The Retro Breakdown

The Retro Breakdown

By TimeWandererLeisureVideo Games
Download on the App Store

The Retro Breakdown episodes

  • Kirby's Dream Land 3 and the Sunshine Disappointment

    We've covered lots of obscure stuff on the podcast, so we decided to treat ourselves to a game with a bit more of a reputation, despite it not even being the best game in its own franchise on the SNES.


    There's lots of talk about weird dark Kirby lore, and the amusing introduction of ability combinations, many of which involve Kirby brutally torturing one of his animal friends (usually Kine). There is also a decent amount of getting angry about Heart Stars, because seriously what is the deal with Heart Stars why are they like this.

    TW's Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

    Kirby’s Dream Land 3 Manual: https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Nintendo_SNES/Manual/formated/Kirby-s_DreamLand_3_-_1997_-_Nintendo.pdf

    1 hr 51 min
  • Kick Bot and the Nouveau Retro

    In a first for the podcast, Dean and Tom review a NEW game! Two Scoop Games reached out to us about playing their new game Kick Bot, a two-button precision platformer built around wall kicks and double jumps.

    There's only an 8-level demo available right now, with the full release due out in early 2021, but there was still plenty here to discuss.


    DISCLOSURE: This is not a sponsored podcast, but we were given early access to the demo by the developers. We don't like the game because we have to, we like it because it's cool.

    You can wishlist or grab the demo for Kick Bot at https://store.steampowered.com/app/1136290/Kick_Bot/

    2 hr 2 min
  • Clash at Demonhead and the Best Ending Ever

    We field another request this week in the Vic Tokai cult classic Clash at Demonhead. This one had us talking about the wild nature of 1980s-90s video game localization, the absurdly ambitious design of some NES games, and of course, one of the most incredible bad ends in all of video games.

    There is also some Yakuza talk, and a bit about the results of Dean's most recent Kusogrande match.

    Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

    Clash at Demonhead Manual

    1 hr 58 min
  • Karnov and the Dial-up Internet Modem

    This week, Jessi makes us play Karnov, the game about the fire-breathing Soviet strongman who fights... I dunno, dragons? Dinosaurs? Whatever happens to be there. We discuss the... INTERESTING sound design, including the one pretty-good song and also all the other not-so-good stuff.


    Despite Karnov being sort of a standard-bearer for NES garbage, we sort of enjoyed it in a "generic NES platformer with weird design" kinda way. Also, we talk a little bit about the PS5 reveal.


    Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

    Karnov Manual: http://www.thegameisafootarcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Karnov-Game-Manual.pdf

    1 hr 26 min
  • Illusion of Gaia and the Loss of Innocence

    We try out a new format this week - no random banter, just Retro Breakdown.


    Which is good, because Illusion of Gaia has a LOT to talk about. Even the instruction manual refers to spoilers as a "loss of innocence." Now I understand why. This game has some STUFF.

    Fair warning - and this applies to basically all of these podcasts - spoilers are basically happening throughout the episode. If you care at all about playing this game fresh (and I think you should!), be warned.

    Hang out with us on Discord!

    Illusion of Gaia Manual

    Dean's IoG playthrough on YouTube


    1 hr 51 min
  • Shadow of the Ninja and the Avengers Anthem

    We start with light breathing.


    Then, Tom shares his recent not-so-guilty pleasure, Dean gets mad at Nintendo for inevitably ending up with his money even though he hates what they're doing with the Mario 3D All-Stars collection, and the guys diverge on Shadow of the Ninja.

    Shadow of the Ninja is a 1990 platformer for the NES by Natsume that is derivative but solid. After some discussion (and a little ranting), they end up with different final impressions of it, but we can both agree that the soundtrack is AWESOME.

    We don't mention him by name in the podcast, but the game was scored by Iku Mizutani, a former Konami employee who also did the music for the original Metal Gear.

    Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

    Shadow of the Ninja Manual: https://www.retrogames.cz/manualy/NES/Shadow_of_the_Ninja_-_NES_-_Manual.pdf

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_the_Ninja

    2 hr 33 min
  • Operation Logic Bomb and the Woke Battletoads

    If you've ever wanted to hear two people start a discussion about a game by saying, "There isn't anything about it that's really bad," but then dump on it for the next 45 minutes anyway, this is your episode.


    Jump Force, Dragon Quest spinoffs, Battletoads, and Triscuits share the spotlight this week on the Retro Breakdown. Tom talks about the games he's been dusting off to finish, and Dean gushes about the new Battletoads reboot and its ability to do every genre reasonably well.

    Afterwards, we jump into a breakdown of Operation Logic Bomb, which gets deemed "the okayest game I've ever played."

    2 hr 12 min
  • Action Man: Robot Atak and the Trouble with Airplanes

    Thought experiment of the week: Is "not as bad as you thought" a negative review or a positive one?


    Tom and Dean talk about SGDQ, the massive original Xbox controller, and briefly touch on the new Battletoads, amidst a rant about how much we hate modern airline travel.

    Then, we discuss UK-only release Action Man: Robot Atak, a game which has us digging into the history a 1960s line of European G.I. Joe-like toys... and the unfortunate two-season animated series it spawned in 2000. Along the way, we will discuss how many checkpoints is too many checkpoints, and how this game found that line and then tripled it.


    Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

    About Action Man: https://actionman.fandom.com/wiki/Action_Man_Wiki

    2 hr 24 min
  • Vice: Project Doom and the Hero/Villain Longevity Theory

    "What the..."


    Dean and Tom discuss Vice: Project Doom, a NES game that is all over the place on the quality scale. We've got aliens, clones, genetic experiments, shadowy organizations, and a hilariously threadbare plot trying but failing to hold it all together. Will we, in fact, live long enough to see ourselves become the villain?

    Also, hey Sega, please localize Yakuza Ishin. It might be the only thing that gets Dean to stop talking about Fall Guys.

    2 hr 16 min
  • Gunstar Heroes and the Good Licensed Trash

    Tom and Dean come into the podcast this week prepared to give lukewarm reviews on Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, but then hype each other up remembering it and totally change their minds.


    But before that, Tom talks about the PS4 Spider-Man game and the change in how licensed games have been handled in recent years, and Dean defends old trashy licensed games because he's doing sorta good in Kusogrande.

    Discord: https://discord.gg/dTrBruG

    This week’s instruction manual: https://manuals.sega.com/genesismini/

    2 hr 16 min

About The Retro Breakdown

From the publisher's feed

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…