Tales from the Backlog - Episodes Tagged with “Snes”

181: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (with Ty Schalter)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

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Everybody has that game they played a hundred times as a kid and therefore can't be objective about anymore, and for us, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is NOT one of those! Both my guest Ty and I both tried the game at various points, but never quite got on with it. The podcast has now given us a chance to revisit Nintendo's landmark title and give it the deep dive treatment- so listen in to find out how we felt this time!

Guest info: Ty Schalter (he/him)

Check out FunFactor podcast http://www.funfactorpod.com!/
Follow Ty on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/tyschalter.com

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Title Card
0:15 Intros
6:03 Our Histories with Zelda and A Link to the Past
10:59 Opening Thoughts About A Link to the Past
18:11 Story Setup
27:58 Visuals
31:59 World/Map Design
35:44 Music
47:13 Combat
58:41 Difficulty Curve, Exploration and Secrets
1:10:00 "The Zelda Formula"
1:18:41 Dungeons
1:23:23 Closing Thoughts and Recommendations
1:38:37 FunFactor Podcast and Ty's Work Online
1:45:24 SPOILER WALL and Patron Thank-You's
1:47:49 Spoiler Section

Music used in the episode: Title, File Select, Opening Demo, Hyrule Castle, Dark World, Kakariko Village, Ending

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

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176: Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (with Chris Coplien - Retro Hangover)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

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I didn't hear about Dragon Quest for a very long time, probably an embarrassingly long time, and once I played one, I didn't....get it. It all seemed too plain, too simple, too lacking in complexity, and while a part of me was relieved to suddenly have less "homework" to do as I'm forever catching up on RPGs that I missed, part of me felt an ever-present need to "get it". Yada yada yada, I finally had another reason to try Dragon Quest, starting with Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride on DS, and folks....I get it now. Tune in to find out how I got there.

Guest info: Chris Coplien of Retro Hangover

Listen to Retro Hangover https://linktr.ee/retrohangover
Check out the first of Dragon Quest V's episodes in the King of Games 1992 tournament https://retrohangover.captivate.fm/episode/king-of-games-92-round-1-match-4-sonic-the-hedgehog-2-vs-dragon-quest-v
Follow on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/retrohangover.bsky.social

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Title Card
0:42 Intros
6:10 Personal Histories with Dragon Quest V
12:15 Opening Thoughts
14:54 Story Setup/Generational Structure
26:19 Overcoming Constraints/Presentation
34:26 Story Themes/Cozy Charm
45:16 Soundtrack/Influence
56:10 Gameplay- Combat/Monster Collecting
1:12:05 Final Thoughts/Recommendations
1:14:45 Retro Hangover Podcast
1:19:23 SPOILER WALL/Patron Thank-You's
1:21:15 Spoiler Section- Act 1 and 2
2:06:04 Spoiler Section- Act 3 and Closing Thoughts

Music used in the episode is credited to Koichi Sugiyama. Tracks used: Overture, Overworld, Town, Battle, Melody in an Ancient Town, The Ocean, Zenithia, Saint

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

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

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133: Final Fantasy IV (with Chris Coplien - Retro Hangover & Jenny E.)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Final Fantasy is one of the most well-represented series on this podcast, and its anthology structure means you can pick and choose which games you want to play without fear of playing out of order. So this year, I wanted to make sure I played a foundational one- Final Fantasy IV. I expected this to be the turning point where Square and the Final Fantasy team started to prioritize story and characters, and you can really see their attempts here, including some cool marriages of gameplay and narrative that later games no longer do. I really enjoyed my time with this one and was happy to bring together an all-star group of guests to chat about it!

Joining me for the discussion are Chris Coplien of Retro Hangover podcast, which you should [check out](linktr.ee/retrohangover) for retro gaming podcasts as well as the yearly King of Games tournament, and Jenny E., who is a writer and podcaster. You can find her Final Fantasy IV fan fiction and other writing HERE, and check out her Wordlessly podcast as well!

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 2:05
Story Setup/Themes/Characters 17:09
Visuals/Music 40:11
Combat 52:18
Closing Thoughts/Recommendations/Guest Plugs 1:07:57
SPOILER WALL 1:18:00

Music used in the episode is credited to Nobuo Uematsu and Square. Tracks used: The Prelude, Main Theme of Final Fantasy IV, Red Wings, Theme of Love, Mystic Mysidia, Fight 1, Chocobo-Chocobo, Prologue, Mt. Ordeals, The Final Battle, Fanfare

Check out Dave's guest appearance on Pixel Project Radio's series about 1000xRESIST!

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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)!

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81: Final Fantasy VI (with Aaron Angle - A Top 3 Podcast)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 01:30:00 -0400

This episode has been a long time coming. One of my favorite games of all time, a game that I've played most of the way through several times, but never finished until now! Final Fantasy VI, Square's landmark Super Nintendo RPG brought us a wonderful cast of characters, an iconic villain, a bangin soundtrack, and an unforgettable story. How does it hold up today? Joining me to discuss is my longtime friend and my co-host on A Top 3 Podcast, Aaron Angle!

TIMESTAMPS
Intro/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:49
Story Setup/Characters/Tone 14:10
Music 37:24
Visuals 46:57
Combat/Gameplay 52:01
SPOILER WALL 1:14:25

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

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43: Chrono Trigger (with Josh Covel - Still Loading)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 00:00:00 -0400

What happens when you miss out on childhood nostalgia for a game that seemingly everybody seems to love? Should you try to approach that game with the mindset of a mid-90s gamer? Or should you take all of the advancements (and dis..advancements? I'll find a word) of its genre in the past 30 years? Chrono Trigger was that game for me, and I'm happy to have gotten Josh Covel from Still Loading on the show to talk about it.

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening thoughts 1:15
A Focused JRPG 23:50
Story Setup 52:11
Soundtrack 1:18:52
Final Thoughts/Housekeeping 1:36:12
SPOILER WALL 1:47:17

You can find Still Loading on Twitter, Instagram, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Twitch.

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Social Media:
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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)!

Support Tales from the Backlog

37: Mega Man X (with Chris Nelson)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Mega Man games have always been a bit of a struggle for me, since I didn't grow up playing the series (or the NES/SNES in general), but Mega Man X is often cited as one of the system's best, and a game that means a lot to a lot of people. So I had to get one of those people to compare our very different histories and experiences. Chris Nelson obliged, and we had a great chat about my experience, which was pretty rocky at times.

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

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26: Earthbound (with Keith Gasper - The Main Quest)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Dave is joined by Keith from the wonderful The Main Quest podcast to talk about 1994's cult classic JRPG, Earthbound.

Find everything Main Quest HERE!

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

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