Episode 053 – Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988)
Episode 053 – Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988)
This week in Your Parents Basement, we are celebrating our anniversary! It’s time to go back to the Mario series, as we’re playing Super Mario Bros. 2 by Nintendo for the NES.
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TIMESTAMPS
- 0:00 – Intro, which has the awesome title theme from the game.
- 38:00 – Steve may or may not have remembered to put in some tunes from the Minibosses.
- 46:15 – Emails! We hear from some of our favorite writers of the past year.
- 1:01:30 – Snifferoo. Todd Brisket has nominated a game that focuses on story, space-shooting and other fun stuff!
SHOW NOTES
– According to Price Charting, Super Mario Bros. 2 retains its value fairly well! The loose cart price is $20, and the box and manual bumps the price up to $37. New-condition copies go for $293. Super Mario Advance ranges from $9.50 to $41.50, since it’s much newer.
– The full Minibosses Super Mario Bros. 2 medley can be found here on YouTube.
– Chris Kohler of Wired has a good long read from 2011 on the secret history of the game.
Episode 026 – Castlevania (1987)
Episode 026 – Castlevania (1987)
It’s the spoooookiest episode yet for our sweet baby boys, as this week in Your Parents Basement, the game is Castlevania from 1987! Not surprisingly, it’s very tough, but very fun.
You can manually download this week’s podcast here – whip it good – or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.
As always, if you like the show, support us by buying from Amazon! You can use this link to go to Amazon, and any purchase you make will kick a couple bucks to the show, with no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win! Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.
TIMESTAMPS
- 0:00 – Intro, which is The Miinibosses covering the main theme from ‘Vania. Their website is here, and they do a bunch of covers of old vidya game music.
- 43:15 – Emails. The boys talk about good games for kids, and more inappropriate things.
- 56:30 – Snifferoo. We are playing the absolute best licensed game of all-time, possibly, next week.
SHOW NOTES
– According to Price Charting, the original Castlevania has held its value very well. The loose cart goes for $21, which is high for a NES game. “Complete” sales (box and manual) average $76, and sealed new boxes range from $250 to $2,000, depending on when they go on sale. It is available on the Wii’s eShop. Symphony of the Night is on Sony’s online store. The other games in the range between $8 and $50 for the cart, up to several hundred for new copies.
– Various games of the Castlevania series have been fodder for the Angry Video Game Nerd, most famously, the second game. (Note: Very NSFW language.) He and his buddy Mike also played the Sega Genesis remake of the first game, Bloodlines. Also, past show subject Arino of Game Center CX played Castlevania 3.
– There are several Castlevania speedruns, but this one beats it in a little over 11 minutes.
– When it comes to the history of development in the Castlevania series, IGN has a good retrospective from February 2014 here. When it comes to the in-game canon history, the Castlevania Wiki is your best bet. Warning: It’s very tangled, as we mention on the show.
Episode 014 – Contra (1988)
Episode 014 – Contra (1988)
This week in Your Parents Basement, we are fighting our way through jungles, the tundra and H.R. Giger styled bases to strike at the heart of the alien invasion! That’s right, we’re playing that classic run-and-gun shooter from 1988, Contra! With special guest and Contra virtuoso Backsack! (He got to the ice stage without losing a life!)
You can manually download this week’s wonderful podcast here, or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.
As always, if you like the show, support us by buying from Amazon! You can use this link to go to Amazon, and any purchase you make will kick a couple bucks to the show, as no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win!
Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.
TIMESTAMPS
- 0:00 – The intro, which features music from video game music cover band The Minibosses.
- 44:15 – Emails. The gang talks guilty playshures games.
- 1:02:00 – Snifferoo.
SHOW NOTES
– As mentioned in the timestamps, the main theme this week is by video game music cover band The Minibosses. Besides Contra, they do a lot of other cool tunes that you should check out. The sound effects from Contra were gotten from this nifty site.
– Amazingly, some people can play Contra even better than Backsack! There are various speedruns on YouTube, such as this one in 10:11, which seems to be the world record as of 2012. It tends to be a popular pick for charity gaming sessions and what not.
– The resemblance between the heroes of Contra and 1980s action movie heroes has not gone unnoticed over the years.
– While we spoke briefly about all of the weird post-Contra Contra games out there, we didn’t talk about the cost of the game. It’s actually somewhat pricey on eBay, with the cost ranging from $25 to $40 for just the game itself. The box and the manual ups it to $70. There is a similar price range for the NES sequel Super C. It oddly has not had a re-release on the Xbox or Playstation stores, but it is included on various Konami classic releases for the Nintendo DS and PC.
– Clu Clu Land was mentioned several times by Backsack. You can read more about the game on its Wikipedia page. Or, see it in action on YouTube!
– The weird video game simulation series Steve was talking about, GameBiz, can be downloaded here. There are three installments out, but oddly, they each add and subtract good things. The first is the best at single game development. The second adds the ability to train staff (which is very annoying to do) and multiple game development. The third lets you also develop hardware (which takes forever).
Your Parents Basement 