Having stumbled upon a mysterious silver door hidden within an abandoned mining camp, the party ventures into an ancient ruin filled with deadly dangers.

"The Way Out", "Villainous Treachery"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Intro and Outro music:

"Furious Freak"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
Or download the podcast from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thebestgamesperiod

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Support us on Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/bestgamesperiod

The gang decides on their next course of action to defeat the dragon Fallowfell and stumble upon a mysterious hidden cave....

"Volatile Reaction"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Intro and Outro music:

"Furious Freak"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
Or download the podcast from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thebestgamesperiod

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Support us on Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/bestgamesperiod

This week we talk about Mario Party. It's a game about parties that has Mario in it. There are also other characters from Nintendo games.

Sometimes when you stare into the abyss, Mario Party stares back. 

Outro music: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars 'Mario's Tropical Paradise' by Dr. Fruitcake (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01108)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
Or download the podcast from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thebestgamesperiod

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Support us on Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/bestgamesperiod

League of Legends was once the most played and most popular game in the world. To this day, it enjoys a colossal following that most games can't even dream of matching. Jack dives into the history of the MOBA genre and discusses some of the game's best qualities and biggest faults. 

Outro music: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening 'Sweet Dreams, Koholint' by DaMonz, Christine Giguère, Denis Bluteau (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03825)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
Or download the podcast from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thebestgamesperiod

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Support us on Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/bestgamesperiod

Things were simpler in 1999. Everyone was worried about an apocalyptic computer clock error, people were obsessed with Tang and talking animal movies, and video game ads could still reach a mass market via television. And so it was that Super Smash Bros. initially introduced itself to a generation of gamers, four frolicking, bobble-headed mascots beating each other to the tune of "Happy Together" by The Turtles. The popular fighting game kicked off almost a decade of sequels with an ever expanding roster that includes the best characters not just from Nintendo but also the wider video game industry. 

So, let's look back on the game that started it all - is Super Smash Bros. one of the best games of all-time?

Outro music: Super Smash Bros. 'FALCON PUNCH' by Benjamin Briggs (http://ocremix.org/info/CEO_2015:_Champion)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
Or download the podcast from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thebestgamesperiod

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Support us on Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/bestgamesperiod

Wow, with all the hubbub around Pokémon Let's Go it can be easy to forget that the original games released 20 years ago (or 22 years ago in Japan)! The phenomenon of pocket monsters continues to this day and seems to be one of Nintendo's enduring juggernauts able to spin off into everything from disaster relief games to live-action sleuthing films. This week we invited Kevin Slackie on the show to talk about both the original Game Boy titles and their newest incarnation in Pokémon Let's Go! 

Outro music: Pokémon Red 'Moondrops' by Sockpuppet (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02514)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
Or download the podcast from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thebestgamesperiod

You can find Kevin Slackie on Twitter: @KSlackie

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Support us on Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/bestgamesperiod

The big things in Pokémon right now are the dual Pokémon titles: Pokémon Let's Go Eevee and Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu. The two games are remakes of the original Red, Blue, and Yellow generation of the Pokémon franchise with modern twists that incorporate streamlined elements from the Pokémon Go mobile game that swept across the globe. Naomi Lugo offers her thoughts on the two new games while also recalling what made the original generation so great and magical for an entire world of kids.

Outro music: Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow 'The Mighty Mighty Pokémon' by Level 99 (http://missingno.ocremix.org/music.html)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
Or download the podcast from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thebestgamesperiod

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Support us on Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/bestgamesperiod

The fifth generation of the Pokémon franchise did something unheard of - it had two direct sequels to the duo of games initially released. In 2011, Pokémon Black and White introduced the world the the new region of Unova, a land full of never before seen Pokémon. It also spun a tale involving the dastardly Team Plasma... that didn't completely end with the completion of either game. Instead, the story continued in Black 2 and White 2, arguably placing more emphasis on narrative than any Pokémon game before or since. 

Does the fifth generation of Pokémon stand as the best of them all?

This week the show is joined by O'Dell Harmon Jr.! You can (and should) follow him over on Twitter: @ODellHarmonJr

Be sure to check out his podcast, Full Circle, and his content on Game Fanatics!

Outro music: Pokémon X 'Thy Everlasting Winter Wind Blows' by timaeus222 (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03531)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
Or download the podcast from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thebestgamesperiod

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Support us on Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/bestgamesperiod

We've been trying to think of more things we could do specifically for the Patreon crowd and decided that we would start up a little series for the people who help us keep the lights on!
 
Enter what is being tentatively called Women & Tropes & Games.
 
Remember how a few years ago a pop culture critic decided to do a series of videos about tropes in video games as viewed through a feminist lens? Well, that conversation got really toxic for a long time, and five years later things seem to have cooled off. So, we're taking another look at the Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series!
 
Each episode of this series will zero in on one episode from the TvWiVG videos and try to break down the trope and talk a bit more in-depth about the specific points Ms. Sarkeesian is making and whether we agree or disagree. The videos were always intended to be a starting point for a larger discussion - hopefully you learn some things or find the conversations interesting!
 
This first episode will be available via the traditional channels, but after that we will be releasing them for patrons only (with maybe one or two exceptions down the road).
 
Y'all are fantastic and thank you so much for bearing with us as we continue on our podcasting adventure together.

The 1999 N64 release of Pokémon Snap catapulted it into instant cult classic status, a position that has only become more entrenched over time in the almost twenty years since its release. The on-rails photography game makes the case for an underused mechanic that still seems mysteriously underutilized today. It's a fascinating, strange, little game and it has had people wondering for over a decade why we aren't seeing more iterations on the core concept. 

However, is all of that uniqueness enough to make it one of the best games period? 

Outro music: Tyrants: Fight Through Time 'The Vast Glass Orb' by Inrudiment (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03806)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
Or download the podcast from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thebestgamesperiod

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Support us on Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/bestgamesperiod