Vidjagame Apocalypse

It's the first week of October, which means it's time to gather around the campfire and listen to an increasingly spooky month of Top 5s. We'll start off easy, as Heidi Kemps joins us to talk about the spectral protagonists of five games that let you play as ghosts. Then it's on to a lot of talk about the SNES Classic, Cuphead, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, Red Dead Redemption 2, and the games you'd add to the SNES Classic.

The SNES Classic is here at last! Will you be able to find one? Only one thing is certain at this point: lots of wishful thinking from fans who aren't getting exactly what they wanted. We're no exception, so this week, Henry Gilbert joins us to talk about our Top 5 SNES games that aren't getting a second life on Nintendo's newest micro console. Then it's on to Danganronpa V3, Cuphead, Fortnite's battle with PUBG, and your favorite Metroidvanias.

The first Metroid game in seven years hit last Friday with Samus Returns, so let's celebrate by taking a look back at our top 5 Metroid games, with help from Brett Elston and Nathan Ortega (who's here to plug his just-announced game, Slipstream Scalawags). We then turn our attention to Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, Toys 'R' Us going bankrupt, and the games you developed your own headcanon for.

This week's guest is an especially special one: Walt Williams, co-writer of Star Wars Battlefront II, lead writer of Spec Ops: The Line, and author of games-industry memoir Significant Zero (out Sept. 19!). Inspired by Walt's stories of youthful thievery, we focus this week's Top 5 on thieves who decided to work together and became like family in the process. (Fair warning, it takes us about an hour and 17 minutes to get there.) Then we get real chatty about Metroid: Samus Returns, new iPhones, SNES Classic reassurances, and your most memorable game-launch stories.

Thanks to absent pun aficionado Dave Rudden, we're dedicating Episode 230 (tooth hurty, hurr hurr) to gaming's often-overlooked and frequently vicious dentists, with help from Bob Mackey and Matthew Jay. Then it's time to pivot and chat about Destiny 2, Knack 2, the surprise reveal of Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, and the genres you'd like to see Mario invade.