The Retrograde: A Video Game Podcast

Where have you been, D-Pads?

We've been here, but we haven't seen you? Have our episodes not been posting, or have we just not had time for a check-in in a few months?

You be the judge!

This week we were stoked to find some time to recap one of the greatest years in gaming history including Hollow Knight: Silksong, a few must-see movies like One Battle After Another, and some split opinions on TV Shows like Peacemaker!

Join us on Twitter: @RetrogradePod, @RetrogradeAndy, @RetrogradeMikey

TikTok: @RetrogradePod

O...

We're coming back 2 Fast, D-Pads!

This week, there are too many 2's to talk about! Death Stranding 2, Switch 2, The Last of Us Season 2... and more!

We couldn't hold it in any longer, so we decided to dust off the microphones and hit record for your listening pleasure.

Join us on Twitter: @RetrogradePod, @RetrogradeAndy, @RetrogradeMikey

TikTok: @RetrogradePod

Or on Instagram: @theretrogradepodcast

Or visit our website at www.theretrogradepod.com/

Questions, Comments, and business inquiries can be sent to theretrogradepodcast@gmail.com

You haven't heard the last of us, D-Pads!

That's right, we're back with another bonus check-in to discuss how season 2 of The Last of Us has been progressing.

Plus: Blue Prince, Clair Obscure: Expedition 33, Thunderbolts, and more!

We've missed every single one of you, and can't wait to come back soon with some more exciting news!

Join us on Twitter: @RetrogradePod, @RetrogradeAndy, @RetrogradeMikey

TikTok: @RetrogradePod

Or on Instagram: @theretrogradepodcast

Questions, Comments, and business inquiries can be sent to theretrogradepodcast@gmail.com

Did you miss us, D-Pads?

Well we missed you! We couldn't wait to turn the mics back on and start shootin' the poop. It's been months since we were able to sit across a small room from one another and have our favourite para-social listeners voyeuristically consume everything we had to say.

We're well on our way to planning the next step of our content journey, but in the meantime we figured we'd bring everyone up to speed with our experiences playing games like Civilization 7, Mouthwashing, and Citizen Sleeper, PLUS our impressions of the recent...

Happy New Year, D-Pads!

We're back with one of our most highly demanded episodes ever: New Years Eve Power Hour!

Whether you're looking to drink along with us (one shot of beer per minute for 60 minutes leading up to Midnight) or just listen along as we recount some of our 2024 predictions, gaming's best moments of the year, and rattle off some new 2025 predictions, you're not going to want to miss this one.

It's always a little funny, a little informative, and inevitably a little sappy as we get closer to that countdown.

Did you miss us, D-Pads?

Well, we missed you. And we missed each other! We decided to check in JUST as we promised to give everyone a quick update on what we've been up to since changing from our old weekly schedule.

We discuss: Silent Hill 2, Return of the Golden Idol, Star Wars: Outlaws, Overwatch, Mario Party 8, and more!

Plus: Find out how the movie The Substance got Mikey in trouble with his girlfriend.

Join us on Twitter: @RetrogradePod, @RetrogradeAndy, @RetrogradeMikey

TikTok: @RetrogradePod

Or on Instagram: @theretrogradepodcast

It's time to turn a new page, D-Pads!

This is the week we usher in a new change to The Retrograde: A Video Game Podcast!

It's been an unbelievable 6 (plus) years, but we've decided to make a change to our regular weekly main feed episodes. You'll still get all the Retrograde content you love, but at non-regular intervals, and in slightly different formats.

To celebrate, this week we're doing a full retrospective on all 333 previous episodes of the podcast you've all come to know and love.

Thanks to all of our...

Time to Climb, D-Pads!

This week we made the awful decision to try to claw, jump, (and drive?) our way out of hell in Chained Together!

It's a game that's been taking the streaming world by storm, so we figured it'd be a great way to test our "friendship" (read: six year podcasting relationship).

We tackled the first 45 minutes of the game over on our YouTube channel, so make sure to check that out here: https://youtu.be/eUl1aGB2a6E

In this episode we give our full thoughts on...

This is a big one, D-Pads!

We've finally decided to tackle the list to end all lists! We've danced around it since the beginning of our podcast, but now that we're 6 years deep and just around the corner from a massive change to our release schedules, we decided to give the people what they want: our lists of the top 10 games of all time!

Is it subjective? Sure!

Does that mean you'll still get extremely upset with us for not including Final Fantasy? Also sure!

Before getting into the lists, Andrew...

Hey! Listen, D-Pads!

This week we tackle one of the most celebrated video games of all time. It's The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past!

The Super Nintendo didn't know what hit it when this game launched way back in the early 90's, and to be honest: neither did we!

Somehow neither of us played this video game back when it came out, so in spite of our growing love of Zelda, this marked our FIRST experience with what some consider to be the best video game of all time.

Listen up, D-Pads!

We're going heavy on the audio this week as we sit down to iron out our lists of top 5 Gaming Soundtracks of all time!

There's a hefty helping of subjectivity in this episode, so bear with us as we try to justify our picks with a single song off of each soundtrack to justify our love.

Plus: we explain how ghosts are real, and Mikey tries Sifu.

Join us on Twitter: @RetrogradePod, @RetrogradeAndy, @RetrogradeMikey

TikTok: @RetrogradePod

Or on Instagram: @theretrogradepodcast

Or visit ou...

Earmuffs, D-Pads!

This week you might not want to hear some of what we have to say.

Back by popular demand, we decided to sit down and rattle off some of our biggest gripes and hottest takes from the world of gaming.

Which game franchise fumbled the ball the worst?

Does we need achievements in games?

What game mechanics need to GO?

Plus, we give some impressions on Deadpool & Wolverine, and get a bit farther in Alan Wake 2!

Join us on Twitter: @RetrogradePod, @RetrogradeAndy, @RetrogradeMikey Duration: 01:03:58

Bring in the behemoths, D-Pads!

This week we're digging into some of the greatest franchises in gaming!

But it wouldn't be enough for us to praise them endlessly, would it? Instead we've challenged ourselves to crown the Best, Worst, and Most Underrated of each franchise.

We all love Metal Gear, but even in a franchise full of bangers one of them has to be crowned the "worst!"

Feel free to let us know where we got it wrong (we know you will).

Join us on Twitter: @RetrogradePod, @RetrogradeAndy, @RetrogradeMikey Duration: 01:19:26

Skip this one, D-Pads!

Sorry to be the bearers of bad news, but this week we played through all that this year's Olympics video game had to offer, and we regret to inform you it MIGHT NOT be worth playing.

Olympics Go! Paris 2024 may sound like a confusing title (and that's because it is) but that's not where the pain ends.

Join us this week as we break down our entire experience playing the game, and try to come up with some positive things to say about it.

Make sure to...

Games Wide Open, D-Pads!

(That's the motto for this year's Olympics, for some reason!)

This week we get into the Olympic Spirit to celebrate everyone's favourite "once every four years" event!

While the world's greatest athletes descent upon Paris to test themselves against one another, we descend upon our podcast studio and sit on our butts to discuss which video game characters we think would be best suited to bring home medals of their own!

Can Luigi jump higher than Mario?

Would Kratos outbox Arthur Morgan?

Is...

Y2K is real, D-Pads!

This week we celebrate surviving the turn of the new millennium with a look back at what many consider to be one of the greatest years in video game history: 2000!

Every time we do a deep dive on one of the great years in gaming it feels like we further complicate the debate as to which year was the best, and this time it's no different.

Join us as we each draft a team of 6 games to represent the best of what this year had to offer.

Time to make some decisions, D-Pads!

This week we decided to have a little fun by posing some of the most difficult, quirky, and downright nonsensical Would You Rather questions we could think of.

Would you rather always be star powered, or always be mini?

Would you rather spend your life in a Poke Ball, or inside Kirby's body?

Would you rather cure your ailments by eating hearts or rotisserie chickens?

All of these, and more!

Plus: Andrew got a PS5!

Send us your Would...

Order up, D-Pads!

This week we decided to take some advice from the prolific game designer Jonathan Blow and try out what he described as one of the greatest puzzle games of all time: Stephen's Sausage Roll!

Back in 2016 it was more of a critical darling, but should this game have had more mass appeal? Or is it too hard to hold the attention of a casual gamer?

Make sure to catch the gameplay segment where we nearly have our brains broken: https://youtu.be/zCcjdRtOM74

Join us on Twitter: @RetrogradePod, @R...

Look here, D-Pads!

Whether you got your start with old PC games like Duke Nukem 3D, or huddled around a CRT screen with 3 of your buddies playing Goldeneye, First Person Shooters make up some of the most iconic and highly appreciated games of all time.

As games began the shift from 2D to 3D, icons of the industry like Doom and Wolfenstein appeared to be the front-runners in the ever evolving landscape of gaming perspectives.

This week we sat down to draft a team of our most highly appreciated First Person Shooters of...

Let's go back in time, D-Pads!

But this time, it's not JUST to look at a retro game. It's to look at a now-sixteen-year-old game with rewind mechanics at its core.

Braid first hit the scene in 2008 as a darling of the Indie Game community, and set Xbox Live Arcade up for a run which would change console gaming forever.

However, we didn't ALL get a chance to play it, so this week in celebration of the recent release of Braid, Anniversary Edition, Mikey guides Andrew through Jonathan Blow's masterpiece for the very...

It's that time of year, D-Pads!

The summer is upon us and that means one thing: new game announcements!

While we're still a bit upset about the passing of E3, Summer Game Fest and its satellite showcases have done a great job picking up where it left off.

This week we sit down to discuss all of our favourite trailers and announcements from Summer Game Fest, Xbox Games Showcase, Sony's State of Play, Devolver Direct, and more!

Let us know which trailers we missed, and which games you're most excited about!<...

Time for confession, D-Pads!

This week we sit down to discuss our biggest "Gamer Shames."

Sure, we've played a lot of games over our lives, but every so often we find ourselves ashamed of our own habits. Whether it's a franchise we've never actually played, a game we hate which others seem to love, or a lie we've told others to make ourselves feel better: we're here to unleash it all on you!

We also took some responses from the community and the results were... unnerving.

Join us on Twitter: @RetrogradePod, @R...

Pencils down, D-Pads!

We've received your questions and comments and have built up a backlog rivaling that of our unplayed video games. We figured we'd take a week to plow through some of the unanswered listener questions which we've been sitting on!

Will we be gaming as old folks? Do we have any peripherals or games we REALLY regret selling? Which games made us go from hating them to loving them, or vice versa?

Plus: Mikey restarted Sekiro, and Andrew might be getting over Fortnite!

If you have questions you want...

Hut hut, D-Pads!

Today we take to the gridiron... and the rink... and the court... all from the comfort of our gaming chairs as we discuss the current state of Sports Video Games!

As two lifelong gamers with a heavy appreciation of their sporting counterparts, we wanted to check in on where the industry is at. Are games like MLB: The Show, NHL, NBA 2K, and Madden better now than they were 10 years ago?

If not, where did they go wrong?

Join us on Twitter: @RetrogradePod, @RetrogradeAndy, @RetrogradeMikey

TikTok: @R...

Time travel back to 1990, D-Pads!

This week we tried out the game that's taking PS1 era survival horror fans by storm: Crow Country!

While it only came out recently, this game feels like it was pulled directly from the 1990s. It's a loving homage to the likes of Silent Hill and Resident Evil, but given the improvements we've made in mechanics and graphics since then, is there really room in our libraries for a game like this?

Join us as we discuss our impressions of the game based on the demo.

...

TV Never Changes, D-Pads!

This week we wrap up our conversation about Fallout on Prime by recapping the final 4 episodes, and giving our thoughts on whether or not the show ultimately stuck the landing.

Is the Fallout TV Show worth preserving in a cold-war era vault? Or is it just a mutated version of the video game?

Make sure you've listened to our first Fallout TV episode where we recap the first 4 episodes and give some initial impressions.

Watch our gameplay segments and full video episodes over on our YouTube channel...

Seatbelts fastened, D-Pads!

This week we take to the skies (and more often than not, plummet to the earth) as we look back at one of gaming's most iconic flight simulation games: Pilot Wings for the Super Nintendo!

Neither of us played this one back in the day, so this week was our first time giving it a shot. With a fresh set of eyes, does this game deserve the cult praise it's gotten?

Make sure to check out our full gameplay segment over on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/DMoygvjXxSQ<...

Let there be light, D-Pads!

This week we pay homage to one of the most iconic retro consoles of all time: The Sega Genesis!

Known as the Mega Drive outside of North America, this sleek looking powerhouse of the 1990s stunned the home console market by directly competing against the behemoth that was (and still is) Nintendo.

We all know Sega eventually lost ground and bowed out of the home console market, but for a time it looked like they may have taken hold of our hearts, and our wallets.

Join...

Lock in, D-Pads!

This week we're venturing out into the wasteland of Prime Video to salvage what we can from arguably the most talked about TV Show out there at the moment: It's Fallout on Prime!

Conveniently, one of us is a lifelong fan of the gaming franchise Fallout, while the other has only admired it from afar.

We aim to sit down to discuss how successful the show is, and whether it works better for fans of the franchise, or those who haven't yet dipped their irradiated toe into the deserts of...

Ante up, D-Pads!

This week we can't resist the call of what might be the hottest game on the market right now: Balatro!

We've taken some time to learn the ropes and really get a sense of what this Poker Inspired Deck Building Roguelike is all about.

Is Balatro really as great as everyone says? Or is it just a band-aid as we wait for Slay the Spire 2?

Check out our full gameplay segment on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/b2DX8eLZBDc

Watch our gameplay

segments...

It's time for an add-on to our episode about add-ons, D-Pads!

This week we're wrapping up our look at some of the most iconic gaming peripherals of all time. Sure, no one should set foot on a Tony Hawk Ride skateboard, but that doesn't mean we should toss out every hunk of plastic we've hooked up to our consoles.

From the Nintendo Zapper and the Playstation Multitap to the Wii Fit Balance board and the Xbox Kinect, we try to find a tiered slot for a whole new slew of items.

Watch our...

Time to get a little bit more, D-Pads!

What's better than your favourite game? The peripherals which make your favourite game EVEN better!

We've all held a giant chunk of plastic in our hands and either felt self conscious, or felt like gaming couldn't get any better.

This week we sit down to rank the most iconic Gaming Peripherals of all time!

Is the NES Zapper truly S-Tier even though most of us only used it for one game?

Is the N64 Rumble Pack worth holding on to when...

Do the Mario, D-Pads!

This week we took a trip back to the Mushroom Kingdom to check out one of the most infamous Super Mario properties of all time: The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!

It only aired for one season and featured the likes of "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi, but in that short time it amassed a cult following and contributed to countless memes.

But after so much time removed from the original airing, is it even possible to watch it with fresh eyes?

...

May your blades chip and shatter, D-Pads!

This week we ride the hype train all the way to Arrakis as we look back at the game that laid the groundwork for all Real Time Strategy games to come: Dune 2 Battle for Arrakis! It's also known as Dune 2: The Building of a Dynasty, but we're here to find out if it's still just as revolutionary as the day it was released.

Check out our full gameplay segment here before jumping into the episde: https://youtu.be/wdpJeJTmrI8

Before we dig into our thoughts and...

Turn off those consoles, D-Pads.

We've been spending too long talking about "the best," and "our favourites." It's about time we grind things to a halt and talk about our least favourite video games of all time.

Are these the worst video games of all time? Not necessarily. In fact: more often than not, not at all!

Instead, these are the games which for one reason or another really bothered us. Maybe they didn't live up to a promise? Maybe they ruined our favourite franchise? Maybe everyone else loved them and we simply...

Find a partner and mash your medallions together, D-Pads!

You asked, and we watched: this week we finally take a look at the heavily requested film adaptation of Double Dragon (1994) featuring the likes of Scott Wolf, Robert Patrick, and... Alyssa Milano's brother?

With all the conversation surrounding the success of video game adaptations, from 2023's Super Mario Bros. and The Last of Us, to 2024's announcement of Borderlands, and season 2 of Halo, we figured we'd revisit the roots of these vague remakes!

This was truly one of the most baffling films we've ever...

Call your dads, D-Pads!

It's time to boot up that old grey PC in your basement, click on over to Start - Program Files - Games, and see what you've got!

If you were lucky enough to be born 30 or so years ago, you'll know what this is all about, and you'll likely have some opinions on what were some of the best Windows Based and Microsoft Entertainment Pack games!

Is Solitaire better than Minesweeper?

Does Jezzball deserve to be higher than B tier?

What even is Jezzball?

Time for a pit-stop, D-Pads!

As gamers we're still early enough into the lifecycle of our favourite medium to have been blessed with more fantastic years than bad ones. After the gaming crash of the 1980s, it looked like the sky was the limit!

That is, until 1995.

While no year is without a few stand-out games, some years brought more misery than excitement. Join us as we draft some of the best AND worst games from 1995.

Does the glory of Earthbound outweigh the shame of Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors? <...

Time to dust off that Blockbuster card, D-Pads!

This week we sit down side by side on a sofa built for two to discuss a style of gaming which just doesn't seem to exist anymore.

While the introduction of online multiplayer games felt promising, the unforeseen casualty was the tried and true practice of couch co-op!

We wanted to relive some of our best memories playing videogames side by side with our buddies by drafting a team of 6 of our favourites!

Whether it's a strict co-op game, split screen multiplayer, or...

We've been feeling the love since our 300th episode, so we wanted to give back to the listeners!

This week we decided to open up the mail bag again and answer some of your burning questions.

Why isn't there more sex in video games?

What are our least favourite peripherals of all time?

What makes a mediocre game worth playing?

And more!

Plus, we break down some of the biggest moments from last week's Sony State of Play, and catch up on our recent gaming habits like...

It's our 300th Episode, D-Pads!

When we first started this podcast roughly 6 years ago, the world had no idea what it was in for: a few weeks of poorly produced banter before the feed went silent? A forgotten corner of the internet where two friends catch one another up about their gaming habits? Mikey's ultimate manifesto?

Regardless, we've made it to 300 episodes and we couldn't have done it without the massive support of our listeners (and the modest YouTube viewership).

To celebrate where we are, we wanted to look back on where it...

Kick, Push, D-Pads!

This week we strap on the elbow pads, slip into the knee pads, throw on a helmet, and take to the streets!

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is one of the original franchises which inspired this podcast, and as we get closer to episode 300 we wanted to take a week to play a game which is near and dear to our heart: it's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2!

We easily remember this game being near perfect, but how does a version of the franchise without classic mechanics like Reverts and Modifiers hold...

This week we party like it's 1999!

All this talk about how great 2023 was for gaming stirred our ongoing debate over which years have been the best in gaming history.

So far on the show we've done deep dives into 1996, 1997, 2001, and 2007, but somehow we missed one of the most fruitful years of all time: 1999!

From Silent Hill and Legacy of Kain, to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Super Smash Bros., the onslaught of great games is almost unmatched!

Join us as we wade through the launch window of Dreamcast, and the heart...

Happy New Year, D-Pads!

This week we look forward to some of the year's biggest and most interesting releases. 2023 was an absolute powerhouse, but is it even possible to consider that 2024 might have just as much to offer?

From The Plucky Squire, to Hades 2, to Star Wars: Outlaws, there are still plenty of games to keep us geared up for what's in store.

Plus: we look at how our 2023 most anticipated lists compared to the year's best releases.

Watch our gameplay segments and full video episodes over on our YouTube channel...

Happy New Year, D-Pads!

This week we decided to release a very special episode a bit earlier than our typical Tuesday release.

If you're looking for something to do this New Year's Eve, we've got your covered! Join us as we take part in a 60 minute "Power Hour" where we drink a shot of beer every minute while trying to recap 2023, and give predictions as to what is in store for us in 2024.

We talk games, movies, TV, and even get a little bit personal.

The 60 minute countdown starts at 7:45!

Well, D-Pads, another year has come and gone, and now we find ourselves looking back on one of the greatest years in not just GAMING history, but TV and Movies as well.

Was it the delays of our COVID years pushing everything to the same release window, or just dumb luck?

We don't know... but what we DO know is that there were too many great releases across all mediums to limit ourselves to just video games.

On this special recap episode we've opened up our top 10 list to all mediums so that...

You thought you've already heard all there is to know about the new Grand Theft Auto: 6 trailer?

Think again.

We've had this on our minds since the trailer first launched, so we wanted to take another look to see if there were any points the other media outlets missed.

This week we go in depth on the GTA 6 trailer, offering some never before seen insights and some of our best predictions of mechanics which we think will be newly incorporated into Rockstar's most anticipated game.

Watch our gameplay segments and full...

Well, D-Pads, we finally know which games won big at The Game Awards amid one of gaming's greatest years of all time!

As promised, we've compared all the winners to our predictions in order to gauge which of us knows more about video games, and is ultimately a better human being.

No spoilers, but by this measure Mikey isn't a great human being.

But it wouldn't be Gaming's Biggest Night (TM) if they didn't give us a plethora of new announcements and trailers to break down as well!

Plus: Andrew has...

There are some games you want to forget ALL about...

...but maybe not for the reason you're thinking.

This week we think back to some games which we'd love to play again for the very first time. Whether it's the unforgettable story reveal of Bioshock, the confounding puzzles of Portal, or the childhood whimsy a game like Super Mario 64, we reminisce on what some of our favourite games felt like when they first entered out lives.

Let us know which games we missed!

Watch our gameplay segments and full video episodes...

Buckle Up, D-Pads!

This week we take to the mean streets of Mute City with our old pal Captain Falcon (before he found fame in Smash Bros) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of one of the N64's fastest games: F-Zero X!

When it came out, Shigeru Miyamoto himself warned us that we've never raced anything quite as fast as an F-Zero vehicle, but decades later is that speed enough of a thrill to keep us going?

Join us as we rate this classic racer, and make sure to catch our gameplay segment...

As we get close to the end of one of the greatest years in gaming history, everyone has their eyes set on the upcoming Game Awards!

The nominations for The Game Awards were just announced, and with such a strong year there were bound to be some upsets and disappointments.

This week we sit down to give our predictions for some of the most significant categories, PLUS we question some of the decision making behind the event itself.

This is not a smear campaign on The Game Awards, but we certainly have some...

If you thought that one of the greatest years in gaming was already over: think again.

October brought us one of our most anticipated games of the year, and we've finally had time to get ourselves caught in its web: it's Spider-Man 2!

Insomniac Games returns with their sequel to what many consider to be the greatest Super Hero game of all time, but the question remains: will this be more of the same, or will they manage to push the genre forward?

Let us know your thoughts!

Watch our gameplay segments...

It's finally arrived!

This week we take an in depth look at, and review of Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Even though it was only announced this year, and was therefore a no-show on our "most anticipated games of 2023" lists in January, when we found out we'd be getting the first new mainline 2D Mario Platformer since 2012, we were ecstatic.

Clear your schedules, because that's exactly what we did as we planned to spend the entire episode giving our thoughts on one of the most unexpected games of the year.

Watch our...

We've finally made it to our last week of RetroGrave 2023, and to celebrate we've decided to take a deep dive into a movie based on the horror game which gave us one of our most popular episodes ever recorded: Five Nights at Freddy's!

The movie entered development in 2015 just a year after the first game's release. Was it worth the 9 year wait? Will this be the spawn of a slew of sequels just like the game experienced?

Join us this week to hear all of our takes as we break it all down!

...

This week we're taking a bit of a break from the heart-pounding hallways of games like Fears to Fathom and Don't Be Afraid to stick our hand in the mailbag and see what comes out!

We asked for your horror-themed questions, and you came out with some great ones.

Are there actually any enjoyable horror games?

What makes a GOOD jump scare?

Which video game power ups to horror games need to make them less spooky?

All of this and more!

Feel free to submit your questions...

The scares continue in the month of RetroGrave as we take a look at the first in a line of episodic psychological horror games.

It's Fears to Fathom: Home Alone!

Told in the style of a Reddit Creepypasta story, this game puts you in the shoes of a 14 year old who was left home alone and has to survive the night with an intruder trying to fight their way into your home.

It's a slow burn, and we hate how much it scared us, but make sure to join us to find out...

As the month of RetroGrave continues, so, too, does our heart rate continue to increase.

This week we try our hand at one of the highest rated, scariest games on Steam: Don't Be Afraid.

It's a game which pushes the moral boundaries of storytelling, and deliberately tries to get under your skin in some questionable ways, but is the end result a game which you should play if you're looking to get your blood flowing?

Plus: Cocoon impressions, and Mikey's finally gotten his hands on a PlayDate!

Make sure to catch...

October is finally upon us, and that means The Retrograde has officially become The RetroGrave!

To start things off, we decided to spotlight arguably the most anticipated and innovative horror game in recent memory.

While Holstin doesn't have a set release date, the development team Sonka have managed to give us a taste of their perspective-shifting homage to the survival horror games we grew up loving with an updated demo (available now on Steam).

We played through the Holstin Demo and came equipped with our impressions.

Watch our full playthrough of...

This week we draft a team of the best (and worst) games of 2014 to see what sort of mess we can come up with!

While it looks as though 2023 will go down as one of the strongest years for video games in recent memory (Starfield, Baldur's Gate 3, Tears of the Kingdom... Golum) we weren't always so lucky.

While it's tough to pin down an objective WORST year in video game history, we've scoured the releases of the past 30 or so years to try to find the one with the weakest releases.

That year? 2014.<...

Games so nice you have to play them twice!

This week we've set out to find the most replayable games of all time. As is the case with all media, just because you loved experiencing it the first time doesn't necessarily mean it's something you'd want to do over and over again.

There's a special sauce involved in creating a game which makes you want to start all over at the beginning as soon as the credits role, and we aim to figure out exactly what that is.

For some of us it's...

When most of you think of the year 2001, chances are you don't immediately assume that the games we played at the turn of the millennium are "retro."

Well, most of you are forgetting that 2001 came and went 20 years ago!

With that said, we wanted to take a look at one of the most iconic years in gaming history (retro or otherwise). We've set out to draft the best team of 6 games based only off of releases from 2001.

Naturally, there are a lot of high caliber games which didn't make either of our lists...

What's better than playing a game you love?

Playing MORE of a game you love!

It's not always done properly, but when Downloadable Content manages to pull off the act of balancing "More of What you Want" with "A Little Something You Didn't Expect" it can increase the enjoyment of a game exponentially.

This week we break down our personal top 5 favourite DLC bundles of all time! From aesthetics, to entire storylines, there's a little something for everyone.

Plus: Mikey is hopelessly addicted to Slay The Spire again.

Watch...

Wouldn't you love to be able to eat a Mushroom and grow to twice your size?

Or pick up a feather and immediately be able to fly?

Well, in the realm of video games that's not only a possibility: it's often a requirement!

Many games live and die off of the charm, utility, and whimsy of their power ups, so this week we decided to focus an entire episode figuring out which ones we'd most like to have in our lives!

Join us as we draft a selection of the finest...

We heard you loud and clear: you HATED our thoughts on Twisted Metal.

Or, at least, the cacophonous vocal minority did. Regardless, we wanted to see whether the iconic Twisted Metal franchise was at fault, or if we just lost our love for classic vehicular combat games.

Enter: Vigilante 8!

It's widely considered to be a Twisted Metal Clone, but brought a fresh, lighter tone and some added combat considerations.

But is that enough to help this game hold up in the modern day? We aim to find out!

Plus...

We heard you loud and clear!

After our last Listener Question episode we received a flood of new questions which got us feeling like we should open up the mail bag once again.

This week we tackle questions concerning the increasing size of video games, whether beating a game is integral to the experience, and which genres we'd play if we had to stick to one for the rest of our lives.

Thanks to everyone who submitted a question! If you have a question of your own for a future episode, feel free...

As kids, all we wanted to do was get transported into a video game like Jeff Bridges in Tron.

As adults, we're way more skeptical about what that might mean for our mental and physical well being.

Sure, The Mushroom Kingdom might look like a great place to kick back, but how willing would you be to survive off of a diet of bush apples and colourful mushrooms?

This week we come to the table with the 10 places from video games we'd LEAST want to live. Some of them are dangerous, some of...

Buckle up, D-Pads!

This week we celebrate the release of the Twisted Metal TV show with a look back at arguably the most well received Twisted Metal game ever released: Twisted Metal Black on the Playstation 2!

Some of you may not remember, but there was a time when Vehicular Combat was an entire thriving genre of gaming, and leading the race was Sweet Tooth and his merry gang of asylum escapees.

Before revisiting the game and ranking it in the modern day, Mikey talks about his playthrough of Control, and we get into...

This week on the podcast we're doing something a little different!

Alyse Knorr is the author of arguably the most comprehensive, informative, and exciting recollection of the history of Goldeneye 007 on the N64. Her book, Goldeneye 007, follows the unlikely and troubled development of one of the most iconic video games of all time, and a game which helped push the Nintendo 64 farther than it could have ever expected.

This week Alyse joins us to talk about the creation of the book, the interview process, some her favourite stories she learned, as well as her history...

Every week we come to the table with some of our best and most poorly received opinions on gaming.

We all know that Mikey thinks that the Double Jump should never be an unlockable skill, and that Andrew thinks all Fighting Games should be on a 2D plane, but it's about time we heard from YOU!

We've been building up listener and viewer questions from the past few months which were sent to us on social media, or to our e-mail address, and this week we decided to start working through them.

Which...

With Street Fighter 6 firmly in our lives, we've got Street Fighting on the brain!

But what if we opened up the world of street fights to more than just the crew Capcom has put together? What if we opened up the roster of fighters to any video game character in history?

The idea is simple: we're gearing up for a 1970s style street fight, so we have to draft a crew of capable brawlers.

Join us as we call up the likes of Goro, Waluigi, and Kratos to crack a few skulls and...

Well, we've all had ample time to pour as many hours into The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as humanly possible.

We've consumed combat videos, incredible feats of engineering, and punted Koroks across the map.

One thing's for certain: the honeymoon period is officially over.

But does that mean we've lost interest in what has come to be a front runner for 2023's game of the year?

Join us this week as we recount some of the best and worst moments we've had playing what is undeniably one of...

What's the only thing better than sitting down to play one of your favourite video games?

Sitting down to play your favourite moment in your favourite game!

This week we sit down to discuss our favourite levels in video game history. It can be a specific moment from an iconic game, a mission which stood out among all the rest, or just an incredibly fun sequence which reminded us why we love this hobby.

From the wonder-filled vistas of a Mario game, to the quaint towns of Zelda, and even a couple iconic...

This summer has been ripe with new game announcements from all major players!

With the recent Summer Game Fest following earlier announcements by Sony and Nintendo, we wanted to sit down to give our impressions on all of the summer's biggest video game announcements!

Which demos got us most excited? Which trailers looked kind of bland?

From Lies of P and Phantom Blade 0 to The Plucky Squire, and Prince of Persia: we touch on all the most exciting announcements in gaming.

Watch our gameplay segments and full video episodes over on...

What's more rage inducing than failing time and time again when faced with a particularly challenging area in a video game?

The real answer, for those of us with a temper, is ultimately being unable to complete the challenge indefinitely due to the fact that you've resorted to breaking your controller over the same thick skull that couldn't figure out how to "Get Over It" with Bennett Foddy.

While sometimes all it takes is a quick head smack, or an "ah-HAH" moment, a few levels in video games tower above the rest, planting their flags...

Whether it's Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, the general rule of a fighting game is that the two combatants pummel each other 10-20 times until one of their health bars run out.

Bushido Blade, this week's focus on the podcast, turns that idea on its head (while simultaneously trying to cut it off).

It's a game where a single swing of a sword can end a round, and preference is given to a perfectly planned moment rather than a confounding combo.

But was the world of video games circa 1997 ready for a game...

Where would you go if you had the chance to visit ANY AREA from a video game?

This week we compiled our personal Top 10 lists for video game worlds we'd like to live in! Are we looking for the chaos and violence of a Grand Theft Auto city, or do we want to settle down somewhere tranquil in Hyrule?

Our lists cover everything from Pokemon to Bioshock, and we want to hear from you what we missed!

Plus: we talk about some of our recent gaming adventures!

Watch our gameplay segments...

With the release of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 reminding us that Marvel still has tonnes of great stories to tell, we decided to spend this week looking back at all the most iconic Marvel Video Games we've played in our lives!

We compiled a list of the most significant Marvel Games ever made and ranked them according to the classic S to D tier system.

Will Spider-Man: Miles Morales rank higher than The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and Marvel's Midnight Suns? Only one way to find out!

Let us know which games you...

Would you believe us if we told you that one of us lifelong gamers has NEVER played a Zelda game?

With the release of Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Andrew has decided to enter the land of Hyrule for the first time ever! Join us as we play through the first hour of what is being reviewed as one of the greatest games of all time.

Is it possible that Zelda as a franchise lives up to the hype? Or have we all been so blinded by nostalgia that we can't see its...

What would Metal Gear solid be like as a Puzzle Game?

Back by popular demand! This week we're taking some of the most beloved video game franchises of all time and pairing them up with a completely randomized genre.

That's right! Your Game is Perfect: We've Changed Everything, part 2.

The premise is simple: we randomly select a game (Metal Gear, Zelda, Guitar Hero, etc.) then randomly select a genre (Puzzle Game, Vehicular Combat, Real Time Strategy, etc.) and pitch how in the world that game might work.

We want to hear...

Sure, everyone has a favourite hero.

Who wouldn't want Joel from The Last of Us, or Mario from... Mario joining them on a journey?

But where's the love for the bad guys? This week on The Retrograde: A Video Game Podcast we count down our top 10 villains in gaming history!

Is Bowser more evil than Wario? Would Dutch van der Linde be able to outsmart GLaDOS? Could Psycho Mantis predict Odin's next move?

Let us know your favourite villains from video games, and we may read your selections in the next...

What would our Month of Mario be without a retrospective on what many consider to be the GREATEST Mario game of all time? It's Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo!

Super Mario World has always been one of the White Whales of our podcast, but with such attention behind the game that Shigeru Miyamoto often calls his favourite Mario game in the franchise, when could we POSSIBLY find the right time to review it?

Well, with the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, we jumped at the opportunity.

But surely a...

This week we continue our Month of Mario with a look at one of the LEAST known Mario games of all time: Mario Teaches Typing.

Before Nintendo learned to be overly protective over their properties, they let all sorts of companies get their hands on their mascots. The results varied, but occasionally the world got a game which was too strange to forget.

But is this Mavis Beacon inspired game worth picking up, or is it nothing more than a shiny coat of Mario coloured paint on an otherwise lackluster piece of software?

...

This week we rushed out to theatres to watch The Super Mario Bros. Movie just for you! Join us for one of the first podcasts out there offering a full review, breakdown, and spoilercast of the Super Mario Bros. Movie!

From the release of the first trailer, one of us was pretty excited about the potential of the movie, but the other was much more skeptical. We sit down to discuss how the movie actually turned out, and whether or not it was worth rushing out to go see it opening weekend.

Apart from discussing...

You can't think about video games without thinking about Mario. He's become synonymous with the hobby, and over the years he's done more than just star in his own line of games.

This month to celebrate the release of The Super Mario Bros Movie we've got 4 weeks of Mario themed content!

To start things off, we're counting down our top 5 Mario appearances in a non-mainline Mario game. Believe it or not, there were almost too many to choose from!

Let us know your favourite Mario appearances!

Watch our gameplay segments and...

What's better: the banana from Mario Kart, or the Blades of Chaos from God of War?

Between the two of us we've got a combined 60 or so years of demolishing enemies in video games.

Over the course of that time, some of the tools we've been given in gaming have really stuck out to us. This week we sit down to run through our top 10 favourite weapons in games!

Before we get to our lists, Andrew updates us on his progress with Far Cry 6, and Mikey goes on a melodic journey in Unpacking...

This week the gloves are off, as we sit face to face and air out our biggest grievances with the state of gaming.

In this episode we each pitch some of our hottest takes in gaming and try to convince the other host of their legitimacy.

Is VR just a gimmick? Are the best Metroidvania games Metroid or Castlevania?

Let us know your hottest takes, and whether or not you agree with ours!

Watch our gameplay segments and full video episodes over on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/theretrogradepodcast<...

Hopefully you've all recovered from the season finale of The Last of Us (HBO)!

This week we've got a topic SO HOT that we had to release our episode on a Monday instead of Tuesday. We woke up bright and early to go over all of our thoughts on the final episode of Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin's masterpiece.

After the full episode breakdown we take some time to talk about the overall effectiveness of the show, and even rank each of the episodes from best to worst.

Plus: which elements and episodes...

With Creed III in theatres, and everyone from TikTok stars to NBA players trying to step into the squared circle, we thought we'd use this week to play one of the greatest boxing video games of all time: Fight Night Round 3!

When it first came out in 2006 it was known as one of the most gorgeous games we'd ever seen. But this love letter to the sweet science used an innovative control scheme to give us what many consider to be the greatest translation of boxing to a controller we've ever gotten.

17 years later, will...

We're capping off our month long look at dating sims with our listeners' most requested game: Doki Doki Literature Club!

It's the perfect way to wrap up FeBOOary, and for a game from 2017 it's amazing we've managed to avoid any spoilers for so long.

All we knew about Doki Doki Literature Club going into this episode was that it promised to turn the Dating Sim genre on its head.

Did the twists and turns work on us? Or did we find this game to be a bit too pretentious, and even more... dated? <...

We bet you didn't expect to wake up today and learn that back in 2019 Kentucky Fried Chicken released an ACTUAL, fully playable dating sim.

It's called I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin' Good Dating Simulator, and in the spirit of our newly remastered theme of FeBOOary we decided to see if we could get all up in The Colonel's bucket.

This episode recounts two journeys through a cooking school under the tutelage of a professor dog named Sprinkles, while competing to earn the love and respect of Colonel Sanders himself.

Find...

This week we continue FeBOOary with a special episode where we count down our 5 most significant crushes we've ever had in a video game!

We're celebrating the month of love with a look back at some of our most formative gaming... relationships?

Where does Miranda from Mass Effect rank against Joel from The Last of Us, and why is Ms. Pac Man making an appearance?

Find out all of this and more as we reveal way more about ourselves than we ever intended!

Watch our gameplay segments and full video episodes...

This week we return to the scariest month of the year (FeBOOary) with a look at Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator!

It turns out there was a miscommunication with the theme of our podcast this month, so instead of playing scary games we're spending the next few weeks focusing on romance in gaming!

It turns out "Boo" can mean more than one thing!

We may not have had any clue about the premise of Dream Daddy before jumping in with both feet, but BOY do we know now.

It's been...

What would Guitar Hero be like as a First Person Shooter?

This week we imagine what some of gaming's most popular franchises would look like as a COMPLETELY different game!

We curated a list of just about every major franchise we could think of, and a list of every possible genre, then randomly paired them up to see how creative we could get!

Tune in to find out our pitch ideas for Gears of War as an Open World Sandbox, Guitar Hero as a First Person Shooter, and Donkey Kong as a Turn...

Have you finally had enough of your boring old birth family?

Don't you think it's time to shake things up a bit?

Well, we do too! This week we draft ourselves a brand new family consisting of ONLY video game characters. Will we ask for a dad as tough as Kratos, or a kid as sweet as Kirby?

We start from the ground up and choose a father, partner, child, sibling, and two wild cards (because what family doesn't have a couple of those?).

Plus: our progress on God of War...

If you've listened to this podcast long enough, you'll know that The Last of Us holds a special place in our hearts.

But when it was first announced that a TV show was going to be made, and that Neil Druckmann would be receive the full HBO treatment, we weren't completely sold on it.

Andrew was optimistic, but Mikey thought it would be redundant.

How have their impressions changed as we tiptoed closer to the release date, and now that it's upon us, will either of them eat their words?

Before...

Warning: this one gets sloppy.

Let's have another round (of Goldeneye 007), D-Pads!

This week we aim to answer the age old question: are we better at gaming when we're drunk, or sober?

And what better game to test this out on than one of the greatest multiplayer experiences of all time: Goldeneye 64!

After catching ourselves up on our recent gaming habits, including Andrew's new obsession with Mario Kart 8, and Mikey's first foray into God of War: Ragnarok, we face off in a sober best 2 out of 3 matchup in Goldeneye before drinking...

Happy New Year, everyone!

Since we capped off 2022 with some backwards-looking lists, we figured we'd start off 2023 with a conversation about what we're most excited about in the gaming realm!

Sure, some of these games may have appeared on PREVIOUS "Most Anticipated" lists from prior years, but that doesn't mean we aren't still very excited for them!

But with 2022 having so many heavy hitting sequels from Triple A developers like God of War: Ragnarok and Horizon: Forbidden West, will 2023 be the year where indie games like Cocoon and Hollow Knight 2 reign supreme? Or...

We may have started this podcast as an excuse to revisit retro games, but one game has loomed over our conversations almost every single month: Overwatch.

With Overwatch 2 entering our lives a few months ago, we've had plenty of time to let the changes sink in, and reminisce over some of the elements of Overwatch 1 which we find ourselves missing.

Given the prominence of Overwatch in our lives, we wanted to spend a full episode at the end of the year looking back on the game we've been dumping countless hours into since 2016. How does...

We spent ALL YEAR talking about video games so for one of our final episodes of the year, we wanted to open up the conversation to include ALL of our favourite things we've experienced in the year 2022.

This week we take a page out of Oprah's notebook and count down our 10 favourite things, from movies, to TV, to music... and maybe even a book?

Before we get started with the lists, we recap some of the best moments from the Video Game Awards and catch up on our progress with God of War: Ragnarok, and...

Hakuna Matata, everyone!

This week we decided to venture back to Pride Rock to revisit one of our favourite movie based games of all time: The Lion King on the Sega Genesis!

It's up there as one of the most brilliant adaptations of an animated movie, but it's also notoriously difficult. Will our memory serve us correct, or is this game not worth keeping inside the circle of life?

Before pouncing on the game, we take some time to talk about our anticipation of High on Life, the brilliance of God of War...