Tales from the Backlog - Episodes Tagged with “Sega”

232: Panzer Dragoon Saga (with Chris Coplien - Retro Hangover)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson
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Games gather reputations for a variety of reasons, but one of the most unique among those are the games that are so hard to purchase that above all, they have a reputation for being expensive. Panzer Dragoon Saga (Team Andromeda, Sega, 1998) is one of the top examples of that phenomenon nowadays, after only tens of thousands of English-language copies were pressed, Team Andromeda was shuttered quickly after the game's release and Sega now claims to have lost the source code. All of this may leave you wondering...what is Panzer Dragoon Saga like as a game? I was certainly left wondering that, and Chris Coplien of Retro Hangover was up for the task of discussing the game behind the massive price tag. As always, no spoilers for a while- enjoy!

Guest info: Chris Coplien (he/him)

Check out Retro Hangover https://linktr.ee/retrohangover
Follow on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/retrohangover.bsky.social

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Start
0:24 Introductions
5:13 Our Histories with Panzer Dragoon Saga
13:16 Top-Level Thoughts
20:41 Story Setup and Worldbuilding
28:16 Pacing and Storytelling
33:41 Visual Presentation
39:04 Music
43:05 Combat
1:07:41 Exploration and Side Quests
1:16:37 Who Should Play?
1:20:12 Retro Hangover Podcast
1:24:40 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous
1:26:37 Spoilers- Setting the Stage
1:42:26 Spoilers- Some Big Themes
1:51:53 Spoilers- A Philosophical Dilemma
1:59:16 Spoilers- Uncovering a Very Familiar Trope
2:17:28 Spoilers- Revisiting the Dilemma and Ending

Music used in the episode is credited to Saori Kobayashi and Mariko Nanba. Tracks used: Behold the Precious Wings, A Premonition of War, Metamorphosis 1, Atolm Dragon, Rest, Area 3 Background, Wandering, Breath of Life

Panzer Dragoon Story and Lore Walkthrough https://youtu.be/BVc7QxiAO1k
Max Derrat's Development History Video: https://youtu.be/sIqM80qEY8s

Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

198: Crazy Taxi (with Darren Hupke - Pixels & Polygons)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson
Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog

In the midst of so many games and podcasts with heavy story themes, sometimes it's nice to just play a video game-ass video game. And so here we have Crazy Taxi (Sega, 2000), plowing through a bunch of mailboxes on its way to the podcast schedule. This is a seminal game, especially for Dreamcast owners and arcade-goers, that I had somehow never played before. So what was it like playing for the first time in 2025? Listen in to find out!

Guest info: Darren Hupke (he/him)

Find all of Darren's work https://pixelsandpolygons.net/
Follow on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/darrenhupke.bsky.social

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Title Card
0:11 Introductions
4:05 Our Histories with Crazy Taxi
9:56 Opening Thoughts About Crazy Taxi
13:50 Game Setup
23:34 Crazy Box Mode and Advanced Maneuvers
31:26 Sense of Humor, Future Crazy Taxis and Soundtrack
43:39 Real Life Crazy Taxis and Product Placement
49:40 Closing Thoughts and Recommendations
55:00 Darren's Books and Pixels & Polygons
1:00:31 Announcements and Patron Thank-Yous

Music used in the episode: All I Want (The Offspring), Ten in 2010 (Bad Religion), Change the World (The Offspring)

Social Media:
BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/

Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

155: Shenmue (with Luis Aguasvivas)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0500

I remember reading about Shenmue (AM2 of CRI, Sega, 2000) in the magazines back in the day and really marveling at how cool it all sounded- a revenge/investigation story, a town with characters that live their own lives outside of interacting with you, life in small-town Japan...but I didn't have a Dreamcast, so I never got to play it and eventually forgot about it as everyone else seemed to move on too. But over the past 5 years, I've also become a huge fan of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series, and I eventually decided it was finally time to play Shenmue. Listen in to the discussion to hear what we think!

Guest info: Luis Aguasvivas. Find his writing and games criticism at https://aguaspoints.com/ and more at https://linktr.ee/laguav

TIMESTAMPS

Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:22
Story Setup/Setting 14:37
Gameplay/Closing Thoughts 39:51
SPOILER WALL/Thank Yous 1:16:24

Music used in the episode

Shenmue - Sedge Tree (Takenobu Mitsuyoshi)
Hip De Hop (Yuzo Koshiro)
Working Man (Osamu Murata)
Hazuki Residence (Takenobu Mitsuyoshi)
Tears of Separation (Ryuji Iuchi)

Check out Dave's appearance on 1 Hour, 1 Decision talking about the first hour of Avowed! https://linktr.ee/tc1h1d

Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! or buy me a coffee on Ko-fi!
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Social Media:
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Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://www.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages

Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!

34: Yakuza: Like a Dragon (with Rick Firestone - Pixel Project Radio)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Dave is joined by Rick Firestone from Pixel Project Radio to discuss Ryu Ga Gotoku's refresh of the Yakuza franchise. Yakuza: Like a Dragon brings a new protagonist and turn-based combat into the franchise, so tune in to find out how Rick and Dave feel about it.

TIMESTAMPS:
Intro, Personal Histories and Opening Thoughts 0:26
Story Setup 13:34
Combat 47:37
Side Content and Final Thoughts 1:19:28
Spoiler Wall 1:41:15

Find Pixel Project Radio on Twitter, Instagram, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts!

[Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon!](patreon.com/realdavejackson) or buy me a coffee on Ko-fi!
Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server!
Social Media:
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://www.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages

Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!