Video Wizards Podcast

Follow us to 1983 for our very first springtime seasonal show! Star Wars is on the brain of George Lucas, President Ronnie and Atari in a chaotic period underlined with nuclear threat.

And speaking of our good friends, a full on tanking of the North American video game crash, also known as the ‘Atari Shock’ is approaching fast, but that doesn’t stop promising and plucky upstart developers from putting out stone cold classic arcade games. Future Capcom legends Fujiwara and Okomoto see their early works released under the Konami banner with Roc’n Rope and Gyruss, respectively. And one Shigeru Miyamoto’s regular old Mario Bros. lands on arcade floors as well. Namco puts out Mappy, SEGA releases the perhaps slightly vindictive Congo Bongo, the Gottlieb massive try their hand at a movie licensed effort in the shape of Krull and Atari hits us with the somewhat questionable food fight and the admittedly pretty stellar and unforgettable Star Wars arcade game.

At home, meanwhile, the consoles are more or less in their death throes, but in our part of the world, computers like the ZX Spectrum, Commodore C64 and MSX are simultaneously creeping on a come up of becoming the bedroom gaming format of choice.

Movie theaters are blessed with remarkable silver screen showings of absurdist philosophy, helicopters and galaxies far, far away and when we turn our ears to the streets and charts, we are met with a rich sonic tapestry of early hip-hop, metal from Maiden and a huge range of diverse pop music.

It all makes for a mad new instalment of this podcast series of ours. Get comfortable and brace yourself for a regular range of concussive blasts from the 1983 past!

Show theme tune: NEON CITY, composed by Ed 「イートレム」 Tremblay for Mudprints Music and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2019 Mudprints Music, all rights reserved.

Welcome to the Video Wizards News Network composed by Riff Mason and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2023 Riff Mason, all rights reserved.

Baller of the Month Jingle composed by Yuli Anna and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2022 Yuli Anna, all rights reserved.

Simone Angel 80s Theme by Simone Angel and Riff Mason ©2025

Other music used in this episode:

Episode edited by: Juli Reed & Michiel Kroder

And finally: our special thanks to Andy Hofle.

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Android, Google Podcasts, Player FM or via RSS.

Follow us into the winter of ’88 going into ’89 as we step into the final year of the decade and bid adieu to President Ronnie when he exits the White House.

In the arcades, fists are flying with the likes of Technōs’ sequel to Double Dragon, SNK’s third Ikari Warriors game and SEGA’s pretty spectacular Wrestle War. SEGA also release the hyper innovative tactical shooter Gain Ground and present an alternative Wonder Boy III by Westone that feels like a bit of a throwback to the first game in its oh so confusing series. There is of course more, but maybe most notable of all is that Namco drop a polygonal racer that eclipses Atari’s Hard Drivin’ in just about any way, with Winning Run. And they do it in the very same time period!

At home, it’s all about computer gaming, but SEGA and Nintendo’s 8-bit gaming consoles are creeping on a come up in Europe, with especially the NES getting a real heavy hitter that goes by the curious name of Castlevania.

With the end of the decade nigh, the music charts and even the Metal scene make for a real uneven, but not entirely uninteresting hodge podge of musical output. On the other hand, the genre of Hip-Hop enters the second year of its first real golden era, as N.W.A., De La Soul and 2 Live Crew enter the stage while making major impact.

In movie theaters, excited silver screen enjoyers get to viddy a variety of Guns, from the Young to the Naked variety, while The Living Dead unfortunately return a second time, for a bit of fairly redundant horror schlock.

While this episode has a bit of chronological overlap with episode 1 of Video Wizards, you’ll find that there is very little redundant about this latest monster in nostalgic, retrospective and reflective podcasting fun.

Show theme tune: NEON CITY, composed by Ed 「イートレム」 Tremblay for Mudprints Music and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2019 Mudprints Music, all rights reserved.

Welcome to the Video Wizards News Network composed by Riff Mason and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2023 Riff Mason, all rights reserved.

Baller of the Month Jingle composed by Yuli Anna and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2022 Yuli Anna, all rights reserved.

Other music used in this episode:

Episode edited by: Juli Reed & Michiel Kroder

And finally: our special thanks to Andy Hofle.

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Android, Google Podcasts, Player FM or via RSS.

Let us take you with us to the turbulent autumn period of 1991 in this new and improved seasonal Video Wizards podcast format. While the Soviet Union’s dissolution is in effect mode and things are kicking off in the former Republic of Yugoslavia, we yet again look at the world of arcade games and the popular culture of this time.

Just about half a year after Street Fighter II’s seismic initial release, the rest of the arcade industry hasn’t quite caught up yet. In this moment in time, games in a variety of genres other than versus fighters are hitting the arcade floor. We see beat ’em ups like Captain America and The Avengers by Data East, SNK’s Robo Army and Capcom’s Knights of the Round. Shoot ’em ups like Armed Police Unit Gallop by Irem, Taito’s Metal Black and Acrobat Mission by UPL. And then there are Konami’s seminal Western themed run and gun Sunset Riders and Technos’ mammoth grappler WWF Wrestlefest… which incidentally features classic monster heel Earthquake as a playable character.

But the quaking doesn’t stop there, as the Grunge movement takes over everything guitar music based. And Hip-Hop sees a slew of successful sophomoric albums reach record store shelves, while some regional rivalries start brewing in the background.

In the European home gaming market, SEGA’s 16-bit console the Mega Drive has begun to gain proper momentum following the release of Sonic the Hedgehog – with hits like Streets of Rage, Toejam & Earl and Phantasy Star 3 – and there is a plethora of other gaming platform palates to take your pick from, from handhelds, to consoles, to home computers. While in cinemas the pickings are much more slim, as we look at 2 turds and one much better effort: the spooky season staple The Addams Family.

So get very comfortable indeed, for a 7 and a half hour audio fest of nostalgic warmth that should sort you out just nicely, as the days are getting colder and the nights are getting longer.

Show theme tune: NEON CITY, composed by Ed 「イートレム」 Tremblay for Mudprints Music and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2019 Mudprints Music, all rights reserved.

Welcome to the Video Wizards News Network composed by Riff Mason and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2023 Riff Mason, all rights reserved.

Baller of the Month Jingle composed by Yuli Anna and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2022 Yuli Anna, all rights reserved.

Other music used in this episode:

Episode edited by: Juli Reed & Michiel Kroder

And finally: our special thanks to Andy Hofle.

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Android, Google Podcasts, Player FM or via RSS.

Follow us to the transitional, warm summer glow of 1997 for episode 29 of the Video Wizards podcast. It’s a tumultuous and fisticuffs filled time in the arcades as we look at a range of fighting games that would go on to have a keen audience at home as well, such as The King of Fighters’ 1997 installment by SNK, Hudson and Eighting’s own mighty morphin’ Bloody Roar a.k.a. Beastorizer and the loudest and most attention grabbing of them all: Capcom’s Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter!!! Capcom also takes a page out of the book of Pilo Fonck and presents the rather fun Capcom Sports Club and SEGA almost effortlessly reaches a wider audience with a thirst for blockbuster spectacle with the thrill ride that is The Lost World: Jurassic Park. And then there are once again a lot of fish to shoot in G-Darius by Taito.

While the UK is reeling from the death of Lady Di and Evander Holyfield is reeling from a smack whackin’ assault on his ear by Mike Tyson, Hip-Hop starts its summer takeover, despite a widening gap between the commercial and underground branches of the genre, as Wu-Tang Clan is reunited to get the world all excited with their double LP, followed by a whole host of artists of all sorts in their wake, including the increasingly maligned Puff Daddy.

The summer of 1997 is also a great time for Hollywood, as it appears, exhibited by the major financial success of the teaming up of John Woo, John Travolta and Nicolas Cage for Face/Off… and this goes even more for Men in Black, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. And if we’re talking gaming at home, nobody has to get bored with a plethora of games to play on PlayStation including megahit Tomb Raider II, the Nintendo 64 enjoying its first summer in Europe with smashes such as Mario Kart 64 and Lylat Wars and even the Saturn is still showing signs of life, with a fine home port of SEGA arcade fighter Last Bronx!

Get ready as we dive into almost 7 hours of nostalgia basking as we cover everything from the legal challenges of rap duo CNN (Capone -N- Noreaga) to the founding of Dutch broadcasting organisation BNN (Bart’s News Network), with all the usual laughs, tears and reflective moments you’re used to from us!

Show theme tune: NEON CITY, composed by Ed 「イートレム」 Tremblay for Mudprints Music and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2019 Mudprints Music, all rights reserved.

Welcome to the Video Wizards News Network composed by Riff Mason and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2023 Riff Mason, all rights reserved.

Baller of the Month Jingle composed by Yuli Anna and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2022 Yuli Anna, all rights reserved.

Other music used in this episode:

Episode edited by: Juli Reed & Michiel Kroder

And finally: our special thanks to テクノワールド奥州.

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Android, Google Podcasts, Player FM or via RSS.

In episode 28 of the Video Wizards podcast, we are confronted with a persisting theme of assassinations and gun violence in popular media as we head back to the month May in 1993.

In the arcades, Frank Castle drags Nick Fury with him into a cycle of carnage on a rampage through the underworld, in Capcom’s The Punisher. And cinemas are in for a shock as the Hughes brothers confront audiences with how little human life is worth in the ghettos of Los Angeles, in their harrowing real world violence loaded directorial debut Menace II Society.

Away from this thematic center piece and back to the arcades, we also walk right on to the curious late era Toaplan beat ’em up Knuckle Bash, examine how SEGA’s Outrunners updates a predecessor that embodied the previous decade for the 1990s and see how Konami do with launching their very own Street Fighter II competitor, Martial Champion.

The charts are ripe with the most terrible music productions and we have to look once more for the genres of Hip-Hop and Metal to save us from the Euro dance onslaught, while the SNES, Mega Drive and Commodore Amiga demand our attention when gaming at home. And we haven’t even touched on a certain historical first silver screen adaptation of a video game property that manages to bring back a long lost Video Wizards staple… likely out of respect for the late Bob Hoskins. Yes, there is little that is Super about this 1993 Mario movie, Bros.

May 1993 feels like a pivotal moment for the 1990s era of the anti-hero and the Video Wizards are here for it. Will you be joining us on our journey of over 5 hours of nostalgic and reflective podcasting goodness? Of course you will.

Show theme tune: NEON CITY, composed by Ed 「イートレム」 Tremblay for Mudprints Music and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2019 Mudprints Music, all rights reserved.

Welcome to the Video Wizards News Network composed by Riff Mason and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2023 Riff Mason, all rights reserved.

Baller of the Month Jingle composed by Yuli Anna and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2022 Yuli Anna, all rights reserved.

Other music used in this episode:

Episode edited by: Juli Reed & Michiel Kroder

And finally: our special thanks to Andy Hofle.

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Android, Google Podcasts, Player FM or via RSS.

In the 27th episode of Video Wizards, we close in on the end of the Cold War as the political system of communism takes hits left, right and center, in the month of April, 1989. Not in the least as Strider Hiryu bowls into Moscow and assassinates all members of the Duma, in Capcom’s arcade hit Strider. Konami, meanwhile, try their first hand at a Double Dragon style beat ’em up in the seedy and very violent Crime Fighters and Toaplan release their first horizontally scrolling shoot ’em up with Hellfire. Also, a shield carrying maiden descends to earth to cleanse it of evil in Namco’s charming Valkyrie no Densetsu.

At home, gaming is mostly done on computers and the increasingly popular 8-bit consoles, with Nintendo’s NES catching eyes as Super Mario Bros. 2 hits European store shelves, while Amiga owners are visited with the purgatorial gaming experience that is the not-so-mighty Sword of Sodan. Music wise, it’s as diverse a palette as they come, befitting the approaching turn of the century.

Not only that, the silver screen gets a double dose impact of Van Damme as the Belgian martial arts actor drops both Kickboxer and Cyborg. And British sports TV is never the same after the Hillsborough disaster. Get ready for all that and more, as the Video Wizards reminisce and reflect on this most vivid moment in time in the final year of the 1980s.

Show theme tune: NEON CITY, composed by Ed 「イートレム」 Tremblay for Mudprints Music and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2019 Mudprints Music, all rights reserved.

Welcome to the Video Wizards News Network composed by Riff Mason and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2023 Riff Mason, all rights reserved.

Baller of the Month Jingle composed by Yuli Anna and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2022 Yuli Anna, all rights reserved.

Other music used in this episode:

Episode edited by: Michiel Kroder

And finally: our special thanks to Andy Hofle.

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Android, Google Podcasts, Player FM or via RSS.

In episode 26 of Video Wizards, we get sucked into the cultural maelstrom of March 1985, where the global arcade industry has picked up the pieces and is striking back with, well, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back by our good friends at Atari and Konami’s cutesy, sugary vertical shoot ’em up TwinBee. Namco, meanwhile, are digging in a different direction for Dig Dug II and SEGA unveil the princess of all ninjas.

In terms of gaming at home, home computers like the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore C64 and MSX dominate the European continent and there is a lot of rootin’ tootin’ sharp shootin’ going on in the classified sections of the mid 80s computer game mags. And where Run-D.M.C. have Hip Hop on lock with their King of Rock album, Rock itself sees an influx of acts from the Germanic regions. Also, chart music has never been this massive, as all pop acts and production teams are properly firing on all cylinders.

Feel even more heat as we look at funny flicks The Last Dragon and Police Academy 2 and examine the early beginnings of subscription TV. Add in your regular dosage of world and local news, Bon Jovi blastings, personal memories from your hosts and expected conversation derailments and it’s clear to see that the Video Wizards time travel tour remains on track!

Show theme tune: NEON CITY, composed by Ed 「イートレム」 Tremblay for Mudprints Music and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2019 Mudprints Music, all rights reserved.

Baller of the Month Jingle composed by Yuli Anna and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2022 Yuli Anna, all rights reserved.

Other music used in this episode:

Episode edited by: Michiel Kroder

And finally: our special thanks to Andy Hofle.

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Android, Google Podcasts, Player FM or via RSS.

For this 25th episode of Video Wizards, we find ourselves back in the earlier 1980s, when health and safety regulations were of a lesser concern. It’s the cold, cold winter of 1983 going on 1984 and the arcade industry was rocked to the core by the “Atari Shock”. Picking up the pieces and strapped for cash, developers West and East had to make do with what they had, with incredibly varied results, ranging from Midway’s Tapper to Nintendo’s Punch-Out!! and even complete oddities such as unkowns Diatec’s Uncle Poo. Irem, meanwhile, released the influential 10-Yard Fight, Konami put out the cute and clownesque Circus Charlie and our good friends at Atari dropped a not-half-bad laserdisc game with a title that’s tough to look info up on in Altavista: Firefox.

With consoles such as the mighty Vectrex failing to etch out anything even resembling a lucrative piece of the market, it was up to computers like the MSX, C64, the freshly launched Macintosh and the ZX Spectrum to bring home some gaming goodness. All while Slayer released their first LP and Hip Hop’s early beginnings were documented with the original soundtrack of the film Wild Style. And while we’re on the topic of film, how about some iconic 80s silver screen fare like Brian de Palma’s Scarface and Footloose, as well as the incredibly poor Hot Dog… The Movie.

Grab a blanket, grab a hot beverage and get ready to warm yourself with a new four and a half hours of seasonal Video Wizards fun!

Show theme tune: NEON CITY, composed by Ed 「イートレム」 Tremblay for Mudprints Music and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2019 Mudprints Music, all rights reserved.

Baller of the Month Jingle composed by Yuli Anna and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2022 Yuli Anna, all rights reserved.

Other music used in this episode:

Episode edited by: Juli Reed

And finally: our special thanks to Andy Hofle.

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Android, Google Podcasts, Player FM or via RSS.

In the 24th episode of Video Wizards, we travel to a time close to the “mark of the millennium”, as we find ourselves covering the autumnal months of September, October and November of 1998 for yet another very substantial seasonal spectacular. Arcade games increasingly lose floor space to slot machines and the ones that don’t have specialised cabinets often see very accurate home ports. In that category we find the monumental 2D fighting game Street Fighter Alpha 3, Taito’s 3rd game in the “Ray” series of vertical shoot ’em ups, RayCrisis, and to some extent Gauntlet Legends by our good friends at Atari. Cave’s odd disco themed shoot ’em up Dangun Feveron DID get a home port, but that would come only 18 years later. And Neo Geo games like Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad being available at home as well is nothing new… if you had the funds, that is. On the other hand, we of course still get SEGA spectacle cabs, as we take a closer look at the zeitgeist friendly Star Wars Trilogy Arcade.

Gaming at home, then, is massive in the fall of 1998, with Half-Life coming out for the PC, Tekken 3 coming out for the PlayStation, Japanese import favourite Marvel Super Heroes Vs Street Fighter coming out for the Saturn and F-Zero X coming out for the N64. As well as a whole host of other titles. And with the U.S. president fighting off impeachment in the midst of an adulterous sex scandal at the background, we see everything from Google getting founded, Hip-Hop concept albums seeing the light of day, the rise of Nu-Metal, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker teaming up on the silver screen and Edward Norton taking a paycut for a defining role in the incendiary American History X to the first airing of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the UK and everyday people living our their odd sexual fantasies on Local Dutch National TV. That’s right, the world is getting ready to party like it’s 1999.

Get extra comfortable as this all makes for the lengthiest episode of our podcast yet. For the next 8 and a half hours we’ve got you covered with another riveting, uproarious and nostalgic audio journey, right back to the later half of 1998.

Show theme tune: NEON CITY, composed by Ed 「イートレム」 Tremblay for Mudprints Music and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2019 Mudprints Music, all rights reserved.

Baller of the Month Jingle composed by Yuli Anna and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2022 Yuli Anna, all rights reserved.

Other music used in this episode:

Episode edited by: Juli Reed & Michiel Kroder

And finally: our special thanks to テクノワールド奥州.

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Android, Google Podcasts, Player FM or via RSS.

In episode 23 of Video Wizards, we return to the year 1994 to bask in the sunrays of the summer, for another seasonal spectacular. With the midpoint of the ’90s just one year away and the ’80s now full and well behind us, we find ourselves in a period of cultural turmoil, where the arcade industry, the music industry AND the film industry seem to lack a general direction and focus and throw a lot at the wall to see what sticks. In the arcades, we deal with the hodge podge of flat shaded polygonal experiments Wing War and Desert Tank by SEGA and Midway’s bizarre attempt to put aging rockers Aerosmith forward as dangerous symbols of youth culture that need to be silenced by a sinister fascist government in the lightgun shooter Revolution X. Atari, meanwhile, goes full stop motion animation for the feral fighter Primal rage, as we can still count on Capcom and SNK to deliver noteworthy, quality fighting games in the shape of Darkstalkers and the first entry in the The King of Fighters series.

And what about those other industries? The pop charts in the UK and the Netherlands are generally a mess, but there is a lot of solid music being made in the scenes of Hip-Hop and metal. And in theaters we see more scattershot releases, with a massive, animated movie centered around a family of lions by Disney, a bit of 20th century history viewed through the eyes of a lovable simpleton who has a knack for cutting to the core of things and the comedic exploits of a band called The Lone Rangers, as they take a radio station hostage to get their demo played on air.

With the Atari Jaguar out on shelves and a new generation of CD-based consoles around the corner, all bets are off when it comes to this chaotic period in the late-early nineties. But these are still simpler times, and we invite you into their comforting, sun drenched embrace, for the next 6 and a half hours.

Show theme tune: NEON CITY, composed by Ed 「イートレム」 Tremblay for Mudprints Music and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2019 Mudprints Music, all rights reserved.

Baller of the Month Jingle composed by Yuli Anna and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2022 Yuli Anna, all rights reserved.

Other music used in this episode:

Episode edited by: Juli Reed & Michiel Kroder

And finally: our special thanks to Andy Hofle.

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Android, Google Podcasts, Player FM or via RSS.