Shows / The Retro Breakdown
The Retro Breakdown
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 nostalgia.
Episodes
The Retro BreakdownRiver City Ransom and the Mortal Kombat Movie Review
This week, Tom talks about a run through one of TW's childhood classics, and we get sidetracked a lot talking about Technos Japan and the wild trek its…
The Retro BreakdownPhantasy Star and the Ancient Lewd Acts
This week, Tom leads the way, as he knocked out Phantasy Star in like a couple days. Along the way, we also get into a discussion about issues with historical…
The Retro BreakdownBit Generations: Dotstream and the Live Game Purchase
Tom and TW expose a total lack of experience with substance use this week as we talk about what it might be like to play Dotstream while high. The big takeaway…
The Retro BreakdownWario's Woods and the Satellaview Switch
More tangents than usual this week, as Tom and TW discuss the reality of Nintendo introducing digital game downloads in the mid 1990s, but somehow not…
The Retro BreakdownDouble Dragon (NES) and the April Fools Consideration
There's no ACTUAL April Fools joke in this podcast, but there is a lot of discussion about April Fools in general, and consideration about the POSSIBILITY of…
The Retro BreakdownKirby's Dream Course and the Live Podcast Experiment
Okay, kind of a weird thing this week, as we recorded this episode of the podcast WHILE also playing the game together and recording the gameplay footage. I DO…
The Retro BreakdownWild Guns and the Lazy Speedrunner
Tom and Dean talk about our experiences with Monster Hunter, speedrunning, and of course, Wild Guns. We manage to not talk TOO MUCH about Yakuza this week. YO…
The Retro BreakdownSuper Mario Galaxy and the Basement Archaeology
TW's gotten himself hooked on La-Mulana, the puzzle-platformer/Metroidvania where the only way to figure out the way forward is to learn, and then…
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Outrun, Super Hang-On, Space Harrier, Fantasy Zone, and the Yakuza Arcade Challenge
We cover 4 games in one podcast today! Technically 7, since we also talk about Yakuza, CrossCode and La-Mulana. We talk about the magic of arcades then and…
The Retro BreakdownFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Bored of Light
It took us almost 3 months, but we finally dragged ourselves through Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, the official translation of the…
The Retro BreakdownPanzer Dragoon and the Nintendo Direct Recap
We played Sega Saturn classic Panzer Dragoon this week! But first, we talk about the February 2021 Nintendo Direct and run down our thoughts on the major…
The Retro BreakdownDOOM 64 and the $70 Game Problem
Dean's first classic DOOM game is DOOM 64, played on the PS4, which is bizarre enough on its own. This is one of those weird ones where we basically spend the…
The Retro BreakdownSuper Valis 4 and the 13 Sentinels Spoilercast
First, Tom and Dean talk about how cool it is being a foreigner in countries that don't hate foreigners. Then, the conversation of Super Valis 4 goes off the…
The Retro BreakdownShadowgate, Homey, Maximillian, and the Kusogrande Grand Finals
It's a special episode this week as TW makes Tom play all three of the games he played in the Kusogrande Grand Finals! And he actually did play two of them! TW…
The Retro BreakdownTrip World and the Gambling Rant
Trip World is a short game that we talk about for a short time. But we fill the space with talking about how Konami became the worst company because of staff…
The Retro BreakdownDonkey Kong Country and the VHS Promo Mailer
Ironically, a large amount of hype for Donkey Kong Country had nothing to do with the actual game. That seems to have made the discussion even more…
The Retro BreakdownStarTropics and the Son of a Submariner
Welcome to 2021, where things probably won't get worse, maybe. Tom and Dean talk a lot about going back to Final Fantasy 6, then discuss how hard Startropics…
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The Retro Breakdown 2020 Tier List
It's the end of 2020, finally! It's time for a retrospective on the good times - and in the case of this podcast, that means talking about video games and…
The Retro BreakdownHome Alone (PC) and the Lamest Strategy
Tom relives his childhood (in more ways than one) with our first DOS game on the Retro Breakdown, Home Alone! It's a first in a lot of ways - for starters, we…
The Retro BreakdownNights Into Dreams and the Segata Sanshiro
This week, we talk about the absolute best thing the Sega Saturn brought to our lives. We also spend a little time talking about NiGHTS Into Dreams. Maybe…
The Retro BreakdownJames Pond 2: Operation Robocod and the Penguin Bombs
Tom and Dean talk about console version differences, Tim Follin, and the change in the video game hype cycle. But mostly, we talk about James Pond 2: Operation…
The Retro BreakdownRistar and the "Younger Audience"
TW and Tom have somewhat differing opinions on one of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive's swan song games. But then a mid-90s EGM interview sets off an age-old…
The Retro BreakdownSuper Mario Sunshine and the No-Reason DK Rap
We finally did it. We finally recorded our episode about Mario Sunshine, after weeks and weeks of hinting at it. We have differing, but overall mixed opinions…
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Bonus: Oops! All Yakuza!
Tom and Dean hit the record button getting ready to talk about Super Mario Sunshine, and then just agree to talk about Kusogrande, Yakuza, and 13 Sentinels…
The Retro BreakdownSuper Ghouls n' Ghosts and the BORK BORK
Yeah, it's hard. It's punishing. But there's a beautiful logic that makes it all work, and we think that's beautiful. Well, Dean does. Tom sort of enjoyed it…
The Retro BreakdownThe Peace Keepers and the Better than Expected Corruption
The Peace Keepers is what happens when you take the basic premise of "walk to the right and punch things," but then you make the punch not work. That being…
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Bonus: Final Fantasy, Art vs. Graphics, and SUNSHINE
We went off on some tangents before starting to talk about Super Mario 64. Normally I'd just delete those, but I figured you might want to hear some of them…
The Retro BreakdownSuper Mario 64 HD and the Beatles of Videogames
Nobody needs to be told at this point that Super Mario 64 is a good game. But we're gonna do it anyway, as well as discuss the 3D All-Stars collection in…
The Retro BreakdownS.C.A.T. and the Specialized Cybernetic Attack Team
It's funny, because that's what the game is called. But also, THAT'S WHAT THE GAME IS CALLED. This game was okay, but if there's one thing to know about it…
The Retro BreakdownKirby'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…
The Retro BreakdownKick 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…
The Retro BreakdownClash 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…
The Retro BreakdownKarnov 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…
The Retro BreakdownIllusion 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…
The Retro BreakdownShadow 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…
The Retro BreakdownOperation 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 Retro BreakdownAction 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…
The Retro BreakdownVice: 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…
The Retro BreakdownGunstar 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…
The Retro BreakdownFinal Fantasy Adventure and the Meaning of Retro
"Palm trees.... and 8." This week, Dean refuses to stop saying "Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden," Tom wants everyone to feel sad, and the guys record a…
The Retro BreakdownDemon's Crest and the GameCube Lunchbox
This week we talk about what's happening with loading times, Dean badly explains Fall Guys, and Tom shares his ultimate console modding dream. Then we talk…
The Retro BreakdownRygar and the Animalized Men Wriggling Eerily
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…
The Retro BreakdownCrystalis and the Ubisoft Backward
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…