Whatcha Been Playing, Super Meat Boy 3D Review - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

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Kinda Funny Gamescast – March 30, 2026

Whatcha Been Playing, Super Meat Boy 3D Review

Episode Overview

This episode of Kinda Funny Gamescast, hosted by Greg Miller with SnowBikeMike, Andy Cortez, Lucy James (GameSpot), and Barrett, dives into what the hosts have been playing lately, with an in-depth review of Super Meat Boy 3D at the forefront. The cast also explores the dopamine-fueled roguelite Raccoon: A Coin Pusher Roguelite, revisits Batman: Arkham Asylum, and discusses trends in modern roguelites and survival games. The tone is lively, humorous, and filled with camaraderie, offering both analysis and personal gaming stories.

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Main Segments & Discussions

[02:22] Show Intro & Panel Banter

• Greg introduces the classic crew plus Lucy James, setting an upbeat, conversational tone.
• The crew shares funny anecdotes, like forgetting to expense hardware for reviews and late-night Slack messages.
• Memorable Moment: Andy admits to muting Slack for peace of mind, sparking a lighthearted riff on responding to "after hours" work communication.

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[07:17] Super Meat Boy 3D Review

Game & Host Context

• Super Meat Boy 3D reviewed by Mike (“Big SnowBike”), with Barrett as co-conspirator; Greg and Andy reminisce about their history with the series.
• Mike’s first Team Meat game, inspired by Steam Next Fest—he's 83% complete after 15 hours.

Game Overview & Impressions

• Greg: "It is that as-long-as-you-want-to-play game: bite-sized, instantly-resetting, tough-as-nails platforming." [11:52]
• Mike: "It’s a tough as nails 3D platformer where every button press has to be precise... it’s all about the platforming." [09:46]
• The core loop is about trial, error, and rapid iteration—speedruns, muscle memory, and "gripping your controller" through frustration.

2D vs 3D Transition

• The 3D leap gives more “airiness”; a red circle under your character helps with platforming, though depth perception can still be tricky.
  • Mike: "They do a good job. They put a red circle where you're going to land so... you can really see." [13:09]
• Barrett and Mike discuss differences in boss battles—3D bosses feel more “spectacle” but somewhat uninspired compared to prior entries.
  • Barrett: "The boss fights... feel uninspired and like they just did them because the last one did it." [16:16]

Accessibility & Features

• Accessibility options are available in the settings menu (controller remapping, font size, etc.).
  • Greg: (quoting IGN) "A robust settings menu reveals decently comprehensive accessibility options." [23:14]
• Critique: Lacks online leaderboards, which feels like a miss given the strong time-attack element.
  • Barrett: "I feel like that's kind of a big miss... Day one we're adding leaderboards, or whatever." [27:23]

Verdicts & Scores

• Barrett: "Solid 8 out of 10." [17:16]
• Mike: "Thumbs up... great price tag, a lot of fun. If you're into break-your-controller, try-to-beat-the-best-time, yeah this is it." [27:49]

Notable Quotes

• Greg: "Finishing a level gives me such a sense of like, oh, I did it." [26:37]
• Barrett: "This is just Super Meat Boy but 3D… I had a great time." [16:41]
• Andy: "It does remind me of, you know, that just stupid 'I have to do this regardless of how I'm feeling right now. It's for my pride.'" [21:05]

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[32:17] Raccoon: A Coin Pusher Roguelite (Racqoin)

Lucy’s Pick

• "A coin-pushing dopamine machine," described as a roguelike deck builder.
• Gameplay: You drop coins in like an arcade coin pusher, combining special coins to create satisfying combos, triggers, and effects.
  • Lucy: "It’s more hitting that dopamine rush for me than Balatro was... coin goes in, coin comes out. Sometimes a black hole appears." [35:42]
  • “It’s a great second-screen game… meditative, just shoot out a bunch of coins.” [36:16]

Gameplay Feel & Strategy

• The early game is simple and relaxing; later levels demand more buildcrafting and strategic use of upgrades.
  • Lucy: "Once you hit like round six or so… that’s when you really need to be making sure that what you are getting in the shop works for the build you are trying to do." [41:41]
• Accessibility note: pixelated fonts can be difficult to read on handheld, requesting a classic font option.

Audio & Visuals

• Sound effects of dropping coins earn rave reviews—"It's hitting the spot." [39:08]
• CRT filter available; video settings can be tweaked.

Notable Quotes

• Greg (reading Steam description): "A coin-pushing dopamine machine… where you combine special coins with powerful items to trigger wildly satisfying combos." [33:46]
• Banter: "I am the old lady at Vegas, pissing myself in the seat. I don't want to get up because I'm on a run." – Lucy [33:33]

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[43:09] Revisiting Batman: Arkham Asylum (Andy’s Retro Play)

What Drew Andy In

• Andy plays Arkham Asylum for the first time, motivated by a top-100 list swap with Barrett.
• "Seven and a half hours in and it’s so masterful... there's no wasted time." [44:12]

Design & Legacy

• Praises its tight design, “beautifully condensed,” and how much it inspired later action-adventure games.
  • Andy: "This really was the blueprint for what a lot of games have tried to emulate and... have failed since then." [45:02]

Cast Banter

• Hosts imitate Gotham goon banter: "It's the bat!" – a Gamescast staple. [48:21]
• Discussion of his plans to continue with Arkham City, weighing its "open world" vibe vs. the Metroidvania nature of Asylum.
  • Barrett: "City and Asylum... that's like Fellowship vs. Two Towers." [49:38]

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[52:54] What Else We’re Playing / Industry Trends

• Starfield – Greg shares his ongoing journey, mod recommendations, and excitement for the upcoming expansion.
• Deadlock – Andy is addicted: "I cannot go a day without playing two to three matches... it's so good." [56:57]
• Crimson Desert and Enshrouded – Andy plays with mods and appreciates tweaks to game feel.
• The group discusses current trends: Roguelites, arcade roguelites, and survival games. Mention of Escape from California and Danny O'Dwyer's NoClip doc on Jeff Kaplan’s new project.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Barrett on Super Meat Boy 3D bosses: “They kind of feel uninspired and they kind of feel like, quick. And it felt like they just did them just because they felt like the last one did it.” [16:16]
• Lucy, on Raccoon: “I am the old lady in Vegas... and I don’t want to get up because I’m on a run.” [33:33]
• Greg, on Starfield: “I can’t believe I live in this world. More Ghostbusters, three Superman movies, more Starfield content. I’m stoked for it right now.” [52:54]
• Andy, on Arkham: “This really was the blueprint for what a lot of games have tried to emulate and... failed since then.” [45:02]
• Mike: “Never been afraid. Never have been afraid. Never been to church either.” [57:36]

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Timestamps & Important Segments

• 02:22 – Show start, host panel intro
• 07:17 – Super Meat Boy 3D Review (Mike, Barrett, Greg, Andy)
• 17:16 – Scores & verdicts (8/10 from Barrett and Mike)
• 23:14 – Accessibility options discussed
• 32:17 – Raccoon: A Coin Pusher Roguelite (Lucy’s segment)
• 35:42 – Gameplay depth & dopamine
• 43:09 – Batman: Arkham Asylum first-timer’s retrospective (Andy)
• 52:54 – Starfield update / Mod talk (Greg)
• 56:57 – Deadlock, Crimson Desert, Enshrouded, and genre chat (Andy)
• 61:27 – Survival games trend & Escape from California discussion

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Episode Takeaways

• Super Meat Boy 3D is a challenging, satisfyingly frustrating platformer whose shift to 3D mostly succeeds—fans of the genre should check it out, especially via Game Pass.
• Raccoon is a “dopamine machine” that fuses arcade coin-pushing with roguelite mechanics; simple early on, surprisingly strategic as runs deepen.
• Revisiting Arkham Asylum reminds the crew why it’s a foundational, genre-defining game.
• Roguelites, survival simulators, and modded experiences define the panel’s current gaming habits.
• Throughout, the hosts maintain a blend of in-depth critique, industry insight, and infectious humor that welcomes both gaming veterans and newcomers.

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Transcript

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[C]

What's up everybody? Welcome to the Kind of Funny Games cast for Monday, March 30, 2026. I'm one of your hosts, Greg Miller alongside the Master Pipe Snow Mike Mike Good morning Greg.

[D]

Great to see you today. Good to see you Michael Be a great Monday. Excited for today's Gamescast topic, y' all,

[C]

next to you, of course, the one, the only, it's lucy james from gamespot.com.

[A]

thanks for having me back.

[C]

Thanks for hanging out. You know, make the track out here. Track out here. I feel like you got to stay.

[D]

You got to full morning together is right. That's great. Thanks, Lucy.

[C]

And then of course, he's the Hispanic Arthur up Texas street, Latino heat, clicking heads, ripping them to shreds. The globe trotting head shot rooting tootin three point shooting nitro rifle from Twitch tv.

[B]

Andy Cortez, you nail the.

[C]

Greg, it's just the root and tune, man. I, I got it. I. So I. It's RT before 3p. That's I got in my head now I'm reprogramming.

[B]

I do like that. I, I just realized that, you know, last week when I was like, man, Greg, you're sending out all these code requests. You know, I was in a Helsinki, man. I got to re request all these things. I wasn't seeing them. I was on flights. I was in a different country, different time issues. Turns out I had that channel muted.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

And I think I had it muted because I was like, I was scared to see notifications pop up while I was streaming one day, you know, for like embargo purposes, you know.

[D]

I appreciate that.

[C]

I appreciate that.

[A]

I do the eight hour mute.

[B]

The what?

[A]

The eight hour mute.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

So then it like comes back.

[B]

I didn't even consider that. Wow. Muted at your own discretion. I like that. That's good.

[C]

Do you feel. And Andy, this would just be to you. I know. Mike doesn't even look at slack. Do you feel when I send a late night slack, you need to respond to it right away?

[B]

Whoa, hold it, hold on. What is it?

[A]

You're a late night slacker.

[C]

Not on purpose.

[A]

You can schedule that.

[C]

I know, but you often actually, you can ask that audience. Or maybe if they're not watching in the moment, they might not see it. But I do oftentimes hit send and then, oh, undo it and then schedule send. Cause I'm just, I'm just. But it's that thing where when I can find the gaps, I fill them. But I. There was this comes up because I saw it on some Instagram whatever where some somebody was talking about how they appreciated their boss or somebody they were interviewing or whatever, saying, hey, this, I've sent this when it was at a time convenient to me. This is like an email signature. Don't Feel you need. Oh, that's an interesting thing I never thought about.

[E]

Cause I.

[C]

When I'm slacking at night, if I am slacking and just forgetting about it, it's either bullshit or it is just the. Oh, I'm. This is when I had the fucking free second to go through my inbox to get the thing to do.

[B]

Depends on the priority of it, you

[C]

know, I just feel like if there was ever something I actually needed you guys for, I would text. Like, in terms of, like, it is an emergency that, like, I wouldn't. I don't want you, Barrett. Obviously.

[B]

Greg, you're a great boss man.

[C]

Oh, thanks.

[B]

You're a good boss.

[C]

Thanks. I try.

[E]

You know what I'm saying? I've seen. I've seen a lot of late night slacks that end with. If you don't respond to this now, it's over.

[C]

Expect that's your telltale that this is. How much did you like when I popped in your stream on Friday day? And I was like, how's it feel? Stealing for me. Your sorrows footage.

[B]

I was watching my sorrows footage. Which, by the way, like, I. I don't know if I probably should return that Solid State Drive.

[A]

Don't.

[C]

No, that's yours now.

[E]

See why you say it on content now you got to do it.

[B]

Well, it's Amazon. They don't know. They're not listening. You know what I mean? Because here's the thing, Lucy.

[C]

Oh, you bought it.

[B]

We get the notification from House Smart.

[C]

We both jumped that you, like, you owed PlayStation.

[B]

No, no, no, no, no.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

No, it was. It was a. It was like a. Hey, we're going to need two terabyte minimum. And I was like, why first? That's insane. Turns out we were recording on the Shogun machines. The Shogun devices record lossless video, so it was three and a half hours of Soros footage. 1.3 terabytes.

[C]

Jesus Christ.

[D]

It.

[B]

I had to clear so much off to even unzip the file to get it on my PC. It was. It was a nightmare to deal with. Yeah, it was. It was not great. So I still got that hard drive, but it's kind of cute. It's a cute little hard drive.

[C]

Like the little.

[B]

The little one? Yeah, a little. Yeah, a little SanDisk one. Yeah.

[C]

Did you expense it?

[B]

No, because I like to return it right off. Maybe I expense it and then I return it anyway. Bonus money.

[A]

Bro, you are so bad at doing this.

[C]

Like, I was gonna say yes, since you didn't expense it, feel free to Keep it. Do whatever you want. If you didn't know everybody, this is the kinda Funny gamescast. Each and every weekday we come together to talk about previews, reviews and topics we need to talk about. If you like that, of course be part of the show live YouTube.com kindafunnygames you can super chat with your questions, comments, concerns for the day's topic and of course thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm Twining for now, let's begin with what is and forever will be topic of the show. It's a what you've been playing episode, but it's headlined by the Super Meat Boy 3D review because Big Snow Bike Mike the fucking Hawk.

[D]

Yeah, I played it.

[C]

He's all fucking crazy. He went through and played this game and beat it. Of course, if you don't know Super Meat Boy 3D Steam Description I love is the infamous tough as nails platformer.

[B]

Now in 3D he added an extra dimension.

[C]

The dev is sluggerfly alongside team meat, the publisher head up alongside G Cores Publishing. Mike, what is your history with Super Meat Boy? Because of course this is one of those games that took over ign. It is that old for me. That's how long I remember Super Meat Boy 2010 dropping from team Meat, being the star of that indie game the movie, dropping again, being tough as nails, my Xbox being set up. There was a God, I'm so sorry, I can't remember his last name, but a kid named Ben at IGN who worked on the like sales team who would just come over and for hours play at my desk when we would pass the controller and screw around like it was a game we all adored at igm. But Mike, you were the big Xbox guy. Were you all about this back then?

[D]

No, I've never played a Team Meat game. I've never played a Super Meat Boy game. This is my first time ever playing a Meat Boy game. I kind of got interested in it thanks to Steam Next Fest.

[C]

Oh nice.

[D]

I am a Doritos Crash course one and two of course guy. So I like the fun Beat this in X amount of time obstacle course. But I've never played a Celeste, a Meat Boy, a Super Mario Maker. So for me this was all new and fun and exciting and so yeah, I found myself falling in love with this. Finished out about 15 hours as of this morning, 83% complete towards the 100% on the game. And yeah, that just shows you I did fall in love with this because you can. I mean each level beats anywhere between 30 seconds to a minute and 20 at most rates, depending on your speed and where you're going. But I beat this game a couple days ago and then just kind of fell in love with the challenge of well, let me a every single map here, which is beat it in the allotted time that they give you to say you're going really fast. Let me find every collectible hidden on this cool 3D map, which was very fun and challenging in a number of them. And then now go to the challenge underworld and complete all of those in certain amounts of time. So I'm deep into this. I'm loving it and having a really good time.

[C]

Give me the top level again, I think is a funny Steam description. The infamous toughest Nails platformer. Now in 3D, if you were talking to somebody who's maybe an audio listener and can't see it and didn't play the 2010 2D version.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

How do you describe Super Meat Boy 3D?

[D]

Oh man, that's so funny because I'm not the Super Meat Boy guy. So if I was to describe it to my friends, I would say if you're looking for a tough as nails 3D platformer where every button press has to be precise, every landing has to be perfect where you go for your best time and you're interested in time trial runs, this would be a game for you, right? And then I would point towards like Doritos Crash Course Celeste. I'd be like, these are games that would get you into it. I played Ori, but Ori's more Metroidvania than this. But it is all about the platforming.

[A]

Astrobot.

[B]

Oh, oh, that's true. Yeah.

[D]

I don't know if I played those. Astrobot has been a blur to me. I enjoyed it.

[B]

I don't favorite game.

[D]

I. I don't really hold tight to Astrobot, but yeah, that's what I would describe it to. And I would say, hey, this is a really fun, packed game. This is a challenging game. It's a game that you're going to grip your controller and you're going to question after 15 hours. Is this controller broken now? Sarah Bond, if you're listening, please send me a new one. I miss you. Oh, wait. Damn.

[C]

She says, I think she has this way she has your address. She says to buy it now she's

[D]

got to buy it like anybody else. So yeah, that's where I'm at right now. That's why I would describe it to my friend.

[C]

You know what I've always loved about the original Super Meat Boy. And then for my limited time with 3D, of course, I played it at the Switch event here for gdc. We had code. So I've tinkered with it here and there. But the reason I've always been drawn to it, I think, Mike, and what keeps me coming back to it is it is that as long as you want to play game where it is, these levels, yeah, obviously could be as short as mere seconds or, you know, you get stuck on it and you grind forever. But I often feel that, like you get in there and you run in, there's the giant spinning meat grinder, there's this obstacle. Whatever is going to kill you, kills you, but then you're right back to it. And it is that, like, I'm going to do this again. I'm going to do this again, I'm going to do this again. And it's the my, I think something that, you know, years later, Celeste did so well, which was you just have to get past this screen. Can you get past this image of it to get to the next thing? And then we'll start you here. Super Meat Boy levels are usually so small and bite sized that it is all right, you get past that screen and then you die. And the next thing you have to do it again. But you're doing the muscle memory. You're learning what you're doing, right?

[D]

Like, it's funny you bring that up, Greg, because, yeah, it's not get past this screen. And Super Meat Boy, to me it is, yeah, get past this obstacle, then find the next obstacle. Die. And like you said, it is that muscle memory that you're starting to learn and remember what's next, what do I got to do here? And the excitement of seeing what is that next screen or what is that next obstacle.

[B]

Right.

[D]

There was always a thrill to me when it was the time trials when I was rerunning levels, or just the new experiment of like, hey, what is this? To find that next obstacle. Go. Okay, cool. I'm going to jump up and to the right. Then I got a quick dash to the left and then move forward. It's a ton of fun. And yeah, the platforming feels very tight and precise. I will say after 15 hours, I don't know if it was the controller breaking or if it was the game. I did feel a little bit of like desync and lack of responsiveness on some of the buttons throughout, like later parts of my gameplay, but when you play it all the way through, it feels tight, it feels precise. But I think I just abused this controller.

[C]

Yeah, there's that. But I also know, you know, during previews, Roger talked about the fact that like the 3D aspect open it up a bit more for him and let making it feel airy where he wasn't sure where he was in placement. And you know, 2D Meat Boy was so quick, so fast. This, that, the other.

[D]

I like the 3d. I. I mean, playing Mario Odyssey last year, I'm always into a fun kind of 3D space and finding those cool platforming levels. Right. That we talk about with Astrobot and others that we kind of grew up with. Banjo Conquer for me and like, I like exploring the space, I like jumping and missing that ledge by just a little bit. They do a good job. They put a red circle where you're going to land so you can really see. Like, hey, I got to move a little bit closer in there. Like Roger said, that's kind of a give and take. You'll learn, you'll get better at where that circle is really going to be. And so, yeah, I love the 3D space of it. I will be interested when I jump into Super Meat Boy 2d if I vibe.

[C]

Are you going to go back?

[D]

Yeah. I bought Steam Next Fest sale. I bought a bunch of games. I bought all the Batman games. I bought Super Meat Boy. I was buying Jedi games, buying them all. You gotta support Steve. You know what I mean?

[C]

You got it, man. Steve's gonna go, I need help.

[B]

Yeah, Mike. For the structure of this game, I. I played Super Meat Boy kind of passively with friends back in the day when it was that first thing on the Xbox Arcade that I remember, type thing.

[C]

Yeah.

[E]

And.

[B]

And this was back in the day after watching on indie game the Movie and like being like, oh, this is a really cool story about these developers, but I don't really remember a whole lot of the game structure. This game has the Overworld, right. And then you do about 10 to 15 missions and then there's a boss battle. I don't remember the old game having boss battles. I don't think there were. I think they were just progressively harder and harder missions. How I remember, I haven't played a whole lot of this game, but I did get to the first boss battle saying it did. It did.

[E]

It did have boss levels.

[B]

Okay.

[E]

The way they're presented in this game makes it feel more like, hey, we're designing this like a. Like a 3D boss battle where I feel like the. That it feels kind of like the spectacle where I. I Think the. The boss battles for Super Meat Boy felt a bit more like, integrated into a lot of just like, the platforming things, so they didn't like, really stand out as much, whereas they. They make them a very big deal, I feel like.

[C]

I'm sorry, Barrett Corney, have you played this game as well?

[E]

Yes, I've played it. I beat it yesterday finally to. Because I haven't had too much time. But, yeah, a plus. Every level have gotten almost every bandage. There's three levels I need to, like, talk to Mike about because, like, I've spent like two hours on just three levels looking for some of the collectibles and I can't for the life of me. It's making me insane. But, yeah, I have.

[D]

I've been it.

[C]

What do you think?

[E]

I think it's great. I think it's a great adaptation of Super Meat Boy making it into the 3D space. It's a fun excuse to get back into this world and into this gameplay. Like Mike was saying, like, I like the controls. It feels. The way that they've Translated it to 3D feels good. Reminds me of playing it back with my friends back in 2010 and just getting really, really angry at it. It's a great feeling, being angry. I would say the transition to 3D, not like the best at all times. Like, we were just talking about with boss fights. I think the boss fights are.

[D]

I don't know.

[C]

They.

[E]

It's one of those. I would have rather them not do boss fights for this one. They kind of feel uninspired and they kind of feel like, quick. And it felt like they just did them just because they felt like the last one did it, so they felt the. The need to do it here. So some. Some stuff like that where I'm like, I'm not really getting anything out of this, and they feel weirdly easy and so stuff like that. And then there's also just like, kind of like distance aware. Like, what's the. The thing that I'm.

[B]

Depth perception.

[E]

Depth perception troubles. I think this game runs into that reminds me of, like, early Crash Bandicoot, which I think could add to the frustration in some really interesting ways. But in other ways, I. I think, like, does in some ways come off a little clunky here and there. But besides that, I. I think it's a great kind of like 3D remake. It. It surprised me, like, how much of this felt like, oh, yeah, this is just super meat boy, but 3D. So, yeah, I would say, overall, I had a great time. I Would give it a solid eight out of ten.

[C]

Okay. Okay. Michael, do you feel.

[D]

I would go with a solid 8. I think this is a great game. Is right. It's a ton of fun. You're definitely gonna get plenty of time worth. Right. As Andy brought up. There is five worlds in this Andy. 15 levels per world with one boss fight per world. So you're going to have five boss fights there. And then when you a every single top side world, you. You unlock the Underworld which is the same as that. So there's five underworld world maps on that with all 15 levels on that.

[B]

All brand new things.

[D]

Yeah, they're very similar to the top side level of it. But I would call them more challenge rooms of like very bite sized smaller deals to this. If that top side mission felt like 40 seconds, the bottom one felt like 22 seconds.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

And so it felt like, hey, we're going to make this more challenging, a little bit smaller, but we're going to have even more to the game that you can go out and play. Which I thought was really cool bandages in every single one of the top side missions. So that will unlock fun cosmetics for you to change up super meat boy. Have him become band aid girl or the guy with the top hat who's the evil genius right there. So that was fun to chase those. There's also even more to it.

[C]

Right.

[D]

There's parts of the level that I've never seen that Barrett saw you kind of just kind of find in the world there's these weird like, I don't know, what would you call those be like secret levels.

[E]

Like at one point I found like I decided I had an inkling to fall into like this weird little tube that like when I say that out loud, it does it, it sounds like it like really stuck. Stood out like a, a sore thumb. But in the, the way it's integrated into the level, it. It's very innocuous I think is the word that I'm. And then the game turned into a top down game where I was driving

[B]

a truck and I hated that.

[E]

Yeah. Oh, you found that as well.

[B]

Yeah, I, I immediately like, I tried about four trials. Like why am I doing this? This sucks. I don't like it.

[E]

So it's very confusing at first. Like so you find like that at like little Easter egg levels. And at first I was like, what the is the point of this level? What am I supposed to do? And then I realized, oh, oh, I'm supposed to run into buildings to clear out a path for this big Truck that's like chasing me almost.

[B]

And then it's like hauling a big missile. Okay. And if it hits buildings, it'll explode. And I was very confused by it too.

[E]

It's very confusing, very weird. But then at the end of it, that unlocks a new character I can play as, which is the truck.

[B]

So I'm like, I can place the truck levels and stuff.

[E]

And that just like, I think they nail like bringing it back to that kind of like 2010 era indie games where they're just doing like weird, funky, cool little things for, for people to find and get obsessed over trying to find every little detail. Right. That, that reminds me of, you know, the, the Super Meat Boy or like bit Runner and stuff like that.

[C]

Sure, sure, sure.

[B]

Oh, I was gonna say because I have to compare everything to Dark Souls. I would be so fascinated to see a mod implemented, a PC mod implemented to this game where you aren't limited to the eight axises of control of like direction, you know, because in this game it's, you're either up, you're upright, you're right, you're down. Right, you're down. You know, it's like, sure there, you don't have the full 360 sort of directionality that you could face. And I, I'm pretty shit at this game. And there's plenty of moments where I'm like, I wasn't holding the con, I wasn't doing diagonal there. I swear I was doing up or, or I wasn' like right there. I was do you know. So there's a lot of moments like that where you feel like you're gonna make that jump and suddenly your character snaps to the other direction. He's like, oh, I didn't really. And a lot of that is like, it's definitely a get good moment. But I would be more fascinating to see if I gel with the game more with a bit more like degrees of movement and, and sort of like

[C]

what, you're gonna come back to it or.

[B]

No. Yeah, because I, I, I, I'm enjoying it so far. I think I got to, I haven't played the second boss yet. I haven't started that yet. But I've, I've done the second world. Mike said you, you said there were like four worlds. Five. Yeah, I mean I'm enjoying it for sure. It does remind me of, you know, the, that just stupid. You know, I have to do this regardless of how I'm feeling right now. It's just, it's for my pride kind of. Yeah, definitely. And Then you beat a mission and you go, oh, but I could do it faster. And it just reminds me of like the Mario Maker sort of vibes that I.

[C]

That was my wonder. I know you. You know, you were so known for Mario Maker. I was wondering if this would become streaming fod you if you think you'll be out there torturing yourself.

[B]

Possibly. I mean, I. I do. After just several hours of playing it, like, I feel, oh, man, my hands are tired right now.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I can't. And there. There will be times where I failed and I'm like, oh, it's because my hands are just tired. It reminds me of the way my hands would get tired in a. In a Silk song boss fight. Or I just go. I feel it right now. And I'm trying to like dodge at the right moments, but my hands aren't responding the way it's, you know, it's all. What happens to all great athletes.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, to. I was going to ask about that because this looks like a game that I will just. I'm not gonna touch this. I.

[C]

Did you play the original at all?

[A]

A bit like back in the day. Everyone. Everyone did whatever. But it's like my repetitive strain injury could never. Are there any accessibility things that they have done for the elder gamer amongst us? I haven't fully looked into it for those who maybe can't use a controller.

[B]

Great question.

[A]

It's just interesting to me now where it's like, I respect this kind of game, where it's like, this is the game that you are throwing yourself against the grain again and again and again. But it's like I just can't do it. Like, even. Even just holding a controller for too long. Like, if I don't, I remap stuff a lot. Like if there's controller remapping. Yeah. Like, just to make it easier.

[B]

I got that dash on the back pedal mic. I'm a bat.

[A]

I'm a back paddle.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yep. They're the best things about the Elite.

[B]

We're back paddlers now. Everybody needs to get on board with the backpack.

[A]

Look. It's the Elite way to.

[B]

It's a new age. It's a new century.

[C]

That is a new century. [e-mail] in one of their previews, Loose, they did call out. If you linger in the main menu a bit longer, you find yourself wandering into a robust settings menu which reveals decently comprehensive accessibility options. So that's all we have. There's something there for everybody.

[B]

I mean, this has nothing to do with the podcast. But there's a merch giveaway happening in the Twitch chat.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

You have to come to the Twitch chat to win. And type in exclamation point enter. I'm gonna. No, Ken Jr. Did shout out to Ken Jr. I'm gonna try to win the merch.

[C]

Speaking of the Twitch chat, it was asked over there how much this costs. It is 25 bucks over on. I imagine it's everywhere that way. But more importantly, it is on game pass at launch. So you could just jump in like I believe the original was. But maybe it predates game pass. But I remember it was such an.

[A]

You would have been paying Microsoft points.

[D]

Ah.

[C]

As we all did. Yeah, that was the currency we traded in back then. Mike. You have no idea.

[A]

800 Microsoft points for a game.

[D]

And it was always the best because like it doesn't equal out to what you want at all.

[A]

You could never.

[D]

It's like Fortnite V Bucks back in the day and you're like, just make it even.

[A]

No, you never buy just 800. You always have to buy a thousand and then stuff would be 1200. So then you'd end up buying like oh, you fucker.

[B]

Yeah, smart thoughts, smart plan.

[C]

They've been on us forever. You know what I mean? And Mike's just always paid for him.

[D]

I'm always on for it. I can't wait to jump in. I'm going to jump into WWE 2K26 and I'm going to buy the battle pass on that. See what I can do.

[B]

Walk around the island. Yeah.

[C]

Then are you going to go like, are you going to do the thing where you have the deluxe edition and you, you pay to unlock all the Superstars as well? Are you going to earn them in the past? That's the big question.

[D]

I don't have time to earn them. So I will.

[C]

You will pay for them.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

Ye Christ.

[E]

Here.

[B]

One thing I would love in Super Meat Boy though is like when we talk about accessibility and you know, if you're having issues with depth perception, I, I would love a like a kind of semi transparent, just like plane of grid beneath right where his feet are.

[C]

Sure.

[B]

So that like cuz there are several times where it's like I don't know how close I am to the ground there and I would love to see like as soon as the, the grid sort of passes through ground you're like, oh, now I'm above it or now I'm below.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

It's kind of hard to explain for, you know, in an audio Medium. But yeah, that. That is one thing I would sort of like to see because there are plenty of moments where I go, okay, I just have to wait longer there. But I can't really tell. I mean, they do a great job of having the circle underneath meat boy. So you know where you are landing, right. At all moments, there's always just like this floating sort of like, you know, sphere underneath him.

[A]

Shadow.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, it's kind of just like a red circle, you know, it looks like the emoji of just like a red ring, you know? Oh, yeah. And. And that's great to know where you are in that space, but when you're talking about like the. The X axis, it's really hard to kind of tell.

[C]

Fair.

[B]

Like, here's where the floor is, you know?

[C]

I wonder how that cloud saves, though.

[B]

Aren't working. What's going on?

[C]

What?

[B]

What's going on?

[D]

I don't know.

[C]

You looks at me like, I want to know. Yeah, that happens sometimes. Are they not supported?

[B]

It's probably just because of the build, maybe. I'm hoping.

[C]

Oh, yeah, Wait, hang on there. I wonder how much that, you know, is also then chalked up to the, you know, level on your X axis as you're talking about of how they want you to play this. Where they do want you to fail. Right. Failing is a big part of seeing your blood trail all over it. If it is that idea of seeing, okay, well, this time, come in. I know not to jump that high there. Come in this, do this, and really feel that accomplishment. Even those micro things, because again, that's how I feel about it. We're just finishing a level gives me such a sense of like, oh, I did it.

[B]

Were there any leaderboards, Mike or Barrett, I would have loved that.

[E]

Yeah, I would have that. That's one that stood out to me with, like, the. How big. The kind of level based speedrunning community has really built up past, like, kind of just its niche in the last few years. It's a weird one where it's like, yeah, this should have. This should have a leaderboard kind of system. It feels very weird that it doesn't.

[B]

Yeah. Thinking about the. The, you know, how much we got addicted to the neon white and me seeing Jeff Grubb go above and then Baird go above and then.

[C]

Right, go above Astrobot when it was Jeff Grubb exchanging scores back and forth,

[B]

that would have been, you know, I feel like that's kind of a big miss and. But legitimately, that feels like something they could go Day one we're adding leaderboards

[A]

or whatever and I unfriended people because of Hitman. At one point I miss a leaderboard.

[B]

Remember, remember when Returnal, when we were all reviewing Returnal and it would notify your friends when someone would die? Oh yeah, Remember this? Yeah. You'd get like a notification so and so died. You're like, oh man, sucks for that. It's really odd.

[E]

Yeah.

[C]

So Mike Super Meat Boy 3D A thumbs up. You're giving that one approval.

[D]

Thumbs up. Yeah, jump on in. Great price tag on that with 25. Great time, a lot of fun. If you're into break your controller, try to beat the best time. Yeah, this is it. Hell yeah, I'm into it.

[C]

Everybody, Lucy's got a game to tell you about as well. But first I'll tell you about the membership. Get the kind offunny membership YouTube.com kindafunnygames patreon.com kindafunny Apple Spotify, of course, you toss us 10 bucks, we toss you everything we do ad free. That's more than 80 episodes a month, a daily dose of me, and a podcast we call Greg Ways. And of course, good karma for supporting an 11 person, 11 year old small business. But right now, you're not using your benefits. So here's a word from our sponsor. You finally sit down to game. Just you, your controller and zero responsibilities. When your brain decides that's the perfect time to say, what if I'm secretly a terrible person and everyone can see it but me? And suddenly relaxing and enjoying yourself is impossible. Instead, your brain grabs onto that thought and will not let it go. Here's the thing. That kind of relentlessly thought spiral isn't just anxiety. It could also be ocd, a condition that's way too misunderstood and way more common than most people realize. But it doesn't have to be that way. OCD needs ERP or exposure and response prevention, which has proven to be the most effective treatment. And that's where NOCD comes in. NOCD is the world's leading provider of OCD treatment and it's covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans. All of their licensed therapists specialize in ERP therapy and will help you learn to take the power away from the intrusive thoughts in live face to face virtual sessions. If unwanted thoughts are taking over, don't wait to get help. Visit nocd.com and book a free call with their team. That's nocd.com

[A]

and score more with the college branded Venmo debit card and earn up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash Got paid back with the Venmo Debit card, you can instantly access your balance and spend on what you want, like game day, snacks, gear, tickets and more. The more you do, the more cash back you can earn. Plus, there's no monthly fee or minimum balance. Sign up [e-mail] collegecard the Venmo Mastercard is issued by the Bancorp Bank NA Select Schools available Venmo Stash terms and exclusions apply at venmo me stashterms max $100 cash back per month Protein is

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now at Starbucks and it's never tasted so good. You can add protein cold foam to your favorite drink or try one of our new protein lattes or Matcha. Try it today at Starbucks.

[A]

This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking, maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home with agents who close twice as many deals. When you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get [e-mail], own the dream.

[E]

This episode is brought to you by White Claw Surge. Nice choice hitting up this podcast. No surprises. You're all about diving into tastes everyone in the room can enjoy.

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[C]

And we're back. Two super chats to get through before then our sleeping giant super chat and said VA Spurs VA Parentheses. Andy knows what's up.

[B]

Passport Ghostburg Playoffs are looking good. Oh my God. OkC Thunder. You better watch out.

[C]

He goes on to say, can't wait for the playoffs. Also, Lucy rules. Thank you so much for all you do in speaking about taking care of your mental health.

[A]

Oh, thank you. I appreciate that.

[C]

And then Tweezy says, I don't know if it's the lighting or what, but the panel is looking well fit today.

[B]

Oh wow.

[C]

Where's on point today is this shirt. Yeah, what is this one so they

[A]

British because they said well fit.

[D]

Well fit.

[C]

Fit, probably.

[B]

I don't know. Well fit, bro.

[A]

Fit.

[C]

Lucy, tell me about the game you've been playing. Raccoon. Raccoon. Like raccoon, Right, but with coin. Yeah. Okay, Okay. A coin pusher. Roguelite.

[A]

A coin. Yes. So you know when you go to an arcade and you have those coin pusher machines that are just, you know, they, they gobble up all your money

[C]

and you never drop a token in. You hope you push a bunch over.

[A]

You never win anything. You don't even drop a token.

[D]

You don't even understand what's happening half the time.

[A]

No, you drop it in actual co. So it's even worse because you can see exactly where my money is going and it's nowhere good.

[B]

And. But it's the type of game, Lucy, that you look at it, you're like, there's no way that my quarter will not affect everything.

[A]

It will immediately push out everything.

[B]

It doesn't do anything.

[A]

I see that little prize hovering on the edge. I just need to put 1 50p in. Away we go. A 50p note. Like a 1p one. Come on.

[B]

1p.

[A]

We're not rich. So this is a game from. The publisher is Play Stack, who did publish Balatro and this game. Yeah, it sure borrows from the Balatro formula a lot. I spent like 2 hours non stop playing it yesterday. I. I love it. It's a roguelite. So basically all you're doing is with the, with the triggers. You are just pressing them and you're putting a coin in. Press, put a coin in.

[D]

Press put a coin in.

[A]

All right. And then you just watch them go in.

[B]

Really just. You're the old lady at Vegas.

[A]

Oh, I am the old lady in Vegas. Pissing myself in the seat. I don't want to get up because I'm on a run.

[C]

This is it. The machine is going to pay off. Let me give you the steam description, please do. A coin pushing dopamine machine.

[A]

That's right.

[C]

Is a roguelike deck builder where you combine special coins with powerful items to trigger wildly satisfying combos. Stack shiny towers, spin the lucky wheel and shake the machine until all the coins drop.

[A]

It is. I mean, yes, the dopamine was hitting. So the thing is, I would say I was playing it on my Rog Ally. My Rog Ally shout out. And I will say, like, there's a lot going on in these menus. A lot that I wasn't necessarily getting. I was not really reading the coin descriptions or anything. I was Expanding my clip and putting basically everything in there. And then it was very early on, I'd have a few favorites.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

I was like, had one where it would cause, like, a little black hole, and every coin caught in the black hole would be. Would be caught up in score. See here you've got, like, poisoned coins and stuff, and then you can also get coins that attack. Then I unlocked another guy, and I was breeding animals with coins and stuff.

[B]

I thought you'd say, like, I unlocked a man who just sat next to me in the machine next to me, told me about his life blowing smoke.

[A]

So. But the thing is, is that I kind of felt like that didn't matter. Obviously it would matter to make, you know, like, if you were making builds and, you know, you have your favorite coins and you have these specific builds you're building to get to the end of levels and get to the end of rounds. But for me, honestly, it was just so meditative to just. Just shoot out a bunch of coins because I think they have a really good amount of time between you putting a coin in and you getting some kind of reward for it. You building that school.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

And then the fact that you've got combos and then you can just throw these coins in to, like, really get the big score. It's. Yeah, it's. It's. It's more hitting that dopamine rush for me than Balatro was. Balatro. I feel like it required more thinking.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And even now, I feel like I'm not exactly familiar with all the poker hands that I should be, despite playing dozens of hours of Balacho. Whereas this. It's like, coin goes in, coin comes out. Sometimes a black hole appears, and sometimes a tower of stuff appears. It's great.

[B]

Are you ever super decisively putting down the coin at the right moment or you're just hitting the buttons regardless.

[A]

So I was getting to the point where, like, I could see even here in this B roll, right? It's like on the left hand side, there'd be a bunch. So I would only be firing the right one to get coins there. And then I would fire both of them at the same time, and then they join in the middle. Then you'd help. And then here you see like that. That thing that. That calls a UFO in later on, there's other things where you can block. You can put stuff down that blocks. You can kind of funnel all the.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[A]

Honestly, this is a really, really great second screen game.

[C]

Ah, yeah.

[A]

And I mean that with the, like, the highest of A ball pit.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, it is a ball pit. It is a. I'm watching my trash. I don't need to pay full attention to that. I don't.

[B]

Well, don't call all KG trash. Come on. They're good.

[C]

I would never.

[A]

I love those boys. I was watching five episodes of Vanderpump Rules.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[C]

That's trash.

[A]

That is trash. However, Scandival is coming up again. I don't know. I don't know what it is. Don't tell me.

[B]

Oh, I don't.

[A]

Like, we are literally.

[C]

We only know it through osmosis of Tim and Joey.

[A]

We're literally going to Tim and G is to watch Scam.

[B]

Oh, wow. Like, he's treating it like an Avengers level.

[C]

You know, it's big if he's got to break out the theater. Ye.

[A]

So, yeah, see here, like a tower is stacking, but. And then there's like a spinny wheel. This is.

[B]

When I look at this, this looks like a game that. That people are playing like in Rick and Morty or something.

[C]

It looks like one you have on, like, the desktop games that play themselves.

[B]

Oh, Loop Hero or something. The auto ones.

[C]

My question, loose as a fellow ROG handheld user. Is it playing well with that? Because I see a lot of mouse movement, so I didn't know if it was. Okay. Plays pretty well or you just using Joystick.

[A]

I was just using the sticks.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

The one thing I would say is that, I mean, this is my broader criticism for games like this is that that kind of pixely font I find very difficult to read. Yeah. I would love an option to just

[B]

have a lot of games do that. Yeah, a lot of games do the. You know, we'll turn off that pixel font, give you classic.

[A]

But I didn't really explore in the. In the menu. So maybe you can do it as an accessibility setting. But I was like, I can't see shit. And that's the thing. That's where I feel like I need to see it played on a bigger screen because I want to get more into the build crafting part of it. But it was a very relaxing game tutorial. Super. You know, just gets you in on the ground. Running the shop. Like re rolls felt fair. You can also exchange. So if you run out of coins in the top corner, you hit Y and you exchange. And you have a limited number of exchanges. So it also just means that, like, you may start around with only 20 coins and you're like, that's not going to be enough. And no, it's not but you can exchange, and you can also use your tickets to get prizes. And the prizes are the. The big items that let you, you know, like, get a lot of points and a lot of coins, and there's a target for each level.

[B]

I'm gonna do something I rarely do on this podcast. Can everybody just stop talking and bear. Can you bring up the volume of the game? Just because I want, like, what's it gonna do sonically, for me? That's the thing. Do we get a lot of, like, nice coin droppages of audio? That's. That's where I'm at with ball pit. I got all the. I'm like, oh, this feels good for my brain, but I want to know what the coins sound like. Barrett.

[D]

Sorry.

[E]

The other one, I think, was, like, a commentary video.

[B]

Okay, thank you. You. You crush it with the speed on.

[C]

That sounds nice.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, it sounds real good.

[D]

I like it.

[C]

That might sell me. I'm getting it.

[B]

Yeah, it's hitting the spot. Now imagine, like, a bunch of them just going, yeah, loose. It looks like there's a kind of a CRT filter. Is that in the game always, or is that, like, one of these accessibility type settings?

[A]

Don't know.

[B]

Or just video settings or whatever?

[A]

I assume I could. No, I. Yeah. Go in and have a look. I didn't even bring my Bronco. Damn it. I could have been playing it on bot on the way down here.

[E]

Oh, see, this one that I pulled up does. Oh, it seems to be less pronounced.

[B]

Yeah.

[E]

There's anything. So it might just be a setting.

[B]

Gotcha.

[A]

Oh, yeah. And there's different people that you. Creatures that you play as. So the first one, you're a raccoon who's a manager, and then the next one, you're a biologist, and that's why I was, like, breeding animals. And.

[B]

Oh,

[A]

there's a lot to. Oh, my God. Chips are stolen. Oh, my God. See what I mean? Dopamine.

[C]

Dopamine.

[A]

Dopamine.

[C]

Michael, you said nothing. Does this do anything for you? Do you think you'll play this one?

[D]

Oh, yeah. Actually, this is the game that I tried to put on the stream this week with me and Roger. Unfortunately, he is busy, so I changed the game. But my concern, Lucy, is I fell in love with Bellacho because of the kind of strategy of it.

[C]

All.

[D]

Right. Really thinking through the poker hands. I'm already sold on this game, and I know I will play it, but I guess I look at this, I go, where is the strategy? Is there even strategy?

[A]

Like, shop.

[D]

You Know, I think Belacho really got me because I was thinking outside the box, this one. I love putting down coins. I like, I love the modifiers. So we'll see if I fall in love with that one and find kind of the challenge in it all.

[A]

Yeah. And that's. That's the point where, like, I. If I had time to really get into it here, I think the Roguelite stuff is certainly. As I was playing and I was getting further and further, I was like, oh, this is where it becomes really, really important. It. I think it does a very good job of ramping up with those early levels where it's literally you just get the dopamine rush of putting coin in, coins come out. Whereas once you hit like six, round six or so onwards, that's when you need to be making sure that what you are getting in the shop works for the build that you are trying to do.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

In particular as well, like making sure that. See on the side, like those like coin clips, making sure that you've. You've invested enough to increase those so you get the special coins that will give you more points. Making sure that you are using prizes because some, like the. The difference in coins you need to get at the very beginning versus coins you need to get later on in rounds is immense. Like, it can go from 50 to thousands. And so that is when you really need to be making sure that you're preparing early on to pay off. And then

[C]

that's when I want to hear the coins right there.

[B]

So good. Now. Now, my one critique of the B roll that we've seen. Stunning. Lack of raccoons.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

What about like, there's. I see the little guy on the bottom, right.

[A]

But coins. One of the prize coins is the raccoon. And. And the first guy you play as is a raccoon. So this is like a later on level. The first. The first guy you play as you know what.

[B]

Oh my God. I had a dream that me, Snowbike Mike and Max Cova were golfing and a raccoon walked up to us and was like, stole somebody's video camera, started recording. We're like, yeah, they do that here. It's a weird thing.

[E]

They do that.

[B]

But anyway. Yeah, stunning. Like a raccoons. I. I want to see more.

[C]

But anyway, he says as he pivots back to this, I want to see

[B]

more Lil paws do stuff out here.

[C]

Yeah, I can go from a pause.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Be great.

[D]

I'm fascinated by the past year to two years that we've had with the Rogue Lights and the Arcade Rog Lights. Whatever you want to classify these as. We've gotten a lot of them lately. This Simulator games, Extraction shooters. They're all the rage.

[A]

Be Sting. But no, I mean, I think Play Stack has a really good eye for. I mean, like, they also publish Golden Idol, which two of my favorite games they've had a great success with. Batro and. Yeah. Good eye.

[D]

Hell yeah.

[C]

Well, thanks, Loose. Yeah, I'm going to get this. I'm excited. I'm interested, but I'm sick. Mike.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Of talking about new games.

[D]

Okay.

[C]

What if we talked about an old game from, say, 2009? Andy, what the hell were you streaming this weekend?

[B]

So Barrett walked up to me and he. In a meeting, though it was an. I was working from home, so he didn't walk up to me, but I'm assuming he walked up and then he said, I'm going to play near Automata this weekend, Barrett, to see if we can maybe push it into the kind of funny top 100 vote, which will

[E]

happen later if it's on my list.

[B]

You said, will it make my top 100? Will it boost this game higher?

[C]

Sure.

[B]

And he said, but in exchange, Andy, I want you to play Batman. Arkham Asylum.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I said, daddy O. You got it, Daddy O. And I downloaded Arkham Asylum and I downloaded. I downloaded some cool mods and. And I played about seven and a half hours yesterday, and I'm close to beating it. I'm right there near the end. The. I mean, the most. Hey, the. The most appealing thing about this whole proposition from Barrett was him going, it'll take you like 8 to 10 hours to beat it. I said, oh, my God, that's a dream come true.

[E]

I knew that's what you needed to

[B]

hear after beating the Witcher. Dream come true after about 110 hours of the Witcher and played about seven and a half hours yesterday.

[C]

And

[B]

is. I mean, it's so masterful and what it does with its, you know, kind of keeping everything so condensed and not making everything feel like a just mission on a checklist. The way that things are just so kind of, you know, the way things are integrated into the game and the way moments and, you know, boss fights or, you know, even NPC encounters happen. Everything feels so organically done. And I think it reminds me so much of my time playing Gears of War 1 and 2 for the first time last year, two years ago, whatever it was, where I could immediately see how this game has inspired so many other games that have followed it. But it still does so many things better.

[C]

Oh, sure.

[B]

Than the ones that have followed it. And I don't know, I just have such an appreciation for the formula of it all. The. The voice acting, the characters, Mark Hamill just killing it. Kevin Conroy being awesome. Yeah. It's just. It's one of these games. I'm like, yeah, okay, I get it. And. And I never fully expected it to hit the way it did because I, you know, the amount of people that have been talking this game up, I just thought, like, okay, but it's still a Batman superhero game. Like, it can't. No, it is. It's awesome. This game rocks. I just love the layout of it all. I think it's so kind of beautifully designed, and everything is so efficiently done. There's no wasted time with anything. Everything's just like, we're gonna get you to the next spot. That's going to be fun. We're gonna hit you with surprises, and nothing is going to feel like, okay, this mission's done. Let me start next mission. Every the way. Everything is just kind of like close. Man, everything flows so perfectly. Yeah, it's like this really was the blueprint for what a lot of games have tried to emulate and in a lot of ways have failed since then. This game, I think, does it kind of perfectly so far. So, yeah, I have, like, a couple of hours left. Maybe two to three hours left. Really, really enjoying my time with it. Yeah, like, you know, it'll. It'll likely be a top 100.

[C]

When this came out and you didn't play it, was it because it was when you're downtime of gaming?

[B]

Yeah. But also, I think we had just been plagued by a lot of bad ports.

[C]

Sure.

[B]

Or bad, you know, installments of life games.

[C]

It just seems funny that, like, you know, IGN would give it like a 9.3. Right. Batman. Arkham Asylum is the greatest comic book video game of all time. This is an adult Dark Knight story that is well told, packs some truly fun gameplay elements, has top notch voice talent. It feels like it's part of the Batman canon. If I have to nitpick. I wish the cutscenes looked better as they can distract from the tale and that the AI was a bit more responsive, but those are tiny flaws that shouldn't distract from the big picture. Rocksteady nailed what Batman is supposed to feel like. Fans rejoice.

[B]

Who wrote that?

[C]

It doesn't matter who wrote that. Beggar. Beggar of a verdict. Yeah, but this is when IGN was respectable, so I Was expecting

[B]

something they

[C]

lost about 11 years ago.

[B]

Timing lines up perfectly. Yeah.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, I would say it was definitely during my downish time of. Of gaming where I had moved to Austin by this point already and just didn't have a lot of money. And when I was. When I did have time, when I wasn't at work full time and school full time, I was. I would red box, whatever thing. But I also just wasn't as into the games industry as I was. Like later on when I, you know, I would say probably three years. I would say around 2011 is when I got really into like, listening to podcasts and.

[C]

Sure.

[B]

You know, reading reviews and things like that and. Yeah. But I think at the time I just thought, oh, another licensed game. There's been a lot of these in the past. A lot of them have been bad. I just never gave it a second thought, you know? And by the time I realized how much people love these games, like, all right, well, you know, I'm playing other new stuff right now. You know what I mean? But it's a perfect time, honestly. Like, this top 100 stuff has been perfect for the backlog of wanting to go back and re. Experience like these legendary video games, you know. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's been a good time.

[A]

What's your favorite Goon Call out. Batman. Goon Call out.

[C]

It's the bat. It's the best.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, that's definitely got to be the one.

[C]

Take us all on at once.

[D]

Yeah, that's.

[B]

That's another good one. I love how every, like, just normal Goon is either it's either Steve Bloom or it's Bender.

[A]

Yeah, John.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And it's.

[B]

It's awesome. I just. I don't know. It just, It. The characterizations of everybody are so awesome. I have been skipping so many Riddler things, so I have this, like, in game lore for myself that the Riddler's just really sad that I'm skipping a lot of his stuff.

[C]

But I did. I worked really hard.

[B]

And there was a moment that later on I found a trophy goes, oh, I thought you were never going to find that one. And I was like, man, he's really feeling it right now. Like, man, this guy's. Hey, Joker. Did he do that? He didn't do that one mission. Damn. Yeah. Fuck. That's unfortunate.

[C]

Took a lot of time.

[B]

Yeah. But it's really cool the way the world has evolved as the game continues and you hit these extra or these newer phases of where we're at in the game and how the world evolves and how the levels change. And it's. I don't know, really, really fascinating and super, super masterfully done.

[E]

Will you follow up?

[C]

Oh.

[E]

With Arkham City?

[A]

The best one.

[B]

The best one.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

See, yeah, the best one.

[E]

It's a debate between City and Asylum.

[B]

Damn.

[E]

Because they're. They're two very different. And I would say Fellowship, like two towers.

[B]

You know, it's like. It's.

[E]

It's like what tickles your fancy more because you're experiencing Arkham Asylum. You definitely see, like, the. The heavy Metroidvania, like, design that it's going for.

[C]

Right.

[E]

And integrating that into Batman's worst night. Whereas Arkham City is a more of a. Not full open world, but it's doing, like, a more of an open world thing where it's putting you more in the shoes of Batman on one of his, like, top performance nights.

[B]

Damn dog. Damn. Yeah. And why I looked at the time to beat it is not.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

The worst either.

[D]

So I don't know.

[B]

Maybe not immediately. Maybe not immediately because we got some big stuff coming up. You know, we got some big games on the horizon, but I'll finish this one by this week.

[C]

And I hear you, but again, top 100. And just going to an unbiased source like IGN Batman, Arkham City isn't perfect, but listing the little things I didn't like gets in the way of the stuff I adored. The voice acting, the challenges, the amazing opening, the unbelievable ending, and the feeling of being in the Dark Knight. These are the things that stand out. Looking back, I beaten this thing twice and still want to call in sick to chase Riddler trophies. Batman, Arkham City isn't just better than Batman. Arkham Asylum. It's better than most video games on the market.

[A]

Well, someone IGN wrote that.

[C]

IGN Another banger. Man, they used to bring heat.

[B]

What was the score? What was the score?

[C]

9.5.

[B]

Wow. Really, really good.

[E]

Here's what I would propose to you, Andy. What's the one that.

[B]

Hold on real quick. What's the one that everybody hates with the Batmobile challenges? Night.

[A]

Yeah, it's fine.

[E]

Night's really good, people.

[C]

It's the usual thing. I mean, you put out two classic games, you come out and you improve on everything and then give one glaring. I think Weak spotmobile was that bad.

[B]

But if it were the first entry in the franchise, people would have been like, you know, also predictable story.

[C]

When they were very much like, it's not gonna be a predictable story.

[E]

Yeah.

[C]

All right, guys, come on now.

[E]

What I would propose, Andy, is

[D]

you

[E]

get to, you get back to Arkham Asylum on your stream. You finish Arkham Asylum, you wipe away the final boss fight of our Arkham Asylum. Just think about the rest of the

[B]

game

[E]

and then start up, just play the first 30 to 45 of Arkham City.

[A]

Yeah.

[E]

See how you feel about it.

[A]

Yeah, you should.

[E]

And then if you need to take a break, take a break. If you want to let it take over, you let it take over.

[B]

Honestly, I, I owe it to you because I was like, what, I mean, what a, what a bad proposition by Bear because he's like, hey, play this 12 hour game. In exchange, I'll play this 50 hours.

[E]

And I also put on top of it. I would say for you, I also played Control and Dark Souls 1 in the last year.

[B]

Oh w. Dark Souls 1, that's a good video game right there.

[C]

You call out though. There are a lot of games happening right now. So of course with top 100 coming, I have to ask, are, have you, when are you going back to Starfield? Are you, are you in it right now? Like me trying to clean everything up getting ready for next week? Of course we are a week and a day away from the Teran Armada and freelance arriving and the PlayStation 5 version, are you just waiting for the PlayStation 5 version?

[B]

I got to assume you're going to call into work that day and like

[C]

I want to tell you, I, if you can figure out how to call in sick to my family. The fact that Ben's spring break has to be like Todd Howard, pick this fucking day. I'm going to be in New York City. Like, yeah, yeah, go play in Central Park.

[B]

Go to camp, go to camp. Go play in the sweet set over there. Greg, tell me all about your experience with Starfield.

[C]

No, I mean I've done that many a times. Don't worry about it. I'm sure there will be more. I, I thanks to everybody who are so nice with the Starfield content. Two weeks ago when they announced all this, both me and Michael Heim having the great conversation and then the stream and then the Greg way. It was nice to see people being like showing up in the stream, be like, or like the comments and be like, you know, I don't even like Starfield, but I like seeing Greg happy. I can't believe I live in this world. More Ghostbusters motion pictures keep getting made. I got three Superman. I got Superman, Supergirl and another Superman movie coming. I got this more Starfield content. I'm stoked for it right Now I am re obsessed where if I'm not working on the redacted review, I'm over there playing this because I walked through the unity again. I left my other world behind. I'm sure I'll do another spoiler cast after this next drop of content. And so now I'm trying. Mainly I'm working through the Watchtower Steam creation from King Grath or I'm sorry, the Watchtower creation from King Gath Creations. You know how mods are in this game.

[B]

Oh, right, right, right.

[C]

People make all these quests and King Gath. I had started the Watchtower mod when it originally launched, but I hadn't finished it. So now I'm going through and finishing it. And it's crazy to see what a talented team of creators can do. Like, they have made a quest that rivals what Bethesda does with their stuff.

[B]

So it's awesome.

[C]

And I got to interview them at. When I was at Bethesda.

[B]

What's the. What's the voicing like?

[C]

You can go in. I mean, they voiced it. It's good.

[B]

Oh, shit.

[C]

Like the King. If you didn't hear me talk about this with Haim a little bit in it. I'll give you the elevator pitch of it, right? Is that. Of course there's this guy, King Gath, who had been making creations, I want to say, since Quake and been enjoying it was just a side project he did or whatever. And then they did one for fallout, for Fallout 4 called SimCity. It was inspired by SimCity. Maybe it was something, whatever. And it was so popular, but it took so long because the community worked on it. When he was done with, he's like, I'm very tired and burnt out and I couldn't work with that many people and I probably won't do it again. And Bethesda came to them and were like, yo, you're so good at this. Do you want to work with us on. You make the Doom creation for Starfield and then you do that. And they got. And now they're a business. They are an 11 person small business that makes creations only for Bethesda games. They do voice acting, they do all this stuff. They announced a bunch of stuff there where they're working with the original voice actors from some of these projects now to come in and make stuff for the game. Like, it's incredible what they're doing over there. And yeah, I, I started Watchtower and I done a Greg way on it back then when I was like, this is what I want out of Bethesda quests where it's what you and me talk about all the time, Andy. What me and Bless talk about all the time of like, I want to be surprised, I want that production value, I want that awesome opening. And like Watchtower gave me all of that back then. But then it was so much of. Of the deal was you had to fly around and fight other ships. But I was at a part in my Starfield journey where I was like, well, I don't have a new quest to chase so I'm not organically flying around.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And now with all the stuff I'm organically flying around. So I'm doing all you got.

[B]

We got new ship parts with this dlc I imagine.

[C]

So. Yeah.

[B]

You're getting a lot because the last one didn't. I don't believe.

[C]

Well, this. Yeah. The House of Ruin stuff. Yeah. For Shadow. Yeah. Shattered Space. Shattered Space, yeah. This one, I mean this is all about free lanes, this is all about travel. So you should be getting that. Yeah, for sure, sure. But we'll see next week. I can't wait. And don't worry, I'll talk about it when I come back because I will be playing in New York.

[B]

I've been playing a lot of Deadlock, man. Oh, just been playing so much Deadlock,

[C]

Lucy, you can't shake it.

[A]

I haven't tried it yet. I feared it.

[B]

It, it's, it's so, it's so good and I needed to hit.

[A]

Yeah.

[E]

Right.

[A]

It's still like Steam. You have to like give it to your mate.

[B]

You still have to like request.

[A]

I'll.

[B]

I'll send you.

[A]

Oh, I've got it. No, I have it.

[B]

Great. Okay. Lovely dipped in. I love, you know to. I love seeing where it's evolved to and how much developed but it's still like I still, I need this documentary. I need behind the scenes.

[C]

You need Jeff Keeley because to me

[B]

it's the most fascinating story in game development right now. Massive, massive company with more money than God just having a team making a game with no real rules, with no pr who gives a about newsletters and update. It's just, we're just making a game and you come play it and it's always like top five or top ten on Steam concurrence. And it's an invite only game.

[C]

Insane.

[B]

And we don't ever need to, you know, we're not pushing out emails saying everybody. It's not even fully announced yet, you know, like it's not been officially anything and it's just, just it's so cool the way that it is being developed. And I cannot go a day without playing two to three matches, which sucks because they're real long. And the other day I had a 57 minute match.

[A]

Oh my God.

[C]

Holy. And.

[B]

And it was awesome. But like it's so good. God, I love Deadlock. I like, I needed to hit 1.0 this year so I can put it in my top 100 and so I could put it number two on my top 10 of the year. It was Mike's number one two years ago.

[D]

Wasn't afraid to put it on the list.

[B]

Yeah, Mike's never been afraid. Never have been afraid.

[D]

Never been to church either.

[B]

Yeah, that's something we learned recently. Yeah.

[D]

Said if you're scared, go to church. I've never been to church.

[B]

Never been to church.

[C]

I don't know what, what I mean. You want to talk about an IRL stream? We take Mike to church. Me and Nick take Mike to Catholic church. Let's go. What are we doing on a Sunday?

[D]

This Thursday? Be ready.

[C]

Yeah, I can't wait for I am Jesus Christ.

[B]

Oh my God.

[C]

We're going to drop some lore on Messiah Catholic stream. You catch that YouTube, Twitch, Etc.

[B]

Yeah. During the Twitch preparation, there was a. The stream preparation loose. There was a conversation of who would be great for this stream.

[A]

Right.

[B]

It's like, well, you know, it could be a kind of funny games cast plays where in gamescast plays. It's more editorial. It's like somebody who's played a lot and has experience and somebody who has it. And Mike goes, I've never been to church. We're like, that's. That might be perfect to learn the lore, you know, Lucy, where do people

[C]

keep up with your lore?

[A]

Blue Sky, BS.

[C]

That's a BS tip.

[A]

Lucy James games everywhere. You find me GameSpot and the friends Per Second podcast.

[C]

Before you get out of here, you have one final super chat. It comes from Organic Mirage. Who says, lucy, tell Mike about Greg's sausage rolls.

[A]

So in the UK there is a bakery chain called Gregg's.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

Two G's.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

And they have a sausage roll that is out of this world.

[D]

Is that a breakfast sausage roll or is that just a.

[A]

That's an.

[D]

Any time, any time. Sausage.

[C]

Sausage roll.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

They also have like a chicken bake and a steak bake. They have a baked bean bake.

[B]

You mean three GS, right?

[A]

Three GS. Yeah. I mean, I mean two at the end. Two at the end.

[B]

Gotcha.

[A]

Greg's is incredible. However, cost of Living crisis. I went back. There it is. Oh, man.

[D]

So they're not holding strong like Costco? No, they're holding strong to the $50 hot dog.

[A]

I went, can't hold it. No, it used to be like a. A 75p, I feel like when I was a kid and then it was a pound for a while and I was like, I ain't deal with a pound pound. And then I went home and the one at Newcastle Central station, it's like £152. What.

[D]

What are the options on the sausage? The different options.

[A]

Sausage roll.

[D]

That's all I have. Different flavors. Definitely seasonal.

[A]

No, the bakes is where you get the seasonal ones. You can get a Christmas bake. Yeah, you can get a vegan one.

[C]

I was gonna say.

[B]

Yeah, I like that.

[D]

But I would eat those.

[A]

You would.

[D]

I was at the Ferry building this weekend. You know, would be great there a Gregg's.

[C]

It would be. That would crush.

[A]

I. You know what? We've got pret Manger on the east coast. Yeah, we've got Pret coming. Can we get Gregg's on the west coast? Can we get a Gregg's?

[D]

That Ferry building is a perfect spot.

[A]

Yeah. So I. Greggs is from Newcastle, where I grew up, and I kid you not, in the. The downtown Newcastle area, there's like a Greggs on every corner. It's pretty great. Miss it?

[D]

They serve coffee with this.

[C]

They do Starbucks.

[D]

Greg's on every corner. The Starbucks is on every corner.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Right. I was gonna say. I would say Greg's.

[B]

I always thought Tim Horns was in every corner.

[D]

In Kimmy Hoes.

[A]

Timmy Hoes.

[B]

Yeah. Timmy Ho.

[D]

Canada.

[A]

That your Tim Bits.

[B]

Little Tim Bits here and there. They play a lot of marathon also.

[C]

All right, everybody, this has been another. What are you. How's is he gonna survive?

[B]

I mean, I don't know, but I'm surprised that I've played it more than arc raiders at this point. I'm shocked by that, you know, because I really enjoyed my time with Outrider. Also been hopping into Crimson Desert with all the patches and, you know, control fixes and stuff. I also downloaded a mod that makes the stamina less of a pain in the ass to deal with.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

It certainly feels better to control now. Still not what I would want. But I'm going to keep pushing through because right now I'm just treating it like a single player survival game. I'm chopping down trees, I'm breaking down things to then make the new thing at the Blacksmith. And I'm treating it kind of like that. That's kind of my. I said, hey, you know, any dialogue, maybe give me a mod that lets me skip through all the bad writing and stuff and I'm just gonna play like a single player survival game.

[D]

Did you watch the no Clip doc with Danny and of course Escape from California or whatever?

[A]

Oh, Jeff Kaplan. I haven't watched it yet.

[D]

Do you think this is a game for you? Andy?

[B]

Yeah, it has to be a game

[A]

for us because it's a Jeff Kaplan.

[B]

But it's also like we love our survival games.

[E]

Lucy.

[B]

We've been looking for the next one. I've been playing a lot of Enshrouded as well. Got back into Enshrouded, built a new house. Beautiful. Enshrouded is like really, really progressed quite a bit. But the Legend of California is the game from Jeff Kaplan who used to run Overwatch over at Blizzard. And when he left several years ago, he decided I'm going to make this survival game that I've always wanted to make. And I loved that NoClip doc.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Watch it on Danny's NoClip 2 channel. And the way that it's not just this survival game, but treating a lot of these enemy encampments like World of Warcraft is so cool and fascinating.

[A]

That's Kaplan.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Was on Warcraft, but he was like a big Evercraft EverQuest guy.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then yeah.

[B]

I just love the idea of like, let's go take on this little, you know, enemy base or whatever and treating it like that. Wow. Experience. But it's a first person shooter and controls the way I would want, you know, a game to control some guns take like eight seconds to reload. Greg.

[C]

Oh no, I don't.

[B]

Yeah, because it's, you know, it's olden times. Yeah.

[D]

Wild, wild West.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Wait, Dino Flask has already done the video.

[B]

Oh, what?

[A]

So Dino Flask was the guy who would like make the, the music cuts of Jeff Kaplan interviews from the Overwatch developer things. And so when Jeff Kaplan did that like five hour long interview, Dino Flask commented with like target detected or something. So while saying that he's already done

[B]

the new one anyway, that the great little, you know, 40 minute doc or something like that. Daniel. I saw him so I saw him live on. He was playing it on Steam.

[A]

I also had that too. I almost messaged him and I was

[D]

like, I messaged him.

[B]

I messaged him and I was like, how is it? And he just responded with a link and said, check out the video. I said, That's a pretty baller move. A little self promo move. Open the video. Watch it. As I was playing in shrouded, I was like I want in now. I want to play this thing now.

[A]

No, I requested, I even emailed them

[B]

and I was like, please, yeah, get me in there. If you can get me in there, I'll get you in a deadlock. She already had it.

[A]

I already have it.

[C]

You guys need a starfield code. Just let me know. Everybody. This has been another episode of Kinda Funny gamescast. Each and every weekday we come to you with the biggest reviews, previews and topics in gaming. If you like that, of course, like subscribe, share, ring the bell. Subscribe on your podcast platform of choice but most importantly, pick up a kinda funny membership YouTube.com kindafunnygames, apple Spotify, patreon.com kinda funny to support this 11 person, 11 year old talk show network. Of course we are not going anywhere. The programming day streams on after this. It is another episode of Kinda Funny game showdown. Then it's a marathon stream. Stream the game marathon. Not a marathon stream.

[B]

Blessing's been into it. We got Blessing in this weekend.

[C]

Damn.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So lots to keep up with. Of course. Keep up with Lucy everywhere. She told you. Lucy James games. And until next time, no, it's been our pleasure to serve you.

[B]

Good job.