PixlBit

Link to the guide, in the podcast from Deer Hunter on p. 8 to Lowrider on p. 20: https://www.listchallenges.com/all-north-american-release-playstation-2-games

True story, I finished this episode about a week after it came out, plotted out a reply, and then was hit with the worst stomach flu I've ever had as an adult, forgetting everything.  Better late than never though!

Deus Ex: The Conspiracy (surprise surprise) has been on my backlog for years.  It's a scaled down version of it but I heard some of the level design isn't half bad (some of it is trash though).  It's too bad it doesn't have mods like the PC version though, I don't usually recommend the first DX without GMDXv10 (significant changes) or at least BioMod/Shifter.

Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure uses the same engine as THPS4.  Always meant to give it a try.  I remembered it was in a past SDGQ (2015) but apparently it was at last year's too!

Never played them but I love the idea of those 00s EXTREME Donald the Duck games, great stuff and that boxart, wow!  Looney Toons have a couple here this time as well!

Speaking of GDQ, Dog's Life is a classic awful game run.

FromSoftware games: Echo Night: Beyond got fan-translated I want to say a year or two back.  It's not as a whole as good as the first one, but it does have some of the peak FromSoftware weirdness to it.  Eternal Ring on there, another FromSoftware game, is basically a tech demo for King's Field IV (a lot of empty dungeons with nothing in them), but it has some top-tier weapon/magic effects and what is probably the most bizarre ending out of a FromSoftware game.  Speaking of, King's Field IV is actually good (I've been wanting to replay it for years) but it is a bit slower than the other games in the series and, spoilers, doesn't tie much into them (it's likely a prequel.  King's Field I-III are very self-contained though so I can understand it not tying in).  Evergrace is interesting but, maybe just the localization, is incomprehensible (the bonus dungeon part is awesome and ties into their Shadow Tower series though).  The pseudo-sequel, Eternal Kingdom, is a pretty damn competant kinda character action game although it's a totally different style than its prequel.  Kuon is very Silent Hill/Resident Evil influenced and while it fails in many ways (jump scares that get old and predictable quick, hitboxes that quickly become too combersome especially with the character you play as the longest) it has an okay plot although I have mixed feelings on the ending (it's kinda cool but the secret character, a gender-swapped mythology character, just comes out of nowhere and is integral to the last act).

Final Fight: Streetwise.  What's your highest score in the cockroach stomping game?  Ugh.

I remember some of the Frogger GBA games being pretty decent?  Not all of them were ports it looks like.

Anyone interested in Futurama you should look into the game, it was a very meta game produced shortly before the first cancellation and the cutscenes were even included on one of the DVDs as a "lost episode".

I forgot which PSX Harvest Moon game was the okay one but I was more of a Harvest Moon 64 person (and later the GBA one, both great games with crazy breakable depth if you want to grind the rest of your life).  Further on the list, Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon is well-considered definately NOT one of the good ones, but it does break the traditional Harvest Moon rigamarole and the Wiki mentions it's more like Rune Factory in its RPG quest structure.  It also has an interesting narrative where you are an android working on an uninhabitable world which you travel through on a futuristic buggy.  No marriage for androids!

Klonoa games are great but I've never actually played that one.  The original and GBA ones are top-tier, though, definately a lost classic series.

Hmm, I remember the Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events GBA game actually being very ambitious.  Just one of those weird tie-in games that somebody must've put some real effort into creating.

Okay, I think that's more than enough!  Thanks again!

Interesting, I will have to check out the FFVI season sometime.  Any plans to do FFV?

Oh good, I get to submit 2 extra music tracks!  Just kidding, here's a link to my picks which I put in the last episode's comment section: http://www.pixlbit.com/feature/5157/episode_203_impossible_segway#comment-119288501

I had a bit to say but unfortunately I had to put it off too long due to internet issues for like the last 2 weeks so I have to make this quick, sorry guys!  I should've looked at remixes but no time!

Stage Select: I'm a bit thrilled with this topic because I always wanted a "bizarre song" Stage Select!  In fact, I might've even submitted this one maybe before because it's my go to wacky song (there's definitely other ones from this soundtrack but this one is my personal favorite, Doll Graveyard from Forever Kingdom):

And then let's cool down with some Mario Paint with the song "Mysterious":

VIDEO GAME CAGE MATCH: I'm taking to heart that the best game doesn't always win the cage match.  And, in fact, I'm not sure which is the worst game.  But, it's a known fact that Chrono Cross has like 800 characters or something.  Nobody can even count them, it's like from that World War Z movie: You might take down one or two but they just surge in like floodwater breaking a dam.  One's a cactus, there's a pirate.  A scarecrow?  Why not.  One looks like Yoda or something who cares, there's 794 left.

Dreamweb, good answer, good answer!

Read first: I've been doing the Final Fantasy V Four Job Fiesta again this year, if anyone is interested and beats it successfully sends me a DM with your proof I'll donate a couple bucks why not.  Besides the main website I recommend the Enkibot-Prime tool because it's hard to miss anything important in the game while using it.

Oh, this episode... was a lot (Infogrames, whose could-have-been original name, Dick System, would've been more appropriate, and absolute taint Doug Tennapel--what a combo.  I also think controllers should react to more than just the thumbs, sorry Julian, and maybe related I think Nioh is great even if I'm sorta trash at it) but if you didn't love Mike breaking down during the Owen Wilson impression you must have no joy in your life.

I figure somebody will mention Ness's Father (who is somewhat based on Itoi's own estrangement in real life from his daughter, which I think makes it hit harder) so I wanted to bring up a mostly unknown example, the Worzen family from the old MSX/NES Metroidvania-like game Legacy of the Wizard.  Similar to my answer of "best dog" question awhile back, part of what is cool about this family is that they all have different controls and abilities.  There's the powerhouse father Xemn whose main section of the map deals with moving around blocks, which gives that section a more action/puzzley feel.  The mother Maia has floating and magical powers which gives her main section a slight shmup feel.  The brother Royas is an all-arounder and is required you use the other characters to build him up to defeat the last boss, but is also highly defensive and good for exploring the first part of the sublevels.  There's Lyll, the daughter and my favorite character, a bit of a glass cannon whose leaping and magic abilities lets you break the game and uncover all the secrets hidden within.  And finally there's Pochi, best dog (question mark?) who is in reality a monster that lets you ignore other monsters and is used for scouting out paths in the labyrinthine dungeon.  Oh, and there's also grandma and grandpa who act as the password saving system, and a painting of an ancestor that lets you access a... sound test?  Which is cool because the music is really good.  Sure the narrative of the game is simple but for pure gameplay purposes in my opinion it's hard to beat the Worzen family!

I'm one of those weirdos that can find good things in Castlevania 64, so that.  I also like it better than its remake despite not having a laser whip.  It's pretty enacting and tried to be pretty innovative (I mean, there's a time system as an off-the-cuff example).  Just never, EVER say the words "Magical Nitro" to anyone that's gotten through it.  That part requires you to painstaking walk a ridiculous distance in an area with falling platform and Resident Evil 1-esque hard switching camera angles while moving where any joustle or enemy can easily cause you to have to start the whole thing over again.  But at least it's not Quest 64, an N64 RPG we're talking because a marketing campaign kinda worked almost a quarter of a century ago I guess?  Aidyn Chronicles was another N64-only RPG that has a 53% on Metacritic, is that next?

You crazy bastards, you actually did it!  Wow, The List 2 - Listxtreme: Part One Rebirth (because this is the Xtreme PS2 era and everything had Xtremely stupid names).

Ugh, I can't hear the words Ape Escape without being a little meloncholy, I really liked the series as a kid and followed news sites for years after it was announced that Million Monkeys was being localized (it eventually faded away without an official cancellation).  I remember really liking 3 but funny enough I never played Primed and Pumped which Million Monkeys was kinda a sequel to (in actuality it's less minigame focused by a lot which was what Primed and Pumped was like all of.  I want to say that's why I skipped it but at the time I kinda doubt it, I just wasn't aware of its existance).  It's also doubly sad now that Japan Studios is no more!

So many games already I was like, "I've played that!  Oh, wait, no, that was the GBA version."  I forgot the GBA got so many "ports" of games.  I'm fairly certain that included Barbie Horse Adventure, a game I downloaded for a laugh and can remember nothing of so I'm sure it was worth it.

The Ace Combat series (at least the early ones) and Cookies and Cream are some of the last old From Soft games I've wanted to play but never have (aka, the last of the good ones, Otogi is on that list since I only briefly had an XBOX).  On top of that, I forgot Baroque was on the PS2, while I've never played it it's this super ambitious but janky as all get out roguelike that's ambitious, horrible, and weirdly deep in a way only Japanese games tend to be all at once.  The Wikipedia article for it is sure something.  Here's a quote out of context (in context it's no better): "Sometimes as descriptions, Yonemitsu would send Iwata a short poem, but even then it was difficult for Iwata to create satisfactory [music] tracks."  You don't say.  I remember when the Wii came out with a remake of it although iirc there's debate about which is the version worth playing!

Okay, I missed the 200th episode due to a bad COVID vaccine reaction (I had a couple high concept ideas, maybe I can repurpose them) and then I accidentally missed the last episode.  Whoops!  So I'll just catch up a bit here:

Oh, things that didn't hit in episode 199 about my post: The "favorite mini-games" pick would be a good question for others, that's all I meant.  I never really liked the "favorite games" question, I've played hundreds of games in dozens of genres, it's too general for me and fairly obvious in others to figure out.  Also, pretty similar to games of the generation, especially hearing other's picks.  The image I sent was for the Chex Quest HD anthology comic I own which, fun fact, I did not even buy for myself!  I thought it would be more neat than just saying "Oh, I own this," but boy were you guys not jiving my feedback that episode.

I had a bunch picked out for video game taunts, quips, or burns.  "Go home and be a family man" is the one I think of most often but that's been covered to here and back.
    Probably the taunt that has crept the most into my vernacular is "Show me your moves!" by Captain Falcon in Smash Bros.  It's a goofy, energetic line that is absolutely spammed to hell by Captain Falcons so you're going to hear it a dozen times a minute, every minute.  Personally, I can't help but think of it (as a response) when somebody is trying to say something badass in a video game and it just goes over so lamely.
    Any Pokey burn in Earthbound.  But another line that stings is by his father, Aloysius Minch.  "By the way, I would be happy if you left sometime soon. I'm tired of your family living next door. We've loaned your father a lot of money."  Jeez.
    For quips, especially bizzare one-liners, I have early Mega64 video quotes stuck in my head from Shenmue and Resident Evil for the rest of time.  "Excuse me, what can you tell me about the four wudu?" "Do you know where I can find some sailors around here?" "Would you like to try a game of Lucky Hit?" "Can you tell me where I can find a man called Lan Di?" "What are you buyin'?  What are you sellin'?  Come back anytime."

Let's see, impressions about this episode.
    Oh, that Mr. Delicious thing is great btw, definitely a good example of the type of "real" and sardonic ads that were popular in the 90s (especially later).  Give that guy a Twitter account.
    I saw my sibling play Nier Replicant and it seemed pretty breezy although they should've cut a lot of the grinding out (the biggest differences besides the music are of the gameplay but that wasn't really the worst part of Nier so...).  It actually didn't take them long to 100% it but still how much of that was really gameplay?  About Julian's hate of Automata, I'm also of the opinion that Nier Automata is kinda lacking in the story department compared to the first Nier (there's a couple good twists and stuff of course but even the characters just aren't up to snuff).
    Moving on, I loved the gross fridge realism comment!  I think games should go the opposite direction and make their photorealism like Pee-Wee's Playhouse.  Realistic faces, Nickelodeon GAK in the fridge.
    The games I'm most excited for coming out: Astalon: Tears of the Earth (an indie game in the retro style of Legacy of the Wizard and The Maze of Galious, early adventure games with an emphasis on action platforming and a sprawling more open world), ULTRAKILL (an indie that's a mix between a FPS and a character action game, lotta trick shots and counters), and Deathloop by Arkane Studios of course.

I think that's it!  Can't wait to see what comes next especially with the break tease!  I don't know if I mentioned it but I listened to all of The List.  It made me pretty nostalgic and reminded me how many PSX sequels I still have to check out sometime.

Argh, I had a lot of good game over submissions, can't believe I missed last week.

Oh, I have a bidet attachment, if you want some advice for a couple paragraphs.  I consider it one of my best purchases even just for the reduction of toilet paper and strain on the plumbing system.  For setup: It requires very little effort (attaching the three-way valve, attaching the bidet attachment to the seat).  The two big issues you might run into are very rare: if there's extremely little room by the side of the toilet (something like less than 6 inches) it would require a hobby project to create room or modify the connection, and you need to make sure the toilet seat bolts aren't super small otherwise you have to replace them (which isn't really that hard it's just kinda annoying if you forget to check first).  The whole set up will take you less than an hour otherwise.  If you want to be double sure, try removing the toilet seat lid and the water connector to the tank as practice.

Which one should you get and how is it?  I got the Brondell Bidet - Thinline SimpleSpa SS-150 for around $30 because the single spray has a nozzle cleaning function which is nice.  It's unheated, but the difference between that with the recommended products I researched is something like 8 times the cost and then you have to deal with electricity or batteries on top of that which is a pain.  The cold water isn't as big of a problem as I thought it would be (and I often get snow in the winter), you literally just make sure to lean back so your body heat will heat it until you get used to it.  I'm more annoyed by cold water on my hands which wasn't something I was expecting lol.  In seasons other than winter the water is warm enough I literally don't notice it.  The dripping can be annoying but that's solved by literally waiting a few minutes, or by using some toilet paper (and now that you're saving money you can splurge on a couple squares of the good stuff).  I seriously don't understand why this isn't a standard nowadays.

STAGE SELECT:
This question is too big, so I'm going to shrink it down.  Top 3 mini-games of all time:
3. Link to the Past's shooting gallery.  Have you seen this?  It's bizarre.  You're trying to shoot arrows at these white octopus-like things that react to getting shot while giant hands scroll in from the other side to block you.  All the while there's this weird guy in a mask or a skull or something banging on a drum every successful hit.  It's weird and also a decent way to make money.  I mean, rupees, there's no underground octopus shooting ring (and believe me, I'd know).
2. Maniac Mansion in Day of the Tentacle.  There's a couple rare games that do this (in fact, one was just found this month with a buggy copy of Timesplitter 2 in Homefront from 2016), but I'm going to give it to Day of the Tentacle for putting a complete copy of the prequel game hidden away in it.  In a generation of games that often seems to be nothing but an endless horizon of continuous ports and re-releases, back in the day these devs just decided "screw it" and threw in a whole game for free.  It's also great that you access it on an old 64k PC in the game.
1. The hacking game in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  It's neat they made hacking feel pretty fun, a little Capture The Flag kind of game where you have to defend your nodes while attacking others.  It's not perfect but it does make you feel a bit smart in a way that feels like an abstraction of Netrunner and not just random matching or word puzzles like many other hacking mini-games in games are.
Maybe if this becomes a stage select I'll answer the real question in that episode.

VIDEO GAME CAGE MATCH:
Does this answer your question?: https://i.imgur.com/lp8Hu1v.jpg

About the last podcast: I joke you not, exactly right before you said my name in relation to the horrible timed level in Revolution X I said out loud, "Wasn't that the bus level?"  Amazing.

Oh, and about that "Dude Looks Like A Lady" link from last time, that's the soundtrack from the SNES game, which only has the digitized line "Dude Looks Like A Lady" repeated ad nauseum as a reward for beating the game.  Congrats?

STAGE SELECT:
I was having trouble with this one so I put some constraints on myself.  Here's 3 good SNES party members in no order:
1. Robo from Chrono Trigger.  I think every one of Robo's sidequests in that game are part heartstring-tugging and part devastating.  Even when Robo is on the sidelines he is encouraging and funny.  Robo is one of the most human characters in Chrono Trigger and it's slightly tragic, especially when you think about what they did to him in Chrono Cross.
2. Galuf from Final Fantasy V.  Another tragic character.  Galuf saves your life a bunch of times and injects a dwarven joviality to FFV.  He ends up making the ultimate sacrifice in order to save his granddaughter (who you then get to play as and arguably has better stats).
3. Gogo from Final Fantasy VI.  Actually, any weird last minute secret character can go here.  I always liked Gogo because it's a weird tie-in to Final Fantasy V (they're a hidden gimmick boss) and has some unique skills that are also part of the Mime class from that one.  You get them from being eaten by a worm in a hidden desert area?  Fantastic.  Another example of the last minute secret character would be Bleu who is a downright absurdly broken secret character in Breath of Fire 2 after being in the first one.  To illustrate, every character has an off-combat ability gimmick and hers is in the Hunt category.  Only instead of actually being used for that she uses lightning magic to turn every animal on screen into (collectable but useless) Charcoal.  She makes appearances (or close enough) in every other Breath of Fire game except for Dragon Quarter.  Just create a character with 99% mystery and 1% lore and you have a downright winner.

VIDEO GAME CAGE MATCH:
Imagine, it's the year 1989.  You own an NES and unbeknownst to you a game is going to come out that will ruin your life.  Your existence becomes a tetromino nightmare.  You have dreams of glory shattered by impossible J- and Z- blocks.  You swear you saw an X-block fall once and nobody will look you in the eyes anymore.  Alone, you practice a hopak to the astonishment of no one but your cat.  After scrounging for strategies of dubious quality and source, and years of your life gone to a gray whistling box, you finally beat the coveted Game B, Level 9, Height 5.  Your reward?  A strange, disfigured, dancing Mario.  Mario wins.

(Julian, did you get my PM?)

STAGE SELECT:
I always liked Snow Land in Kirby's Epic Yarn for the Wii.  It's got this cool winter and Christmas-themed thing going on.  The songs are cozy and full of jingle bells, I even like to throw one or two on during the holidays.  It's snowing cotton from the sky unless you're inside a comfy cabin or something.  There's even a special skating animation that Kirby does on the ice and a tabagon animation as he bombs down hills.  And there's a neat little snowboarding level too, one of the better mini-games in it.  Oh, and it end with the Dedede fight for no thematic reason, but it is a fun one with Dedede as a marionette!

VIDEO GAME CAGE MATCH:
Did you ever have a heartwarming moment as a child?  Maybe your parents took you to an amusement park on a school day or even though they said they weren't dog people you woke up to a puppy on Christmas Day?  Well, one afternoon, a shot out of the blue sky, my dad brought us home a new video game.  There was no reason for it, it wasn't an act of guilt or bribery, just an act of love.  For the most part we were dirt poor so a brand new video game was something we got on a holiday or rarely on a birthday.  He mentioned he saw us playing it in the arcade awhile back and, no kidding, even got the convenience store clerk to take it down from the display case.  It still makes me a bit misty-eyed.

That game was Revolution X for the SNES, and I remember playing it all that afternoon, and many an afternoon on top of that one, battling the New Order Nation, thwarting the evil Headmistress Helga, and making sure to collect as many Wheat Grass Shakes as I could shove down Steven Tyler's gullet.  I can't tell you the hours I put into Revolution X.  And because of this, my vote goes to Area 51.

DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY
DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY
DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY
DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY
DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxQwCks8D00&t=2055s