1up.com - Retronauts

On this all-too-soon finale of 1UP's Retronauts, we forego the sappy goodbyes and instead concentrate on what we've done best in these past seven years: complain incessantly about Virtual Console. Join Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, Chris Kohler, and Ray Barnholt as they look back on the wonders and blunders this recent generation has brought to classic gaming, and mull over what the future will hold for retro games on shiny new consoles. Thanks for your support over the years!

We're back with a marginally new title, and slightly older hosts! Join Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, Sam Claiborn, and Ray Barnholt as they adhere to Retronauts tradition for this first show of the new year by discussing 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, and 1993. And if that's not enough for you, we talk about ALF a bunch for some reason. No problem!

Your favorite classic gaming podcast is here to save Christmas -- and with an unprecedented lack of Ernest P. Worrell. Join Bob Mackey and the rest of the Retronauts crew for this extra-special holiday surprise, featuring traces of the wit and whimsy that made you love last year's celebration so much.

It's been almost 20 years since a purple tentacle sipped sewage and nearly took over the world, and since then, we've been left with nothing but questions. Thankfully, Day of the Tentacle project leads Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman decided to drop by the Retronauts studio for an entire hour of discussion about the classic adventure game they helmed two decades ago. Note: hamsters were frozen, microwaved, but ultimately not harmed in the making of this episode.

Nearly 30 years after its original release, Jordan Mechner's groundbreaking 1984 classic Karateka has returned for a brand new audience. Join Retronauts host Bob Mackey for a special interview with Mechner about the remake of the game that started his career. NOTE: This episode suffers from a bit of audio crackle due to faulty podcasting equipment. We're sorry!

Cowabunga! Radical! Et cetera! If you entered this world at some point in the '80s, you no doubt experienced the pizza-promoting phenomenon that taught children the names of four Renaissance artists. Join Retronauts host Bob Mackey, along with guests Kat Bailey, Ray Barnholt, and Marty Sliva as they thoroughly explore Konami?s many Ninja Turtles games, and perhaps learn the secret of the ooze?

With the release of Double Dragon Neon making the series relevant once again, Retronauts host Bob Mackey sits down with Scroll's Ray Barnholt and IGN's Sam Claiborn in an attempt to sort out the million ports of the few games starring Billy and Jimmy Lee. If you have a conveyor belt phobia, we advise you skip this one.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and the Retronauts feel fine. Well, maybe a little gassy. Join host Bob Mackey, along with guests Chris Kohler, Marty Sliva, and Jose Otero, as they depress a crowd of PAX Prime attendees with a discussion of video game portrayals of the post-apocalypse. Duck, cover, jam in your earbuds and laugh along with us for an hour as the world burns.

The second installment of Retronauts Movie Month wraps up with a look at 1989's The Wizard, Universal's attempt to siphon even more money from the parents of Nintendo-obsessed children. Join Bob Mackey, Marty Sliva, Sam Claiborn, and Ray Barholt as they discuss the glaring video game inaccuracies contained within before collapsing in a fit of Christian Slater impressions.

After an exciting and event-filled day of pawing over old video games and standing in the awe-inspiring presence of Howard Phillips (sans bowtie), Retronauts host Bob Mackey sits down with the gang from Retroware.tv to discuss the goings-on at Classic Gaming Expo 2012.

In 2001, Final Fantasy made its journey to the silver screen, and the resulting disaster exiled movie director and series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi to the hellish shores of Hawaii. But was it really all that bad? Join host Bob Mackey and guests Chris Kohler, Ray Barnholt, and Marty Sliva as they summon their own spirits within for a lively discussion of this cinematic failure.

We've done a lot of these, haven't we? In honor of Retronauts' 150-ish episode, join host Bob Mackey in this podcast retrospective as he presents some of the show's finest moments over the past six years, featuring the return of old friends, and a myriad of other surprises!

It's been a few months since our last laser-focused traditional episode, so this time around, we decided to set our sights on a beloved game that's near and dear to all of our hearts: Final Fantasy IV. Listen in as Retronauts host Bob Mackey employs the help of Jeremy Parish, Jose Otero, and Marty Sliva to talk about what makes this highly available 16-bit RPG so amazing. And we managed to get through this entire episode with only one mention of the word "spoony!"

Just because it's E3 doesn't mean we don't have time to podcast! Okay, that's not completely true, but we went ahead and did it anyway. Join Retronauts host Bob Mackey on this special episode featuring an interview with MonkeyPaw Games' John Greiner. Listen in and learn about the coming onslaught of Tomba-mania, and marvel at the impressive acoustics of an abandoned maintenance hallway.

In this special interview minisode of Retronauts Live, Bob Mackey chats with veteran developer Chris Jones about the return of the classic Tex Murphy adventure series via his new Kickstarter titled "Project Fedora." Listen in and learn how this new age of philanthropy is giving us a classic adventure game Renaissance.

Keeping in line with our week of What If content, episode 48 of Retronauts Live features Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, and Jose Otero exploring the possibilities of alternate realities in audio form. Listen in and be amazed as the Retronauts crew summons the powers of conjecture to bring you an hour of split timelines and improvised histories.

Since we've been busy with events and special guests, our listener mail segment has suffered unduly. To remedy this issue, episode 47 of Retronauts Live is entirely devoted to questions from listeners like you. Jam in your earbuds and listen to the voices of Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, Marty Sliva, and Ray Barnholt as they soothe readers desperately in search of answers.

On this episode of Retronauts, former Working Designs head honcho Victor Ireland weaves grand tales of the '90s video game marketplace for a rapt audience consisting of Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, and Gamasutra's Christian Nutt. Slip on your Lunar punching puppets and pendant replicas, and get ready to fall headfirst into podcast that's real, unless you dream it's not.

In a complete reversal from last the negativity of their last PAX installment, the Retronauts are back to celebrate just what makes awesome games so awesome. Join Jeremy Parish, Chris Kohler, Kurt Kulata, and Seth Macy live from PAX East 2012 as they entertain a crowd of thousands by praising the favorite games of audience members brave enough to step up to the mic.

Retronauts returns to the age of dial-up and low poly counts with a grab bag of topics relating to the magical decade known as the 1990s. Boot up your favorite minidisc player, crack open a can of Surge, and unroll the nearest Fruit by the Root and prepare yourself for series of discussions about a time when we were all less surly.