TBC 039: Super Mario 64

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Super Mario 64 is a landmark title in video games. It helped usher in the 3D era of gaming, created the template for collectathon platformers, redefined what it meant to be a Mario game, and enchanted generations of Nintendo fans. Join Nathan and Glen as they talk about one of the most influential and beloved video games of all time!

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“Two Button Crew Theme” by Katie Straughn

TBC 038: Kirby’s Adventure

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Kirby’s second outing was a landmark title for the series.  Not only was it our favorite pink marshmallow’s first game on a home console, it also marks the debut of his signature copy abilities.  Join Glen and Scott as they discuss the finer points of Kirby’s Adventure (and nearly every other game in the series) in this episode of the Two Button Crew Podcast!


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Sound Effects from Pixabay

TBC 037: The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Thumnail for episode 37 of the Two Buton Crew Podcast.
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Mario hasn’t had the best luck with cinematic adaptations, that is until now. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is out and nabbing box office high scores.  Is it worth the hype?  Glen, Nathan, and Scott are here to share their thoughts on Mario’s big return to the big screen.


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TBC 036: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

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Two hours, two persons, two buttons.  Glen and Nathan once again wander off the beaten path to bring you this in-depth discussion of the 2009 Nintendo DS cult-classic, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.


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TBC 035: Splatoon 3

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The latest installment of Splatoon has been out for a few months now and is making waves among fans.  In that time, Glen and Nathanael have delved the depths of Alterna, waged Turf Wars, and endured countless shifts at Grizzco to bring you this extended deep dive into Splatoon 3!


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“Two Button Crew Theme” by Katie Straughn

River City Girls 2 Review

Introduction

Product provided for review. Thanks, WayForward!

The River City Girls are back! Hot on the heels of the success of their first starring role, WayForward and Arc Systems Works have brought the Gals back for round two. In case you haven’t been following this game’s development, WayForward was hyping this game up for a whole year leading up to its release, with multiple trailers that gradually revealed more and more of the game’s characters and features. And with each new trailer, I felt just a little bit more…apprehensive. While I enjoyed the first game, I didn’t like it enough to want more of it. Moreover, I knew Two Button Crew was going to get a review code for this game, and—having reviewed the first title—I’d would be reviewing this one. But, I have a job to do, so let’s get this over with. Read more River City Girls 2 Review

RWBY: Arrowfell Review

Product provided for review. Thanks, WayForward!

RWBY: Arrowfell is an action-adventure platformer developed by WayForward and published by Arc System Works. Based on Rooster Teeth’s animated web series, RWBY, the game is set during the show’s seventh volume. The game follows the eponymous Team RWBY on their first big mission as licensed huntresses. Read more RWBY: Arrowfell Review

TBC 034: Klonoa: Door to Phantomile

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Klonoa returns once more thanks to the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series collection for Nintendo Switch. Despite its acclaim, the game has remained relatively obscure. Join Glen and Nathan as they discuss examine the gameplay, design, and story of Namco’s beloved cult classic.

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TBC 033: Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2

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Neither video game movies nor Sonic have the best track record, but despite the odds, Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog and its sequel were runaway successes. Join Glen and Nathan as they analyze and review both movies.

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TBC 032: Pokémon Legends: Arceus

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Pokémon Legends: Arceus breaks new ground for the historic gaming franchise, enabling an unprecedented sense of freedom in the world of pocket monsters. Join Glen and Nathan of Nathan Blake Games as they discuss the latest entry, what worked and what didn’t, and what this means for the future of the Pokémon series.

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Expedition Into the Halno Woods

Introducing Expedition Into the Halno Woods, an entry-level adventure module for 1d4chan’s The Legend of Zelda role-playing game. Now you too can embark on the adventure first featured in our TBC Table-Top podcast. How will your own party of heroes fair on their quest to save the river? Will you triumph, or find yourselves up the creek without a paddle?

Download the PDF here!

In addition to the adventure itself, you can click here to download a supplement pack containing high-resolution maps, battle maps, and useful cheat sheets.

This module is compatible with the 1d4chan The Legend of Zelda R.P.G., the rules for which can be found here.

About This Module

This module aims to introduce players and Sages (i.e. game masters) to The Legend of Zelda R.P.G. It features a small, sandbox-styled adventure in which players can explore, fight monsters, and solve puzzles. It provides many scenarios to help sages learn and demonstrate many of the game’s rules and even includes examples of some of the game’s more abstract concepts, such as minigames. Moreover, the adventure is written to capture the feeling of playing a chapter of a Zelda game, following the recognizable formula of a town that’s in trouble, a task to reach the source of the problem, and finally a dungeon to test the players’ mettle. As such, this module focuses more on gameplay, allowing for sages to fill in the details of the story as they see fit.

The Story

The humble logging town of Addalet is in trouble. The river on which the village’s livelihood depends is drying up. Now the players must travel through the mysterious Halno Woods to the river’s source to uncover the cause of the town’s troubles.

Features

  • Two dungeons
  • A town full of lively characters
  • Ten side quests
  • A sprawling countryside with 17 unique locations
  • Stats for 18 different types of enemies
  • New survival rules for roughing it in the wild
  • New alternate navigation rules
  • Alternate potion brewing rules
  • Five pre-made characters

Advice for Running This Campaign

As a bonus, here are some tips for running this campaign and The Legend of Zelda R.P.G. in general:

  • This is a Zelda game: If you’ve played pen-and-paper R.P.G.s before, you probably know The Legend of Zelda has a very different tone and internal logic from games like Dungeons & Dragons. For instance, enemies drop items when defeated, and players can find money by cutting grass. While I encourage players and sages to take advantage of the additional freedom afforded by pen-and-paper R.P.G.s, players and sages should remember that this module was written using “Zelda logic” and that keeping that in mind will enhance your group’s enjoyment of the campaign.
  • Keep the monster stats on standby: For the sake of brevity, I put many of the monster stats in the appendices in the back of the module. I recommend printing these out and keeping them off to the side while running the game so you can quickly reference them.
  • Use battle maps and miniatures for combat: Combat in The Legend of Zelda R.P.G. is very heavily based on positioning and movement. As such, it’s critical that everyone can easily track what’s going on. I’ve tried running this game’s combat using “theater of the mind” and seen others attempt it, and it simply does not work.
  • Be open minded: Part of the fun of running an R.P.G. is seeing what wild and creative solutions the players come up with. If the players come up with an inventive solution to a puzzle that logically should work but isn’t mentioned in the module, then go ahead and let the party do it.

If you have any questions, comments, or corrections (rules, spelling, grammar, etc.) contact me at glen@twobuttoncrew.com.

TBC 031: Metroid: Dread

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Metroid: Dread: long-rumored, long-awaited, and highly anticipated. Now it’s here for us to enjoy – the finale in a famed 35-year franchise. Scott & Glen have dug into the game and explored its secrets, as well as researched the development history of the mysterious title. This is about as deep of a dive into Metroid Dread as you could hope for, so fasten your earbuds and come along for the show!

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“Two Button Crew Theme” by Katie Straughn

TBC 030: Metroid: Zero Mission

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Metroid: Dread is almost upon us, and that sentence alone still sounds like a miracle to Metroid fans who have been waiting for a new 2D entry in the series for nearly two decades. Scott & Glen are swept up in the excitement, and are here to revisit Samus’ origins in Metroid: Zero Mission, a GBA remake of her original NES outing. After both hosts replayed the game on Wii U Virtual Console, they sit down to discuss its merits as a Metroid game, and debate a bit about that adding ending sequence. Come along for the ride!

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“Two Button Crew Theme” by Katie Straughn

Shantae Review

Product provided for review. Thanks, WayForward!

The end of a system’s lifespan is often an interesting time. By then, developers are intimately familiar with the platform’s capabilities and know exactly what it takes to push it to its limits. Unfortunately, these efforts are often overlooked by the general public, who are too anxious to get their hands on the next generation of hardware and games. As a result, the twilight years of a game system are a perfect breeding ground for cult classics. Such is the story of WayForward’s Shantae for the GameBoy Color. Shantae was originally released for the GameBoy Color on June 2, 2002, almost an entire year after the GameBoy Advance’s North American debut. Now the half-genie’s original outing makes its way to Nintendo Switch, thanks to Limited Run Games. Read more Shantae Review

TBC 029: Dos and Don’ts of Console Design

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Happy four-year Switchaversary! We can’t believe Nintendo’s little hybrid/home console has gotten this old. When the Wii U turned four, it was just about lights out for that console. With this many years of Switch under our belts, we wanted to discuss the Dos and Don’ts of Console Design. Creating a console is a juggling act for Nintendo… power, but not too much. Cheap materials, but not so cheap that durability is sacrificed. Many other factors go into the Research and Development that results in the Nintendo systems we know and love. Where has Nintendo nailed it in the past, and where have they missed the mark? From our perspective, what needs to be changed and done differently on the rumored “Switch Pro”? Listen in for Scott’s and Glen’s thoughts.

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“Two Button Crew Theme” by Katie Straughn

TBC 028: A Talk with the Tarantos

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Matthew Taranto is a prevalent figure in the Nintendo fandom, having created the longrunning comic series called Brawl in the Family. Joining forces with his brother Michael, they went on to become game developers and produced Tadpole Treble, which is now available (with new content) on Nintendo Switch. Most recently, Matthew has teamed up with the legendary “Gamemaster” of Nintendo, Howard Phillips to produce an illustrated tell-all book about Nintendo called Gamemaster Classified. With so many amazing projects under their belt, it was an honor to sit down with the Taranto brothers and spend an hour discussing their exciting and successful careers as, essentially, professional Nintendo fans.

00:00 – Introduction
00:52 – Brawl in the Family
19:35 – Tadpole Treble Encore
38:42 – Gamemaster Classified
47:21 – Smash Ultimate Character Picks
51:18 – What’s Next?

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“Two Button Crew Theme” by Katie Straughn

Tadpole Treble Encore Review

Product provided for review. Thanks, Bitfinity!

Developed and published by Bitfinity, Tadpole Treble was originally released in 2016 for Steam and Wii U. The title is notable for being designed by Matthew Taranto ofBrawl in the Family fame, who also composed the soundtrack and drew much of the game’s art. The game now comes to Nintendo Switch as Tadpole Treble Encore, featuring new bonus content and even an entire new stage!

Oh, and as a matter of transparency, I do feel it necessary to mention that I did throw money at the game’s initial Kickstarter campaign. Not only did I get this cute little plush of the protagonist, my name’s in the credits! Yeah, I can’t promise this review will be 100% unbiased.

The game stars Baton, a recently hatched tadpole who is carried away from her home by a hungry pelican. She just barely manages to escape and lands upstream, far from home. And so begins Baton’s perilous journey to reunite with her family. Read more Tadpole Treble Encore Review

TBC 027: Ring Fit Adventure

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Scott and Glen have been playing Ring Fit Adventure for over a year, so it’s time to check in and see how the routine is going. How does the game hold up in the long term? Is it a fun RPG, or just a lame excuse to squeeze a ring a few times? Listen in!

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“Two Button Crew Theme” by Katie Straughn

TBC 026: Spin-Offs!

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Nintendo did it again. They spun-off the Legend of Zelda into Hyrule Warriors, and now Hyrule Warriors is spinning back into Breath of the Wild with the latest entry—Age of Calamity! But what exactly defines a spin-off, and what are some of Nintendo’s best and worst attempts? The TBC band is back together to discuss those very questions. Get listening!

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“Two Button Crew Theme” by Katie Straughn

Shantae: Risky’s Revenge Review

While it may be hard to believe now, there was a time when Shantae was relatively obscure. Released in the Gameboy Color’s twilight years, Shantae’s first game failed to get a foothold in a market that had already advanced on to Nintendo’s next iteration of the Gameboy line. That said, WayForward was confident in the I.P.—partly thanks to the cult following that had formed around the half-genie’s debut title—and were eager to develop a sequel. Eight arduous years and a few false starts later, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge was released as a download title for the Nintendo DSi. In the years that followed, the game would see updated ports on several systems, including: iOS, Steam, Wii U, and now—of course—the Nintendo Switch. Read more Shantae: Risky’s Revenge Review