In this month's episode of the PlayCast, Rich (singlebanana) and Shawn (GrayGhost81) discuss a game that mayyyyyy.... be considered a "hidden gem" on the SNES, developer Ukiyotei's Skyblazer. Join us as we break down this pricey action/platformer and determine whether it's worth your hard earned cash, or best left in your retro game store's display case. During our Concertcast segment, we list our Top 6 breakup songs of all time. Will Shawn actually enjoy Rich's retro pick for July's playthrough? Tune in and find out!
As always, we are happy to hear your thoughts on the games we play on our discussion page (linked below). We will respond to your comments and are always happy to discuss the games in detail. Please be sure to rate and write a review of the show on iTunes and/or Podbean to help us increase our listenership. Thanks for the listen, we hope you enjoy the show!
Over the years, I've mentioned the co-op adventure/survival/shooter as one of my favorite modern game genres. I'm not naturally very competitive, but I do have a strong enjoyment and desire for playing with friends and building comradery. I must not be alone, because there has been no shortage of new experiences for playing through a co-op game with two or three friends over the last several years.
Back with another list, and this time we're looking at fighting games. There wasn't as much participation this month, participants for this list were myself, Whynotzoidberg, and Crabmaster2000. There were still some games that came across as consensus favorites, with two series conspicuously absent.
What makes a good fighter? Quick action, interesting move sets and combos, a variety of characters, among other criteria. With the lower participation, there were 10 games that stood out as the top of the genre.
Today I'm reviewing an adorable action game for the Sega Genesis. It's a platformer with elements of adventure and roleplaying. But it's also got a bit of a metroidvania flavor that I quite enjoyed. While it starts out a bit slow, it really grew on me.
We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you the September 2021 edition of RF Generation's Site News! In this issue, we announce our October Community Playthrough title, reveal next month's shoot 'em up club game, and of course, thank those members who sent in submissions to our site and registered approvals last month. Thanks for keeping it on Channel 3 and please continue to keep you and your loved ones SAFE!
REMEMBER: If you have any news about upcoming events or topics that you think the site needs to hear about, please PM singlebanana and put "RFG Site News" in the subject line. Who knows, maybe your news will make our front page!
In the 80's and early 90's, ninjas were a big deal. They were everywhere in media, from cartoons like G.I. Joe to movies like the American Ninja series, those of the adolescent mutant amphibious variety, and of course, video games. For those who played on Nintendo consoles, we had a number of options, but the most obvious of those was the Ninja Gaiden series, at least through the 8-bit days. On the Sega side of the fence, there was Shinobi, which received a Master System reinterpretation of the arcade game. The series branched into 3 paths, 1 being the more straight-forward Shadow Dancer which followed the original arcade game (and had a different, but similar outing on the Genesis), and then the 2 Super Shinobi games for the Mega Drive, which we know in the West as The Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi III, respectively. The 3rd path is the 2 GG Shinobi games on the Game Gear, but whether or not those are canon in the series I cannot say. The final 2D entry, prior to the series' soft reboot on PS2, is often ignored, or worse, frequently either forgotten or maligned. With the RF Generation Community Playthrough group focusing on the series' 16-bit entries this month, I thought it was timely to look at the final original 2D game from the venerable series.
I've been itching to get back to Final Fantasy for a while, and I've had an arrangement of this track sitting around for a couple of months, so the time was finally right to put my spin on this one! This is a track I've had my eye on covering since my Final Fantasy IV Zeromus cover from about five months ago. The Zeromus cover has always been my favorite, and, with both tracks being pretty similar, it just seemed inevitable that I would get around to this one eventually. I hope you all enjoy it!
I first started seeing trailers for Free Guy last summer. The teasers showed Ryan Reynolds as a polite, happy-go-lucky bank teller in a fictional online multiplayer game called Free City. One day, after putting on a pair of sunglasses left behind by one of the players, he discovers through their augmented-reality HUD that there's so much more going on in his world than the endless daily loop he's been living. Like so many things, the global pandemic put the brakes on Free Guy's release, but it's finally in theaters. It doesn't appear to be on any streaming services yet, so let's see if the film is good enough to warrant a trip out into the real world.
In Episode 037, Addicted and MetalFRO welcome in Ed from the Bullet Heaven series on YouTube to discuss the game that Bullet Heaven awarded its top honors to for the year: Project Starship X! Do the Rogue-lite elements enhance the fun, or get in the way? We talk about that, and much more!
Finally found a way to upload another video, one that I've had completed for months. This time, it's XIII, a game based off of a comic franchise of the same name. I bought it purely because of how well it was presented, since it reminded me of Comix Zone. I actually wrote a review for it after I beat it years ago, but my opinion has changed. Its amazing presentation, graphical style, and story tricked me into thinking this was a good game. Unfortunately it is not. No amount of graphics can excuse bland gameplay.
I hope to be putting out more videos soon enough. I already have the rest of two LPs finished as well as another review in the works. Stay tuned, and remember to subscribe on Youtube and follow me on Facebook and Twitter.
In this month's episode of the PlayCast, Rich (singlebanana) and Shawn (GrayGhost81) are joined by long-time friend and former co-host of the show, Disposed Hero to discuss June's playthrough, Metal Gear Solid 2. Join us as we sift our way through this winding narrative and give our thoughts on the gameplay, environments, music, and sounds. While Shawn is an avid supporter of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, this is Rich's first experience with MGS2. Will their opinions of the game differ or be the same? Tune in and find out!
Also be sure to check out this month's Concertcast, which features an event that we've never tried before, an album fantasy draft. This month's topic: Top 6 Grunge Albums. We want to know from our listeners, who has the best list?
As always, we are happy to hear your thoughts on the games we play on our discussion page (linked below). We will respond to your comments and are always happy to discuss the games in detail. Please be sure to rate and write a review of the show on iTunes and/or Podbean to help us increase our listenership. Thanks for the listen, we hope you enjoy the show!
Insomniac, Universal, and Sony all stumbled into a smash success with the release of Spyro the Dragon. It was inevitable that a sequel would be developed and released, and that sequel would be Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage. Ripto's Rage released in 1999 with mostly the same list of credits when it came to key positions. The game would be renamed to Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer in Europe. Ripto's Rage adds much to the base of the formula of the first game while maintaining the highly consistent quality. It's a great example of a sequel which built upon the strengths of the original game while adding features to the game that do not make it feel bloated and work in line with the basic idea of platforming, exploration, and collecting that was established with the first Spyro.
Super Mario 64 is an old favorite of mine and is still a game that I enjoy going back and playing to this day. I've always thought this rockin' tune from the Bowser fights was cool, but after listening to the soundtrack recently I felt like I absolutely had to cover it at some point, and I didn't wait long to do it. I was able to break out the 7-string again for the first time in about 6 months, and it was cool to be able to use it again. It's hard to believe, but after starting my channel over a year ago, this is the first Mario tune I've done, and I think my first time covering a Nintendo track in general. I wanted to try adding some original stuff to this one, so the bridge section is pretty much my own original riffs, for better or worse haha! This cover was a lot of fun to work on and I hope you all enjoy it!
Around this time last year, I wrote a very popular entry about my goal to drastically reduce my game collection and the work I was doing to achieve said goal. Reading this back a year later, I can tell I was writing from a peak point of games outgoing. I spoke about reducing shelving units from three to two, and how I'd like to go from two to one. I noted that I had gotten on the shelf physical titles down to about 750 pieces. So, what has happened since then? In twelve months was I able to get down to that magical goal of one shelving unit for games? Am I buying any games anymore? Perhaps the answer will be surprising.
