you guys mentioned the excellent music in Super Ghouls and Goblins.

iTunes store has a fantastic remix:

Title: Ghosts N' Goblins (La Dolce Mix)
Artist: Cripple Camp

Easily worthy of $1

Just wanted to thank Greg for working so hard on getting these out each week. It is a TON of work but to be so consistent is a really great achievement. So thanks Greg for your hard work!

Indeed.  I've spent much of the weekend (when I haven't been finishing up Alone in the Dark and my replay of Bioshock) trying to catch up on my backlog of podcasts.  Just listening from 140 to 142 I've really been appreciating how smoothly these episodes have flowed.  That they actually come out on time every week like clockwork is just icing on the cake.

I concur.

The real icing on the e-cake had to be KARL SUCKS.

Greg I expect to hear about your adventures in the game of mafia in the next podcast.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. The way our show is put together can present some significant challenges to getting it done in a timely fashion and thus keep a regular schedule (this episode being no exception), but as someone who listens to a lot of other podcasts I know how important it is for the show to come out on time consistently. It is something I've made a priority, and I find the appreciation for it very gratifying, so thanks again.

You guys do a great, great job.  RFN has been a priority listen for me for over two years, and what you said in your post is exactly why, Greg. 

Also Greg I am so glad you are the replacement host when Jonny is gone, you put on a really good show with really open discussions.

Yay, I'm back from traveling and ready to hear more ragging on me and factual errors in the latest RFN!

I heard that Greg had some major trouble editing this one, so all the kind comments must be especially heartening!

We left you alone.

We forgot about you.

I'm sorry my audio sucked. I hate college.

I noticed that! It sounded like there were people talking behind you only when you said anything.

I thought you were scuba diving. Here I was thinking that was SOOOO cool.

Thank you for the episode. Always fun to have someone different on.  Now where's my Radio Trivia?

I actually bought a pristine copy of GTA 4 at Blockbuster too for $15.  But for some odd reason, I just couldn't help myself, I had to defecate all over the manual, Gamestop style.  Just felt too good to be true.

It's only GameStop style if you remove the shrinkwrap and then pay full price.

It's only Gamestop style if you paid for it 3 months ago.

I have to add my praise to the chorus of voices.  Greg is doing an awesome job; so did Crimm when he was carrying the bulk of the editing duties.  My own experiences with audio and video editing gives me at least some idea of the effort that must go into these things; I know that it's got to be a labor of love that is alternately enjoyable and painful.

In general, I've loved RFN since the switch to the new crew sometime last year.  Over the last few months, it's become one of my favorite podcasts.  Kudos to all of you!

I hope that you can fill us in on more details of Little King's Story in the coming weeks, Greg.  Despite it's apparent weirdness, I've been interested in the title for quite a long time. 

Yeah, much appreciated on the quick turnaround lately, well done!

You guys are lucky in that you have a large pool of people to call on if one or two of your regulars can't make the show.

I too have to say that y'all are doing a bang-up job with the podcasts. It's always a joy to listen - just as much so with Greg's great hosting - and the fact that they're released on a now-regular schedule makes it even better.

That's too bad about Little King's Story not having any pointer controls. I suppose as long as the game works well without them, it should be fine. I'm looking forward to hearing what Greg thinks of it as he progresses. And man, do I have a craving for Die Hard now...

Goeman's Great Adventure was a lot of fun. I'd love to see it on VC - Mystical Ninja, too, as I never got to play it.

The SGnG discussion was great. I love the discussion of the jumping, difficulty, malicious (but not impossible) game design, everything. I didn't bother joining in with this edition of RetroActive, both due to time limitations and, mostly, the game's difficulty. Hearing the crew discuss it has me rethinking that choice, though. I wussed out in the face of Mega Man 8, but I've stuck with difficult games in the past. I may bite the bullet and download this one.

I could hear Mario Kart at the beginning of the podcast...

MM8 (Saturn/PSone) is probably the easiest in the series.  It's on Mega Man Anniversary Collection, too.  It was the first game to use bolts and the upgrade shop found in MM9.

Whoops, I meant 9. I avoided 8...

Actually, I'm pretty sure that Mega Man 7 was the first to use the bolt/shop system, not that it really matters.

Very nice episode.  (Look at that, I'm caught up on my podcasts!)

Regarding the Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts discussion, I'm not sure if I misunderstood or if everyone on the podcast was wrong, but the bracelet doesn't quite work like you described it (on a related note, neither do the contents of the chests).

The bracelet doesn't randomly drop from enemies (at least not that I ever saw).  It appears in the fifth chest in any given level (provided you don't get hit at all).  The contents of the chests have a standard progression--the first one you get will contain a weapon, the second the green armor, the third the gold armor, the fourth the shield and the fifth will contain the bracelet.  The magician will only appear from a chest if you get hit (and lose your armor)--the next chest after you get hit will contain the magician, then it will start the progression over again.

Also, you don't have to play through the entire game the second time using the bracelet--you can use your normal weapons right up until the final boss.  There are exactly 5 chests in the last stage--one at the beginning, two by the red demon, one by the ladder after the red demon and one under the two mimics right before the boss.  As long as you get them all (and don't get hit) you don't need to use the bracelet at all except for against the final two bosses.

Unfortunately for me, I simply cannot beat the second to last boss using the bracelet.  It's horrible range forces me to get too close to the boss and I always wind up getting hit with either his fire breath or the laser.

Regarding the bracelet, we mentioned the fact that you didn't actually have to beat every boss the second time through with it (just the ones at the end of stage 7) and the fact you'd only warp back to the start of stage 7 if you got to the end without it.

However, the point was that when playing SGnG in the pre-internet days (and for me, on Japanese import as a little kid) you weren't to know what the requirements were exactly, and I certainly was not going to risk testing them when I've already had to beat the game once just to get to that point. So I would cling to the bracelet completely and end up playing through all the parts of the game the second time through with it.

With respect to its reappearance therefore I had no idea what the conditions are, so it's interesting to find out about them. I think all that James meant about that is the joke that the Princess' magic bracelet that you had to go all the way back to find suddenly isn't so difficult to find once we need to reacquire it.

Indeed.  Apparently I had to go all the way back to Square One, because that's where it is...except it seems she actually littered the entrie world with bracelets.