Podcast: Klonoa Door to Phantomile Game Club
This week Fred and Jam discuss the action platformer Klonoa: Door to Phantomile. Released by Namco in 1998, this was really a 2D side-scrolling title releasing when the industry had moved to 3D, but that doesn’t hinder its ability to be a fun and enchanting experience. As always, our hosts (along with chat) delve into the development, concepts, and gameplay.
Horror 101 Episode 7: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
This episode Fred, Jam, and special guest Me10dy sit down and enjoy a post-Christmas horror movie about Christmas. It’s worth a watch with this twisted tale from Finland (that’s currently free to Shudder subscribers).
Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition Review
2016s Game Club selection may as well be renamed “Jam’s gaming bucket list” as the vast majority of the games we have played this year are titles I’ve been wanting to play for sometime but just haven’t got around to. I could use the easy excuse where I say I’m too lazy or too busy but I choose to go with the excuse that I was on a long and arduous quest to find twelve jade statues in order to prevent the end of the world by new year. Fortunately for myself and humanity I completed that quest, surprisingly in Sleeping Dogs as well and I’m able to finish off 2016 with my review of the game. All in a days work I guess.
Sleeping Dogs is an open world game set in Hong Kong where you play as Wei Shen an undercover cop who is attempting to take down the Triads from the inside. Of course its not that easy for Wei. He soon becomes close with the gangs leading you as the player to question who Wei is truly loyal to. While the story is certainly serviceable and well acted by the voice cast I never felt completely invested. There are some emotional moments in the plot with key characters but the ultimate pay off seemed somewhat lackluster. With the game ending open ended and setting up for a sequel, is disappointing since United Front Games has now closed and the chances of seeing this sequel are very slim.
As with most sandbox games there is a mix of various gameplay styles. Sleeping Dogs main stand out feature is the hand to hand fighting system. Wei Shen is well versed in martial arts as is every bad guy in this game who you’ll usually take on in large groups. You can attack and counter in a system very similar to the infamous Batman Arkham games, although Sleeping Dogs appears to have its own rhythm to its fighting system. I found that you had to be very careful with your button presses to begin with. Once you got the games own rhythm down, I was quite capable even with the odds stacked largely against me, once I got to this stage I felt like Bruce Lee (insert broken table). You can also grapple enemies and maneuver them to create devastating environmental kills such as impaling guys on sword fish or smashing someone’s head into a urinal which reminds me of a fond scene from the film True Lies with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Podcast: 2017 on the 5s and 10s
In what has become an annual tradition, Jam and Fred delve into the past in 5 and 10 year intervals. In 2017 that means any decade in gaming history that ends in either a “7” or a “2”. There’s a great deal to be had and the time flies far too fast, but we guarantee you’ll learn something you didn’t already know.
Podcast: NES Classic Edition Games, Ranked
You ask, we oblige. Fred and Jam tackle the 30 games that come included in the US and European version of the NES Classic Edition and rank them. Yep, all 30, in order. Of course you’ll probably and although we promise we aren’t trying to mess with you, but this list is definitively how we feel about the lineup.
To view the ranking in written form, simply click here.
Podcast: Sleeping Dogs Game Club (Part 2)
It’s time to wrap up the story of Wei Shin in our second half of the game club. Fred and Jam pick up after “the wedding” and wrap up the main storyline along with side missions and impressions on the base game. Then they delve into the relatively large bundle of DLC that released on the game (and is included in the Definitive Edition).
ChronCD Episode 4
The high quality version can be downloaded at: https://archive.org/details/chroncd_ep4
In this episode, Fred covers the back half of 1990 on the PC-Engine CD.
00:00 – 02:08: Intro
02:09 – 06:08: Magical Dinosaur Tour
06:09 – 08:46: Last Armageddon
08:47 – 15:58: Valis III
15:59 – 18:48: Jack Nicklaus Turbo Golf
18:49 – 20:57: Mitsubachi Gakuen
20:58 – 26:14: Legion
26:15 – 29:32: The Pro Yakyu (Baseball)
29:33 – 31:42: Jantei Monogatari
31:43 – 34:15: Kagami no Kuni no Legend
34:16 – 38:51: J.B. Harold Murder Club
38:52 – 41:33: Avenger
41:34 – 44:49: Ranma 1/2
44:50 – 48:25: Vasteel
48:26 – 50:22: Outro
CD player sound effect by user NLM from Freesound.org and used under Creative Commons license for non-commercial use. Sound can be found here: https://www.freesound.org/people/NLM/sounds/144054/
Podcast: Happy Holidays 2016 (and Gameboy Community Top 10)
This week Fred and Jam tackle technical difficulties and announce the community’s Top 10 lists, and declaring the official winners. After that there’s plenty of community talk and plans for the future. Happy Holidays everyone. This amazing episode art is thanks to listener SieOne’s Christmas card, which we scanned to show off for all. You’re all great.
Podcast: Sleeping Dogs Game Club (Part 1)
This week Fred and Jam delve into the Triad underworld as an undercover cop in Sleeping Dogs. They go over the creation of developer United Front Games, the sordid tale of development and name changes, complete with a cancellation and resurrection under a new publisher. Finally they tackle the first half of the campaign, complete with side quests.
Fundraising 2017: When and How?
It’s that time of year again: fundraising. We love to do this show but it costs a bit of money and we need all of you wonderful listeners/readers/community members out there help us pay the dues. Fred goes into the many ideas we have going into this year’s fundraiser and when to have it, along with the potential vision for next year’s content. Please give this a quick listen and shoot us your feedback either at contact@gaminghistory101.com or our Contact page.
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