#gameboyadvance — Public Fediverse posts

Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship with William Morgan (The Geek Gauntlet Podcast)

Every kid who ever begged a parent for money to hit GameStop on release day understands the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship series in their bones: it’s the same card game, sold back to you once a year, wearing a slightly fancier hat each time. Konami ran this bit from 2003 to 2006 with the discipline of a Swiss watchmaker and the restraint of absolutely nobody when it came to naming the things. Four games! Four years! Somehow four completely different amounts of the word “World Championship” crammed into each title!

And somewhere in that run, things got weird. By the last entry, Konami had apparently decided Yugi, Kaiba, and the rest of the cast had done enough work, and quietly let you duel the actual monster cards instead, like the whole show got replaced by its own trading cards in some kind of legal dispute. There’s also a tiny RPG town nobody asked for, a cartridge somehow refereeing six languages at once, and just enough real cardboard cards taped inside the box that there’s a real argument the packaging outsold the game.

Grabbing a seat at the table to help me sort genuine dueling nostalgia from pure cardboard-fueled compulsion is William Morgan, host of The Geek Gauntlet Podcast, self-billed as the fastest hour in podcasting, a claim that tracks given how fast he and the crew burn through a week’s worth of comics, movies, anime, and gaming news.

So keep an eye on your Life Points, don’t forget your face-downs, and let’s find out if the World Championship series was Konami’s finest run of Game Boy dueling, or just years of very well-packaged déjà vu.

Learn such things as:

• Why do I think this is so weird but yearly sports games aren’t?
• How far back into a game’s ruleset can you go if you weren’t there when it was current?
• Who bought the game for the game, and who bought it just for the included card?
• And so much more!

You can find William on The Geek Gauntlet Podcast.

If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.

If you want to help support the show check out the Play Comics Patreon page or head over to the Support page if you want to go another route. You can also check out the Play Comics Merch Store.

Play Comics is part of the Gonna Geek Network, which is a wonderful collection of geeky podcasts. Be sure to check out the other shows on Gonna Geek if you need more of a nerd fix.

Play Comics is also part of Art Comedy Pop-Culture Network, which is a long-standing creative organization spawning from a love of Adult Swim. Be sure to check them out for all sorts of entertainment news, commentary, and just plain fun stuff.

You can find Play Comics @playcomics.bsky.social on Bluesky, @playcomicspodcast on Threads, @playcomics on YouTube, or the Play Comics website.

If you want to hear Chris talk with Karrington Martin about the lessons we learned from children’s media and how crazy it is that we’re supposed to just forget about that now that we’re adults, then Sugar, Spite, and Everything is Fine is probably something you should check out.

A big thanks to Anime Field Guide and Just the Facts and More for the promos today.

Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who can play the Yu-Gi-Oh theme on the theremin.

Watch the BrewOtaku gameplay of 'Damage Report', a Game Boy Advance homebrew by setsquare. Play a worker tasked with destroying classified files using well-placed explosives.
The game is a Sokoban-style puzzle with over 30 puzzles and a single boss fight, all wrapped in a theme of a job that might be the end of you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhunutiovXw

#damagereport #BrewOtaku #retro #game #gameboyadvance

Watch the BrewOtaku gameplay of 'Damage Report', a Game Boy Advance homebrew by setsquare. Play a worker tasked with destroying classified files using well-placed explosives.
The game is a Sokoban-style puzzle with over 30 puzzles and a single boss fight, all wrapped in a theme of a job that might be the end of you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhunutiovXw

#damagereport #BrewOtaku #retro #game #gameboyadvance

Watch the BrewOtaku gameplay of 'Damage Report', a Game Boy Advance homebrew by setsquare. Play a worker tasked with destroying classified files using well-placed explosives.
The game is a Sokoban-style puzzle with over 30 puzzles and a single boss fight, all wrapped in a theme of a job that might be the end of you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhunutiovXw

#damagereport #BrewOtaku #retro #game #gameboyadvance

Watch the BrewOtaku gameplay of 'Damage Report', a Game Boy Advance homebrew by setsquare. Play a worker tasked with destroying classified files using well-placed explosives.
The game is a Sokoban-style puzzle with over 30 puzzles and a single boss fight, all wrapped in a theme of a job that might be the end of you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhunutiovXw

#damagereport #BrewOtaku #retro #game #gameboyadvance

Watch the BrewOtaku gameplay of 'Damage Report', a Game Boy Advance homebrew by setsquare. Play a worker tasked with destroying classified files using well-placed explosives.
The game is a Sokoban-style puzzle with over 30 puzzles and a single boss fight, all wrapped in a theme of a job that might be the end of you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhunutiovXw

#damagereport #BrewOtaku #retro #game #gameboyadvance

Naruto Path of the Ninja with Merrilee O’neil (Fear Coded)

By the mid-2000s, Naruto had pulled off something most manga-to-anime properties never manage: it wasn’t just popular, it was everywhere, spinning off a small army of video games across nearly every system with a screen, like Naruto himself used Shadow Clone Jutsu on the entire games industry and nobody thought to stop him. Somewhere in that flood of Ninja Councils and Clash of Ninjas sits Naruto: Path of the Ninja, the entry that decided the best way to honor Kishimoto’s story wasn’t just punching (though there’s plenty of that too) but actually letting you live through the Land of Waves and the Chūnin Exams one turn-based battle at a time.

Path of the Ninja debuted on the Game Boy Advance in Japan back in 2004, then took a leisurely three years to reach American shelves in 2007, arriving on the Nintendo DS instead, because by the time they got around to localizing it, the GBA already felt like last decade’s news. You pick from six familiar faces, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Neji, and Rock Lee, pair them into formations for bonus combo attacks, and work through more than 90 jutsu, some of which you cast on the DS touchscreen by frantically scribbling a shape with the stylus, which is either a clever nod to hand seals or just a fun way to give yourself a cramp. The story runs all the way to the Chunin Exam invasion and a face-off with Shukaku, and if you’re wondering whether you can also fight Itachi as a secret bonus boss, the answer is: only if you own the Japanese version. The English release quietly deleted that fight but somehow forgot to scrub his name from the end credits, which is the video game equivalent of hiding a body and leaving the shovel leaning against the wall.

Making another through the Play Comics dojo is Merrilee O’Neil of Fear Coded, last seen on the show trying to keep pace with the Flash. This time she’s trading super speed for shadow clones, hand seals, and a Konoha headband, so at least the running is a little more sustainable.

So form your hand seals, grab your kunai pouch, and let’s find out if Path of the Ninja earned its headband as a worthy trip through early Naruto, or if it should’ve stayed back at the Academy with the rest of the genin.

Learn such things as:

• Isn’t the world today better, with games coming out worldwide at basically the same time?
• How can you use a console’s gimmick to really lean into the gameplay?
• Can a game stick to the established story a bit too well?
• And so much more!

You can find Merrilee being the main driver of the Fear Coded account on BlueSky @fearcodedpod.bsky.social on her podcast Fear Coded.

If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.

If you want to help support the show check out the Play Comics Patreon page or head over to the Support page if you want to go another route. You can also check out the Play Comics Merch Store.

Play Comics is part of the Gonna Geek Network, which is a wonderful collection of geeky podcasts. Be sure to check out the other shows on Gonna Geek if you need more of a nerd fix.

Play Comics is also part of Art Comedy Pop-Culture Network, which is a long-standing creative organization spawning from a love of Adult Swim. Be sure to check them out for all sorts of entertainment news, commentary, and just plain fun stuff.

You can find Play Comics @playcomics.bsky.social on Bluesky, @playcomicspodcast on Threads, @playcomics on YouTube, or the Play Comics website.

If you want to hear Chris talk with Karrington Martin about the lessons we learned from children’s media and how crazy it is that we’re supposed to just forget about that now that we’re adults, then Sugar, Spite, and Everything is Fine is probably something you should check out.

A big thanks to Kaiju Comicast and Anime Field Guide for the promos today.

Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who probably has a pretty sick collection of headbands.

Robotech the Macross Saga with DC Dave (The Monitor Tapes)

If you’ve ever dreamed of piloting a transforming jet while sorting through a love triangle and dodging alien laser fire, then without knowing it you’ve been living in the Robotech: The Macross Saga timeline. Chris dusts off his Game Boy Advance for this one, only to find that the same intergalactic mess has crash-landed again, this time in crisp Switch resolution. Because nothing says “future of gaming” like revisiting a handheld title from an era when batteries were a personality trait.

Helping navigate this space-time crossover is DC Dave from The Monitor Tapes, swooping in with the kind of insight only a seasoned comic podcaster can offer. Together, they dissect what happens when ’80s anime melodrama meets early 2000s portable gaming. And spoiler alert: there are missiles, misunderstood heroes, and at least one existential crisis per level. And yes, they both have Opinions™ about which version of Rick Hunter handles better.

So grab your nearest mecha (or whatever piece of furniture doubles as one), set your thrusters to “nostalgia,” and dive into a world where pixelated warfare meets the stirring strains of synth-pop destiny. Whether you’re a die-hard Robotech purist, a Switch newcomer, or just here for DC Dave’s hot takes, this episode’s got something for every flavor of space soap enthusiast.

Learn such things as:

• What does it takes to make a side-scrolling shooter feel like an interstellar soap opera?
• How did licensing rights in the ’80s created a cosmic headache that still echoes today?
• When you have giant fighting robots, do you really need to add all of the war allegory?
• And so much more!

You can find DC Dave on BlueSky @dcdavepodcast, and of course under his podcast The Monitor Tapes on BlueSky @themonitortapes.

If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.

If you want to help support the show check out the Play Comics Patreon page or head over to the Support page if you want to go another route. You can also check out the Play Comics Merch Store.

Play Comics is part of the Gonna Geek Network, which is a wonderful collection of geeky podcasts. Be sure to check out the other shows on Gonna Geek if you need more of a nerd fix.

You can find Play Comics @playcomics.bsky.social on Bluesky, @playcomicspodcast on Threads, @playcomics on YouTube, or the Play Comics website.

If you want to hear Chris talk with Karrington Martin about the lessons we learned from children’s media and how crazy it is that we’re supposed to just forget about that now that we’re adults, then Sugar, Spite, and Everything is Fine is probably something you should check out.

A big thanks to Is It Jaws? and Capes on the Couch for the promos today.

Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who refuses to acknowledge the passage of time and how what it means to any of us on a metaphysical level.

Justice League Injustice for All with AJ Malacarne (Gamma Head Press)

Welcome to another episode of Play Comics, where we dive into the pixelated world of superheroes and their digital escapades! This week, we’re strapping on our capes and booting up our Game Boy Advances to tackle Justice League: Injustice for All. Based on the beloved Justice League Unlimited cartoon, this game lets you step into the boots of your favorite heroes, even if the gameplay sometimes feels like it’s stuck in the Phantom Zone.

Joining us for this heroic journey is the illustrious AJ Malacarne from Gamma Head Press. Known for their penchant for the absurd and psychedelic storytelling, AJ brings a unique perspective to our discussion. Will they find the game as thrilling as a battle with Darkseid, or as perplexing as The Riddler’s latest scheme? Tune in to find out!

So grab your Batarang, call in your sidekicks, and prepare for a supercharged episode that promises more twists and turns than a Luthor-led plot. Let’s see if Injustice for All can truly do justice to the Justice League!

Learn such things as:

• How can you create a show where off screen characters are treated as if they actually exist all the time?
• How does the platform a game is going on impact the development and design of that game?
• Which characters really need to show up in new Justice League experiences?
• And so much more!

You can find AJ on Twitter @AJMalacarne, BlueSky @ajmalacarne, Instagram @aj_malacarne, Threads @aj_malacarne, and of course their newsletter Gamma Head Press.

If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.

If you want to help support the show check out the Play Comics Patreon page or head over to the Support page if you want to go another route. You can also check out the Play Comics Merch Store.

Play Comics is part of the Gonna Geek Network, which is a wonderful collection of geeky podcasts. Be sure to check out the other shows on Gonna Geek if you need more of a nerd fix.

You can find Play Comics @playcomics.bsky.social on Bluesky, @playcomicscaston Twitter and in the Play Comics Podcast Fan Groupon Facebook.

A big thanks to Chatsunami and Tales from the Backlog for the promos today.

Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who might actually be multiple heroes in a trench coat.