Barrel Roll #169 – “Panda Games Are Their Own Genre”
After a brief hiatus, the Barrel Roll podcast is back to their old tricks. Jesse, Jonah, Wes, and Adam Milecki return for an in depth discussion of the burgeoning panda genre and what it brings to the table.
Jonah finally dips into Tokyo Jungle to try out its panda-related DLC. Jesse fights pandas with increasingly elaborate costumes in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition. Adam shares his experience with Hotline Miami… which might have a panda mask in it or something (maybe). And Wes travels into peoples’ memories (which might have pandas in them) while playing To the Moon.
The crew also talks about the Wii U, Nintendo Land, Street Fighter X Mega Man, Far Cry 3, Hitman Absolution, Red Rogue, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown‘s multiplayer mode.
All this and more on episode #169 of the Barrel Roll Podcast, “Panda Games Are Their Own Genre”.
iTunes (Subscribe and Rate the show!)
Listen to the Mega Man Network’s 25th Anniversary Podcast
The Mega Man Network’s podcast has been a little infrequent as of late. I should know (I host it). But now that the 25th Anniversary celebration is well underway, getting the crew back together became a must.
We didn’t just get our old crew, though. We also invited Capcom’s Mega Man aficionados, Brett Elston and Greg Moore. We talk about the recently released Street Fighter X Mega Man and a slew of other random things that may include a Capcom FMV game on the original PlayStation.
Head over to the Mega Man Network to grab the episode.
Growing Up with 25 Years of Mega Man, One Series at a Time
I’ve been playing Mega Man almost as long as I’ve been playing video games. And I’ve been playing video games almost my entire life. The little guy’s been fighting evil for 25 years now. With any luck, he’ll mirror the longevity of pop culture icons like James Bond, living to celebrate his fiftieth.
But what IS Mega Man? Over the years, Mega Man has meant many things. Whether it’s side-scrolling action, competitive RPGs, or grandiose, 3D adventures, the Mega Man series has made its mark on the medium across an absurd amount of titles. Each have their strengths and their diehard fan bases.
Read the rest of this story »
Review: Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Does What Nintendon’t
Traditionally, I find the kart racing genre as fun as I do frustrating. In the effort to embrace players of all skill levels, genre giants like the Mario Kart series go overboard with weapons, punishing players for being better at driving with unavoidable weapons of mass destruction.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, on the other hand, continues its predecessor’s finely tuned weapon balance while vastly improving on the groundwork it laid two years prior. Between the core systems, track diversity, game modes, and great use of classic franchises, developer Sumo Digital has (barring a few technical issues) created what is quite possibly the best kart racer I have ever played.
OCRemix Doubles the Trouble With Over 5 Hours of Donkey Kong Country 3 Remixes
The trilogy is finally complete.
Back in 2004, game remixing super-site, OverClocked ReMix showed their love to the music of Donkey Kong Country with Kong in Concert. Years later, the community banded together again along with composer, David Wise, himself to bring us an album of the sequel titled Serious Monkey Business. Now the eight year journey has come to an end.
OCR is back. David Wise is back. And Donkey Kong Country 3: Double the Trouble! is finally here. Covering both the Super Nintendo and Game Boy Advance versions of Donkey Kong Country 3, the album is practically bursting at the seams. 5 discs, 77 tracks, over 5 hours of music, and a barrel full of awesome. And as always, it’s all free. Swing on over to the official site and grab it. Read the rest of this story »
PSA: Bug Fixes For Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed on Wii U Coming
UPDATE: The patch is live. I’ve tested it myself and the boost challenges now load with the proper checkpoints and the final Burning Rangers stage loads with water just like it should.
Original Post: A word of warning to owners (or would be owners) of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. The patch that released for the Wii U version of the game on launch day has a few nasty bugs. In addition to several reports from users, I’ve found many of these bugs in my own time with the game as I play it for review.
Boost challenges in the career mode load without checkpoints, making them impossible (and here I thought I was just terrible at them!). This particular bug can be temporarily bypassed by failing the course 3 times and choosing the “skip” option. You’ll then be able to continue on with the career mode, but not be able to get 100% completion.
Battle and party modes also have issues where players will fall endlessly until the match ends. Race modes, however, work just fine in the 13 hours I’ve spent with the game thus far; that is except a certain post-game event. After the credits roll and you make your way through an additional tier of challenges, you’ll find what’s quite possibly the ugliest glitch. The mirror version of the Burning Rangers track loads you into boat form with no water and a door in front of you that won’t open. Since you can’t fail that event under the circumstances, you can’t skip it either (thus bringing the rest of your post-game career progress to a halt).
Reports indicate that only the Wii U version is affected by these glitches. Developer Sumo Digital has stated that a new patch addressing these issues is awaiting certification by Nintendo right now.
Links: Support Thread, Video Evidence, Additional Reports, Sumo Digital Comment
Barrel Roll #168 – “How Many Cats & Koalas Have You Married?”
After a brief hiatus, the Barrel Roll podcast is back! We’re here to ask the hard hitting questions about controversial games like Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Does it let you marry cats and koalas? You’ll have to listen to find out.
Jesse, Mike, and Adam Anania manage to set aside their animal related differences long enough to talk about all the latest video games… like a real ass pinball machine. Jesse and Mike discuss their time with Halo 4 and Smartglass. Adam tells us why Assassin’s Creed 3 makes him consider quitting the series entirely. And we talk all manner of other games including Code of Princess, Paper Mario Sticker Star, Mechwarrior Online, and Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion.
All this (and ramen discussion) on episode #168 of the Barrel Roll Podcast, “How Many Cats & Koalas Have You Married?”
iTunes (Subscribe and Rate the show!)
505′s Interlude Will Brighten Your Day With Atari Chiptunes
As much as I love the sound of NES hardware, I’ve found myself really enjoying chiptunes from a broader array of systems recently. The latest in my rotation comes from 505 (Nils Feske). His new album, Interlude, mixes classic Atari sounds with subtle use of modern instruments and effects.
Feske is no stranger to the Atari scene and it shows. With contributions to YM Rockerz and a number of solo albums already under his belt, Feske was able to use his experience to create a diverse sound set out of aging hardware. You can grab Interlude on (where else?) Bandcamp right now for four euros (that’s just over $5).
OverClocked ReMix Publishes Its Fifth Indie Game OST: Impulse
OverClocked ReMix isn’t just the largest video game remix community on the net. It’s also a great place for artists to hone their skills in original composition. Over the past few years, OverClocked ReMix has even published a number of indie game soundtracks.
Impulse marks the site’s fifth indie soundtrack release. It contains all of Meteo Xavier’s contributions to the PC game along with a couple of remixes. You can grab it on both OverClocked ReMix and Bandcamp. The soundtrack is free, much like the game itself
Described as “Super Meat Boy meets Lunar Lander“, Impulse evokes the simplistic design philosophy of older computer games while emphasizing the importance of variety. Similarly, Meteo Xavier’s score goes in many interesting directions while maintaining a common thread of electronica. Read the rest of this story »
Macross Meets Wing Commander in Strike Suit Zero, But It Needs Your Help
Not all Kickstarters are merely ideas. Born Ready Games has already put loads of work into their space combat game, Strike Suit Zero. They just need you to help them afford to actually finish it.
Originally announced over a year ago, Strike Suit Zero promises to bring back the space combat genre while taking inspiration from classics like Wing Commander, X-Wing, Freespace, and Colony Wars. But the Strike Suit you pilot during these large scale space battles is no ordinary ship. Like the Veritech/Variable fighters of Robotech and Macross, you can transform your ship into a humanoid mech allowing you an extra layer of combat and mobility options.
-
-
Videogame Jam of the Day Latest Podcast- Barrel Roll #169 - "Panda Games Are Their Own Genre" December 24, 2012After a brief hiatus, the Barrel Roll podcast is back to their old tricks. Jesse, Jonah, Wes, and Adam Milecki return for an in depth discussion of the burgeoning panda genre and what it brings to the table. Jonah finally dips into Tokyo Jungle to try out its panda-related DLC. Jesse fights pandas with increasingly elaborate costumes in Tekken Tag Tournament […]
