PC

The Great Giana Sisters is a game with an unusual history, but what started off a flagrant imitation of Super Mario Bros has evolved into a successful platform series. Designed by the now-deceased founder of Black Forest Games, the company has finished a Kickstarter project to release a brand-new game for the series that will serve to celebrate the original title's 25th anniversary. Freelancer Christopher Floyd spoke to the team to get the skinny on the benches that morph into coffins, "chiptune metal," and the full story on Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams.

Extra Credits has an interesting two-part discussion about the hero's journey, a concept explored by Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Thatgamecompany's Journey is the game example featured here (along with The Legend of Zelda) but this seems to be a concept exploited in all entertainment genres.

Speaking of games which weren't quite home runs, I have to admit that I'm shocked to say that Dishonored isn't floating my boat. I loved the demo at PAX and it has all of the elements that should appeal to me, but now that I've been sitting down with the full version... it's just not clicking. It's just not coming together. It started well, but it's gone... cold.

This week, we discuss our favorite scary games, and then have a mega discussion of The Walking Dead: Episode 4! With Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Richard "Defender Against The Robot Uprising" Naik, Dylan Collins and special guest Jeffrey Matulef.

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Long Absent, a Little Different, but not Unknown

HIGH The resurrection of a long-absent, fan favorite franchise.

LOW Restarting after ten hours due to crushing poverty.

WTF Walls don't function properly in this universe.

Plants vs. Tourists

HIGH Finally raising the last piece of that bridge!

LOW Good, you found the key—now run to the other side of the once island again!

WTF Wait, did that cellular structure just grow teeth?

Too Crowded for its Own Good

HIGH Spending time with an MMO that feels like it's truly doing something different.

LOW Being voiceless in an otherwise fully-voiced world.

WTF All three factions start off in the same area?!

A Study in Perspective

HIGH The cerebral gameplay is a great break from action titles.

LOW Needing an FAQ to find overlooked items.

WTF Why isn’t there a Benedict Cumberbatch skin?

Ellipsmash

HIGH Peeling oranges together.

LOW Trying to do something with that first radio for 5 minutes only to fail.

WTF So. Many. Cats.

Have you ever bought a system for one game? That's the question we discuss this episode. We also hear about Brad's trip to the Retro Games Expo, and talk about Torchlight 2, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Tokyo Jungle and more. Also, Richard contemplates putting on water skiis. With Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, Richard "Shark Man" Naik, and Dylan Collins

Download: Right click here and select "Save Target As..."
Subscribe: iTunes | Zune | RSS

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.