Retronauts

Often, our episodes are packed so full of stunning facts and dangerous takes that we rarely have time to give you, the listener, a voice. Hence, our annual listener mail episode: your yearly chance to write in and ask us our semi-expert opinions. On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, Dave Rudden and Chris Antista as the crew runs down the best Virtual Console releases of 2017, and answers your burningest questions.

Jeremy Parish and Ben Elgin take a deep dive into the history and concept behind Apple's HyperCard technology and how it became a surprising platform for game development -including the best-selling PC game of the 20th century, Cyan's Myst.

Words no longer have any meaning as Jeremy, Benj, and Chris record a so-called Micro episode that last more than an hour. But then, there's a lot to say about Metroid II and its remake, Samus Returns.

By patron request, we continue our Final Fantasy deep dive series by looking at a trilogy of RPGs that aren't part of the series? The Final Fantasy Legend spun off from Final Fantasy II, but they became their own thing almost immediately.

Chris Sims and Benj Edwards join Jeremy once again to survey the history of exploratory platformers. This time, it's Master System and Super NES games. (Or would be, if the discussion hadn't been sidetracked by Chris' freshman journey into Super Metroid.)

It might not have been a smash-hit back when it released in 1989, but Monster Party went on to be remembered by NES kids as one of the more memorableif inexplicable8-bit games. Though the (unreleased) Japanese version set out to be a much more direct parody of horror hits, the extant experience skirts close enough to breaking copyright law to make the whole thing worthwhile. On this episode of Retronauts Micro, join host Bob Mackey and guest Henry Gilbert as the two dig into one of the spookiest games in the NES library.

It's not an old game, but it has an old soul. Jeremy and Bob chat with Henry Gilbert and (former) IGN editor Jose Otero about the latest Legend of Zelda (Breath of the Wild) and how it connects the series' present to its past.

30 years ago, Lucasfilm Games gave us Maniac Mansion: an unassuming little adventure created by people who never dabbled in the genre before. But this lack of conventional wisdom caused Maniac Mansion to be an adventure game unlike anything else in existenceand one that would shape the future of Lucas' game division for years to come. On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, Mikel Reparaz, and Phil Kollar as the crew ponders the joys of Ron Gilbert's B&E simulator.

Yeah, it's another Mario mailbag as our Sunshine episode received way too many listener letters to be contained in the main episode. Sam, Henry, Bob, and Jeremy offer equal time to some very different Sunshine opinions than our own

Two Micro episodes combine powers to become a full episode! First, Kurt and Rob of Hardcore Gaming 101 join to discuss King of Fighters. Then, Ben and Benj follow up with a home gaming-focused counterpart to our recent arcade memories episode.