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Play Retro Show
PLAY RETRO 160: Zaxxon
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On this week’s Play Retro podcast with Scott Johnson and Brian Dunaway, ZAXXON! Sega’s revolutionary 1982 arcade game that introduced an isometric perspective to shoot-'em-ups, setting it apart from the top-down and side-scrolling shooters of its era. Its sequel, Super Zaxxon, amped up the difficulty with faster enemy movement and trickier level designs. We’ll also briefly mention Future Spy, a lesser-known Sega shooter that borrowed elements from Zaxxon while adding a military espionage theme.
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PLAY RETRO 165: Thief
01:17:12|Thief: The Dark Project and Thief II: The Metal Age, two of the most influential stealth games ever made. Developed by Looking Glass Studios, these immersive sims dropped players into a dark, steampunk-inspired world where silence and shadows were more powerful than any sword. With open-ended level design, sound-based detection, and a story full of mystery and betrayal, the Thief series set the standard for the stealth genre.PLAY RETRO 165: Hydro, Offroad, and Arctic Thunder!
01:21:46|Hydro Thunder, Offroad Thunder, and Arctic Thunder—a trio of fast, loud, and wild arcade racers from Midway. At the arcade and at home. We are Racing Rocket boats, 4 Wheel Off-road vehicles in arenas, and snowblasting through frozen highways with missile-equipped snowmobiles. From arcades to Dreamcast and more!PLAY RETRO 163: Questprobe featuring Marvel Comics
01:13:29|The Questprobe Text Adventure series featuring Marvel Comic Characters —an early collaboration between Marvel Comics and Adventure International. Designed by Scott Adams (not the cartoonist!), these graphic/text hybrid adventures dropped Marvel’s most iconic heroes into classic parser-based puzzlers. From The Hulk trying to control his rage, to Spider-Man climbing walls in text form, and Torch and Thing bickering their way through puzzles.PLAY RETRO 162: Croc
01:10:47|An early 3D platformer from Argonaut Games where players control Croc, a courageous baby crocodile with a backpack raised by the Gobbos—a tribe of fuzzy creatures. When the evil Baron Dante kidnaps the Gobbos, Croc sets off on a crystal-collecting quest across floating islands, icy peaks, lava-filled caves, and more, using his tail whip, ground pound, and platforming skills to save his adoptive family.PLAY RETRO 161: Rampage
01:09:23|On this week’s episode of Play Retro, Rampage, from 1986. The classic arcade destruction game developed by Bally Midway that puts players in control of giant, mutated monsters—George the gorilla, Lizzie the lizard, and Ralph the werewolf—as they wreak havoc on cities across the United States. Turns out, this thing holds up!PLAY RETRO 159: The SSX Series
01:18:24|SSX, EA Sports BIG’s legendary snowboarding series that defined arcade-style extreme sports in the early 2000s. From the original SSX on the PS2 to the fan-favorite SSX Tricky and the open-world masterpiece SSX 3, these games combined fast-paced racing, gravity-defying tricks, and an unforgettable soundtrack.PLAY RETRO 158: Space Quest
01:24:50|Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter, Space Quest II: Vohaul’s Revenge, and Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon. These games, developed by Sierra’s "Two Guys from Andromeda" (Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy), combined comedy and science fiction in a way that few adventure games had done before. QUEST IN SPACE!!!!!PLAY RETRO 157: Pole Position
01:19:13|Pole Position and Pole Position II, the classic arcade racing games that defined an entire genre. Developed by Namco and distributed by Atari in the US released in the early '80s, Pole Position introduced the world to realistic track-based racing with qualifying rounds, intense time-based competition, and scaling sprite graphics that made players feel like they were truly behind the wheel.