“Good luck! You’ll need it!”

The twin-stick shooter never fully caught on in the arcade's golden age, and yet, some years after the beloved Robotron 2084, Eugene Jarvis and his team returned to that particular mechanical interface wellspring for another go round, with 1990's spiritual successor Smash TV. Leon, Jesse, Michiel and community contributors scream bloody murder at Smash TV's ultraviolent, loud, frenetic, brutal and relentless dystopian 1999 gameshow.

http://media.blubrry.com/caneandrinse/caneandrinse.com/podcast/cane_and_rinse_issue_659.mp3

 

Music featured in this issue:

1. Studio 1 by Jon Hey

edited by Jay TaylorYou can support Cane and Rinse and in return receive an often extended version of the podcast four weeks early, along with exclusive podcasts, if you subscribe to our Patreon for the minimum of $2 per month (+VAT). 

Do you have an opinion about a game we're covering that you'd like read on the podcast? Then venture over to our forum and check out the list of upcoming games we're covering. Whilst there you can join in the conversations with our friendly community in discussing all things relating to videogames, along with lots of other stuff too. Sound good? Then come and say hello at The Cane and Rinse forum

"Wake up little one. The corruption has emerged… The Unchosen is back!"

In this issue of Cane and Rinse, Chris, Jon, Leah and Sean discuss 2024's Minishoot' Adventures. A notable PC/Mac exclusive (at the time of recording), made by SoulGame Studio. This top-down action adventure borrows heavily from The Legend of Zelda and mixes it with bullet-dodging, dexterity-based gameplay normally found in bullet hell shoot 'em ups.

http://media.blubrry.com/caneandrinse/caneandrinse.com/podcast/cane_and_rinse_issue_658.mp3

 

Music featured in this issue:

1. Overworld by Séverin Larose2. Thunder Forest by Séverin Larose

edited by Jay TaylorYou can support Cane and Rinse and in return receive an often extended version of the podcast four weeks early, along with exclusive podcasts, if you subscribe to our Patreon for the minimum of $2 per month (+VAT). 

Do you have an opinion about a game we're covering that you'd like read on the podcast? Then venture over to our forum and check out the list of upcoming games we're covering. Whilst there you can join in the conversations with our friendly community in discussing all things relating to videogames, along with lots of other stuff too. Sound good? Then come and say hello at The Cane and Rinse forum

"We just gotta get to the vault, get the weapon, kick the Combine off Earth — super easy — and they're — and there's sandwiches, there's gonna be sandwiches…"

The oft-cited standard-bearer of VR gaming, Half-Life: Alyx offered gamers near total immersion in the Half-Life universe when many were experiencing the first Covid-19 lockdown. The game also carried the weight of being the first Half-Life game in 13 years, and the reason to purchase a Valve Index headset. Chris Worthington, Darren, James and Ryan discuss whether it bore all that weight.

http://media.blubrry.com/caneandrinse/caneandrinse.com/podcast/cane_and_rinse_issue_657.mp3

 

Music featured in this issue:

1. Exposing Hostile (Trailer Music) by Mike Morasky2. HIRE by Mike Morasky

edited by Jay TaylorYou can support Cane and Rinse and in return receive an often extended version of the podcast four weeks early, along with exclusive podcasts, if you subscribe to our Patreon for the minimum of $2 per month (+VAT). 

Do you have an opinion about a game we're covering that you'd like read on the podcast? Then venture over to our forum and check out the list of upcoming games we're covering. Whilst there you can join in the conversations with our friendly community in discussing all things relating to videogames, along with lots of other stuff too. Sound good? Then come and say hello at The Cane and Rinse forum

“Hi. Why are you here?”

Our Tony's nomination for the 14th year of podcasts is 2007's first-person survival horror, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl. Leon, Jon and James join him in immersing themselves in this notoriously demanding and spiky - if ultimately rewarding - FPS. We also hear tales from The Zone via our trusty community contributors.

http://media.blubrry.com/caneandrinse/caneandrinse.com/podcast/cane_and_rinse_issue_656.mp3

 

Music featured in this issue:

1. Main Menu by Vladimir "MoozE" Frey2. Dirge for the Planet by Firelake

edited by Jay TaylorYou can support Cane and Rinse and in return receive an often extended version of the podcast four weeks early, along with exclusive podcasts, if you subscribe to our Patreon for the minimum of $2 per month (+VAT). 

Do you have an opinion about a game we're covering that you'd like read on the podcast? Then venture over to our forum and check out the list of upcoming games we're covering. Whilst there you can join in the conversations with our friendly community in discussing all things relating to videogames, along with lots of other stuff too. Sound good? Then come and say hello at The Cane and Rinse forum

“Dear Player. You've come a long way, haven't you?”

Lead developer Andrew Shouldice stuffed every single corner of Tunic's world with secrets and mysteries, and created a wonderfully faithful, detailed and devious retro-style game manual to help and/or baffle players. Tom, Brian and Chris delve deep into this intriguing adventure, assessing its controversial combat and celebrated soundtrack.

http://media.blubrry.com/caneandrinse/caneandrinse.com/podcast/cane_and_rinse_issue_655.mp3

 

Music featured in this issue:

1. To Far Shores by Terence Lee/Janice Kwan2. The Captain by Terence Lee/Janice Kwan

edited by Jay TaylorYou can support Cane and Rinse and in return receive an often extended version of the podcast four weeks early, along with exclusive podcasts, if you subscribe to our Patreon for the minimum of $2 per month (+VAT). 

Do you have an opinion about a game we're covering that you'd like read on the podcast? Then venture over to our forum and check out the list of upcoming games we're covering. Whilst there you can join in the conversations with our friendly community in discussing all things relating to videogames, along with lots of other stuff too. Sound good? Then come and say hello at The Cane and Rinse forum

“It's big.”

Presented explicitly as the world's first "stupid game" or "baka game", Segare Ijiri is a pretty well known cultural touchstone in Japan, but virtually unknown outside of it, even among fans of Japanese gaming obscura. Michiel, Brian, Leah and Sean attempt to cross language and cultural barriers to delve into this strange piece of software... and surprisingly discover meaning in what was purposefully created as something meaningless.

http://media.blubrry.com/caneandrinse/caneandrinse.com/podcast/cane_and_rinse_issue_654.mp3

 

Music featured in this issue:

1. Home ~Your Condition~ by Kitune Akimoto2. Western (Save) ~GERONIMO~ by  Kitune Akimoto

edited by Jay TaylorYou can support Cane and Rinse and in return receive an often extended version of the podcast four weeks early, along with exclusive podcasts, if you subscribe to our Patreon for the minimum of $2 per month (+VAT). 

Do you have an opinion about a game we're covering that you'd like read on the podcast? Then venture over to our forum and check out the list of upcoming games we're covering. Whilst there you can join in the conversations with our friendly community in discussing all things relating to videogames, along with lots of other stuff too. Sound good? Then come and say hello at The Cane and Rinse forum

“Now you have a friend in the paper business.”

A vintage game about an anachronistic job delivering a dying medium. Atari's arcade hit Paperboy is 40! Leon, Brian, Chris Worthington, Dan and community contributors grip tasselled BMX handlebars and brave the gamut of suburban challenges faced daily by our intrepid news disseminator. As is the custom for these type of shows, we also hear of its many conversions, ports, spin-offs and sequels for home systems and handhelds.

http://media.blubrry.com/caneandrinse/caneandrinse.com/podcast/cane_and_rinse_issue_653.mp3

 

Music featured in this issue:1. Main Theme by Hal Canon/Earl Vickers2. Bonus Stage by Hal Canon/Earl Vickers

edited by Jay TaylorYou can support Cane and Rinse and in return receive an often extended version of the podcast four weeks early, along with exclusive podcasts, if you subscribe to our Patreon for the minimum of $2 per month (+VAT). 

Do you have an opinion about a game we're covering that you'd like read on the podcast? Then venture over to our forum and check out the list of upcoming games we're covering. Whilst there you can join in the conversations with our friendly community in discussing all things relating to videogames, along with lots of other stuff too. Sound good? Then come and say hello at The Cane and Rinse forum

"It is the year 1999, and our game development House, Koch Games, has been hired by The Oikospielen Opera to adapt the novel Tristram Shandy, into a computer 'eco opera' for a fee of infinity."

This week, Cane and Rinse is on strike! It is your choice whether you will salt or scab. Follow Ryan, Chris, James and Jon into the perplexing but provocative pillar of the modern videogame avant-garde, David Kanaga's enigmatic Oikospiel Book I. They discuss abstraction, labour rights, plunderludics, and whether or not it is ethical to make dogs write operas. It's an unusual podcast for an unusual game.

http://media.blubrry.com/caneandrinse/caneandrinse.com/podcast/cane_and_rinse_issue_652.mp3

 

Music featured in this issue:

1. Menu Hotel Elegy by David Kanaga2. First Choir Union by David Kanaga

edited by Ryan ZhaoYou can support Cane and Rinse and in return receive an often extended version of the podcast four weeks early, along with exclusive podcasts, if you subscribe to our Patreon for the minimum of $2 per month (+VAT). 

Do you have an opinion about a game we're covering that you'd like read on the podcast? Then venture over to our forum and check out the list of upcoming games we're covering. Whilst there you can join in the conversations with our friendly community in discussing all things relating to videogames, along with lots of other stuff too. Sound good? Then come and say hello at The Cane and Rinse forum

Back for a fourteenth year of deep-dive videogame review podcasts, and the first subject for 2025 is SEGA's Panzer Dragoon. Leon, Chris O'Regan, Chris Worthington and Michiel - along with contributions from the Cane and Rinse community - look back at the Saturn CD that spawned a four-game series of dragonborn blasters (and one RPG). Here we focus on the 30-year-old original, as well as its various ports and 2020 remake.

http://media.blubrry.com/caneandrinse/caneandrinse.com/podcast/cane_and_rinse_issue_651.mp3

 

Music featured in this issue:

1. Main Theme by Yoshitaka Azuma2 Raid by Yoshitaka Azuma

edited by Jay TaylorYou can support Cane and Rinse and in return receive an often extended version of the podcast four weeks early, along with exclusive podcasts, if you subscribe to our Patreon for the minimum of $2 per month (+VAT).

Do you have an opinion about a game we're covering that you'd like read on the podcast? Then venture over to our forum and check out the list of upcoming games we're covering. Whilst there you can join in the conversations with our friendly community in discussing all things relating to videogames, along with lots of other stuff too. Sound good? Then come and say hello at The Cane and Rinse forum

“Shouldn't have wished to live in more interesting times.”

We conclude our thirteenth year of podcasts by covering the all-conquering, 2023 game of the year awards-sweeping, Baldur's Gate III. Leon, Jay, Leah and Rich - along with contributions from the mighty Cane and Rinse community, attempt to do justice to - and even pick a few holes in - this cosmically well-regarded RPG. From our relationships with the characters, to our relationships with each other in co-op mode, and to our experiences with the deep and flexible gameplay systems, we endeavour to discuss as much of Larian's behemoth as possible.

http://media.blubrry.com/caneandrinse/caneandrinse.com/podcast/cane_and_rinse_issue_650.mp3

 

Music featured in this issue:

1. I Want To Live (Instrumental Version) by Borislav Slavov2. Main Theme by Borislav SlavovYou can support Cane and Rinse and in return receive an often extended version of the podcast four weeks early, along with exclusive podcasts, if you subscribe to our Patreon for the minimum of $2 per month (+VAT). 

Do you have an opinion about a game we're covering that you'd like read on the podcast? Then venture over to our forum and check out the list of upcoming games we're covering. Whilst there you can join in the conversations with our friendly community in discussing all things relating to videogames, along with lots of other stuff too. Sound good? Then come and say hello at The Cane and Rinse forum