SteampunkLink Podcasts

Okay, Chase and Emmy were a little cranky on this one. But you would be too if you had to play these three games back-to-back. Cliffhanger is a boring game that plays acceptably, until it doesn't. Battletoads and Double Dragon isn't fit for either of those franchises (and that's saying something because we already kinda don't like Battletoads.) And…

We have made it to another month in our chronology, so it's time to talk about an issue of Nintendo Power. Our guests for this episode are two-thirds of the amazing team from the Gateleapers podcast. Jason and Matt might have been too young to have read this issue when it was new, but they have a ton of hilarious commentary to offer anyway. If you'…

Happy New Year, everyone! We're kicking off 2023 and saying goodbye to September 1993 with a trio of pretty all-right games. We start with Wing Commander: The Secret Missions. It was, perhaps, a bold move to release what was an expansion for the computer versions of this game as a stand-alone game on a system that was already a bit ill-suited to it…

It's a few days before Christmas, and we just have a regular episode that's been in the can for a week. Sorry about that. But the games are pretty interesting. We're talking about Tuff E Nuff and Top Gear 2. Also we briefly mention Utopia: Creation of a Nation. Tuff E Nuff is a goofy fighting game taking place in a dystopia where society has collap…

Well folks, it's finally happening. We've talked about wanting to make some changes to the list for some time and we're finally doing it. We're not just potentially re-ranking, we're changing the way ranking works. Basically, we're changing things to a tier list. We'll explain more in the episode. Is your favorite game getting a more or less favora…

Hey everyone. Sorry for the delay. We're back and we're recording again. But before that, we need to get this episode out there that we recorded months ago but never got to actually edit and put up. So here it is! We're talking about two classic children's franchises that were adapted to the Super NES. Actually, that's a lie. One of them is Super W…

Hey everyone, sadly there won't be any SNEScapades in October. But here's a quick announcement about why and what the future might hold for the show and other stuff.

It's time to talk about a certain rodent who likes to go really fast, has attitude, and tends to get kissed by human ladies. We're talking, of course, about Rocky Rodent, the infamous dine-and-dasher. Emmy and Link are a bit divided on the game's quality, but Rocky himself makes for such a strange specimen, that they can't stop talking about him. I…

We've got, not one, but two racing games for you today... kinda. Redline F-1 Racer really isn't much to write home about, but Rock N' Roll Racing has become one of our favorite racing games on the system. We hope you'll enjoy rocking out to some midi versions of classic rock songs while we talk about this strange spiritual successor to RPM Racing. …

It's time to talk about Koei for the very last time. Yup, we're calling it a day on covering Koei games (with possibly a few exceptions) as we just can't wrap our heads around them. We'll explain more in the episode. But, for games we are going to talk about, we've got Mortal Kombat and Operation Logic Bomb. Mortal Kombat is a port of the classic a…

Today, Link and Emmy play a port of an arcade brawler from 1991 based on the Avengers. Will this be as good as other licensed arcade brawlers from the same era (like TMNT, The Simpsons, and X-Men)? Well... You'll just have to listen and find out. Also, is it possible that a game ostensibly built as a playable commercial for a soft drink go beyond w…

We're starting September off with a big ol' dull thud. Looking for uninspired brawlers, sports games we can't figure out, and hastily thrown together licensed games? No? Well we got them anyway. We're talking about Boxing Legends of the Ring (which you may know as Chavez II if you're from Latin America or the southwest US.) It's an impressive looki…

Hey there! It's us! We're back! We're talking about another issue of Nintendo Power. This time it's issue 52 which came out in September of 1993. We listen to Newsie tell us about a movie, a song, and some tv shows that debuted that month. Then it's on to talking about more Super Mario All-Stars, more Final Fight 2, SNES RPGS, Rock N' Roll Racing, …

Two Capcom classics make a huge statement on the SNES to cap off August 1993. First, Link and Emmy talk about Final Fight 2, a huge improvement over its predecessor after denying gamers what they really wanted, to punch in the faces of Mad Gear goons with a friend. Co-op makes a huge difference (even if you can't turn off friendly fire) and three c…

Here we are! The final episode in our "Month of May-rio" specials discussing the games contained within the Super Mario All-Stars collection. We're talking about the big one this time around: Super Mario Bros. 3. SMB 3 probably doesn't require much introduction, to this day it's regarded by many as the best game to be released on the original NES a…

We're off to the land of Subcon to throw some vegetables into an evil frog's mouth. We hope you enjoy this, the second of our three-part series about Super Mario All-Stars and the four games contained within. Today, we're talking about Super Mario Bros. 2. It's a very strange entry in the Mario series due to being a re-skin of a different game call…

Welcome to the (slightly delayed start) of the Month of May-rio. We are talking about Super Mario All-Stars all month. Today's episode is about the original Super Mario Bros. and The Lost Levels. We'll not only be talking about these games as they exist in the Super Mario All-Stars compilation, but we'll also discus the history of these two games o…

On this extra special (and quite long) episode, Brandon from the Namely 90s podcast sits down with us to chat about the August 93 edition of Nintendo Power. We talk about good bad Street Fighter II art, Star Trek, Aliens, and much more. Which Looney Toon character is the most problematic? How's that Star Fox comic going? What's up with the purple g…

It's a baseball game and a formula 1 game. Um... we're not sure what else to tell ya. Obviously talking about these sorts of games are always hard for Emmy and Link as neither of them are fans of either of these activities in real life and don't enjoy playing simulations of them. But they try to keep it lively anyway, and hey, maybe they'll find en…

We've got some pretty fun games today, and two of them are pretty weird. We discuss Goof Troop, E.V.O., and First Samurai. Goof Troop is a fun, puzzle-based, action game that can be played co-op. E.V.O. is different and requires a lot of grind, but has plenty of redeeming qualities, and First Samurai is a 2D action-platform game that sings "Hallelu…

Hey everyone! Sorry this episode didn't end up being the bonus episode we planned. Things are kinda bad IRL right now and we just didn't have the energy to record. On that note, if you're in a position to do so right now, we'd really appreciate it if you could donate some money to a worthy cause right now, like humanitarian aid in Ukraine, or to ci…

Hey everyone. Welcome to the month of July 1993. We decided to use Playing with Power episodes as an excuse to have guests on the show and will continue to do this going forward. Our special guest for this one is Trevor from Catching up on Cinema. It's actually fortunate that we had him on because he had a lot to say about many of the games feature…

In this episode, we're talking about WWF Royal Rumble and Yoshi's Cookie. Two games that couldn't be much different from each other. Link and Emmy gave Royal Rumble a real shot and came away mostly impressed, despite the fact that neither of them have much nostalgia for wrestling. But was it impressive enough to crack the top 100? Then it's off to …

We're getting to the end of June 1993 (finally) and we're talking about two of the final four games. First up, we're talking about Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, a topic we've discussed already back in our Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego episode. How does this port of the classic 80s piece of edutainment hold up to the already-released por…

After taking a holiday break, Emmy Zero and SteampunkLink are back. We wish we could tell you that they've got some real bangers for the first episode back, but they don't. We're talking about three games based on other franchises and those tend to be a bit spotty. Today, it's all about games based on The Blues Brothers, Rocky & Bullwinkle, and Whe…

It has BEGUN! Emmy and Link welcome Trevor from the Catching up on Cinema podcast to talk (for a very long time) about the 1995 film "Mortal Kombat." All of your favorite characters are here. Johnny gets a few great lines, Sonya... falls down while trying to throw a kick, and Lu Kang is the most special boy. Trevor, Link, and Emmy will discuss all …

Not too long ago, we had an idea of a way we could get through sports games on the SNES. That idea was just to do them all in chunks to help get them over with faster. Unfortunately, we don't really think we nailed it with that one. So we close the book on "Sports Desk" episodes with all the 1993 football games. Going forward, sports games will jus…

We celebrate another milestone with a bunch of great guests. We talk SNES games, Super Scope games, general 90s nostalgia, our dream 90s-themed podcast convention, music, and more. Also it seems that Link and Emmy REALLY like talking Power Rangers and Link will find any excuse to bring up St. Louis pizza. Our first guests are Andrew and Brandon (no…

Here it is, folks. By the end of this episode, there will be 200 games on our ranked list. Not only that, but two of these games are going to shake up the upper portion of the list. Perhaps even a top ten contender? Two top ten contenders? I'm not saying here. You're just going to have to listen. While Run Saber and Pocky & Rocky are some pretty gr…

The theme of today's episode is "Who thought this was a good idea?" Who thought it was a good idea to release a 6-year-old western computer RPG on a system that had some of the best RPGs for consoles? Who thought it was a good idea to make a game based on an imperiled animated sitcom that no one seemed to want? And who thought it was a good idea to…

We have the good, the bad, and the indifferent today, and you might be a little surprised to find out which one is which. Cacoma Knight is the one Emmy and Link don't have strong opinions one way or another about. It's not terrible, but it's basically just another version of Qix, an arcade game that goes back to the 80s. We talk about the flaws and…

Another month down, another Nintendo Power issue to talk about, and another episode of SNEScapades that goes on longer than an hour. In this episode, Link and Emmy discuss Jurassic Park, interesting controllers, cute teenage robots, iffy Nintendo science, and games you can play with your dad (or maybe your imagined younger self as the mid-life cris…

It's the last episode for May of 1993 and we're talking about two firsts. The first casino game compilation and the first of two Carmen Sandiego games that ended up on the Super NES. First we discuss Vegas Stakes, a compilation of several popular casino games that add a little flavor in the form of AI friends to join you and random events that can …

As we start to wind down May of 93, we've only got a few games left to talk about. On today's show, Link and Emmy are talking about Super Turrican and Taz-Mania. Taz-Mania was a strange game on the SNES, using racing game-like mechanics in an action game. They game isn't amazing, but it is kinda unique and worth talking about. Also worth talking ab…

It's giant robot tanks, fishing, and cyberpunk rpgs. Three games that couldn't be more different. Despite not being your typical SNES games, both Emmy and Link walked away mostly positive on these games. Both MechWarrior and Shadowrun are based on tabletop games by a company called FASA, so this episode starts with a quick rundown of that company b…

We've got three 2D, sidescrollers today. Some are alright, some aren't very good. None are amazing. None are awful. One has some cool things that make it stand out, another is interesting in the ways it falls short, and the last isn't really interesting at all, but won't ruin your day. We start with Alien 3, and though proper horror isn't really so…

There is so much to talk about in this May 1993 issue of Nintendo Power, that we needed a super-sized episode cram it all in. We're gonna talk Batman Returns, The Wonder Years, Dave, the Mario Bros. movie, Kawasaki jet skis, defunct comics! What more could you ask for? Oh, I guess we could talk about some games as well. We'll be discussing Batman R…

It's finally here! The final episode for April 1993 contains a classic. The Lost Vikings may not be a name that carries quite the legacy of a Mario or a Halo Chief (that's the character's name, right?) but it ought to be up there because this game is pure 2D puzzle-platforming bliss. It's a shame then that we didn't get to talk a little more about …

SNEScapades is going to the movies today. We're discussing three games that were based on movies. First up we talk about the very strange Robin Williams movie Toys. The game it's based on isn't very good, but it gives us the chance to talk about Absolute Entertainment and to talk once again about prominent devs like David Crane and Garry Kitchen. C…

On today's show, Emmy and Link talk about a pair of games that merge genres together in interesting ways that produce less than stellar results. First up is Super Ninja Boy. It's a game that combines the dungeon-crawling of an RPG and swaps out the turn-based battle mechanics for a belt-scrolling brawler; an idea that sounds good on paper. Then it'…

On today's show Emmy Zero and SteampunkLink talk about the sequel (kinda) to Rival Turf. Can Brawl Brothers improve upon the janky but fun foundation laid by its predecessor, or does it fix little and add a bunch of frustrating mechanics no one ever could have wanted in a brawler? They also discuss the humble beginnings of the franchise that would …

The time has come! SteampunkLink gets to talk about and not shut the hell up about American Gladiators! Emmy and Link talk about the old show and and review this game which... isn't very good. Speaking of things that aren't very good, Link and Emmy also talk about Battle Grande Prix. A game as generic as it's title would suggest. I'm not even sure …

We're entering a new month in video game history and that means it's time for another Playing with Power episode featuring the April 1993 issue of Nintendo Power. Star Fox is on the cover as Nintendo continues it's absolute deluge of Star Fox content. Not only does the issue contain a little information about every Star Fox stage across all three d…

It's the end of March 1993, and since the final game for the month happens to be Tecmo Super NBA Basketball, it's time to get another sport out of the way for the year. Luckily for Emmy and Link, there were only two of them (the other being EA's NBA Showdown.) Despite having little knowlege of and no interest in the game of basketball (or professio…

Two military games and a brawler. The games aren't great, but the conversation is still interesting. What every became of Microprose and the folks who founded it? Does Super Strike Eagle take flight sims on the SNES in a bold new direction? Can Link learn to love Super Conflict despite the hexagonal tiles? Does The Combatribes live up to its spirit…

Can you call something a mini-episode when it's still 45 minutes long? I dunno, but that's what we're calling this anyway because we're not ranking any new games. Instead, we're re-ranking some games based on suggestions from our guests on the Holiday episode. Derek felt that Mario Kart should be higher than Top Gear and Kamijace felt that Soul Bla…

Today's episode of SNEScapades puts a big ol' spotlight on Star Fox. If you're not familiar, it's a game about animals in space. I'm sure that explains everything. So how is this one? Does it hold up? Can long-time Star Fox fan Emmy Zero convince newcomer Steampunk Link of the game's greatness? Does the debut Super FX chip-enabled SNES game still i…

March of 1993 starts out with a thud as Link and Emmy discuss two games with UK roots that landed on the SNES. First, they discuss Spindizzy Worlds which is a follow-up to the 1986 computer game Spindizzy. What does the creator of the original game think about this unsanctioned sequel? Does it work at all on the SNES? Could this game possibly have …

Let's face it. It's been a rough year. We thought it would be fun to get a bunch of other podcasters to talk about some of their favorite holiday memories involving video games. It's a long one, so pull up a chair, grab a mug of hot chocolate, and settle in for some pleasant conversations. If you aren't already listening to them and/or following th…

The first two games of March 93 aren't leaving us with the best impression. We get a substandard (but functional) fighting game and a Koei game that's not as hard to parse as some of their strategy games, but is incredibly slow to get started. Link and Emmy were so disappointed with Inindo: Way of the Ninja that they have decided that the rest of t…