Retro Gaming Revelry

This week Earl and Jurek step onto the virtual pitch as they play Super Sidekicks on the Neo Geo! Neither of the guys had ever played this game before and it turns out that is a shame, because this game turns out to be super fun! It's way more fun than it has any right to be, especially for an early 90's soccer game! This game is arcade soccer at it's finest. The controls are simple, the music is good, and did we mention it was mega fun?! Because it is! The guys also field a Reveler requested discussion question! Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday Oct. 30, 2020. Sorry if we're a little loud when we first start playing the game. We weren't expecting it to be as fun as it was and we got super excited. Thanks for listening, Revelers! ~Earl

It's that time of year again... time for our Halloween Spook-tacular episode! To celebrate the spooky season, Jurek and Earl play Ghosts & Goblins on the NES! As you can probably imagine, the guys don't get very far in this game, however, through the magic of cheat codes the guys actually manage to beat the game! What?!?! But they definitely cheated to do it, so it doesn't count! The game is extremely difficult, and is probably the definition of the term "Nintendo hard", but that doesn't mean it isn't fun! The guys also actually have a Reveler requested discussion question! Come have a drink with us! Cheers! NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday October 23, 2020. Happy Halloween, Revelers! Thanks for listening!

This week Earl and Jurek continue to play Donkey Kong 64 on the Nintendo 64! Last week the guys managed to get one whole golden banana (out of 201!), so needless to say there is a bit more of the game to explore! They now have all the Kong's unlocked, so at least they got to try out each different character. Everything in this game takes a while to do, so they really didn't get much farther, but it's really about the friends they made along the way! Come have a drink with us! Cheers! NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday October 16, 2020. Our audio levels might have been slightly off in this episode, so apologies for any crunchiness. Thanks for listening, Revelers!

This week Jurek and Earl play the very first part, literally only the beginning, of Donkey Kong 64 for the Nintendo 64! Turns out it takes quite a while to get ANYWHERE in this game! That said, the game is pretty fun while also being fairly clunky. Mario 64 it is not. The guys still manage to have a good time while getting nowhere! The plan is to continue playing DK64 next week after getting a little farther into the game. Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday October 9, 2020. Thanks for listening, Revelers!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The boys are back in the studio! Earl and Jurek are absolutely delighted to be playing ToeJam and Earl on the Sega Genesis while they once again record together in the same room! The guys are thrilled to be playing a game that isn't on a Nintendo system! And what a game it is! ToeJam and Earl is delightfully weird and there really isn't any other game quite like it! The music is fantastic and about as funky as you can get! It looks great and all the enemies ooze personality! Come have a drink with us! Cheers! NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday October 2, 2020. Thank you so much for bearing with us during quarantine. Hopefully we'll be back to recording in person full time, but if we have to go back into lockdown, at least we know how to continue the show! Thanks for listening, Revelers! We appreciate every one of you! ~Earl and Jurek

This week Jurek and Earl don their ninja outfits and try and save the world as they play Shadow of the Ninja on the NES! This game might truly be the definition of a hidden gem! It was lost in Ninja Gaiden's shadow, but it's truly a fun game! The difficulty is high, but there are some cheats that make things a little easier! The weapons are fun to use and the music is some of the best the guys have heard on the NES! Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday September 25, 2020. Thanks for listening, Revelers!

This week Earl and Jurek take another look at Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for the SNES! The guys played this game way back in episode 70, but Earl's Super Nintendo was acting up and not reading the game properly, which was causing the game to freak out! The guys thought they'd take another look at the game so they could play it properly this time! Spoiler alert: it's still a classic and a must-play game! Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday September 18, 2020. Thanks for listening, Revelers!

The crack of the bat! The roar of the crowd! The boys of summer are back! This week Jurek and Earl take a swing (see what I did there?!) at Baseball on the NES! While not the first baseball video game to exist, this game was the first time baseball could be played in the style we all know and love! It's very primitive but does provide a pretty fun experience! The lack of music and the inability to control your fielders really hinders the game, but the guys manage to get the most out of it! Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday September 11, 2020. The audio was a little off in this episode, so apologies if there is some scratchiness. Thanks for listening, Revelers! ~Earl

This week Earl and Jurek take control of a tiny wizard as they play Solomon's Key on the NES! This game seems like it should be really fun but, like so many games of the time, the difficulty makes having fun almost impossible! The game looks and controls fine, but the music is a little lacking. The guys also field a very interesting discussion question! Also, the news of Chadwick Boseman's passing broke while this episode was being recorded, so the guys take a little time to talk about it. Come have a drink with us! WAKANDA FOREVER!!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday August 28, 2020. Since then, Jurek got married! Be sure to tweet him your congratulations @aktirak! Thanks for listening, Revelers! ~Earl

This week Jurek and Earl once again take to the virtual skies as they play Super Earth Defense Force on the Super Nintendo! The game turns out to be a fairly lackluster entry in the shoot em' up genre. It plays fine enough, but the difficulty is just too much! However, the guys take a little time to learn about Earth's actual defense force! They also play a few rounds of guess the poorly described movie! Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday August 14, 2020. One more episode to go this week and then we're back on track! Thanks for listening, Revelers!

We're back, Revelers! After an accidental month long hiatus, Earl and Jurek are back playing River City Ransom on the NES! This game is pretty great and it could be argued that it's the best beat em' up on the NES! It's extraordinarily deep for a beat em' up, including many RPG elements not found in many games of the time! The music is also pretty great! Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday August 7, 2020. Apologies for the month long break, Revelers! In the interest of full transparency, it was the end of summer and I was feeling lazy, so I didn't publish any episodes. However, it's fall now and we're back on track, or at least we will be by the end of the week! Expect 2 more episodes this week! Thanks for sticking with us, Revelers! ~Earl

This week Jurek and Earl once again enter the virtual squared circle as they face off in Natsume Championship Wrestling for the Super Nintendo! The game turns out to be the true definition of a button masher! At one point Earl is literally just slapping his controller trying to make his wrestler do something! While the controls leave something to be desired, the music is surprisingly phenomenal! The guys also play a few rounds of "Guess the poorly described wrestler". Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday July 31, 2020. Thanks for listening, Revelers!

This week Earl and Jurek strap on their wings and grab their virtual bows as they play Kid Icarus on the NES! The guys end up having some fun with the game, but it's pretty hard to have too much fun when the game is so frustratingly difficult! This game is an oddball in the NES library, as it's one of a few games that actually gets easier as you progress! Despite the difficulty, the game controls great and has a pretty decent soundtrack. Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday July 24, 2020. Thanks for listening, Revelers!

This week Jurek and Earl once again take control of a couple of cavemen as they play Joe and Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics on the SNES! The guys actually have a lot of fun with this game! There is a ton of different stuff to do in the game, even though it appears to be a basic platformer. The game features really vivid colors, which makes it look great, and the music is pretty good as well, but might be a little too "caveman'y". The guys also welcome Abbee on the show as she gives them some poorly described movies! Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday July 17, 2020. Thanks for listening, Revelers!

This week Earl and Jurek take to the skies with Fox, Falco, and the gang as they play Star Fox 2 on the Super Nintendo! This is the most recently released SNES game, as it was officially released in 2017! We're still counting it as a retro game because it was developed in the mid 90s! The game turns out to be just ok. Perhaps with a little more time the guys would have liked it better, but the 3D graphics do not age well and the controls are hard to get used to. Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday July 10, 2020. Thanks for listening, Revelers!

This week Jurek and Earl do something a little different on the show! Instead of playing a game like normal, the guys will each be listing and discussing their personal top 10 video games of all time! Should be a lively discussion! Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday June 26, 2020. We took a week off for the 4th of July but we're back! Let us know if you liked this episode and might want more of this type of show in the future! And please send us your own personal top 10 games of all time! It's harder to come up with than you'd think! Thanks for listening, Revelers!

This week Earl and Jurek are revisiting the very first Mario game they played on the show! They will be playing Super Mario Bros. 2 on the NES! They last played this game exactly 200 episodes ago, so the guys thought they'd look at it again, now that they have a little more podcasting experience! As it turns out, this game is still one of the all time greats! It also inspired each of them to come up with a "Top 10 video games of all time" list! Stay tuned for that next week! Come have a drink with us! Cheers! NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday June 19, 2020. Thanks for listening, Revelers!

This week Jurek and Earl play two classic games on the NES! First up is Donkey Kong Jr.! This game is a must-play! The port to the NES was very well done, unlike the Atari 2600 port, which is a hot mess! Seriously, go watch some video of that port... it's barely recognizable as DK Jr.! The guys then try out the much less loved Donkey Kong 3! This game is super weird and barely fits into the Donkey Kong mythos, but it's still very fun to play! There is no music break in this episode as neither of these games features much music at all! The guys also discuss the newly revealed Playstation 5! Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday June 12, 2020. Thanks for listening, Revelers!

This week Earl and Jurek head to the wild west, or rather a sci-fi version of the wild west, as they play Wild Guns on the SNES! The game turns out to be pretty fun, despite it's crazy hard difficulty! The guys would both recommend playing this game with a friend, because it seems like it might be impossible to complete alone! Difficulty aside, the game looks and sounds fantastic! If you've got the SNES Switch Online service then definitely give this game a try! The guys also discuss the recent civil unrest in their fair city of Minneapolis. Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday June 5, 2020. We're putting this episode out early to try and keep it more timely with recent current events. Due to this, there will be no episode released this Friday, but we'll be back on a regular schedule after that. We hope everyone is staying safe out there! Keep protesting! Black. Lives. Matter. Thanks for listening, Revelers! ~Earl

This week Jurek and Earl grab their Diskarmors and head off to save the world as they play Rygar on the NES! This is one of those rare games that neither of the guys have ever played before! It is a very early metroid-vania type game and actually turns out to be pretty fun! The music is somewhat lacking, but it controls well. The game's difficulty is a little high, but that is to be expected from games of this era. Despite the difficulty, the game feels do-able. Come have a drink with us! Cheers!NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday May 22, 2020. This was a few days before the events of Memorial Day, so we obviously do not talk about them in this episode. As stated in the notes for episode 206, we will discuss those events in a future show. Keep protesting! It's working! Thanks for listening, Revelers! No Justice, No Peace. #BlackLivesMatter. ~Earl