Bombin' the A.M. With Scoops and the Wolf: 03/04/2014

Dopin' Niagara?

ok

South park is game of the year. I'm calling it.

yep

That picture from the "free Wilzyak" episode is one of my favorite moments in South Park. made me laugh just seeing it on the front page.

Only 20 minutes in but such a good overview/discussion of the game. Really enjoyable.

ANIME.

I have to say, as for the argument about being embarrassed about fan service in anime-style things, I can totally understand that. I was watching a show that seemed completely innocuous and fine, so I felt okay about watching it with my family in the room, and then the episode I put on was the FIRST time there was any weird fan service-y stuff in the entire series. It's really frustrating that I can't just watch some of the shows I like in the main for fear of this weird stuff popping up out of nowhere.

I'm glad this game is getting good buzz. I did not have much faith it would turn out well.

Bombin the anime with scoops and the wolf

@phoenix87:

If nothing else it'll probably make it as the funniest game of the year. Depending of course on how receptive you are to the South Park brand of humor.

The Simpsons has gotta be the show that the most people comment on without even watching it.

Also, I think South Park is more relevant to our culture now than ever. Episodes still are right in the public consciousness and it only takes one trip to Reddit to see all the memes that have come straight from the show that are still around going strong.

Anyone having an issue of it not showing up in iTunes?

This show is my favorite Anime Vice feature.

Alex is my waifu~

It should be there now.

Is something wrong with the podcast feed? It seems Monday shows are not showing up on Itunes.

Strongly disagree that the Retro games are better than the originals. They're great fantastic games that bring a lot to the table while also doing right by the originals but they're not perfect. DKC2 is. DKC2 nailed everything it tried to do. It pushed the envelope, perfected the formula and was terrifically evocative. While DKCR managed to push the envelope again bringing the world class platforming franchise back in a decidedly unNew Mario way and each installment is creative and original there's definitely issues. Unlike DKC2 air control in DKCR is crap. They might've fixed this in DKCTF or maybe I've gotten better at stopping my roll jumps precisely. Unlike in the originals they deny you Diddy arbitrarily in DKCR. They did not fix this in DKCTF. The Tikis had no personality. The bonus games are shamelessly copy pasted. DKCR had motion controls. In DKCR the pig that offered you Super Guide was annoying and made me mute the sound. I could probably go on listing minor issues about DKCR that don't stop it from being a great game but make it a good deal lower than the later 2 DKCs. In many ways DKCR was built upon DKC1 and ignored the myriad improvements the later 2 DKCs brought the formula.

Mind you Tropical Freeze is fantastic, worlds better than Returns. Much more creative worlds and locations, much more ambition, much more willingness to go to the back half of the original trilogy for inspiration. It might rival DKC2 for best game. Hard to say until more time has passed.

Rant aside I think the point that you wanted to make was that the games are different from the original trilogy. While the spirit is alive in the game it's definitely a modern platformer that pushes the envelope in all respects even now that it's 20 years later and organic lush environments beautifully rendered aren't a new thing anymore. It's not New Super Mario Brothers. More like Rayman Legends except without the crap Murphy bits.

It's like if Rayman Legends was a Mario World game and was just as solid and inventive. Would you say it was better than Mario World?

Ummm... does Alex have a bong on his shelf?

Thanks Patrick

I will ask about this.

Pretty awful A.M. show. Will be skipping this from now on.

Someone need to photoshop Jeff,Vinny,Brad and Patrick into the roles of Cartman and crew.

@mosaicm80: He is just living life to the fullest man.

I just finished downloading Southpark off steam, but I think I'm going to listen about this anime game first. I actually came for the south park talk, but I stay for the dangonropa.

I am completely at odds with Patricks take (it's pretty popular to be a little dismissive of later seasons) on South Parks trajectory. it's been essential viewing for me since before I was allowed to watch it and it's still the number one show I look forward to every week when it's on. The new episodes are just as good as when the show started.

Matt and Trey are probably the most prolific comedy creators of all time and South Park is the most pure form of their voice. There's something good in every episode and there's at least one classic every season.

It's a strong impression but I mean every ounce of it!

@mosaicm80: Yes. Yes he does.

@mosaicm80: I'm glad I'm not the only one who immediately noticed that.

Patrick perfectly explained my trouble with a lot of anime. I fell of it for years, but decided to come back and give it another chance with Attack on Titan. You know what? That show was awesome! It subverted a lot of my expectations when it comes to the genre, and it didn't have any creepy fan service at all.

It honestly makes me sad, because I'm all for the crazy, dumb, sometimes smart and awesome stuff that only anime can pull off, but I hate feeling like I have to hide it from other people. Sometimes I wish I could just grab Japan by the shoulders, calmly address them and say " Your fantastic when you're great, but you're the worst of the worst when you aren't. Let's try better. Ok? "

Anyways, sorry for the short rant. Really liked the episode this week and I can't wait to play some South Park. Their last console arc really got me hyped for the game. So glad it turned out all right.

Off to the left? Probably.

I'm glad you owned up to all the talk about how craaaazy Danganronpa and anime are is because of your own lack of experience with this kind of stuff, and not because it's inherently more ridiculous than scifi or whatever. That's so tiring to listen to after a while, especially after Alex talked at length about nazis with robots ruling the world in the new Wolfenstein game. There was a talking bear as one of the main characters of Persona 4, one of the most popular and famous RPGs around, and that was years ago! There are a lot of examples of a mascot or doll like character being a villain too, and one of the most successful movies last year was an American Hollywood movie about teenagers murdering one another for TV. It's not that insane and unusual, and reacting that way made you seem like the oldest men in the world to me.

Phoenix Wright should come as a relief when Patrick tries that. Don't recall anything as fanservicey, and the truth bullets are... "Objections". However, just like Danganronpa(and a ton of other story-based games), it's entirely linear.

South Park sounds fun, I kind of want to get it even if I haven't watched the show in forever. I agree on the talk about Rocksteady's Batman, and really, I'm just happy to finally have an Arkham game without Joker. He's great and all, but just this once, let anyone else have the spotlight. Even it it's his girlfriend.

@spraynardtatum: I would argue that the show had its best seasons from 7-10. I feel like the quality and humor was the best at that time. i still think the show is great, but not as consistent as it was in those seasons. the peeks are higher now but they are not hitting those peeks as often for me as it did. that said even the worst south park episodes are worth watching and funnier than most stuff on tv.

Noobs don't know a percolating flower vase when they see one!

Why?

I'm disappointed that Alex was ashamed to mention all the Babymetal he was playing this weekend.

Patrick's Danganronpa discussion perfectly encapsulates the problem I have with JRPGs these days, which some of us were discussing on Worth Reading last Friday. There are interesting ideas coming out of Japan for gameplay, it's just unfortunate that some of the games have to be accompanied by creepy fanservice and character designs that do nothing for the game and make me embarrassed to be playing them.

Having to be the cost of doing business with some games out of Japan is just unfortunate, especially since it makes me less likely to play, recommend, or let others know I'm playing the game.

@korwin: Are you implying that Alex uses marihuana? It's obviously just an accessory match his chin beard. DUH

@patrickklepek Regarding Rocksteady doing a TMNT game, if they were to base it on the 2003 series which was a great blend of crazy over the top while also maintaining something more dark it would be fantastic.

I like the format of this by the way guys. Finally got around to catching up on some of these to watch it weekly and it really feels like a Bombcast featuring the two who aren't on it weekly so.

@olemarthin: Very well said. My friends don't quite know what I'm talking about when I express this opinion. Those 4 seasons, front to back, are easily the best in the series. South Park can still reach those highs sometimes, but I feel like that era was the renaissance of the show.

What the crap? Why does Patrick make such insane blanket statements as "the Retro Donkey Kong games are much better video games than the Rare ones" as if it's verifiable fact? I mean, I like what Retro is doing and all and they're fun games, but they don't hold a candle to DKC 2 and 3. Not even close to being as good as those. They're solid platformers, and good fun and all but they're liable to be forgotten in the next ten years because they're not all that. Holy crap. DKC 2 in particular is one of the finest games ever made. I don't take statements like that lightly.

I think we're supposed to infer that that on his show he speaks his opinion. That's what I do, anyway. Also:

Says you.

@mosaicm80 said:

I wonder if it had any influence on the 5 star South Park score and review ;)

If liking anime makes me creepy, then I guess I'm creepy.

@pimblycharles: no drug tests when you work from home. Justin McElroy has a damned hooka next to his desk.

The Batman game will open the door for the next series which will be a Justice League franchise. That would be my guess. I wouldnt even be surprised if you saw a quick cameo by Superman or Wonder Women in this Batman game.

If this is truly the end of the Arkham series, its because they have something else up their sleeve......

@olemarthin: And that's just what I mean. The barometer we use to judge a great South Park episode is so much higher than anything else on TV, especially comedy. South Park is so good that when it's not a masterpiece we get cranky about it.

That image is one of my absolute favorite in all of South Park. It's SUCH a perfect visual gag.