Karateka

We've done Prince of Persia, we've done The Last Express. So when The Making of Karateka was released in late 2023, we figured this was the perfect opportunity to have a look at Jordan Mechner's very first published game. Originally released in 1984 for the Apple II, the PC got a port of this game in 1986. So get ready for some CGA graphics, some PC beeper sounds and a game that runs way too fast at default Dosbox settings.

Joining Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") for this episode are DGC member DRS ("dr_st"), whose first time it is on the podcast, and Chris Kohler, editorial director at Digital Eclipse for The Making of Karateka. Chris picked up a lot of in-depth knowledge about this game while working on The Making Of, so we're very grateful for him to come on to our show and share his stories.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (107 mins, 123 MB)

Realms of the Haunting

For the Halloween season we try to pick suitably scary games, so back in October (welp) we took a look at Realms of the Haunting (1996, Gremlin/Interplay). This game ticks a lot of boxes: haunted mansion, ghosts, scary monsters, but also... Time travel? A psychic partner? Interdimensional portals? Building a bong?? It's no exaggeration to say this game covers a lot of ground, as well as genres, as Realms of the Haunting is best described as a, uh, first-person shooter full-motion video point & click adventure game. And despite this was a major production of British powerhouse of gaming Gremlin Interactive, it seems to be quite an obscure game nowadays. But we're here for it!

Joining Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") on this episode are DGC veteran Richard ("Pix"), who jumped onto this game right when it came out, and Ross (who you might know from his YouTube channel "Accursed Farms") who made a video on Realms of the Haunting for his "Ross's Game Dungeon" series.

We also got sent a voice message by Wesley ("Wesbat"), thank you! And last but not least many thanks to DGC member console for helping us edit this podcast.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (87 mins, 100 MB)

The Secret of Donkey Island

Everybody know The Secret of Monkey Island. But few people have ever heard of Donkey Island. This game was made by two Czech teenagers on their school computers in 1994 and ended up being the first commercial game to be developed and published in Czechia. Besides a sub-par and, frankly, weird German translation, this game has so far only been available in Czech language - until Emmy and sonneveld came along and decided to translate the game to English and make it available to everyone for free!

So join us on our journey to find out why being shipwrecked became a trope in the Czech game industry as host Martijn (Tijn) discusses The Secret of Donkey Island with returning participant Jozef ("yozy" - who was born in Czechoslovakia), as well as Emmy ("Emmxyzzy") & Sonneveld, the team who put the English translation together.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (84 mins, 96 MB)

Jazz Jackrabbit

There is one game that showed everybody that the PC was starting to become as viable a gaming platform as any console on the market. While DOOM was an entirely new experience, Jazz Jackrabbit replicated the experience players had on their SNESes and Mega Drives. Its protagonist even became a mascot for PC gaming at large.

But how does this 1994 game by Epic MegaGames (now only Epic Games, apparently they're not Mega anymore) hold up today? Is it still good? Or do you need to put on your rose tinted nostalgia glasses? We played the game in August, trying to find out exactly that.

In this episode hosts Martijn (Tijn) and Florian (rnlf) are joined by three guests to discuss this game. First of all there's Tim (LunarLoony), returning from all the way back from our episode about Pinball games (May 2020!). We also have Patrick (patrick_wd), and Wietse (densy) joining for the first time. Wietse is a game historian currently working on an article covering Jazz Jackrabbit, which will be published on his website (see links below) next year when the game hits its 30th anniversary.

We also got a voice message by Wouter. Thanks for that, Wouter!

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (133 mins, 152 MB)

We once again got lots of help from DGC member console with editing this episode. Many thanks to him and all who make this show possible!

The Aching

You're in some sort of cave. A red light eminates from the northern wall, while a green light pours in from the cave's exit. This is Azra, a strange far away world where many dangers loom. You are an acolyte of the Scarlet Lady's Red Court, and have no memory of how you ended up in this cave. But while the game's world and characters are mysterious, the presentation is instantly recognisable as that of a 1980s Sierra adventure game. However, this DOS game isn't 35 years old... it's brand new!

In July we took a look at The Aching, a parser-based graphic adventure game released in 2023 by Hadrosaurus Software. Don't be fooled by its release date however, this is an authentic DOS game that has no trouble running on a Tandy 1000. Definitely something we're interested in!

In this episode hosts Martijn (Tijn) and Florian (rnlf) are joined by two guests to discuss this game. First of all there's Shawn (DJ_HiP), returning from the Stunts episode, and who is completely new to the world of adventure games. Secondly we have Mike (Zerfall), who is a true veteran of the genre growing up on classic Sierra games, and has YouTube and Twitch channels where he looks at old games.

We also got a voice message by TheLobdegg, creator of The Aching, about other modern DOS games.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (116 mins, 132 MB)

We once again got lots of help from DGC member console with editing this episode. Many thanks to him and all who make this show possible!