Shows
Out and About in the LothiansEpisode 35- Louise Purden, Bonnyrigg Parish ChurchIn this episode, I chat with Louise Purden, minister of Bonnyrigg Parish Church. the pair discuss what its like working in a church in 2023 and what its plans for the future. They also talk about Louise's own personal journey and how she came to this Job.Show notesBonnyrigg Parish Church (bonnyriggchurch.co.uk)CreditsMusic: Savour The Moment by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.comSound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.comProduced and Edited by Sam Barge2023-08-0413 min
Alexander's Ragtime BandPost-Wall Pink FloydIn this, the final episode of Alexander's Ragtime Band, Jeremy, Elliot and James continue their Pink Floyd discussion from an earlier episode. Previously, they discussed the much-maligned post-Syd to Pre-Dark Side era. Today, they discuss the even more maligned post-Wall era - the 80s were a harsh decade for prog rock legends, that's for sure. Thanks for listening to the podcast, everyone, we hope you enjoyed it!2023-01-041h 39
Alexander's Ragtime BandPink Floyd in Transition, 1969-1972 Pink Floyd started as a psychedelic rock group, and were one of the most important bands of London's underground scene. But after Syd Barrett left the group, the band struggled to find their identity before eventually solidifying themselves as one of the greatest rock bands of all-time. The albums they recorded during this period might not all be great, but they're still a part of the Pink Floyd journey, and definitely helped the band form their legendary prog rock sound. Elliot Long, Jeremy Parish, and James Eldred discuss these albums to find the good, the bad, and the Ummagumma. 2022-07-271h 22
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #088: Jackal / Wheel of Fortune / Jeopardy!The prevailing theme for NES games in 1988 has been multiplayer. From Contra to Life Force to Jackal, many of the best games for ’88 played best with friends. (That was probably also true for games that weren't published by Konami, even.) Fittingly, episode 88 sees not but three games that uphold that trend. First, there's Jackal, a widely overlooked but danged enjoyable co-op shooter, followed by two pretty decent game show adaptations by Rare Ltd. for the sake of newcomer GameTek. Don't despair, though: The NES has some fantastic introvert-friendly single-player titles coming up before long. Video Works is a...2022-05-0815 min
Hair of the DogcastMGC 2022: Jeremy Parish - Golden Years of Gaming: 1986 Jump in the time machine and join us on an adventure to 1986 where arcades ruled supreme and the Nintendo Entertainment System dominated America! Jeremy Parish of Retronauts joins the Dogcast as we discuss what makes 1986 truly a Golden Year of Gaming. So many amazing games this year including Castlevania, Metroid, the Legend of Zelda, and Howard the Duck 2! Hair of the Dogcast is a proud member of the HyperX Podcast Network. For more information check out podcast.hyperx.com! Contact Us: Twitter: @HOTDogcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hairofthedogcast Instagram: hairofthedogcast T...2022-05-0636 minVideo Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #039: Astro Robo Sasa / Honshogi / Robot GyroThe machines have risen, taking control of this trio of games and obviating humanity altogether. Well, almost altogether. R.O.B. at least demonstrates the value of mankind working together, hand-in-, uh, claw with its new synthoid overlords to defeat the vile Smicks in Robot Gyro. As for the other games, well, they're all about robo-kind's fight for dominance. If my performance in Honshogi is anything to go by, carbon-based life is doomed. Video Works is a patron-funded project. For early video access, exclusive podcasts and mini-zines, and more, please support my work at patreon.com/gamespite — th...2022-05-0114 minVideo Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #038: The Tower of DruagaAlthough I've previously covered The Tower of Druaga on Game Boy Works, this version precedes the portable rendition by half a decade and stands as the more towering achievement of the two. So to speak. Another solid arcade-to-Famicom conversion by Namcot, Druaga's move to consoles felt like a figurative as well as literal homecoming: As an arcade game, Druaga feels frankly unfair thanks to its harsh one-hit-kill combat and mandatory secrets hidden behind abstruse and unintuitive rules. As a home game, however, Druaga offered a more expansive role-playing-style adventure than had ever been seen on consoles, and its design...2022-04-3012 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #037: Zippy Race / Super Arabian / Front LineOK, this week we have the ACTUAL debut of Irem on Famicom, but it's hard to say TOSE's take on Zippy Race makes for a splashier debut than 10-Yard Fight would have. At least 10-Yard Fight had the benefit of not having been shown up by a conversion of the same game to technically inferior hardware more than a year earlier. TOSE also helps a second publisher make its debut here with Sunsoft's first Famicom release: A similarly underwhelming arcade-to-console conversion of the game Arabian. If you love Ice Climber's jump physics (spoilers: you don't), you'll love Super Arabian (spoilers...2022-04-3013 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #036: Robot Block / Geimos / 10-Yard FightWell, I goofed on this episode—the production order list I work for ended up getting scrambled due a copy/paste error, and I accidentally covered Geimos and 10-Yard Fight out of sequence (they shipped right after Robot Gyro, not Robot Block). This means that 10-Yard Fight wasn't actually Irem's first Famicom! Since I was on the road when I realized this during final caption edits, I couldn't rework this episode. So please look forward to next episode, where I walk it back a bit. Overall, though, the details and sentiments here are otherwise correct—Robot Block is a waste, Geim...2022-04-3014 min
Alexander's Ragtime BandAn Interview with Tom BrislinElliot and James are joined today by very special guest Tom Brislin! Having toured with the likes of Meat Loaf, Yes, Camel and Renaissance, Tom is now the keyboardist for the legendary prog rock band Kansas! Tom shares stories about his times with these bands, life on the road as a working musician, and what it's been like being a newer member of one of the biggest prog rock acts in America.2022-04-131h 14
Alexander's Ragtime BandSupertramp's Breakfast In America The original plan here was for Elliot and James to each talk about one album that skirts the line between being prog and not prog, but they both love Supertramp so much that they decided to save the other album for another day. Breakfast In America is a fantastic record! Supertramp are a great band! These are facts that seem to be lost to the annals of time. Elliot and James discuss the group's strange history, its legendary run in the 70s that culminated with this all-time classic, how it all fell apart after, and if Supertramp...2022-04-121h 44Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #035: Road Fighter / Warpman / Door DoorAs we move deeper into the Famicom's history, its timeline begins to diverse further and further from the American console's. Witness this week's episode, in which all three releases remained stranded in Japan. (Well, OK, Road Fighter shipped in Europe in 1992, which is such a weird and unlikely turn of events it seems like we all probably hallucinated it.) All three of these titles also came to Famicom from other platforms—Road Fighter and Warpman from arcades, and Door Door from home computers. And! All three come to Famicom courtesy of some of the system's biggest publishers: Konami, Namco, an...2022-04-0316 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishRetronauts Episode 445: The Mario 2D Ranking Hootenanny previewDiamond Feit, Nadia Oxford, and Stuart Gipp band together to debate the relative merits of Mario games (the 2D ones, that is) with former professional game-ranker and universally reviled Mario-opinion heretic Jeremy Parish. Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts2022-04-0205 minVideo Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #034: Star Force / Elevator Action / Field CombatThree—three!—consecutive vertical shooters hit Famicom in this episode. Well, for a certain value of "vertical." All three of these games about shooting things while moving up or down along the screen, but all three take a very different approach to it. Star Force is the most traditional of the bunch, while Elevator Action combines vertical shooting with the sort of platform-based character movement found in the likes of Donkey Kong. And Field Combat... well, I'm not sure that one even knows what it wants to be. But at least it's interesting.2022-03-2713 min
Alexander's Ragtime BandThe Keyboards of ProgIt's safe to say that without keyboards, progressive rock doesn't exist. And while there have been many different types of keyboards, pianos, and synths that have contributed to the prog rock sound, in this episode we cover the three biggest ones: the Hammond organ, the Mellotron, and early Moogs. Sorry ARP fans, maybe next time.2022-03-271h 37Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #033: Wrecking Crew / Hyper Olympic / Spartan-XAlthough the three games featured in this week's episode have already appeared in the vanilla iteration of NES Works, I promise that there's merit in revisiting them. All three titles—Nintendo's Wrecking Crew, Konami's Hyper Olympic, and Nintendo (not Irem's!) Spartan-X—hit differently on Famicom than they did on NES. Especially when one of the games came with its own controller designed expressly for the purpose of mindless hitting.2022-03-2013 minVideo Works by Jeremy ParishGame Boy Works 127: Gremlins 2 & Pocket StadiumSunsoft returns to Game Boy with a soul-crushingly brutal take on a movie that's about as close to being a cult classic as a major blockbuster can be: Gremlins 2 - The New Batch. It really captures the experience of being a small, helpless little fuzzy guy with stubby arms making his way through a skyscraper filled with raving murder-monsters. Although you'd think with Gizmo's gigantic eyes, he'd have better vision than the original Game Boy screen provides. On the import tip, there's Pocket Stadium from Atlus, a curious baseball simulator... and by "simulator" I really do mean...2022-03-2012 minVideo Works by Jeremy ParishGame Boy Works 126: Godzilla & Nekojara MonogatariYou come at the king, you'd best not miss. In this case, they've come at Godzilla, the King of Monsters, and stolen his horrible little son Minilla. I personally would be happy to let Minilla languish forever in captivity, but parental instincts run deep even for a skyscraper-sized atomic-powered dinosaur... and the result is one of the best Game Boy puzzle action games to date. So, hey, thanks for existing, Minilla. I guess. On the import tip this episode: Nekojara Monogatari, another of Kemco's reworkings of the Shadowgate engine into a role-playing adventure game. This one has...2022-03-2014 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #029: SG-1000 in ReviewOur shared journey through the SG-1000 library has been illuminating, and in this episode I attempt to encapsulate much of what has been covered here over the past year. This episode isn't simply a recap and recontextualization of the system, though—it's also an attempt to reconcile some issues in my coverage of the individual games. Part of what I've learned since early 2021 has been how to properly record the SG-1000 color palette, something I struggled with all along whether I was recording from Analogue clone hardware or an actual SG-1000. The system's limited but distinctive color op...2022-03-2040 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #028: Loretta No Shouzou & The Black OnyxIn this episode, we look at the SG-1000's 1987 release lineup in its entirety... and, with those two games, we also wrap up the SG-1000 library as a whole. That's it! Go home! From now on, it's just Master System and beyond here on Segaiden. These two works are not necessarily the kind of thing you'd want to spend much time playing in the modern day and age, but they are very impressive from a technical perspective. Imagine playing games like Borderline and Space Slalom in the early days of the SG-1000, then ending up with a...2022-03-2018 min
Alexander's Ragtime BandEpisode 010: One Album WondersSpecial guest Dr. Sparkle of Chrontendo fame joins us today to discuss artists who either only released one album, or only one album of any regard. While the past few episodes have featured albums that maybe not all of us were keen on, this episode features three stone-cold prog classics: Affinity's self-titled record, First Base by Babe Ruth, and England's Garden Shed. Enjoy!2022-03-111h 29
Alexander's Ragtime BandEpisode 009: A podcast of Yes music minus Jon Anderson Jon Anderson parted ways with Yes sometime in the early 2000s, but the band has continued without him in the years since, with three LPs and one EP - but should they have? Elliot and James go album by album and parse out which Jon Anderson-less Yes releases are worth your time, and which ones are most certainly not. 2022-03-111h 25
Alexander's Ragtime BandDeloused in the ComatoriumThis is a backer request from "Itsumi Mario," who wanted us to go in-depth on the bonkers 2001 debut by the Mars Volta, De-Loused in the Comatorium. Despite definitely not being in the wheelhouse of neither Jeremy nor Elliot, we find a lot to talk about with this one; the Mars Volta are a lot of things, but "boring" certainly isn't one of them. I'm also really happy that I got to go deep into post-hardcore on a podcast that's about prog rock.2022-02-2656 min
Alexander's Ragtime BandCalling All StationsWith Phil Collins out of the picture, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford decided to carry on, recruiting singer Ray Wilson to join them. The results were Calling All Stations, an album that's...well...not all that great, but there are some hidden gems there, and Ray Wilson was as good singer, dammit, he got a raw deal!2022-02-261h 21
Alexander's Ragtime BandDipping A ToeWhere do you start with prolific and not-especially-mainstream prog rocks acts like Gentle Giant, Gong, and Hawkwind? Here's our starter advice.2022-02-261h 31
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #031: Adventure Island IVBy request of They Call Me Sleeper, here's one last Wonder Boy game until Segaiden gets to the Master System stuff: Adventure Island IV for NES. Or rather, Takahashi Meijin no Boukenjima IV for Famicom, as Hudson has never localized this one in any capacity. That's a shame, because Adventure Island IV belatedly but capably brings Master Higgins' island adventures in line with those of Tom Tom's, transforming the linear Adventure Island series into a free-roaming exploratory adventure. You know. A metroidvania. It's a fine send-off to the Adventure Island series (which would see only one more proper new...2022-02-1316 minVideo Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #087: Hudson's Adventure Island & Milon's Secret CastleFamicom mainstay Hudson finally makes its American debut this week with two sizable hits from Japan. First, Adventure Island brings a little taste of Sega to NES by converting Wonder Boy with a thinly veiled graphical overhaul. Milon's Secret Castle goes a different route, abandoning linear action for a hunt-and-explore adventure inside a castle full of monsters and annoying hidden objects. Both games share a single trait: They're designed to be obnoxiously difficult without cheat codes. Yeah, I Game Genied my way through this episode. I am very old, and there's just not enough time left in...2022-02-0615 minVideo Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #27: Graphic Tablet / Wonder Boy / Champion BilliardsThe penultimate set of SG-1000 games arrives as the system does its best to remain current and competitive in the medium's changing landscape with technology built around the expectations of an earlier generation of game design. Although the SG-1000 is woefully underpowered to hold its own amidst the new creative frontiers being explored on Famicom, Mark III, and in arcades, these final releases push the hardware well beyond anything its designers could possibly have intended or foreseen. The Graphic Tablet peripheral and Terebi Oekeki cart bring the creative functionality of a personal computer to SG-1000. Wonder Boy...2022-01-3018 minVideo Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #26: Ninja Princess / Super Tank / Champion KendouA brief break in the SG-1000's strong run of final releases with a set of titles that will remind you of the not-so-good ol' days when the console's library was generally pretty rough. This trio earns most of its points for effort from Ninja Princess, which converts an arcade game quite convincingly save for one massive technical hitch that has a hugely disruptive effect on the action. Unfortunately, it's followed up by Super Tank, a much less enjoyable game that basically uses the same basic shooter-action premise as Ninja Princess, but poorly. And finally, Champion Kendou, the final...2022-01-2313 minVideo Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #25: C-So! / The Castle / GulkaveThe SG-1000 didn't have much going on during 1986, with Sega's attention focused primarily on the shiny new Mark III console, but what little did make its way to the older console was pretty strong. After an indifferent shrug of a vintage-style single-screen arcade-format MSX port with Compile's C-So!, we get to the good stuff: ASCII's The Castle and Compile's Gulkave. The former, also an MSX port, is a game so demanding and expansive Sega had to bust out the cartridge format again. The Castle simply wouldn't fit onto a MyCard. And as for Gulkave, you may have...2022-01-2318 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #31: Chack'n Pop / Dig Dug / FlappyA real sense of deja vu this week as we look at three games that have all appeared on this channel in other versions. I would like to say that these iterations are all the superior works, but Mom taught me not to be a liar. Now, this version of Dig Dug is far and away the best 8-bit home version ever published, an almost arcade-perfect rendition that captures both the broad strokes and the tiny little details that made it a classic (vexing enemy A.I.! Musical walking!). And Flappy is much better on Famicom than...2022-01-0912 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #024: Mark III / Hang On / Teddy Boy BluesContinuing on from last week, we go from Hang On II to just plain ol' Hang On. But this in no way feels like a downgrade; quite the contrary. With Hang On (and Teddy Boy Blues), Sega brings its home hardware into line with Nintendo's Famicom/NES, boosting the basic SG-1000 architecture with a monstrous upgrade to its graphical capabilities and essentially creating a new console in the process. The continuity created between Hang On and Hang On II offers a remarkably convenient way to compare the SG-1000's state of the art with the entry-level capabilities of its...2022-01-0218 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #023: Hang On II / Bomb JackThis week bring us the first of a two-part episode—or should that be "the second"? Sega's imprecise SG-1000 launch date documentation makes it difficult to know if Hang On II did in fact debut before or after Hang On (no Roman numeral) for Mark III in October 1985*. But the number II there is only for show anyway, as Hang On II is literally just a downscaled version of Hang On—but a very impressive downscaled version! By far the best and most convincing racer on the console, Hang On II was so impressive Sega made a controller specifically to s...2021-12-2617 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #30: Antarctic Adventure / Yie Ar Kung Fu / Ninja-KunAn 8-bit heavy hitter makes its Famicom debut, right around the same time as they first dipped a toe into the SG-1000 market: Konami, eventual creators of Castlevania and Contra, here still a mere stripling of a home games developer. As on Sega's platform, Konami made its debut in Nintendo-land with two games, though I would say both turned out far better than their SG-1000 counterparts. I mean, nobody's going to fall in love with Yie Ar Kung-Fu here in 2021, but Antarctic Adventure (or Kekkyoku Nankyoku Daibouken, if you want to be formal about it) is a good time...2021-12-2614 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #022: Championship Lode Runner / H.E.R.O. / Champion Ice HockeyA couple of standout releases in this episode... but first, we have to survive another version of Lode Runner. Look, I like Lode Runner. Great game. But there's been a lot of it here in the mid ’80s! This time, the monk/robot guys win. Beyond that, however, we have the final entry in Activision's brief dalliance on SG-1000 (or maybe Sega's brief dalliance with Activision?): H.E.R.O. It's a strong conversion from 2600 that loses none of the original quality or originality yet manages to spruce up the visuals and replace the retro helicopter backpack wi...2021-12-2612 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #086: Legendary Wings / Xevious / GalagaThis week is a bit of an ouroboros: While the primary feature here is Capcom's Legendary Wings, this episode also touches on the NES release of Xevious, the game that very clearly inspired Legendary Wings (not to mention about a thousand other Japanese arcade games of the era). Xevious is by far the purer of the two, not to mention the fairer, but there is something to be said for that late ’80s Capcom house NES style... Production note: SG-1000 footage in this episode was captured from a combination of Sega SG-1000 II with (with Card Ca...2021-12-0516 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #021: Rock'n Bolt / Elevator Action / SoukobanA bit of an emphasis on day jobs this episode, but fortunately one of these games offers more than mere workmanlike effort. Activision's Rock'n Bolt stands out this week as one of the SG-1000's most appealing puzzlers—certainly a more interesting take on the genre than Soukoban, which gets credit for its primal nature but not for possessing any sort of audio-visual flair. And then there's Elevator Action, a perfectly decent arcade game done dirty by the console's hardware. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the SG-1000's limits do more to hamper this conversion th...2021-11-2811 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #020: Chack'n Pop & Bank PanicMore arcade ports for SG-1000? Say it ain't so! These titles aren't especially well known in the U.S., since they've never seen a proper console release here (outside of maybe some collection that doesn't come immediately to mind), but both merit a close look. Taito's Chack'n Pop may not impress quite as much on the technical front as the more familiar Famicom version, but it features better level design... albeit with an absolutely unforgiving difficulty level. Sega's own Bank Panic plays like a clever attempt to capture the spirit of Nintendo's Wild Gunman without...2021-11-2113 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #019: Doki Doki Penguin Land & DrolThis week brings us two SG-1000 releases that feel miles removed from the console's earliest days of serious-looking war game: Doki Doki Penguin Land and Drol. Rather than involving the relentless destruction of military vehicles (and, by extension, the squishy humans inside them), these two titles see you doing your best to protect children. While some retributive violence is involved here, those polar bears definitely had it coming. Of the two, Penguin Land feels like the more meaningful work. It really elevates the production values of SG-1000 games and speaks to a Sega that's getting serious about...2021-11-1911 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #018: Zoom 909 / Choplifter / PitfallBeginning with this episode, I'm knuckling down to wrap up as much of the SG-1000 video series as possible by the end of 2021. There are only about half a dozen episodes to go after this! It's a pretty small library, but the best times are ahead of us. This episode looks at, technically, three arcade conversions: Zoom 909, Choplifter, and Pitfall II. Of course, the two latter games got their start on Apple II and Atari 2600, respectively, but around the same time these carts hit stores, Sega also reworked them into pretty good arcade games. The question is whether or...2021-11-1914 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #29: Castlevania Special: Kid DraculaHalloween season is upon us, and you know what that means: Where other people decorate their homes with cobwebs and giant skeletons, I decorate mine with a Castlevania-related video. This time around, it's a look at a Castlevania spinoff called Kid Dracula. Well, technically, this video is about Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula-Kun! Or just Kid Dracula. It's a little bit Castlevania, a little bit Mega Man, and just a few minor quirks shy of being an all-time Famicom classic. Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to eve...2021-11-1813 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works 1985: Golgo 13: Top Secret EpisodeI may have gone a little overboard with this episode, but it seemed worth doing. For one thing, the creator of the Golgo 13 series, Takao Saito, recently passed away. And for another, upon revisiting this game in the context of its original release chronology on NES, I came away deeply impressed by how much the developers attempted to do here. Did they nail it? Oh, lord, no. But where this game is easily written off as a kludgey mess when viewed in light of the entire nine-year NES release library, back in autumn 1988, it tried to do a LOT...2021-11-1824 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #084: Life Force & World Class Track MeetWe have a follow-up to a 1986 classic here, in deed if not in name: Life Force, the sequel to Konami's Gradius. Well, sort of. It's complicated. But since we never saw the actual Gradius II on NES, this will have to do. Life Force makes use of the same excellent power-up system as Gradius with some refinements, including a new weapon option, new handling of Options, a revamped shield, and perhaps most importantly a far more forgiving respawn system upon the player's inevitable demise. Along with these improvements, Life Force also incorporates two-player simultaneous action and introduces a unique d...2021-11-1819 min
Hair of the DogcastMGC2021: Jeremy Parish - The Legacy of Golgo 13Jeremy Parish from the Retronauts joins Brad from the Dogcast to discuss Golgo 13 and the NES game Top Secret Episode. Follow us down the rabbit hole and learn about the silent assassin and his globe trotting adventures spanning comics, video games, and anime. This episode was recorded Live at Midwest Gaming Classic 2021 at The Bonus Stage. Jeremy Parish: Twitter: @gamespite Retronauts Podcast Contact us: Twitter: @HOTDogcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hairofthedogcast Email us: hairofthedogcast@gmail.com Instagram: hairofthedogcast To see how you can support...2021-11-1129 minHair of the DogcastMGC2021: Jeremy Parish - The Legacy of Golgo 13Jeremy Parish from the Retronauts joins Brad from the Dogcast to discuss Golgo 13 and the NES game Top Secret Episode. Follow us down the rabbit hole and learn about the silent assassin and his globe trotting adventures spanning comics, video games, and anime. This episode was recorded Live at Midwest Gaming Classic 2021 at The Bonus Stage. Jeremy Parish: Twitter: @gamespite Retronauts Podcast Contact us: Twitter: @HOTDogcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hairofthedogcast Email us: hairofthedogcast@gmail.com Instagram: hairofthedogcast To see how you can support...2021-11-1129 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #083: Bases Loaded & Lee Trevino's Fighting GolfThis episode focuses on perception, especially vis-a-vis Bases Loaded. A certain demographic of NES owners LOVES Bases Loaded. However, in my experience, people who discovered the NES later (when better and better-looking baseball sims were available for the console) tend to find it lacking and shallow. And then there is the Japanese Famicom owner's perspective, in which Bases Loaded (aka Moero!! Pro Yakyuu) is almost universally reviled. How could so many people hold such contradictory points of view? This episode delves deeply into that question. This episode also talks about Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf. (Yes, I am...2021-10-1017 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #29: Formation Z / Soccer / Championship Lode Runner / Space InvadersIt feels like Famicom is kind of playing catch-up with SG-1000 this episode, as every game appearing here arrived on shelves in the wake of a Sega-published equivalent—either the exact same game (as in Space Invaders), one exploring the same root concept in different ways (Soccer), or a game with almost suspicious conceptual and mechanical similarities (Formation Z). Of course, the Nintendo version of these games absolutely eclipsed Sega's, right? Well... maybe not always. Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two...2021-10-0314 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #28: Balloon Fight / Ice Climber / Exerion / Galaga / Bungeling Bay1985 starts the Famicom on some familiar footing with a couple of future Black Box releases (one great, one meh); two shooters previously seen on SG-1000; and a Commodore 64 conversion from Hudson that would show up on NES under the aegis of its original publisher. No big surprises here (including the apparent Nintendo debut of TOSE, and the fact that the games previously seen on SG-1000 fare a lot better on Famicom), but that won't be the case for long. By the midpoint of 1985, the Famicom library will look wildly different from the NES's as more third parties (and, specifically...2021-09-2716 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #17: Othello / Space Invaders / Card Catcher / Dragon WangSega's 8-bit family goes on a diet this episode, with the SG-1000 media format suddenly slimming down from chunky cartridges to the svelte MyCard format, a credit card-sized chip that was so well-received that Hudson ripped it off wholesale for their PC Engine/TurboGrafx HuCards. Of course, this is really just a cosmetic change; the SG-1000 wouldn't enjoy proper technical enhancements until later in 1985 with the arrival of the Mark III. (Well, that was probably later in 1985; as this episode once again explains, Sega did a godawful job of tracking SG-1000 software launch dates.) As for the games, well...2021-09-2716 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #16: GP World / Tooru-kun / Hyper Sports / Star ForceSega winds down the cartridge format for SG-1000 in favor of a new media type, and this corner of the console library unfortunately wheezes to a half-hearted ending. Somehow, Sega even managed to completely squander Konami's brief show of support for the platform by turning in a pair of clumsy arcade conversions in the form of Shinnyuushain Tooru-kun (aka Mikie) Hyper Sports (a cousin to Track & Field). On the other hand, GP World does at least innovate a little bit in SG-1000's well-trodden racing lineup, and Tekhan's Star Force puts in a respectable showing, even if it's not...2021-09-2718 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #15: Zaxxon & Champion Pro WrestlingSega enters 1985 with the hottest game of 1982, and the good news is that Zaxxon looks and plays far more convincingly than its sibling release Congo Bongo did back in 1983. This adaptation of the arcade hit makes some curious tweaks to the game's flow and design, and it adds a bit of background music, which sets it apart from other conversions of the game. But in a good way, mostly. Champion Pro Wrestling fares less impressively, especially in hindsight. Apparently we have Sega to blame for how Tag Team Wrestling turned out on NES, with the sluggishness and...2021-09-0514 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #082: Defender II & Iron TankA pair of arcade shooter adaptations leads us into the second half of 1988 for NES Works, both of which deserve attention for entirely different reasons. Defender II sees the publishing debut of HAL Labs (via HAL America), a well-deserved turn of events for a studio that was so essential to the early success of this platform. And this conversion stretches all the way back to those early days, speaking once again to the close relationship HAL and Nintendo shared as the latter made its way into the world of selling game consoles—including a bit of borrowed au...2021-08-2916 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #081: Double DragonTechnos (by way of freshman NES publisher Tradewest) follows up on Renegade with a home conversion of a massive arcade hit that plays extremely fast and loose with the meaning of the phrase "home conversion." Double Dragon on NES may as well be a completely different game than the coin-op smash, as it adds several new mechanics, expands the game environments, introduces platforming sequences, helps invent the one-on-one fighting genre, and—whoops—loses the cooperative gameplay feature that gave the game its name in the first place. The end result is a game that doesn't sit well with those who...2021-08-2219 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #080: Metal GearOne of the most beloved franchises of all time makes its debut on NES, though not its actual debut; the Metal Gear Nintendo fans knew and enjoyed back in the 8-bit era was in fact a port of a minor hit for MSX/2 home computers that had shipped about a year earlier in Japan. Although Metal Gear gets the broad strokes right on NES, it trips up over a lot of minor details. And some major ones, too. Still, if a compromised take on a classic is the one that a million former NES owners knew and enjoyed back...2021-08-1520 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSuper NES Works #000: The Super Nintendo Entertainment SystemIt has been three decades since Nintendo launched its first next-generation console in the U.S.: The Super Nintendo Entertainment System. On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, Super NES Works returns for a limited-time engagement to wrap up this look at the system's launch window by looking at the system itself. What did the Super NES represent to fans, parents, developers, and Nintendo itself when it arrived in the midst of a burgeoning games market whose revival had been precipitated by the Super NES's own predecessor and opened the door to some ferocious competition?2021-08-0822 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishGame Boy Works #125: Klax, Klax, & GingaA curious case here on Game Boy Works: A game that is somehow two games. While Klax on Game Boy plays about the same as the Klax we've already seen on Atari Lynx, it takes two very different approaches to its presentation depending on the region you bought it from. The American release from Mindscape, which actually shipped in 1991, has the same vanishing perspective seen in other versions of the game. The Japanese cart from Hudson, on the other hand, looks like no other rendition of Klax to be found on competing platforms. It's two separate takes on the...2021-08-0114 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishGame Boy Works #124: Nail'n Scale & Pri Pri: Primitive PrincessPuzzle platformers are in their Game Boy; all's right with the world. Yes, this episode brings us not one but two—two!—puzzle action games for Game Boy. As if we'd have it any other way. As often happens, one of these is far more fun and playable than the other in hindsight, reflecting poorly on the lesser of the two. For once, the better game received a U.S. release while the merely-OK one remained stranded overseas. Nail'n Scale from Data East offers much: Two-player simultaneous action, fluid and friendly jump mechanics, and a fun...2021-07-2511 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishGame Boy Works #123: Kung' Fu Master & Kinninkou Maroku ONIGame Boy turns its focus to the far east this episode, with an action game based on Chinese martial arts and an RPG centered on battling (and being) Japanese yōkai. Neither one is particularly world-shaking, though Kung' Fu Master does have a direct line to the early days of the NES, and ONI kicks off the Game Boy's most prolific exclusive game franchise that I'm aware of (there's probably some pachinko or mahjong franchise I'm overlooking) as the first of five adventures created exclusively for the platform. Of course, none of those ever reached the U.S. Americans? P...2021-07-1911 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #027: Nazo no Murasame-jouBy request of Peter LaPrade, this week brings us another look at a Famicom Disk System exclusive that ended up being stranded in Japan until fairly recently: Nintendo's own Nazo no Murasame-jou. A brisk, challenge action title with a structure loosely patterned after The Legend of Zelda, Nazo no Murasame-jou seems like the kind of thing that probably would have done fairly well for itself had Nintendo localized it alongside their other FDS titles (Zelda, Metroid, Kid Icarus, and Volleyball) in mid-1987. Instead, it languished in Japan for decades, though it has exerted a small presence on modern games...2021-07-1111 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #026: A Brief History of the NES on a ChipBy request of Joseph Adams, I've attempted this episode to explore the history of (and explain the concept of) devices powered by NES-on-a-chip tech. I'll admit up front that this is by no means a definitive or comprehensive history, as a considerable portion of this topic falls into poorly documented spaces: Unauthorized clone consoles, piracy-focused devices, and ventures in territories veiled behind other languages and cultures (not to mention less methodical documentation than you see for mainstream Western/Japanese consoles like the NES itself). Hopefully I've still assembled an accurate and interesting enough narrative to justify the time and...2021-07-0412 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #025: The Datach Joint ROM SystemBy patron request, this week's video shifts up the temporal alignment of the NES Works Gaiden series to leap forward from the end of 1984 for Famicom to the end of 1992?! Yes, that's right, we spring forward in time here to look at the Japanese equivalent of the Aladdin Deck Enhancer, except one reliant on an even bigger gimmick than simply packing in universal game chips in order to accept smaller, less expensive sub-cartridges. Bandai dared to push the bleeding edge of what the market would bear here by forcing players to make use of collector cards emblazoned with bar...2021-06-2712 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #014: Othello Multivision Pt. 2Well, I survived. I made it all the way through the Othello Multivision's library. If you thought the first four games were unimpressive, that's only because you had no idea what Tsukuda Original had up its sleeve for 1984: Yet another mahjong game, a glacial Xevious clone, and Video Works' very first (of many...) horse race-betting sim. But at least there's a somewhat inventive golf title and a solid conversion of a beloved (albeit crazy difficult) James Bond game. This version fixes a titling error from the previous upload. This episode's titles: San Nin Mahjong Challenge Derby...2021-06-2710 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #13: Othello Multivision Pt. 1 (Othello / Q*Bert / Guzzler / Space Mountain)While Segaiden has covered every SG-1000 release through the end of 1984 at this point, there's technically still a set of games for the system that need to be touched on. Eight (or technically nine) unique releases for SG-1000 appeared in 1983 and ’84, under a non-Sega publisher, branded for release on a different console. Nevertheless, they're a part of SG-1000 history, as each of them runs on the system with no fuss. Yes, this episode we look at the SG-1000's semi-official clone, the Tsukuda Original Othello Multivision. With eight unique carts and one built-in ROM, it's worth exploring... bu...2021-06-1316 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #24: Summer Games & Desert Falcon (Atari 7800)The other two mid-’88 releases for Atari 7800 consist of yet another computer port and—wow!—the console's first original creation. Although this original creation ended up being ported to several other Atari systems, which rather undermines its exclusive appeal. Still, it's good to see a game on 7800 that hadn't already shown up in arcades and on computers four or five years earlier, you know? Video Works is a patron-funded project. For early video access, exclusive podcasts and mini-zines, and more, please support my work at patreon.com/gamespite — thank you!2021-06-0611 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #23: Ballblazer & Winter Games (Atari 7800)Before we continue with the Sega and Nintendo stuff, Atari deserves a brief stopover to see what the 7800 was up to for the first half of 1988. As it turns out, the answer is "not a whole heck of a lot." Happily, the one game to ship during this period—Lucasfilm Games' Ballblazer—has more than enough history and content behind it to support most of this episode before we jump into summer ’88 and, ironically, Winter Games from Epyx. You'll notice a change in the hosting segments here, as I've begun recording them on period-appropriate media (VHS tape) for au...2021-05-3014 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishMetroidvania Works #14: Maze of Galious & Metal GearI haven't forgotten my other child. Metroidvania Works has reached a weird place in its chronology, where it's kind of entangled and overlapping with NES Works—as you can see from the fact that this episode's back-up feature covers the next title that will appear on that series. Of course, the main event here is a game that never reached the U.S., so it's worth looking at here—especially given how influential it was on at least one major metroidvania work that appeared nearly two decades later. Video Works is a patron-funded project. For early video acce...2021-05-2314 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #22: Mappy / Urban Champion / Clu Clu Land / Excitebike1984 comes to an end for the Famicom with a trio of releases that American fans will recognize from the Black Box launch era of the NES. Arriving singly in 1984 rather than en masse a year or two later amidst dozens of other games with a similar visual vibe, benighted NES releases Urban Champion and Clu Clu Land stand up a bit better here. (Excitebike, of course, rules no matter what the context.) Also this episode, Namco's Mappy brings the company's most uninspired mascot of the early ’80s to Famicom in another respectable home adaptation that flatters the Fa...2021-05-2317 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #021: 4 Nin Uchi Mahjong / F1 Race / Pac-Man / XeviousTwo Nintendo games and two Namco (Namcot??) titles this week to bring Famicom's 1984 lineup streaking toward its finale. I'm not sure any of these games will set anyone's heart on fire here in 2021, due to (1) the kinda mundane nature of Nintendo's releases and (2) overexposure to Namco's games. But pretend you are a small child in 1984! In that context, these games are pretty great. Except Mahjong. No child wants that.2021-05-0915 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #020: Lode Runner / Galaxian / Devil WorldAnother step along the Road to NES Works this week as we look again at the next round of software releases for Nintendo Famicom. Unlike last time, only one of these games made its way to the U.S. on NES, the other two (Galaxian and Devil World) seemingly being skipped over due to datedness and, uh, satanism? What was this, 2021?2021-04-1815 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden 010: Pachinko II / Golgo 13 / Orguss / Home MahjongA couple of follow-ups to 1983 releases this week, as well as a couple of games that appear to have been held over from 1983. Yes, SG-1000 begins 1984 with a hangover. Pachinko II is the affordable and expanded follow-up to Pachinko. Golgo 13 is not a sequel, despite the number in the title. It's a tie-in with a long-running manga and anime series, presumably tied to a big theatrical release. Orguss is another anime property, this one related to Macross and its ilk. You know what that means: Transforming robots. Home Mahjong brings multiplayer competition to the console mahjong space, using a...2021-04-1117 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #19: Famicom 1984, Pt. 1Now that we've seen both Nintendo and Sega's offerings for 1983, we move along to 1984 and the first wave of Famicom releases. All but one of these titles have already put in an appearance on NES Works proper as entries in the 1985 and ’86 Black Box NES launch rollout catalog, so the first half of this episode is simple a recap and reminder to give a sense of these games' place in the context of their 1984 debut in Japan. The second half, however, downshifts into low gear to take a leisurely cruise through a game that is generally regarded as a jo...2021-04-0418 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #009: Space Slalom / Zippy Race / Pachinko / ExerionThis week we hit on the two most expensive games for the SG-1000. Every console's gotta have at least one of them, right? The ultra-rare collector's chase piece that hits the brakes on any reasonable dream of ever owning a complete set? In this case, those disasterpieces are Space Slalom, a mere slip of an almost-racing game, and Pachinko, the pachinko sim so busted they recalled it. Yes, the great console gaming tradition of incredibly expensive games also being incredibly undesirable for gameplay purposes really begins here, with the SG-1000. On the plus side, there's also Zippy Race, a...2021-04-0315 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #008: Sega Flipper / Pop Flamer / Pacar / Sega-GalagaSega has always been an arcade powerhouse—even now, they run arcades in Japan. They've become fan destinations for more than just playing games; I bought taiyaki in the shape of the Sega logo at their Akihabara location a year ago. And this episode showcases just how heavily Sega plowed the arcade-to-home conversion furrow from the very start, with four games based heavily on arcade properties or concepts: Sega Flipper, arguably the first true arcade-style video console pinball game; Pop Flamer, a port of a weird Jaleco coin-op; Pacar, a sequel in all but name to Head On; an...2021-04-0317 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #07: Sindbad Mystery / Monaco GPOnly two games feature in this week's episode, because both are interesting enough (and contain a rich enough history) to merit a more in-depth discussion. First, Sindbad Mystery brings the maze chase genre to SG-1000 by adopting a number of elements seen in early games from the genre—ranging from Heiankyo Alien to Crush Roller—but approaching these concepts in a fresh and entertaining way. And then, of course, there's Monaco GP, one of the real heavy-hitters for this console. While more constrained by technology than its arcade forebear, this SG-1000 racer acquits itself nicely with a great sense of s...2021-03-1413 minVideo Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #006: Yamato / Champion Tennis / Star Jacker / Champion BaseballA few more Sega arcade conversions this week, featuring—unbelievably enough!—shooters and sports games. You sense a theme taking shape here, maybe? Yamato covers a lot of the same ground (so to speak) as SG-1000's earlier ocean warfare shooter, N-Sub, though it mixes things up slightly by focusing on surface warfare. Meanwhile, Star Jacker is a scrolling shooter that plays a little more smoothly than Borderline, though its bizarre central premise and mechanic make for a curious inverted gameplay difficulty curve. On the sports side, Champion Tennis and Champion Baseball maintain the...2021-03-0715 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #05: Mahjong / Champion Golf / Serizawa Hachidan no Tsume Shougi / Congo KongoBeyond the initial trio of Compile-developed shooting games for SG-1000, we have the next four titles in the platform's library, all released on some indeterminate date in 1983. While they do help diversify the system's lineup to include something beyond shooting and combat, none of these releases manage to be particularly inspiring nearly four decades later—and one game in particular, which should have been this week's big triumph, misses the mark so badly it's best forgotten about. I promise things will get better from here, though! Special thanks for this series go to Omar Cornut, the Game De...2021-02-2814 min
Alexander's Ragtime BandEpisode 005: We Can Fly (Solo) From HereJeremy, Elliot, and James return to talk about the best solo acts by members of popular prog groups. This time, it's a focus on Yes, with Steve Howe's eponymous(-ish) album, Rick Wakeman's "Six Wives of Henry VIII," and Chris Squire's "Fish out of Water".2021-02-281h 16
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #04: Borderline / Safari Hunting / N-SubOur first dive into the SG-1000 catalog covers the three games that the internet seems convinced comprised the console's day-one releases. It's difficult to say when SG-1000 titles actually debuted, as Sega hasn't been especially granular with its published historic information. But these three carts are the first three items in the SG-1000 catalog (Borderline, Safari Hunting, and N-Sub are G-1001, G-1002, and G-1003, respectively), so that seems like a good basis for an argument here. These games share a few details in common. They're all three conversions from the VIC-Dual arcade hardware Sega and Gremlin designed...2021-02-2111 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works Gaiden #18: The Famicom Disk System35 years ago this week, Nintendo launched the Disk System expansion for Family Computer—one of the most important (and one of the few successful) console add-ons ever. Boosting the power, capabilities, and storage capacity of the Famicom, the Disk System helped usher in a new generation of console games... and then, console games caught up with the Disk System, rendering it obsolete. Nevertheless, in its brief lifetime, the FDS gave us major franchises like Zelda, Metroid, and Castlevania, while also changing the way players interacted with their television games. This episode pays tribute to the Disk System and its im...2021-02-1418 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishSegaiden #03: An Introduction to SG-1000The road to NES Works begins here! It's difficult to know what the year 2021 has in store for us, but you can at least look forward to one constant (fingers crossed): This comprehensive deep dive into the Sega 8-bit catalog. Beginning this week, most of my effort for much of 2021 will be focused on exploring the history of the Sega SG-1000 before rolling into the American Master System launch, bringing these compact Sega overviews into line with NES Works 1988 (which we'll still be checking in on from time to time!). I'll also be producing extremely brief summaries...2021-02-0909 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #079: RamboIn the year 198X, an elite American ex-soldier traveled into the jungle for a stealth mission that ended in a showdown with a Soviet HIND-D helicopter. Sound familiar? No, this isn't Metal Gear (that's next episode), but instead a game based on a film that very clearly has served as a primary text for Hideo Kojima through the years: Rambo, aka First Blood Part II. Rambo for NES is widely reviled as one of the worst games ever released for the platform. Not only is this a factually incorrect perspective, it grievously sells short the actual ambition behind this...2021-02-0913 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #078: City Connection & Freedom ForceEchoing last week's episode, this week we see a decidedly dated-looking game (City Connection) that nevertheless manages to be entertaining enough to transcend its relative age and sit comfortably in the 1988 NES lineup. On the other hand, Freedom Force is anything but dated, with some of the most stylish visuals seen to this point on NES. I'd rather play City Connection, but there's no denying the primal visual appeal of Freedom Force's attract mode.... Also, a bit of housekeeping: The host segments will be a little unusual for the next few episodes as my office space is...2021-01-2414 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #077: Ice Hockey & Major League BaseballA pair of old-school sports games this week—one whose quality and playability transcends its visuals, and ones whose quality and playability... do not. Nintendo's Ice Hockey, developed in collaboration with NES Volleyball creators Pax Softnica, distills the essence of the sport into a take whose simplistic style makes possible some truly accessible, fast-paced gameplay that transcends its genre. It's a remarkable game in many respects! Major League Baseball is a mediocre Famista clone whose sales pitch consists entirely of, "We have real team names." Your mileage will vary, greatly. Video Works is fu...2021-01-1712 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #076: Dragon Power & Ikari Warriors II: Victory RoadThis week demonstrates the danger inherent in covering two games per episode as fate lands a one-two punch of mediocrity from two of the console's most dire creative combos: TOSE and Bandai, and Micronics and SNK. The results are about what you'd expect. That is to say, not so great. Dragon Power, of course, is another halfhearted attempt by Bandai to bring a Japanese game based on a manga or anime license to the U.S. without making the effort to license or localize the original work. Where Dragon Power differs from the likes of Chubby Cherub...2021-01-1013 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishGame Boy Works Gaiden #12: The Misadventures of Tron BonneBy patron request of Jon, here's a follow-up to the Mega Man Legends episode from several months back: Its wonderful prequel, the Misadventures of Tron Bonne. No, it's not actually a Game Boy game. It's fine. You'll be fine. Misadventures is a weird little game, a shoestring-budget spinoff of a spinoff of a series whose sales figures were already beginning to flag. I have no idea how it was greenlit, how it was localized, and most of all how it turned out so well. But it did! It's a breezy, whimsical game packed with variety and tons...2021-01-0318 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishGame Boy Works Gaiden #11: Game Gear 1990, Pt. 3This episode brings the Game Gear launch window, as it were, to a finish by wrapping up the final few Japanese releases of 1990. There are a few old favorites ("favorites") here, a compromised arcade port, and a first-of-its-kind release that admittedly hasn't aged especially well. An interesting combination of titles, though, and a pretty good conclusion for a well-rounded introduction for Sega's portable platform. Special thanks to Stone Age Gamer for helping to make this series possible with their EverDrive-GG X7: https://stoneagegamer.com/everdrive-gg-x7-black.html Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www...2020-12-2714 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #075: R.C. Pro-Am & T.C. Surf Designs: Wood & Water RageWishing you a Meli Kalikimaka this week, despite my rage over a bad game about wood and water. Thankfully, we have Rare to infuse a little holiday gratitude into the season with a very good, very fun, and very inventive take on racing: R.C. Pro-Am. It doesn't erase the nothing of a game that is T&C Surf Designs: Wood & Water Rage from existence, but it does at least provide balance in the Force or whatever. Also this week: The mysterious NES Max. What could it be?? Special thanks to Steve Lin of the...2020-12-2710 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishGame Boy Works #122: Final Fantasy Legend IIThe second entry in the Final Fantasy Legend series—or SaGa, if you prefer—amped up the features, narrative, mechanics, and overall design sensibilities of the groundbreaking first game. With new races, an elaborate cosmology, inventive dungeon design, an unconventional death mechanic, and all kinds of poorly explained gameplay systems to grapple with, Final Fantasy Legend II is in some respects a high point of the SaGa series. And with both a SaGa Game Boy compilation and remaster of SaGa Frontier for PlayStation due out in the near future, there's no better time to get acquainted with this sometimes-baffling role...2020-12-2717 min
Video Works by Jeremy ParishNES Works #074: ContraKonami knocks it out of the park yet again with one of the greatest arcade conversions ever to hit the NES: Cooperative platform shooter Contra. It's a rare example of a coin-op title being ported faithfully to NES and somehow improving on the source material. With its tight level design, inventive bosses, impressive weapons, and slightly combative gameplay, Contra is a true NES classic that continues to be a great time more than 30 years later. Special thanks to Steve Lin of the Video Game History Foundation for letting me photograph his very shiny Contra box! ...2020-12-1315 min
Alexander's Ragtime BandEpisode 004: A Tough Act To SwallowJames, Jeremy, and Elliot do a 180º from their recent positivity to discuss the prog albums and artists they found hardest to learn to enjoy. Featured: ELP's "Brain Salad Surgery", Van der Graaf Generator's "H to H Who am the Only One", and Yes's "90125.2020-07-202h 04
Alexander's Ragtime BandEpisode 003: Our Prog IntrosJeremy, James, and Elliot embark on an epic journey to pay tribute to the albums that got them interested in progressive rock in the first place: "Fragile" by Yes, "Black Noise" by FM, and "Seconds Out" by Genesis.2020-06-141h 56
Hardcore Gaming 101Marathon Infinity (feat. Jeremy Parish)A little (big) bonus for you: Marathon Infinity, featuring special guest Jeremy Parish (Retronauts, NES Works, Limited Run) in this, the third thrilling episode of Lockdown Longplay! Donate at Patreon to get HG101 bonus content and much, much more! Follow the show's host on Twitter to get the latest and straightest dope. Check out what games we've already ranked on the The Big Damn List, then nominate a game of your own via five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher! 2020 (c) Hardcore Gaming 1012020-06-0156 min
Alexander's Ragtime BandEpisode 002: Prog Goes PopJames Eldred, Elliot Long, and Jeremy Parish look at the good and bad of crossover hits by prog rock artists: Asia's "Asia," Journey's "Infinity," and Genesis's "Invisible Touch". What happens when art rockers sell out and make a boatload of cash?2020-05-031h 59
The Experimental LeaderBrand Shifting: Experimenting With Helpfulness In This Time Of Great Need With Jeremy MillerThere probably is no greater time to be more creative and innovative than now. Businesses are fighting for their survival, and if they do not step up and adapt to the current COVID-19 situation, then they may not stand a chance. One of the crucial areas that businesses can look at is their branding, assessing whether or not it mirrors the concerns of the people now at large. Helping you grapple with this challenge, host, Melanie Parish, invites Jeremy Miller, the president of Sticky Branding and a globally recognized branding expert and bestselling author. Here, Jeremy shifts our focus int...2020-05-0121 min
Alexander's Ragtime BandEpisode 001: Origins of ProgThe show begins at the beginning: Jeremy, James, and Elliot defend their personal choices for what qualifies as the first-ever progressive rock album. Is it King Crimson? The Soft Machine? The Moody Blues? Cases are made! Music is played!2020-03-121h 48
ARG Cast – RetroZapARGcast #162: Metroidvania Games w/ Jeremy Parish of RetronautsJeremy Parish of Retronauts joins us to chat about the Metroidvania genre he helped popularize including favorite games, where the term came from, and more!2019-05-2500 min
Aldridge Parish Church Sermon Podcast28/04/19 PM Jeremy Bakewell28/04/19 PM Jeremy Bakewell2019-05-0514 min
Axe of the Blood God: An RPG PodcastHistory of RPGs With Jeremy Parish, Part 2: The Second WaveKat is once again joined by Retronauts host Jeremy Parish to explore the history of RPGs. This time they dive into PLATO, Wizardry, and Bard's Tale as they explore about the rise of the "second wave" of RPGs in the 1980s. Then David Craddock returns to talk about #18 on our Top 25 RPG Countdown: Diablo 2! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2018-08-131h 24
Don't Give Up Skeleton: A Dark Souls and Bloodborne PodcastEpisode 115: Matt
Hello skeletons! This week's episode is Matt, a guy I know from (take a drink) the Duckfeed Slack. He and I sat down to talk about his history with the Souls game, and it was a fun conversation. It's always nice to trace someone's path through these games, and to hear the difference between coming to the series late and being spoiled on something versus going in totally blind. It's a good'un folks!
DGUS is on Patreon! Help support the show! Or just keep listening, that's totally cool as well. Links:Experience PointsWow, Bob...2018-03-071h 02
War Rocket AjaxEpisode 263 – The People's System f/ Jeremy ParishThis week, guest host Kieran Shiach fills in for Matt as we welcome guest Jeremy Parish to the show! We talk to him about his work on the Anatomy of Games and Game Boy World series, as well as a surprising discussion about Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja: Beyond World War III. Plus, a special edition of the Word Heavyweight Champions makes Chris use a cussword.2015-07-201h 29