Back In The Day Show

So with all the hype of the recent G. I. Joe live-action movie (boo) and because it’s been a while since we’ve inducted another character into our G. I. Joe Hall of Fame, we decided to devote an entire episode to the G. I. Joe franchise in all its forms. First we talk about the toys–the action figures and the ridiculous vehicles–and the intricacies of our time spent playing with them. Next we discuss our fond memories of the cartoons as well as the many lessons we learned (and some we didn’t) from the signature G. I. Joe public service announcements. We remember the G. I. Joe Comics and how they contrasted from the cartoons. For example, blood–the comics had it; the cartoons didn’t. And we also mention the movies: G. I. Joe: the Movie (1987) and the garbage that came out a couple months ago. We round out the show with a tiny, new segment that we like to call “Stump the Chad,” wherein we attempt to stump our resident Back to the Future expert, Chad, with a Back to the Future trivia question. Can we outwit him? Listen to this podcast and you’ll know… and knowing is half the battle. The other half is equal parts red and blue lasers. Yo Joe!

Download the mp3 (1:04:07 / 29.3MB)

Related links:
YoJoe.com
G. I. Joe Original PSAs
G. I. Joe PSA spoofs
G. I. Joe Resolute

For this poll question, we need your help deciding which G. I. Joe character we should induct into our G. I. Joe Hall of Fame next? Here are the six we’re thinking about. To cast your vote, hit the link below or view the poll on the sidebar on the right side of the page.

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Still have an original Nintendo Entertainment System? Ever think about breaking it out to play a few vintage games only to decide against it because of the hassle involved in hooking it up? Well fret no more. Just follow the steps in this wonderfully simple instructional video, and you’ll be stomping koopa troopas in no time.

One of my favorite movie critics, James Berardinelli, runs a website/blog called Reelviews. He just wrapped up his series of commentaries on some of the more popular movies of the 1980s. His latest blog post includes a collection of links to his 80s movie reviews and a summary of the project. He reviews movies like Big (1988), Stand By Me (1986), and First Blood (1982), just to name a few. Here’s a quote from the introduction of the series:

“Why the ’80s? After all, by most accounts, that was not a scintillating era for movies. However, on a personal level, the ’80s represented probably the most important years of my life. And, since many of my readers are of a similar age, it’s no surprise that, over the years, I have received more requests for reviews of ’80s films than for those from any other 10-year period.”

Check it out, and while you’re at it, check out his latest movie reviews, too. I’ve always found his writing to be equally engaging and insightful.

You need to stop what you’re doing right now and behold the awesomeness. Here’s the full gallery.

Well, it’s been a while since the last show, and we hope everyone has enjoyed their summer break as much as we have. But that time is over, so you know what that means. Yep. It’s back to school time for grade-schoolers, college kids, and teachers. And if you don’t fit into any of those categories, I’m sure you still remember those times with an equal mix of excitement and trepidation (emphasis on trepidation if you’re like me). So with that, I present Episode 13 of the Back in the Day Show–the Back to School Edition. Ashley joins us to kick things off with fond memories of the hit TV show, Saved by the Bell. There’s still a rabid fan-base out there for this show, just as we represent here. Next up, we sit around and talk about our feelings. Just kidding. Actually, we reminisce about one of our favorite 80s movies, The Breakfast Club. Then we conclude the show by recounting incriminating tales of our misspent youth. It’s a special say-no-to-drugs segment that captures some of the crazy things we did when we were younger. Sometimes you have to learn things the hard way; at least we got some funny stories out of it. Enjoy.

Download the mp3 (1:17:50 / 35.6MB)

I just got the sad news: John Hughes has died of a heart attack while visiting family in Manhattan. The 59-year-old filmmaker wrote and/or directed several 80s films, such as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science, and so many others. Needless to say, we here at the Back in the Day Show owe a lot to him, if only for the amount of material he gave us about which to reminisce on the podcast. Many of his movies took the point of view of young people. In The Breakfast Club, he tackled the issues of high schoolers’ common angst for the future, lack of communication with parents, and peer pressure; in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, he emphasized the need to seize life and enjoy it to the fullest; and in many of his films, he exhibited how ridiculous adults could be at times with hilarious results. I don’t think I can put it any better than Ferris Bueller when he said: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Thanks for all the good times, John. We’ll miss you.

But now I know.

Time for a new poll question, which will coincide with our upcoming podcast: Who’s your favorite Saved by the Bell character? To cast your vote, hit the link below or view the poll on the sidebar on the right side of the page.

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Well, kiddies, this is the 3rd and final installment of the 10 Stupid-Hard NES Games list. Sorry it’s taken me so long to complete it. I’m sure there are plenty of other incredibly challenging NES games that I haven’t mentioned, but these 10 are the ultimate in 8-bit pain for me. Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments or share your own list of stupid-hard games. For your convenience (or punishment), here are links to Part 1 and Part 2. Thanks for reading. And now, on to the list…

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But it makes sense.  The end of Back to the Future and the beginning of Back to the Future 2 are identical… almost.  The actress who played Jennifer in the original (Claudia Wells) was replaced by Elisabeth Shue for the two sequels, and since that scene appears in both movies, they had to shoot it twice:

I personally enjoy Christopher Lloyd’s enthusiasm in the reshoot.

So many family games enter the scene and fall flat. A Boy and His Blob was one of my favorite childhood puzzle games for the original NES, and now it makes a return on the Wii. We discussed the old game a little bit in the latest podcast.

This is a great video tour of the Forest level of the game, A Boy and His blob. Although, it may seem designed for children, I think there will be plenty of fun in this game for adults and children alike. I am optimistic. See for yourself in this following clip.

Man, things have been busy! But we finally made it into the studio to bring you a new show. This time, we talk about what’s new in the retro scene, like the upcoming album from Doctor Octoroc, plus the comeback of Nintendo’s Punch-Out and A Boy and His Blob. We round out the news by covering some of the new movies coming out that have origins in the 80s: Terminator: Salvation, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Sorry for the excessive use of colons. Next up, we feed our dark comedy appetites with a helping of Robocop. Violence, drugs, killer robots, and loud zippers–it’s got it all! And finally, we reveal our gluttony for punishment by concluding the show with a discussion of some of the hardest NES games known to man. Be sure to check out part 1 and part 2 of the 10 Stupid-Hard NES Games series. Part 3 is on the way available too. “I’d buy that for a dollar.”

Download the mp3 (1:17:40 / 35.5MB)

Related links:
Preview Doctor Octoroc’s latest project
Punch-Out is back
So is A Boy and His Blob
The Onion Star Trek Report
G. I. Joe Resolute
Ghosts ‘N Goblins beaten

Looks like I forgot to put out the message about the poll question, so we’re leaving the current question up for a little while longer. Anyway, here’s your last chance to cast your vote on this one, people: Who’s your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character? To cast your vote, hit the link below or view the poll on the sidebar on the right side of the page.

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Today we continue with Part 2 of the 10 Stupid-Hard NES Games series in which I look back on some of the hardest NES games I’ve ever played. Then, and for no other reason than I just like abuse, I play them again and see how I fare against them today. Here are the next 4:

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I’m not sure why lists are so popular on the Internet. Maybe it’s because they’re so easy to read (or write for that matter). Maybe people are brain dead zombies, limited to digesting information broken up into quantifiable, compartmentalized chunks. Maybe people enjoy inherently opinionated rankings of things in a particular category. Whatever the reasons, they’re undeniably popular. Just Google “Top 10″ and see for yourself.

That said, I’d like to introduce you to my latest list: 10 Stupid-Hard NES Games: Then and Now. It’s basically just a list of really hard NES games I played as a kid with descriptions about my experiences then and revisiting them today. But I wanted this list to be different from the usual Internet sludge. So I took the typical “top 10″ paradigm and flipped it on its head a bit. First, this list will be delivered in a three-part series. Today, I’ll be sharing 3 stupid-hard games, then 4 more in Part 2, then I’ll finish up with the final 3 and a conclusion in Part 3. Next, I will be including complementary screenshots to better illustrate the stupid-hardness of the games. Also, this list will be a bit more verbose, which should oppose the notion of instant gratification intrinsic in so many other lists. Finally, this list is in no particular order, so there’s really no “top” to it. Hey, I told you this list would be different. Plus it would just take too much effort to rank these games, and I don’t really feel like it Enough babble. On to the list:

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Today marks the 20th birthday of the Nintendo Game Boy. Technically, it wasn’t released in the US until August of 1989, but since the Game Boy was born in Japan, we’re celebrating on its original release date. To a lot of people, the Game Boy was just a means to get their Tetris fix, which is understandable since Tetris is one of the most addictive puzzle games of all time. But the Game Boy was more than just a Tetris machine; there were some other cool games out there, as well. So in honor of the Game Boy’s birthday, I’ve listed my personal all time top 5 Game Boy games below. If you’d like to join in the celebration, be sure to include some of your favorites in the comments of this post. I would’ve listed more, but I think those were the only ones I played.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening - Other than Tetris, I think I logged the most time on my Game Boy playing this game. I savored the puzzles and whimsical story throughout the game, and it reminded me a lot of my favorite SNES game, A Link to the Past.

2. Tetris - One of the greatest games of all time. It provided me with hours of fun and my parents hours of quiet. How could this classic not be on my list?

3. Dr. Mario - Another great puzzle game. ‘Nuff said.

4. Metroid II: The Return of Samous - I never finished this game, I guess because I was more preoccupied with other Super Nintendo games, but what I played of it was awesome. This game is currently being remade into a PC version by DoctorM64.

5. Super Mario Land - Similar mechanics to the classic NES game, Super Mario Bros., but with a few extra abilities. Definitely one of the funnest Game Boy games in my opinion.

(Begin gruff, old, Asian man voice here) Gather around, young ones, and I will tell you a tale from ancient time. A long time ago in 1984, a man known as Kevin Eastman partnered with Peter Laird to build one of the greatest empires in all the world. They created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! (End gruff, old, Asian man voice) OK dramatics aside, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day last week, we’re going green. It’s the All Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Edition of the podcast. Fueled on pizza and Mountain Dew, we talk about the origins, cartoons, action figures, video games, and movies all about the heroes in a half shell. It’s an epic long show, but we felt we had to give the Turtles their due. After all, they entertained us for a countless number of hours. So sharpen your katanas and get ready to kick shell with the original lean, mean, green machines. It’s turtle time!

Download the mp3 (1:25:10 / 39.0MB)

Related links:
ninjaturtles.com
first episode of the TMNT cartoon on Youtube

Researchers at Yale have officially determined the statistical likelihood of finding the Princess in the NES classic, Super Mario Bros. According to the study, players only have a 12.5% chance of finding her, which means you’ll run into the dreaded mushroom retainers for the other 7 out of 8 times. The proof is on the T-shirt, literally. Chances that I want that T-shirt = 100%.

It’s been a while since the last podcast, but now we’re back in action to bring you the first show of 2009. We’re also bringing a fourth crew member on board. Good to have you with us, Chad. Now stop reading this and get back to work! On the show this week, we explore the theme of “chicks in space” as it relates to the 80s. The 1986 movie, Aliens, is up for discussion first. Ripley’s horrible luck, Bill Paxton’s off-the-wall performance, and old-school special effects are just some of the subjects mentioned. Next up is a retrospective of the 1987 NES classic, Metroid, as we recount the first time we entered the “Justin Bailey” code and beheld Samus Aran in all her feminine glory. We then share the results of last show’s poll question and pose a new one (don’t forget to vote). Lastly, and for no other reason than we just felt like it, we remember that old 30-minute animated commercial for Nintendo that passed for entertainment when we were kids: Captain N the Game Master. Rest in peace, Mr. Stubbs. You were one sassy Mother Brain.

Download the mp3 (1:00:49 / 27.8MB)

Related links:
Download the VGAT (Video Game Aptitude Test)
Download the VGAT Answer Key
Dr. Octoroc
Metroid II Remake