Play Retro Show

NARC (1988) brought digitized graphics, massive explosions, and War-on-Drugs satire to arcades in one of the most controversial games of its era. Players take on the roles of narcotics officers Max Force and Hit Man as they blast their way through a criminal empire using machine guns, rocket launchers, and sheer excess. We explore the arcade original and its many home ports, with a brief look at the 2005 reboot that attempted to bring the franchise into the modern era.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/BwBewmod2QU
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Star Control II (1992) transformed the original game's fleet battles into a sprawling space adventure, tasking players with rebuilding humanity's resistance against the Ur-Quan through exploration, diplomacy, and discovery. With memorable alien races, open-ended galaxy traversal, and one of PC gaming's most beloved stories, it remains a landmark of science-fiction game design. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ratchet & Clank (2002) launched Insomniac’s long-running PlayStation franchise by combining platforming, explosive weapon-based combat, gadget progression, and satirical sci-fi storytelling into one of the PlayStation 2’s defining early action games. We focus on the original release that introduced Ratchet, Clank, Captain Qwark, Gadgetron weaponry, and the galaxy-hopping formula that would shape the series for decades. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Play Retro, Scott and Brian take aim at Gunstar Heroes (1993), which helped launch Treasure from the loins of Konami when former employees gave us this title with explosive run-and-gun action, massive bosses, and one of the most inventive weapon systems on the Sega Genesis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jet Force Gemini, one of Rare’s final original IPs for the N64, brought cinematic sci-fi action together with run-and-gun combat, exploration, puzzle solving, collect-a-thon progression, and split-screen multiplayer in a surprisingly large and ambitious package. The game follows a pair of space twins and their dog, Lupus, as they battle giant ant-like drones while trying to avoid collateral damage to the local cute, bear-like inhabitants. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.