Pod 'em Up! - The Video Game "Book Club" Podcast

In the book club, we play Ape Escape - the PS1 game that showed 1999 that it needed to invest in that shiny new DualShock controller, after all. Or maybe not, let's see. Plus, Nintendo goes head to head with Yuzu and.. wins, almost immediately, and Tibbs tells us about the recent Tomb Raider remastered games. We'll level with you - due to various reasons, it's not exactly our best episode, this one. But hopefully our self deprecating humour about the whole thing turns it into an enjoyable car crash. If it's possible to enjoy a car crash. Which it isn't. Look, it's late, and I'm tired. Incoming Indie: Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom - https://thoseawesomeguys.com/games/yellow-taxi-goes-vroom/ podemup.live | @PodEmUp | podemup@gmail.com

Little known Nintendo platforming hero, Starfy the starfish gets his turn in the spotlight at last this month, as we feature his underwater platforming antics in the book club - we're discussing The Legendary Starfy, for Nintendo DS. Elsewhere, Tibbs has finally given the Zelda games a proper go, having immersed himself in not one, but two of the most well known entries in the franchise! He's had a great time, apparently.. well, that's what he claims anyway. His list of issues suggest otherwise though. Of course all of that pales in comparison to the highlight of the show, which is our in depth discussion about "Jerry Rice and Nitus' Dog Football" for the Wii. Fully endorsed, of course, by the Pet Sport League. That's right. podemup.live | podemup@gmail.com | @PodEmUp

It's our (slightly belated) end of year show, and we're taking The Simpsons: Hit & Run for a spin in the book club, for GameCube, Xbox and PS2! The perfect excuse to load the show up full of Simpsons chat, quotes, clips and songs! And of course it wouldn't be an end of year show without the Pod 'em Up awards, where we hand out points to our favourite games from the book club throughout 2023 and find a winner of the coveted Pod 'em Up book club game of the year! Now with automated vote counting! @PodEmUp | podemup@gmail.com | podemup.live

Time for a little Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in the book club? You'll hear no objections from us! Listen to what we had to say about the original DS game that lead to the popular courtroom franchise! Elsewhere, we've an extra chunky review of Sonic Superstars, and we also dip into the likes of Super Mario Wonder, WWE 2K23 and Alien Hominid Invasion. All this whilst trying to evade the highly litigious "Bodger and Badger Corporation LLC", and figuring out Tibbs' cryptic note about a steering wheel. Incoming Indie: Promenade (https://www.redartgames.com/games/607-promenade-nintendo-switch.html) podemup.live | @PodEmUp | podemup@gmail.com

This month, the book club covers the Japanese exclusive, Captain Rainbow for the Wii - A Nintendo-published game with Nintendo characters, yet it has a reputation for rude humour, swearing and inappropriate content!? Ollie and Tibbs investigate! Elsewhere, we jam pack the news section with Xbox preservation concerns and Nintendo Direct musings. We also discuss the departure of Charles Martinet as the loveable voice of Mario, and the success of the recent Sonic Symphony performance in London. Oh and youngsters better cover their ears, as we realise we're no longer capable of keeping up with modern life, in what's sure to be our old-man-iest episode yet. Don't worry about us, you just keep watching your Tikety-Tok broadcasts. If you need us, we'll be back on MSN, playing "guess the diddle". Incoming indie: Goodboy Galaxy - https://hotpengu.itch.io/goodboy-galaxy-demo podemup@gmail.com | @PodEmUp | podemup.live

Baba is who? That's what we intend to find out, as we cover this 2019 indie puzzler for PC and Switch that lets you rewrite the game's rules in order to solve its fiendish puzzles! Not content with one book club pick, Tibbs basically brings another one along with him as he packs in a full blown review of the game that completely out-Pokemons Pokemon - It's Cassette Beasts! Plus, an arcade/laundrette/toilet management game, and Ollie shares some holiday gaming books. podemup@gmail.com | @PodEmUp | podemup.live

Hair-whipping half-genie half-belly-dancer, Shantae arrives in the book club this month, as we play the very first game in her series of popular 2D metroidvania platformers for the Game Boy Color! Our impressions of this indie darling may surprise you! Plus we look back on last month's slew of game announcements, despite E3's absence, and offer thoughts on Sonic Superstars, Mario Wonder and Metal Gear Solid Master Collection. Plus Switch 2 speculations, more tales from Tears of the Kingdom, and for some reason, lots of elephant chat! Incoming Indie: Viewfinder: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1382070/Viewfinder/ podemup.live | @PodEmUp | podemup@gmail.com

This time we're tackling a thoughtful and narrative-driven puzzle platformer, Sephonie, for PC. Also up for debate is the new Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - in which a big portion of the discussion focuses in on the important matter of why Link keeps starting adventures in his pants. Plus: Bad times for Tibbs, Into the Breach, a lovely new Incoming Indie platformer, and probably the most uninteresting news section we've ever delivered. Incoming Indie: Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chibig/koa-and-the-five-pirates-of-mara-endless-summer-adventure?ref=9e461e&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjryjBhD0ARIsAMLvnF-xuuI_3SgtIt-pTWetNcP3HqACuX_wKbqE-EvnydfhAJV3sXfL238aAl1OEALw_wcB Yoppi's video essay on Sephonie: https://youtu.be/Dbb58plahdo podemup.live | podemup@gmail.com | @PodEmUp | twitch.tv/podemup

We've got a guest this month! "Pod 'em Up superfan" (that's what we call him anyway) Rik comes along for a chat, and brings to the book club the convolutedly-named "Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness". An episodic series for XBLA, PSN and PC, though we mainly cover episode 1 here. Plus we've got other matters to discuss too, like E3's cancellation, Sega's surprise April Fools day game, "The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog", Super Kiwi 64, Plague Inc Evolved and the Mario movie. Plus, we have opinions about the Resident Evil 4 remake, and we won't let the fact that none of us have played it stand in our way! podemup.live | podemup@gmail.com | @PodEmUp

We're back, with a brand new logo and a bullseye of an episode for you this month! (cockney rhyming slang for fifty, innit?) Featuring pride of place is a book club double whammy, in which we play two games that are sequels to titles we've already covered on the show before! We understand the concept of Jet Set Radio Future on the Original Xbox and discuss whether it surpasses its stylish predecessor, but not before coming to some surprising conclusions about the ambitious but forgotten OverBlood 2 for PS1 (aka "we've got Final Fantasy VII at home"). Plus, as it's our fiftieth (and you didn't even bother to get us a cake), we'll just celebrate by ourselves by putting Tibbs' knowledge of his own podcast to the test, in a surprise quiz! If that's not enough, there's also the wizarding school game that must not be named, the continuing misfortunes of the Wii U, and a load of other stuff. FREE STEAM KEYS INSIDE!!1 The video that completely changed our minds about OverBlood 2, by TheGamingBritShow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq8fpuFSXWY&t=1799s And also, a superb OverBlood 2 unofficial-but-official-sounding website: https://overblood2.com/ podemup.live | podemup@gmail.com | @PodEmUp

It's high time for some Saturn love on the podcast, and what better way to do that than to play Sonic Team's futuristic fire fighting action game, Burning Rangers! One of the final great games for Sega's oft-overlooked machine. Alongside that, we've got thoughts about Sports Story, X-COM, GoldenEye and of course the PS3 game that everyone in 2023 is talking about - 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. Plus, there's much preparation for next month's 50th episode sequels special, and we dust off our email inbox at last! podemup.live | @PodEmUp | podemup@gmail.com

It's the hardly-at-all-Christmassy Christmas Special of Pod 'em Up! We assess the self-destructive habits of unlikely 3D platforming hero Voodoo Vince, from the original Xbox (now also on PC and Xbox One), plus we review Sonic Frontiers and Ollie ruins the Pod 'em Up awards with his terrible vote counting abilities! But at least you finally get to find out which of our great book club games this year earned our coveted annual prize! podemup@gmail.com | @PodEmUp | podemup.live

This month, we're going on about Skyblazer - never heard of it? Good, sit yourself down and find out if we recommend this infrequently-discussed SNES platformer! Plus, there's much talk about Grapple Dog and the recent Mortal Kombat games, we offer our impressions on the Mario movie trailer after verbally dancing on the grave of Google Stadia, and Tibbs suffers some serious open wallet surgery after a major new purchase that takes us all by surprise! podemup.live | @PodEmUp | podemup@gmail.com Incoming Indie: Aero GPX (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aaronmac64/aero-gpx)

We've got a real cracker in the book club this month - the silky smooth adventuring of 2022's highly acclaimed cat 'em up: Stray, for PS4/5 and PC. Does it deserve the high praise it's been getting? We find out! Plus, Ollie went to EGX in London for a go or two on Sonic Frontiers, and he brings back hands-on impressions of some great indies to watch out for as well! Plus, we've become a tad disillusioned by Nintendo Directs, Tibbs has thoughts on ReCore and Wolfenstein: The New Order, and the middle of the show collapses around us as we both get the giggles about souvenirs and small ones. If you've played all the way through Stray, you can continue with our extended discussion about the game's ending. Contains major SPOILERS: https://soundcloud.com/user-557762286/stray-ending-discussion-spoilers EGX Games: Gori: Cuddly Carnage - https://wiredproductions.com/games/gori-cuddly-carnage/ | @GoriCarnage Planet of Lana - https://planetoflana.com/ | @planetoflana Wavetale - https://thunderfulgames.com/games/wavetale/ Incoming Indie: The Big Catch - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/filetgroup/the-big-catch | @FiletGroup podemup.live | @PodEmUp | podemup@gmail.com

This month we're getting jiggy with Banjo-Kazooie, Ollie's childhood favourite collect-a-thon 3D platformer for the N64 and Xbox consoles! Also, Tibbs delivers an impromptu review of Biomutant, and encourages Ollie to undertake a new career in video game journalism. Mainly though, we're talking about the bear and the bird, so come and join us, the NEW Google Podcast Pod 'em Up champions! podemup.live | podemup@gmail.com | @PodEmUp | twitch.tv/podemup

You've come for brains.. we'll give you.. bullets! .. We'll also give you a look at the superbly funny, irreverent and very foul-mouthed on-rails shooter, House of the Dead: Overkill for the Nintendo Wii! (adults only for that section please!). However, this is one dense fruitcake of a show, as we also review Sonic Origins and preview Sonic Frontiers, plus there's also much talk of TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, the Infamous series, The Plucky Squire, and even an Incoming Indie too! Victory Heat Rally: https://www.skydevilpalm.com/victory-heat-rally (@VHRGame) podemup.live | podemup@gmail.com | @PodEmUp

Ollie and Tibbs play and discuss one of the most recent Nintendo Switch exclusives - Kirby and the Forgotten Land. You already know it's brilliant, but we tell you exactly why! If you've already completed the game, you might like to follow up this episode with a bonus 10 minute discussion about the ending and some of the post-credits content: https://soundcloud.com/user-557762286/kirby-and-the-forgotten-land-spoilers-ending-discussion Plus, we talk about the recent changes announced to PlayStation Plus and how it compares to Xbox Game Pass, and Incoming Indies return to the show! Cloud Jumper - https://hyperluminalgames.com/ipgames/cloud-jumper/ Time on Frog Island - https://www.mergegames.com/games/time-on-frog-island/ podemup.live | podemup@gmail.com | @PodEmUp

Do you smell what we're cooking? Because it's time to play the game(s) in our wrestling special! We've got a double book club this month in the shape of WWF No Mercy for the N64, and Fire Pro Wrestling World for PC/PS4! Are they the bottom line in wrestling games, just mid-carders, or a pair of jabroni jobbers? (ok, I'll stop). We also reminisce about the good old "attitude era" of wrestling and raise eyebrows (alright, one more) at the modern stuff. Elsewhere, we talk about Subnautica, Sonic movie 2, Ollie visits an arcade, and Tibbs rants at the confusing spreadsheet of Sonic Origins' upcoming purchase options. podemup@gmail.com | @PodEmUp | podemup.live

A fully powered up episode if ever there was one - this month we've got Power Diggerz (aka Power Shovel) in the book club - a slightly obscure PS1 arcade/party game that has you saving turtles and dishing out curry with nothing but a full blown excavator! We'll find out if it's any good. Plus, it's another magazine feature! This time we're looking at issue 1 of the new SEGA Powered magazine, which you can order in print or digital at: https://www.segapowered.com/ And just in case you still want more, there's chat about Red Dead Redemption 2, Mass Effect, and people who do weird sneezes. They can't say we don't offer variety. podemup.live | @PodEmUp | podemup@gmail.com | twitch.tv/podemup

It's a new year of Pod 'em Up, and in the book club, we have a classic game from our childhoods - Micro Machines '96 on the Sega Mega Drive! We also discuss the series in general, so should be a great listen for fans. Plus, Tibbs just wants to play Rock Band, Ollie wants to know what an NFT is, and we both want to know why the hell Google Podcasts have merged us with the -other- Pod 'em Up! podemup.live | @PodEmUp | podemup@gmail.com | twitch.tv/podemup