Just wanted to say, Julian, that I enjoyed the Stage Select last month, especially since my game idea was something I've wanted for years.
I also listened to your outro, which must have been very hard to record given everything going on. There's a need to take an emotional break from the world once in awhile, both for your listeners and for you guys. Keep on keeping on, and thanks for hanging in there.
Stage Select:
During the 5th generation, possibly as a response to the popularity of Evangelion, Japanese RPG makers really liked the Corrupt Church plots. Xenogears and FF Tactics come to mind, but my personal favorite of these was Althena's Chosen from Lunar 2. "Althena" was transformed from a benevolent mother goddess into an angry Old Testament deity whose priesthood behaves like the Spanish Inquisition and who can rain fire from the heavens when she's really angry. Her resurrected "Dragonmaster" nearly destroyed the world a thousand years in the past. They're actually prepping the world for the return of the devil. There's even a bit of American evangelical prosperity gospel thrown in for good measure, though I don't know if that was in the Japanese original or if it came from Working Designs during the localization.
Cage Match:
Two great games, but I give the nod to SMB3. At the time, it was one of the most highly polished video games ever made, and probably represented the absolute limit of what the NES could do. The levels are a little more bite-sized than the ones in SMB or SMW, but they're incredibly tight in design, with very little filler. The power-ups were also better than the ones in SMW, though the ability to ride Yoshi in SMW was pretty impressive at the time. I also liked that you could stockpile power-ups and use them as you see fit. I still hate those stupid giant fish in World 3 that can eat you in one gulp even if you're fully powered up.
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