Watch Out For Fireballs!

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross heap praise on Katamari Damacy. It's simultaneously a singular expression, and one of the most eclectic games we've covered for the show. Katamari Damacy is an extremely simple game with one goal: to instill as much joy in you as possible. And it works. LINKS OF NOTE: Our Place in the Stars (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co6d3h-NpS8) Meet Dave (edgeoftheframe.files.wordpress.com/2011/11…st1.jpg) The Clumps (www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS8zi7Dg8TM) Noby Noby Boy (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymw6r-DVMtU) Slither (www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-f8wU6Fpeo) Monkey Shines (www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpG4R3Sjf4Y) Booji Boy (www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ty3RuzQ8xo) Dolls (www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ykP9fQRWKA) He was a bad man (www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuAzvb38PyI) Snail Dick (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molluscum_contagiosum) Pegg V. Geeks (simonpegg.net/2015/05/19/big-mouth-strikes-again/) Judy is your Viet Nam (www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJYZTFKSQ60)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Super Metroid. LINKS OF NOTE: Dragon Age Inquisition (www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJqxfkgSUog) Landstalker (www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5hat4xLoVI) Alundra (www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTyDw2OthMo) Metroid Chronology (kotaku.com/the-spectacular-sto…gs-riche-1284029577) Mr. Bucket (www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqd41B-WAFo) Project Ukulele (www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/…t-ukulele.html) Metroid Music (www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrNszpBbpvY)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross gush about Super Metroid in this centennial episode of Watch Out for Fireballs! "Break Glass in Case of Emergency". There's a whole category of game that Gary and I avoid playing for the show. They're in the upper echelon. They're top tier. If we brought them out regularly, everything else would feel like a chore. But sometimes it's a special occasion, and you have to bring out the fine china. And Super Metroid is some fine, fine China. On one hand, it's an expansion and elaboration on the stuff that made Metroid 1 and 2 unique. On the other, it's a foundational text that cemented a whole new genre in place. Listen, as we break the glass and talk about one of the best games of all time. But first, get hyped by watching this trailer, created for us by Allison Baker: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGM20MejGGg LINKS OF NOTE: Bloodstained (www.kickstarter.com/projects/iga/bl…al-of-the-night) Really cool Super Metroid speedrun (www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmfV8IhsHq0) What We Talk About... (en.

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross hide in a corner while Amnesia: The Dark Descent happens. This game won our Spring Survival Horror poll, and for good reason. Frictional mastered the "first person, pursuit-based exploration horror" genre, and created a game that's so scary that a lot of people can't even play it. Listen in, especially if you're one of those people. LINKS OF NOTE: Danse Macabre (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danse_Macabre_%28book%29) Sanity Patent (patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parse…954&RS=PN/6935954) Novint Falcon (www.novint.com/index.php/novintfalcon) Curated list of custom stories. I can't vouch necessarily (www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbjsbYIO6sc) The Nothing (www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrG-lsrXKRM) Dat fountain (www.google.com/search?espv=2&biw…w&ved=0CCIQ1QIoAQ) Road to Damascus (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_…Paul_the_Apostle) SOMA (www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5iRmZPQ3VA) I can't find the right commercial but I didn't dream up Wyler's (www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWQhzqVVZKU) Torture Museum Reviews (www.tri

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon. LINKS OF NOTE: Michael Kupperman (michaelkupperman.com/) Azure Dreams (www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o9KVgt4014) CoD Analysis (www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvN51r1o1Nc) Masters of Doom (www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Crea…ure/dp/0812972155) Anachronox (www.youtube.com/watch?v=isdE2R-j0CI)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross delve into Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon. If you're judging this game on adorableness, it passes with flying colors. If you're judging it on mechanics, it's the best introduction to Roguelikes you're likely to get. If you're judging it on story... Wait, where's Rafaello? I love him so god damn much. LINKS OF NOTE: Roguelike Radio (http://www.roguelikeradio.com/) Dark Sun (http://darksun.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Sun_Wiki) Sillicon Valley (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyVksFviJVE) Underwater Moonlight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2Iysm8QaG8) 3 word phrase (http://www.threewordphrase.com/) Shiren the Wanderer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvnO_mJMpwg)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Commander Keen 4 and 5, along with some straggler responses to Call of Duty 4. LINKS OF NOTE: Darkest Dungeon (www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQLxdHfMPF8) Keen Dreams (www.youtube.com/watch?v=scC5hbMQYlE) Thank you for Smoking (www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBELC_vxqhI) No, I cannot find anything for Pork, The Zork Like.

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross walk backward and talk about Commander Keen in "Goodbye, Galaxy!" We're always looking to shore up blind spots in the games we cover. After nearly four years of doing this show, it's important to avoid ruts. Commander Keen represents a particular stripe of PC platformers that was ultimately an evolutionary dead end. But in his time, Commander Keen was charming and fun. This episode actually covers two games: "The Secret of the Oracle" and "The Armageddon Machine". The former is an essential play, the latter is dull garbage. LINKS OF NOTE: ID on SMB3 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj4HJkeQSg0) Moraff's World (www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPaEx35bWSA) Errant Signal on Doom (www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyOF2RsO3ck) The Wrestler (www.youtube.com/watch?v=61-GFxjTyV0) Terrence Trent D'Arby (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynIHsHYaig0) What Brownian Motion Actually Is (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownian_motion)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to... well, some weird stuff, because nobody wrote in about Call of Duty 4 on time. LINKS OF NOTE: Jan and Dean (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_Qr6Ky1Lbg) The Fabled Lands (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabled_Lands) Wolf in White Van (www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/books/…rnielle.html?_r=0)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross noscope with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Call of Duty has become emblematic of AAA bloat. Podcasts like ours tend to dismiss it out of hand as the poster child for a kind of game that hasn't just run out of ideas, but refuses to be reflective about the ideas it does have. It could be argued that it all began here. However, it's more complicated than that. Call of Duty 4 is a perfectly fine shooter with moments that really stand out. Moreover, it's a game that has heart, from a series that notoriously lacks it. LINKS OF NOTE: Hardline (www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0TfCQAQJAE) See how no one ever hits anyone else? (www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE9CEC7hZJw) Generation Kill (www.youtube.com/watch?v=bobBTYwkDhc) Aerial America (www.youtube.com/watch?v=izIc-lcvmEw) Gary owns one of these (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidator_%28Chernobyl%29) Heat (www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbBLJ1WGwQ) Dragon, throw me (arresteddevelopment.wikia.com/wiki/Ready…,_Marry_Me)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to game book and Choose Your Own Adventures. LINKS OF NOTE: Choose Your Own Autobiography (www.amazon.com/Neil-Patrick-Harr…phy/dp/0385346999) The Aviator Book (www.amazon.com/Howard-Hughes-The…ife/dp/0312329970) The Crystal Trap (zelda.wikia.com/wiki/The_Crystal_Trap)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross venture forth to discuss game books, choose your own adventures, and Steve Jackson's Sorcery! What is game? It's any interactive experience that has both failure states and a success state. By that reasoning, game books are games. Also, it's in the name. This special episode is all about non-video interactive narratives, books with branching paths and mechanics. We cover the Bantam Choose Your Own Adventure Books, Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf, Steve Jackson's Sorcery!, the Goosebumps Choose Your Own Scare, and more. For as nostalgic as this topic is, there's a surprising connection between these books and the current crop of narrative-driven games we play today. LINKS OF NOTE: You Chose Wrong (youchosewrong.tumblr.com/) Clickventure (www.clickhole.com/clickventure/mys…ow-island-1880#2,) Quest for Glory (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Glory) Gamebook Archives (www.gamebooks.org/) The Two Jakes (www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWbiQAr8miI) Black Bug Room (marvel.wikia.com/Black_Bug_Room)

Gary Butterfield, Kole Ross, and Zack Johnson read your responses to Star Control II, then talk about disgusting stuff for a little while. LINKS OF NOTE: Ultranomicon (wiki.uqm.stack.nl/Star_Control_II) Chubby Bunny (www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/chubbybunny.asp) Rainbow Party (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_par…_%28sexuality%29) S-Rank (www.giantbomb.com/s-rank/3015-2962/)

Gary Butterfield, Kole Ross, and Zack Johnson open a hailing frequency to talk about Star Control II. The Ur-Quan and their battle thralls have dominated this quadrant of the galaxy, and it's up to a human crew with some Precursor technology to reunite the Alliance of Free Stars and act as liberators. This is a game that defies categorization. Part space combat arcade game, part resource gathering, part adventure game... the larger picture of all of these pretty little parts is an engrossing world filled with varied and interesting species and civilizations, each with their own stories to tell. This ranks really high up there on our list of favorite games we've done on the show, and we really recommend you check it out. LINKS OF NOTE: 3DO controller (www.google.com/search?q=3do+cont…g&biw=999&bih=810) Star Control 1. Mute the dude (www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX0M2Ftf6ho) Article on Starflight (www.filfre.net/2014/10/starflight/) The Velvet Fog (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Torm%C3%A9) 2001 Sequels (en.wikipedia.org

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Jet Set Radio. The audience was mostly in agreement with us that the game is a case of style over substance. But tune in to hear the praise anyway, because damn is that style good. Also, Brayton Cameron calls in to educate us on where the music in Jet Set Radio comes from. LINKS OF NOTE: Alcatraz Audio Tour (www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XLoMqydKN4) African Grey Parrot (www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH80gzSs790) Shibuya-Kei (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya-kei) Iron and Blood (www.youtube.com/watch?v=xotDSUM4v0k) Revolt of Gamers (www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N-rD0F3Psk) Noah's Arcade (www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDP9jfIwe7A) Umberto Eco's Getting Up (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_Eco)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross dig through the ditches of Jet Set Radio. It's gang warfare in its most stylish and innocent form. It's also a gleeful tribute to free expression in the face of corporate oppression. It's got one of the best soundtracks in any game, ever. Difficulty issues aside, this is a unique game that's worth playing if only to see the kinds of strange things that happened in the Dreamcast era. Links of Note: WOFF! T-Shirt (http://teespring.com/watch-out-for-fireballs-logo) Encephalitis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalitis) JSR Documentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YayOHx6K7b4) The Sea Urchin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkM-nRL_U38) Harvey Bullock (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdY4e5DAFUU) John Woo's Stranglehold (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vuqyFMu0Sg) GGG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Love#GGG) Smokin' Aces (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwJhJV5yipo)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Brave Fencer Musashi. LINKS OF NOTE: These guys. Don't watch this (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt0_oPPK6eA) Malabar Farm (www.youtube.com/watch?v=A42yI287qD4) Treehouse Cuts (www.yelp.com/biz/the-tree-house…nd-toys-new-york-2) Palace music (www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpJ8ZrQ0DyQ)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross absorb Brave Fencer Musashi. What happens when a young swordsman is summoned into a world built entirely around food puns? An episode that splits our hosts on whether or not Brave Fencer Musashi stood the test of time. This won our Winter Action RPG 2015 poll, and Kole sincerely hopes he doesn't offend any listeners by saying mean things about this game. LINKS OF NOTE: Musashi (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyamoto_Musashi) Musashi Samurai Legend (www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6c4ltTvDOU) Malediction Prophecy (twitter.com/liartownusa/status/304839693458092032) Flame Mammoth (www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q0TtnNZ1Rg) Steve Blum (www.steveblumvoices.com/) Time Makes Fools of Us All (www.imdb.com/title/tt0584442/quotes) Frieza (www.youtube.com/watch?v=njvgKUSR8Ss)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Rock Band. Links of Note: Gneiss Schist (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schist) Guitar Hero Arcade (guitarhero.wikia.com/wiki/Guitar_Hero_Arcade)