Sword in Hand Composer: Andreas Kotsamanidis Album: Beloved Rapture OST https://youtu.be/aO5Y4pzPanw?si=VTzImUj95sFUZFMh

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

Want to buy some Still Loading merch? https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Zelda two months in a row!? Dexter and I are joined by actor and filmmaker Chris Carpenter to talk about episode 6 of the Legend of Zelda cartoon, That Sinking Feeling. We learn about how the Mario Bros have a pet clog.... named clog. We also learn that magnets work very differently than we expect and that Zelda is DTF when a cupid statue is present.

Follow Chris on social media! Instagram BlueSky

Follow Dexter on social media! Instagram BlueSky

Shout-out Song: Dark World Artist: Mikel Album: Zelda & Chill https://gamechops.com/zelda-and-chill/

End Song: The Legend of Zelda Artist: Helynt Album: Legend of Synthwave https://gamechops.com/synthwave/

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

Strategy guides were a huge part of many a gamers' childhood. I read my strategy guide for Final Fantasy VIII so much that the spine started falling apart. These books felt like we were getting a peak behind the scenes of how the game's inner workings actually functioned. To help us peak further behind that curtain, I am joined this week by David Cassady.

David worked at Brady Games and Prima Games during their heyday and wrote some of our favorite strategy guides. Guides such as Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Kingdom Hearts 2, Metroid Prime and many more! We talked about how he got into writing guides, what the process of writing them was, unexpected challenges and much more!

Follow David on Threads! https://www.threads.net/@dacassady

Shout-out Song: Balamb Garden Artist: Rifti Beats Album: Chocobo & Chill https://gamechops.com/chocobo/

End Song: Gold Saucer Artist: Rifti Beats Album: Chocobo & Chill II https://gamechops.com/chocobo-and-chill-2/

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

The Last Guardian has been on my backlog list for quite a while and never got around to it until now. I'm joined by friend of the show Dave Jackson from Tales From the Backlog to discuss the third game in this makeshift trilogy from Fumita Ueda. Ueda has a very different approach to game design compared to the rest of the industry and Dave and I had a great time being able to break this one down. We discuss how this game doesn't respect your time and why that's a good thing in this instance, why Trico is such an amazing character, the world building and lots more!

Follow Dave on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social

Shout-out Song: Forest Composer: Takeshi Furukawa Performed by: Billy Qvarnström Album: N/A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ8SHHMCpno

End Song: Epilogue Composer: Takeshi Furukawa Performed by: Auri Forda Album: N/A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tcUIhYCgiA

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

Want to buy some Still Loading merch? https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Some games burn brightly and flame out. Others have a long tail where people are consistently discovering it years after it launched. Everquest is one of those odd cases where both of those outcomes are true.

Joining me today is author and tech journalist Matt Smith to talk about his recently released book from Boss Fight Books all about Everquest. We talk about why he chose to write about Everquest, what about the game captivated him back in the day and presently, Everquest's place in game history and how it could have possibly been saved from the juggernaut that was World of Warcraft.

Follow Matt on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/mattontech.bsky.social

Check out Matt's website! https://mattontech.me/

Buy Matt's book on Everquest! https://bossfightbooks.com/products/everquest-by-matthew-s-smith

Shout-out Song: Everquest Opening Theme Artist: Jay Barbeau Album: Everquest Soundtrack https://youtu.be/AKj36GJj_i8?si=CLx3VEeWKXgw7XbC

End Song: Kelethin (2.0) Artist: Jay Barbeau Album: Everquest Soundtrack https://youtu.be/KKtPUcmu9kI?si=WbUKzzySOVFubWit

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

You know... I am not a fan of this Zelda cartoon. And just when I think Link can't get more problematic he finds a way. We are of course talking about episode 5 of the Legend of Zelda Cartoon, "Sing for the Unicorn". I am, as always, joined by my co-host with the mo-host Dexter Morrill to break it down. We talk about Link being more creepy than before, how Gannon likes to name various things, the opposite of the evil jar and much more!

Follow Dexter on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/dextermorrill.bsky.social

Shout-out Song: The Legend of Lofi Artist: Dj Cutman & James Landino Album: N/A https://gamechops.com/legend-of-lofi/

End Song: Song of Storms Artist: Tudd & General Offensive Album: N/A https://gamechops.com/storms/

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

Kicking off 2025 I am joined by my good friend Gabe Swarr to talk about a series of indie games he has made called the Bub-O games! The newest game in the series, Bub-O Burst, just came out so I wanted to have Gabe on to talk about his charming puzzle/action series! We are also joined by the composer for Bub-O Burst, a chiptune music legend, Seth Sternberger of 8 Bit Weapon!

We talk about the all of the games in the Bub-O series, what it was like to shift gears to a slightly different genre for this new entry, it's music (which Seth goes into detail about it is quite possibly the first ever roguelike soundtrack for a game?) and much more!

Check out Bub-O Burst!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2968880/BubO_Burst/

Follow Gabe on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/gabeswarr.bsky.social

Follow Seth on Twitter! https://x.com/8bitweapon

Check out Gabe's website! https://www.gabeswarr.com/

Check out 8 Bit Weapon's website! https://8bitweapon.com/

Shout-out Song: Bub-Burst Artist: Seth Sternberger Album: N/A https://www.gabeswarr.com/game

End Song: Chip on Your Shoulder Artist: 8 Bit Weapon Album: Chiptopia - Best of 8 Bit Weapon and ComputeHer https://8bitweapon.bandcamp.com/album/chiptopia-the-best-of-8-bit-weapon-computeher

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod