Them Sweet Game Boys

In a brand new endeavor from Them Sweet Boys, Ethan and a different Joe are beginning a deep dive into the great Nintendo plumber himself, Mario. We are going to talk about everything Mario, and work our way through his catalogue of games. This week, we talk about Mario in general, his impact on Nintendo as a burgeoning arcade and console gaming developer in the 1980s, and the first four major titles in which Mario plays a prominent part in: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Mario Bros, and Wrecking Crew (okay we know the last was mainly an NES game but its not gonna get its own episode!). 

Ethan and Joe grab their nails and venture into the hidden depths of Hollow Nest on a grand bug adventure in Team Cherry's 2017 indie darling, Hollow Knight. Them Sweet Boys get absorbed into an excellently crafted world, fun Metroidvania gameplay, and the tense duel combat that Hollow Knight brings to the table. We also ask stupid questions about Grandpas erupting into spiders...so there's that too. 

Get ready to cry for your 9 foot tall mommy as Them Sweet Boys tackle the new Spook em' Up from Capcom. Joe and "ETHAN!" decide to tackle the new hotness with Resident Evil Village, the 8th numbered installment in the now yearly Resident Evil/Biohazard franchise. We talk about the hype, the gameplay, how sometimes good enemy and location design really does make or break a game. Will Ethan and Joe come out the other side of this monster mash shooting gallery with good opinions intact? Find out in a very meandering but spicy episode. 

C'mon Boy! Them Sweet Boys declare a war on long narrative driven games in favor of tight arcade run-n-gun action. Metal Slug 3 is a 2000 run-n-gun platformer created by SNK for arcade consoles and the Neo Geo, and is a personal arcade favorite of both Joe and Ethan. While the difficult and punishing gameplay might make players run home to their mommies, Joe and Ethan cheat their asses off to beat this retro-tough game. Come for the beautiful sprite art and tight design, stay for some particularly animated reminiscing about arcades. As a bonus, we also rank the first set of games that we have covered for the podcast.

Them Sweet Boys are back again, this time looking at a new entry in a beloved platforming series. We spend a good while discussing the history of Crash Bandicoot and our experience with the brainless marsupial. Do those sweet silly boys enjoy this thicc retcon of Crash lore? Can we conquer the overly difficult platforming? Does Ethan stumble over nearly every sentence? Please listen to find out!

In a long overdue second take, Them Sweet Shinobi boys take on 2019's hardest game with Sekiro: Shadow's Die Twice. 

In a change of pace, Them Sweet Boys discuss six games from their childhood that they love but time has relatively forgotten. In a lot more casual and freeform a discussion, Ethan and Joe discuss the following...Iggy's Reckin' Balls (N64), Prehistorik Man (SNES), Mission Impossible (N64), Space Station Silicon Valley (N64), James Pond: Operation Robocod (SNES), and Super Punch Out! (SNES). If you like this format, let us know, as we would love to do this again in the future. 

Them Sweet Boys don their leather gloves, pack their silver ballers, and go globetrotting with murderous intent! This time they are reviewing Hitman III, the latest installment in the Hitman series, and the triumphant climax of the "World of Assassination" trilogy. How does Agent 47 fare in the newest console generation? Is this something new and exciting, or a mere "season 3" of content? We also discuss our general love of this series as a whole, and where we hope it goes from here. 

In yet another shift in scheduling, this will be the final episode for Legend of Dragoon, covering Disc 3, Disc 4, and our wrap up thoughts on this gem of a JRPG. Marvel at Ethan barely masking his apathy, and Joe keeping the ship afloat like a true sweet boy. With this episode we are ending our first baby season, taking a three week break, and we will be back in March with more sweet boy fun and adventure. 

Here we are with part 2 of 4 episodes on The Legend of Dragoon. The next episodes will come out on a weekly basis versus a bi-weekly basis, as we decided after recording to give ourselves some time to play a new game, but didn't want to leave your hanging for a month to get the full Legend of Dragoon experience. This episode covers the entirety of disc 2; all I'll say is that I hope you like bandits!