PPR Presents Limelight: Knuckles' Chaotix-26th Anniversary

wenty-six years ago this week in Japan, the Edgy Echidna in red who won the hearts of SEGA fans across the world decided to push his luck with the crowd even further with a brand new solo outing, Knuckles’ Chaotix, the flagship title for the new SEGA Genesis add-on console, the SEGA 32X.

As ambitious as it was, the 32-bit spinoff was a commercial flop, a flop that hasn’t seen a re-release since the ill-fated GameTap subscription service. Anyone who’s listened to the show the last twelve years knows just how much I love this damn game. For as obscure as it is, it’s legacy has carried on through the years with its colorful cast, and influences across a number of games, including the recent masterpiece that is Sonic Mania Plus. While the odds of getting an HD Re-release are as likely as SEGA announcing the Dreamcast 2,  I thought it would be nice to show this quirky little game some High-Definition love with an impromptu stream later tonight! Join me Saturday night, 04/24/2021, 5:45 PM Pacific Standard Time on our Twitch as I try to play through ith the best ending, and open that faithful door into Summer.

PPR 131

ell this is embarrassing, but honestly, we couldn’t be happier about the news. This episode of PPR is focused on what ending PSN support for legacy PlayStation hardware would mean for owners who still have their old Sony machines on deck. We shared our thoughts on the event, and what selection of games we recommended for download before the plug would be pulled, but then something happened only a day after recording…

Maybe there was enough serendipity from developers and players alike to reach Sony’s senses because it would seem that cooler heads have prevailed and the slated PSN Sunset for the PS3, PSP, and PS Vita has been shifted squarely on to the PSP for now.

Even if the concern is currently moot, we felt there were a lot of good points raised on the show like what the limited life of the CMOS Battery for the PS3 and PS4 means, along with some resources and tactics that can be used to get the most of these old PSN access points before they’re eventually closed down. Even then, the gang also took the time to talk about all the games they had been playing like Metal Slug XX, Hades, Final Fantasy X/X-2, the Atari VCS, Oddworld: SoulStorm, the Amiga CD32, Outriders, Fantasian, Blaster Master Zero Collection, and so much more.

Kick up a seat and boot up PSN on your screens as we present you episode 131 of Press Pause Radio!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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House Show: Spring Cleaning / First Blood

e are right back at it with another episode of House Show, this time around Toast and George discuss the aftermath of Wrestlemania week and the talent that was released by the WWE. We also go into some of the highlights of NXT and The Collective, as well as why we are AEW marks. Hope you all enjoyed the last few weeks of wrestling, and we especially hope the talent that was let go bounce back and find better opportunities. Thanks for listening and let us know if there are any topics you would like for us to discuss!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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QCF: Balan WonderWorld

here are developers out there who hold some of the highest prestige in the industry from their work on a few, or even just iconic game—some of these developers have gone on to do great things in the current day scene, and then there are some who are just stuck in the past.

Yuji Naka’s Balan WonderWorld is an indictment of the latter because the new release from Arzest and the Balan Company is seemingly engineered to compete with platformer games released back in 2003 more than anything else. At its core, Balan Wonderworld plays like a pale imitation of the Super Mario Odyssey formula dressed up in a bad NiGHTs into Dreams aesthetic…

I know I started marching my steps strong and heavy with the Poo Poo Parade real early into this review but I honestly can’t help it; for every neat idea the game seems to have, it comes back with three more flaws or design choices that put a big sour on any fun to be found.

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QCF: Turrican Flashback

he Western and Eastern history video games have always had their place in the main zeitgeist of video game culture, but what about the other, other West? The one that ran their television displays at 50HZ PAL output had a crap-load of gradient color schemes, and an obsession with hurting players with falling water drops—yeah, I’m talking about the European slice of gaming.

While the folks “across the pond” were able to get their own localizations of household brands like Nintendo and SEGA, there was one other name synonymous with the European gaming scene & that was Commodore Amiga.

Even though there isn’t a lot of love for the Amiga legacy outside of those who group on it, there’s been one common denominator that has seamlessly harmonized across all three regions—Turrican.

Factor 5’s Sci-Fi Run ‘n Gun has been hosted across numerous platforms, but none more celebrated than the titles that have graced the Amiga 1200, Super NES, and even the Sega Genesis, and now with the help of Ratalaika Games, Factor 5 has released an upgraded collection of the four best titles in the franchise with Turrican Flashback. Looking beyond the appeal of collecting these overlooked classics into one convenient collection, the labor of love that went into optimizing these games, and fleshing out every little quality of life enhancement and nuance imaginable is what really sets this title apart from nostalgia packages. Turrican Flashback may be one of the finest curations of a retro game set ever to be programmed.

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QCF: Say No! More

t first glance of Say No! More, I immediately had memories of an arcade game I used to play at anime conventions called Cho Chabudai Gaeshi. It was a table-flipping game where you would pound on the table to charge up the attack in various settings such as a wedding and an office, before unleashing your attack and flipping the table for maximum destruction. I was happy to find out that Say No! More may be close to that goofy experience that I enjoyed years ago, with plenty of humor and no-stress gameplay. The game does not deliver on challenge or depth but presents an important message in what is described as a linguistic arcade comedy.

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House Show: Too Much Wrestling Weekend

n this episode of House Show, friend of the site BoogNites checks in as we discuss all the wrestling happening during Wrestlemania week. Highlights of NXT and The Collective as well as predictions of the two-night Wrestlemania weekend are all on topic for this show. It's seriously too much wrestling but we hope to check out as much as we can, and hope that everyone enjoys their particular brand or style of professional wrestling. Thanks for checking us out and stay tuned for more coverage and discussion in the future.

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QCF: Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection

sn’t it mind-blowing how big and expansive games can be today? Just think about all the releases that have hit the market in the last ten five years that expand beyond 40 gameplay hours or more on average for completion. The real test of modern gaming has now drifted more into finding the time to play the title than the inherent challenge of the game itself—but that wasn’t the case thirty years ago.

In order to stand tall against the even most grizzled players, Video Games extended their mileage on the market by commanding difficulty curves that could immobilize even the most dedicated weekend rental. One series, in particular, made a name for itself when it came to hard-as-nails action, the masochistically macabre hop ‘n bop that is Capcom’s Ghosts ‘n Goblins franchise.

With some niche efforts by teams like From Software and other indie game studios to keep that old-school adrenaline of difficult gameplay alive notwithstanding, it’s a little bizarre to see a new mainline entry to the Ghosts ‘n Goblins in the year 2021. Thankfully, Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection is a fleshed-out package that strives for a balance that’s accessible enough for anyone looking to celebrate its legacy, yet just as desirable in getting the most out of the crushing experience it has to offer.

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