After a few episodes of “The Bad Batch,” the new animated Star Wars series on Disney+, it’s pretty obvious that themes of the military are going to be a big part of the show.
But just HOW big, and moreover … are they going to get it right?
We talked about that this week on the WhoDatJedi podcast.
Continue reading WhoDatJedi Podcast: ‘The Bad Batch,’ the military, and what we can learn from bothWith the ongoing release of new episodes of “The Bad Batch,” it seems a good time to go back to the roots of the clones in Star Wars cinema. With that in mind, the WhoDatJedi crew sat down to record a commentary track of “Attack of the Clones,” the much maligned middle chapter of the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
Continue reading WhoDatJedi Podcast: Live movie discussion: ‘Attack of the Clones’May the Fourth came and went and … not much happened.
Is that a problem? We discussed that, “The Battle for Endor,” and more!
Continue reading WhoDatJedi Podcast: A review of ‘The Battle for Endor’ (yes, we did that), critique for a lack of Star Wars marketing, and some ‘Bad Batch’ impressionsTo celebrate 75 episodes — and May the Fourth! — we recorded this episode in-person at Zony Mash, asking Star Wars fans in attendance trivia questions.
A good time was had by all.
Continue reading WhoDatJedi Podcast: Star Wars trivia extravaganza (and some thoughts on Disney theme parks)We all have to be honest with ourselves.
I thought it might be a good idea to slot a Final Fantasy game in this general area (somewhere in my first 15 games listed), because although the first game I dropped in this entire series is a Squaresoft classic and my favorite game of all time, it’s not especially relevant to the medium at large (apart from its impeccable soundtrack, which literally everyone should listen to at some point). Final Fantasy, as a series, is a different animal. It’s perhaps the most recognizable RPG brand on the planet, probably the most successful RPG brand on the planet, and arguably the most important RPG brand on the planet. It’s absolutely massively critical when it comes to understanding video game history, let alone that of the genre of the JRPG.
You can’t tell a complete story of gaming without Final Fantasy.
But…
Which of the Final Fantasy games is most essential?
Ah, that’s the fun part of it. For many gamers of a certain age, this debate typically boils down to two choices: The “taken as far as they could take it” 16-bit excellence of Final Fantasy VI (perhaps the best possible example of why the Super Nintendo continues to be held in high esteem for its RPG library), OR the “let’s get wacky with something slightly different” new direction boldness of Final Fantasy VII (which itself makes the case for the Playstation being the golden era of RPG gaming).
Since I’ve already got Chrono Cross on my list, I should go with Final Fantasy VI here to represent that different era of gaming, right?
Right?
Well, there’s just one small problem with that:
I like Final Fantasy VII a little bit more.
Continue reading Final Fantasy VII — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 12)Final Fantasy VII at a glance:
Genre: RPG
Released: 1997
Platform: Playstation
GameSpot’s 2nd Most Influential Game Ever Made
Wookiee stabbings. Only in New Orleans.
Continue reading WhoDatJedi Podcast: Just can’t get New Orleans (or Falcon and Winter Soldier) off our mindsLet’s talk about everybody’s favorite bounty hunter!
Continue reading WhoDatJedi Podcast: Everything you ever (and never) wanted to learn about Boba FettDid you know there are actually two “Clone Wars” animated series? There’s that other one that we’ve covered in this space before (here’s a handy viewing guide!). But there’s also a really good (and much shorter) series that has been harder for fans to access … until recently.
Continue reading WhoDatJedi Podcast: Why is the ‘Clone Wars’ micro-series worth watching?This is a fun one … we’re going all-in on “Justice League.”
Continue reading WhoDatJedi Podcast: Was the ‘Justice League’ 4-hour Snyder cut worth all the trouble?For those following along, this will be the fourth NES game I’ve profiled. Those games are, in order:
Tecmo Super Bowl
Mega Man 2
Super Mario Bros. 2
Punch-Out!!
That feels about right, to be honest. While Punch-Out!! might in some ways be the most impressive of that group when it comes to its intuitive, responsive play control or its huge, bright graphics, it’s also in many ways the simplest of the bunch.
Memorize a pattern, be quick with your inputs, wash, rinse, repeat.
That lack of variety works for and against the game. You could call it the purest of the four, but you could also call it the least interesting of the four.
For the purposes of this exercise, let’s lean into pure, shall we?
Continue reading Punch-Out!! — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 11)Punch-Out!!
Genre: Sports
Released: 1987
Platform: NES
No. 17 on Nintendo Power’s Top 200
