The Retro Breakdown

This week, Dean refuses to stop saying "Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden," Tom wants everyone to feel sad, and the guys record a 3-hour podcast after deleting the first 2 hours of aimless conversation. Calculated.

We discuss what it means to be a "retro" game, the "right" way to release content over time, and the difference between series reboots that try to "remake" their franchise versus "re-imagining" them (and which one the new Battletoads game will be).

Later, we trash Final Fantasy Adventure before ultimately admitting we both loved it, 80-page manual, spotty localization, confusing "puzzles," and all. Honestly, this might just be a pretty good off-brand Zelda game.

Then we talk about Demon's Crest, the game with the raddest title screen of all time, but the WORST final boss. This game seriously sent us on a rollercoaster of opinions.

This week, Tom and Dean discuss the merits of the modern game review and Ghost of Tsushima before diving into Rygar for the NES! Rygar brings us to discussions on the importance of instruction manuals on old games, checkpointing vs. long-term saves, and making blind exploration worth your time. Also, behold what may be the WORST GAME MUSIC TRACK OF ALL TIME. We also talk about how bizarre the actual instruction manual is (it's the source of this episode's title). You can check it out for yourself right here: http://www.thegameisafootarcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Rygar-Game-Manual.pdf

In the first episode of The Retro Breakdown, Dean and Tom discuss oft-overlooked SNK classic Crystalis, but disagree on how to pronounce it. How do we go from killing dragons to killing robots and computers? INSTANTAEOUSLY, APPARENTLY.

Also, every gaming company has a Direct for marketing now, even Stadia, even though they had nothing to announce. Attempts to discuss the Ubisoft "Forward" were met with tangents on talking about literally anything else.

There's a Lego NES set and it seems pretty dope, though.