Number 31 - Thumper, Octopath Traveler, Pokémon Emerald

THIS WEEK:
Minty has popped back to Skyrim's Tamriel as a man with magic mitts. 

Chris has popped Super Mario Maker into his 3DS, and found what is perhaps the only 'hidden gem' in the core Mario franchise. 

Jonathan has popped between Animal Crossing and the Last of Us, seesawing between glorious climes and azure waters, and bleak, post-apocalyptic ruins.  

ALSO THIS WEEK:
Chris goes biblical with his description of Thumper, a dreadful, visceral 'rhythm violence' game best experienced in VR. 

Jonathan recounts his time with Octopath Traveller, a sprawling RPG that follows an octet of lads and lasses in a tilt-shifted, pop-up book world.

Minty takes you to the cinema (remember the cinema?) to collect a special Pokémon in Emerald, one of the GBA's strongest entries in the Poké-pantheon.

What a love-er-ley bunch of video games!

Number 37 - Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, Doom, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

After almost two years in the video game trenches, our heroes, Jonathan, Chris and Minty, have reached number 37 on their lists. 

Jonathan strikes fear into Chris' heart as he nears the end of construction on his Super Mario Maker 2 Super World, and then invites us all to Golf with Friends. Chris tarts up his Animal Crossing island, and beams with admiration at two indie games: Gone Home and Desert Child. Minty treads water with a smidgen of Dead Cells, a pinch of Labyrinth of Refrain, and lashings of hot Disgaea 5.

Bust kickflips and boneless pop shove its with the excellent Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Batter hellspawn with a twelve gauge in the genre-defining Doom. Wrestle with the sombre sense of isolation (but also the Wiimote controls) of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Better than Panzer Dragoon Saga? Why don't YOU tell US.

Number 38 - 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Panzer Dragoon Saga

The games start coming, and they don't stop coming, eh?

Tetris Attack, a game in no way connected to Tetris entertains Mr Dow. Mr Booth continues to flit merrily through Labyrinth of Refrain, but also returns to Dead Cells. Mr Dunn brings a veritable cavalcade of games to the table as he continues to make progress in Lonely Mountains, New Horizons, as well as his magnum epic Super World opus in Super Mario Maker 2.

Then, our number 38s. 

Monsieur 'Egyptian Boat' gets tangled in his attempts to talk up the visual novel 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, without, y'know, just explaining the novel itself. Good endings! Bad endings! Layered endings!

Monsieur 'Enclosed Seating at a 60s Diner' gets all fired up talking about the high point in flat Mario's role-playing offshoot Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. Chapters! Consoles with handles! Battle towers!

Monsieur Completed Task relives Chris' agony at placing Panzer Dragoon Saga too low on the list after a modern replay, by placing it too low on his list after, you guessed it, a modern replay. Artistry! Scale! Parallels to Japanese anime! 

Bleedin' 'eck. How on EARTH are there still 37 games better than these?

Number 39 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, New Super Mario Bros, Panzer Dragoon Saga

It's a week of - q u e s t i o n s -

ROUND ONE
Will Minty continue his meteoric quiz comeback?
How is Minty doing with the big bees of Labyrinth of Refrain, a dungeon crawler he hasn't picked up since the beginning of the podcast? 
How many games has Jonathan beaten during a fallow period of self-employment due to lockdown? 
Can you count the number of racing games the boys lavish praise upon in the first fifteen minutes of the episode? 
Why is Streets of Rage 4 so, so good?
Which VR game made Chris feel like he was truly 'in space'?

ROUND TWO
What is Minty's excuse for playing Skyrim for eleventy billion hours and not 100-percenting the main game?
Is Skyrim worth playing in virtual reality?
Just how 'new' was New Super Mario Bros? 
Why does Jonathan 'not accept' Super Mario Advance as a legitimate 2D Mario title?
Does Minty ever get bored when Chris and Jonathan get all toasty about the Sega Saturn?
And why is Chris simultaneously incredibly excited and dreadfully upset to talk about Panzer Dragoon Saga?

Phew!!
Answers on a postcard, team!

Number 42 - Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Super Mario Maker, Super Mario 64 DS

As April 2020, the longest month in recorded history, draws to a close, Our Three Cents is back to give your earholes a tickle with our sultry voices. 

Are we still playing Animal Crossing?
Has Jonathan really turned to the dark side and started playing on, deep breath, the Xbox One? 
Which VR games has Chris been using to escape from the reality of L O C K D O W N?

Then, hear us get excited about THREE distinct Mario games. Three! THREE!!

Mario… in a stomach! 
Mario 64… but not on the N64!
Mario… that you make yourselves?

Nintendo's mascot there; as equally comfortable in an RPG, a 3D platformer, or a sandbox creation toolbox. Doff your red cap in honour of his genre-hopping maleability.

Number 44 - Worms Armageddon, Banjo-Tooie, Donkey Kong Country

We are reliably informed that it's... Monday? In the absence of any real societal markers of time and date, why not use this weekly episode of Our Three Cents as a reminder that yes, time is passing, and yes, video games still exist.

There's more Animal Crossing chat, naturally, as well as opinions on Doom 64, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, some eShop bargains, and… TETRIS. 

Chris adds Worms Armageddon to the list of games revered by all three cents alongside Fantasy Life. Minty makes the extreeemely controversial statement (can you tell it's one of the other Centurions who writes these blurbs?) that Banjo-Tooie is the best game on the Nintendo 64. Finally, Jonathan swells with joy talking about Rare's pre-rendered sprite classic, Donkey Kong Country.

WORMS
BEAR AND BACKPACK BIRD
MONKEYS

Oh, we do spoil you!

Number 45 - Diddy Kong Racing, Pokémon Black 2, Fallout 3

The boys are playing Animal Crossing, of course, but what else is floating our collective boats?

Are Chris and Jonathan going to be able to keep up their Ring Fit regimes? Why has the Panzer Dragoon remake rankled the J-man? Which eShop games are worth your pocket change? Which Gameboy exclusive sequel has Chris's heart all afloat? 

Then, after the dust has settled on our April Fools fake out, what are our ACTUAL 45th favourite games of all time? 

Chris gets a bit over excited talking about Diddy Kong Racing, the 'best racing game on the N64'; Minty explains why the weird animals and cultural pastiche of Pokémon Black 2 beats out much of its franchise competition; and Jonathan emerges from the depths of vault 101 to explain why the post-nuclear wasteland in Fallout 3 stands head and shoulders above its sequels. 

If you'd like to argue with us about any of this week's opinions, feel free to use the following sentence pro formas:

• "CHRIS is wrong about Diddy Kong! Mario Kart 64 is truly the best kart racer on the Nintendo 64 BECAUSE..."

• "MINTY is wrong about Black 2! Generation 1/2/3/4/6/7 (delete as appropriate) is much stronger BECAUSE..."

• "JONATHAN is wrong about Fallout 3! 4 was a true evolution of the series BECAUSE..."

Be safe, stay home.

Number 46 - Final Fantasy VII, Parodius: Fantastic Journey, Luigi’s Mansion 2

Hey, hey, kids! 

Have you ever played Final Fantasy VII, Parodius: The Fantastic Journey or Luigi's Mansion 2? 

If so, listen in and see what we thought of the games you may have loved or loathed. And if not so, maybe we can talk you into giving them a blast? 

We three cents place hands firmly on our hearts and suggest that this generation defining RPG, this cutesy, parody shoot 'em up, and this.. hoover simulator (?) are all very, very worthy of your time. 

Also this week: Jonathan finishes Outer Wilds, Minty doesn't finish Tales of Vesperia, and Chris gets someone else to finish Limbo.

Number 47 - Bastion, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Sonic R

Another episode? A whole one?
Fair enough. 

Is Minty still playing that Tales game? Is Jonathan likely to beat the 400 hour long Witcher 3 before Animal Crossing: New Horizons releases? Can Chris contain his excitement at winning his first Tetris Invictus Maximus?

Then the rankings. Ohhhh, the rankings. 

Three games that we felt were very good. Three games that we felt were SO very good, that we took the time to talk them up within the very podcast you hold digitally in your hand. 

The sumptuously narrated space-Western, Bastion.
The gorgeous, expansive collectathon masquerading as an action RPG, Xenoblade Chronicles X.
...and Sonic R?

We love games and we love you. 

(please wash your hands and take care of one another)

Number 48 - Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Firewatch, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap

As the weekend crumbles to dust, sweep away the Monday blues and listen as the boys tell meandering stories about their 48th favourite video games of ALL. TIME.

TUROK 2 and its BULLETS and GUNS
FIREWATCH and its WALKIE TALKIES
WONDER BOY 3 and its TRANSFORMATIONS

...but before we do that, perhaps you'll appreciate the long awaited return of the quiz pun? Or enjoy mulling over the thought of Ralph Fiennes hypothetically voicing the mammalian face of capitalism? Or share in Jonathan's disappointment in the relative calorific deficit of Level-5's Snack World, Chris's off-hand lamentations on The Simpson's gradual decline, or Minty's travel log through the impossibly named factions and cities of Tales of Vesperia?

PLUS: Chris does a -LOT- of laughing. 

Come and have fun with us. 

Number 50 - Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, Portal 2

“Jeremy, are you insane?!”

We’re only halfway ruddy there! Come with us into our second season where we discuss, among other things, a video game licensing clusterf*ck, a 128-bit space opera specific graphics card, and the irrefutable truths of the internet!

Also this week, Chris goes subsurface in a circular fashion in Mike Bithell’s latest video game creation. Find out if Minty & Mrs Minty can escape their latest mobile room game in Nox. And what pics will Jonathan’s paths make in his latest mobile addiction, PathPix?

We have hit the ground running as we go into our Top 50, so grab hold of this podcast bus and come with us on a video game journey, a videogourney. 

Number 56 - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Time Crisis 2, Viewtiful Joe

Oh boy! In a bumper episode, hear the trio chop through a massive stack of games they've played recently, as well as their usual three listed all-time favourites!

Would you like to know our thoughts on The World Next Door, Metal Wolf Chaos, or Forager? How about Ni No Kuni and its sequel, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, or Bloodstained? Maybe Ring Fit Adventure, Luigi's Mansion 3, or Pokémon Sword and / or Shield? Or even the varied entries in the Cube Escape series of mobile games? 

For this week's numbered entries, Minty goes for a splash with the Gamecube's legendary Wind Waker and regales its avian-come-oceanic story with the gusto of a Jackanory presenter; Chris shoots some baddies with a plastic pistol and a bulky cathode ray tube television in the fantastic home port of Time Crisis 2; and Jonathan goes deep on the late Clover Studio's ridiculously stylish whack-em-up Viewtiful Joe.

big deep breath 

So come along and enjoy some of O3C's most impressive expletive bleeping, some silly callbacks for long term fans, everyone's favourite Pokémon, 'Floopididoop', as well as a LOT of curry.

Bonus Level - Wellbeing Special

Thursday the 10th of October marks World Mental Health Awareness day. In recognition of this, our trio tell personal stories of how videogames can be a force for good in managing mental health and periods of distress or low mood.

Clone Hero, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, A Link to the Past, Alto's Adventure, Tetris, and Super Mario Bros 3. Disparate games linked here by their ability to make our triumvirate slow down, refocus, and calm.

Videogames may not be the solution for everyone, but we at Our Three Cents firmly believe in their value as tools for offering escapism, structure, or soothing nostalgia when the world seems a difficult place.

Much love to all listening. Be kind to one another.

Number 67 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Metroid Fusion, Ico

It’s another week, and a Bank Holiday Monday, so what better way to enjoy your bonus time than by listening to this week’s episode! We discuss mobile games, virtual reality and disappointing woodland adventures. And Feathers are ruffled in the rankings this week, as we discuss what it feels like to be scared, what it feels like to be small and, most importantly, just how much starch belongs in a floppy green hat! 

And if that doesn’t get you listening, I know that you’re going to want to know which game has a tenuous link to the forgotten, and incredibly niche Sega Saturn release, Enemy Zero. Listen on to find out!

Number 68 - Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse, The End is Nigh, Pokémon FireRed

This week on Our Three Cents, the chaps tackle another eclectic tryptic of games in the form of a significantly-formative childhood gaming experience featuring a mouse; an expectation-subverting modern platformer featuring a tumour; and an abbreviation-smattered classic RPG remake featuring some running shoes!

Also on the docket for discussion are Chris’ veritable summer-holiday-gaming stampede of activity; Jonathan’s veritable summer-holiday-gaming descent into pure unadulterated wartime bleakness; and Minty’s veritable summer-holiday-gaming instigation of Chris’ robo-dino-phobic beliefs!

More hyphenations than you can shake a stickily-sticky stick at!

Deal with it.