The Kataban Podcast

Sega's Golden Axe hit Japanese arcades in January 1989: a barbarian, an amazon and a dwarf against Death Adder. Thirty-seven years later, the guy named Ax still carries a sword.

Emily and James talk about kicking blue thieves for magic pots, a riding monster borrowed from Altered Beast, a village on a giant turtle, where those famous screams really came from, the uncut version that never left Japan, and the sequel America could only download. Also, James's mom can't remember what her arcade game was called.

Chapters

(00:00) James's mom forgot her sword game

(00:39) What kind of game is it?

(02:03) Blue thieves and magic pots

(02:40) Ax Battler doesn't have an axe

(03:20) Chicken Leg and the turtle village

(04:02) Where the screams really came from

(04:51) The arcade ending and the home versions

(06:00) Golden Axe III and the spin-offs

(07:06) Back as a cartoon

(07:29) What the title means, and the verdict

Read more about the original Japanese releases:

https://gamekataban.com/blog/2026-08-21-golden-axe-anime-jp-data.html?ref=podcast

Voices in this show are AI-generated.

Fire Emblem began on the Famicom in 1990 — and its first six games never left Japan. The West started at game number seven and didn't know it.

Emily and James talk about soldiers who stay dead, swords that break, the two sword guys in Smash Bros. nobody recognized, the Super Famicom game where your soldiers' kids inherit the war, and the year Nintendo nearly ended the series. Also, James's mom can't remember what her strategy game was called.

Chapters

(00:00) James's mom forgot her strategy game

(00:39) What kind of game is it?

(01:44) The reset, and swords that break

(02:24) Six games that never left Japan

(03:17) Marth and Roy, the strangers in Smash Bros.

(04:37) Gaiden and Mystery of the Emblem

(05:19) Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776

(06:27) The year the series almost ended

(07:14) The opera commercial and the new game

(07:40) What the title means, and the verdict

Read more about the original Japanese cartridges:

https://gamekataban.com/blog/2026-08-18-fire-emblem-famicom-super-famicom-origins.html?ref=podcast

Voices in this show are AI-generated.

In 1993, Konami released Castlevania: Rondo of Blood on the PC Engine CD — and for fourteen years, it stayed in Japan.

Alice and Brian talk about a spooky German intro, a twelve-year-old with doves who outplays the hero, the joke game that boots when you use the wrong System Card, and how its last fight became the opening of Symphony of the Night. Also, Brian's mom can't remember which Castlevania she played.

Chapters

(00:00) Brian's mom forgot which Castlevania

(00:38) What kind of game is it?

(01:54) The German intro and the Super Nintendo cousin

(03:07) Maria, the twelve-year-old with doves

(04:16) Symphony of the Night and the people who made both

(05:37) The wrong System Card and the joke game

(06:21) Every way it came back

(07:12) This month's new Castlevania

(07:35) What the Japanese title really says, and the verdict

Read more about the original Japanese disc:

https://gamekataban.com/blog/2026-09-24-castlevania-development-history-2.html?ref=podcast

Voices in this show are AI-generated.

In 1994, SNK put a stretchy-armed bounty hunter game in arcades, then on a cartridge that cost more than a console. It charted, it was re-released for thirty years, and it never got a sequel.

Ray and Jay talk about Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy: two lanes to hop between, chains that might drop a bomb, fireball motions in a side-scroller, and why everyone keeps comparing it to Metal Slug. Also, Jay asked his mom again.

Read more about the original Japanese cartridge:

https://gamekataban.com/blog/2026-09-20-top-hunter-neo-geo-aes-ngh-046.html?ref=podcast

Voices in this show are AI-generated.

In 1992, with Street Fighter II in every arcade, SNK released a beat-'em-up about punching mutants in the year 2050. It charted, it reviewed well, and it never got a sequel.

Ray and Jay talk about Mutation Nation: four elemental spheres, a character select screen with nothing to select, a hero who looks a lot like Kyo Kusanagi, and why SNK walked away from brawlers. Also, Jay's mom can't remember what the game is called.

Read more about the original Japanese cartridge:

https://gamekataban.com/blog/2026-09-19-mutation-nation-neo-geo-aes-ngh-014.html?ref=podcast

Voices in this show are AI-generated.

In 1996, a tiny Osaka studio called Nazca released two games. One was Metal Slug. The other was a golf game.

Ray and Jay talk about Neo Turf Masters: two-click swings, six golfers from six countries, brutal wind, why it never got a sequel, and its surprise return at Tokyo Game Show 2026.

Read more about the original Japanese cartridge:

https://gamekataban.com/blog/2026-09-18-neo-turf-masters-neo-geo-aes-ngh-200.html?ref=podcast

Voices in this show are AI-generated.