The Retro Breakdown

By TimeWanderer

Every week, Dean (twitch.tv/timewanderer) and Tom discuss current gaming news, and then check out some old (or sometimes new) piece of gaming history to see how it holds up, and test the strength of n... more

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FAQs about The Retro Breakdown:

How many episodes does The Retro Breakdown have?

The podcast currently has 279 episodes available.

The Retro Breakdown episodes:

January 11, 2022 MUSHA (Genesis) and the Sonic Boom Bait
Sorry everyone, I didn't feel like tracking down an MP3 of Sonic Boom, so you're just getting game music. But if Jessi and I actually do a Sonic CD episode, we'll get it in there!

In the meantime, you can just listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnVboYhEe5Q
Anyway, Tom is back this week, and we dig into our first game from the Switch Online's Genesis collection, *checks notes* "Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor," or MUSHA. It's a scrolling shooter with mechs and stuff. So that's neat.

Send us an email to read on the show! [email protected]
TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG
Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer
TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer
...more
1h 55min
January 04, 2022 Sonic 3 & Knuckles (Genesis) and the 2022 Game Preview feat. Jessi!
TW's wife Jessi (@lavieclarinette) guest-hosts on the first podcast of 2022, as we tackle Sonic 3 & Knuckles (kinda) for the first time!

We didn't really have to ask each other how our holidays were, since we were actually there for it. So instead, we look ahead to upcoming 2022 releases and talk about what we're excited for!
More guest hosts are scheduled for the future, but Tom should be back next week!
Send us an email to read on the show! [email protected]
TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG
Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer
TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer
...more
2h 2min
December 28, 2021 The 2021 Retro Breakdown Tier List
IT IS TIME! Our year-end episode where we take every game we did for the podcast in 2021, and rank them on a tier list.

From Startropics to Home Alone, every game goes into one of five categories based on how strongly we would recommend someone actually play them yourself. Also, look for the video version on YouTube!

Thanks for a great 2021, we'll see you again next year!

Send us an email to read on the show! [email protected]
TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG
Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer
TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer
...more
2h 44min
December 21, 2021 Home Alone (SNES) and the New Holiday Tradition
Well, we have now played a Home Alone game in consecutive Decembers, and that now means that it is a set-in-stone tradition that nobody can ever disrespect or refuse to acknowledge because that's how traditions work. You do something more than once and then everyone has to do it forever, right?

We also discuss the weirdest games we can recommend, and Tom's dreams of the destructible environment future.

Send us an email to read on the show! [email protected]
TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG
Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer
TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer
...more
1h 48min
December 14, 2021 Actraiser (SNES) and the Rabi-Ribi Recap
TW recaps the end of Rabi-Ribi, the YouTube-exclusive series he's been playing, and begs the developers to give those girls some pants, while Tom is playing through Dragon Quest 11 in the 2D demake mode.
Actraiser, meanwhile, is the third Quintet game we've played on the podcast, and also the first for that studio! It is a bizarre combination of Castlevania platforming and city-building simulator, and it's definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Which is to say the parts are kinda bad, but the game really isn't!
Send us an email to read on the show! [email protected]
TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG
Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer
TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer
...more
1h 53min
December 07, 2021 Ecco the Dolphin (Genesis) and the Horrors of John C. Lilly
This week, everyone learns way more than they ever wanted to about a neuroscientist who took a bunch of LSD and tried to get dolphins to communicate with aliens.
Which is somehow less weird than the ACTUAL plot of Ecco the Dolphin, a game everyone thought was about swimming around with your dolphin buddies, but is actually a horror story about aliens harvesting all life on Earth to turn it into a meat milkshake.
Also, I guess there's a Chrono Cross remake in the works, so that's pretty cool maybe!
Send us an email to read on the show! [email protected]
TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG
Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer
TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer
...more
1h 58min
November 30, 2021 Yoshi's Story (N64) and the Shanghai Airport
Stories of awful travel experiences, games we liked but didn't expect to, and of course, me intentionally mispronouncing my wife's username feature today.

Yoshi's Story is both a good game and also a bad game, with a structure that is unique, interesting, ambitious, and pretty much terrible. I don't know, it's hard to say it's bad, but it's just... I dunno, just listen to the episode, you'll see.

Send us an email to read on the show! [email protected]
TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG
Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer
TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer
...more
1h 41min
November 23, 2021 Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (PC Engine) and the New Popeye Game
Why is there a new Popeye game? Why is it like that? Why does it cost TWELVE DOLLARS? We may never know the answer, except that we already do, because it's "money."
Anyway, here's a classic Castlevania game that bridges the gap between the classic stage-based platformers and the later titles that made "Metroidvania" into a term. No, I will not call it Search Action.
If you play this game, do yourself a favor and play as Maria. Girl is OP.
Send us an email to read on the show! [email protected]
TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG
Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer
TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer
...more
1h 35min
November 16, 2021 Super Metroid/A Link to the Past Crossover Randomizer (SNES) and the Lost Judgment Difference
TW recaps his Extra Life charity stream and attempts to explain why it has taken so absurdly long to finish Lost Judgment, and somehow we end up talking about Mario Odyssey?

Thanks to Swoggles for this week's "Bait Mail" on how to introduce a new gamer to classic/retro games!
Send us an email to read on the show! [email protected]
TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG
Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer
TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer
...more
2h 16min
November 09, 2021 Fire n' Ice (NES) and the EA NFT Dystopia
A change of gears into a bizarre-but-fun puzzle game that Nintendo decided to drop on its NES Online platform a few months ago. It's hard to really recommend it, but we try anyway.

Oh, by the way, this game is Solomon's Key 2 (the prequel), but they didn't call it that in North America for reasons we don't entirely understand.

Also, we talk about NFTs and establish that if you think you understand it but you're still confused, that actually means you understand it perfectly because it actually makes no sense and nobody can defend it. So naturally Electronic Arts will be investing in it.

Send us an email to read on the show! [email protected]
TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG
Podcast games streamed live at: twitch.tv/timewanderer
TW on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/timewanderer
...more
2h 27min

FAQs about The Retro Breakdown:

How many episodes does The Retro Breakdown have?

The podcast currently has 279 episodes available.