David brings Pavlos and Bro back from the brink of extinction to talk about the things that matter most: Metroid and monkey balls. David tells us the virtues of playing the original Super Monkey Ball in a game bar. He packages this with his own pro gamer strats and insights into the world of speed-eating-while-taking-turns-playing-video-games. It’s a niche sport, but it’ll catch on. We talk about other stuff, too, eventually. Like Banana Mania, the Castlevania Advanced Collection, and the new Nintendo Switch Online plan. All are revived old things, but some we like more than others! David tries to create a theme for the cast with further Metroid discussions on Prime and Dread, but all this turns out to be a ruse to host Pavlos’s intervention. Pavlos explains that he doesn’t have an addiction to Final Fantasy XIV as the recorded days of playtime start to stack up! Eventually we move on to our game of the week: Metroid Fusion. The 2002 GBA title may differ from its franchise’s legacy, but it turns out to be what makes the game great in the first place. As Samus faces off against the new X parasite, the new, more linear structure might actually help the game’s narrative and put it above most genre peers in this department. We also examine the flaws, as is our wont, and, of course, meditate on the idea of elegance. Samus may be more like a tank than a dancer… or something. At the end (and the beginning), we address the certain and uncertain aspects of the podcast’s future. Make no mistake! We will determine the game of the year for 1986. Our very lives depend on it. (Okay, they don’t.) (They do, though.)
Time Stamps:
Whatcha Playing
00:00 David’s report from the game bar
17:59 Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania (2021)
26:26 Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack
50:09 Castlevania Advance Collection (2021)
59:20 Metroid & Friends: Dread (2021), Return of Samus (1991), Hollow Knight (2017)
01:23:53 Final Fantasy XIV (2010)
Featured Game
01:30:34 Metroid Fusion