#096 - "Did You Know That SMB2 Is..." (Doki Doki Panic)
If Nintendo was right in keeping Lost Levels away from the NES, the unpredictable rise of speedrunning, what your favorite Mario character s...
Radio and PodcastLive Radio & Podcasts
Games & Hobbies
Mage Cast
An ensemble podcast hosted by the Well-Red Mage and a rotating roster of guests casting their magical insights on video games, one title at a time.
Episodes
20 of 93 episodes
#095 - "No Japanese Required" (Famicom)
Your favorite imports you've never played and why they didn't come to the West in the first place, the differences between transla...
#091 - "New Game Plus" (MageCast X remake)
Introducing MageCast X, the newly rebranded podcast! Meet returning host Moses aka the Well-Red Mage and Jared aka CriterionX as we start th...
#092 - "A Colossal Return" (Shadow of the Colossus)
Nostalgia vs new experiences, improving upon a masterpiece, facing the colossi of grief, methods for dealing with loss, and asking if the he...
#089 - "Back to Loc Lac" (Monster Hunter Tri)
The innovations of Monster Hunter on the Wii, the challenge of underwater combat, restoring what was lost when the online servers went down,...
#088 - "The Textual Revolution" (King's Quest)
The key differences between adventure and role-playing games, tinkering with the Adventure Game Interactive engine, existing in a game world...
#087 - "Jurassic World of Warcraft" (Total War: Warhammer II)
Tabletop wargaming in the 90s, the difference between strategy and tactics, macromanaging and micromanaging for the uninitiated, and how to...
#086 - "Wanna Take You For A Ride" (Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes)
American, Japanese, and Australian arcades, #FreeMvC2, the best characters not in the game, the death of 2D AAA animation, and why more figh...
#085 - "Channel-6 Player Melee in Manhattan" (TMNT: Shredder's Revenge)
The lasting appeal of the TMNT, the original voice cast for the 4 shell-heads, the turtles as personality archetypes, and how to nail retro...
#084 - "Simon SNEZ" (Super Castlevania IV)
The dark lord of censorship and the puritanical cultural movement fueling it, what makes a game a horror game, fake Castlevania titles, the...
#083 - "An Introvert's Guide to Geology, Dating, and Horticulture" (Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town)
The idealized work of video games contrasted with the manual labor of real life, the value and practicality of play, the very first farm sim...
#082 - "You're Gonna Need A Bigger Podcast" (Jaws)
A randomized single-screen permadeath shmup roguelike with a stalker enemy, top-down overworld, and RPG elements, speedrunning and shark wee...
#081 - "Hayao Miyazaki's Legend of Zelda" (Crystalis)
Oppenheimer, the Cold War, the Bomb, and Crystalis, a hidden gem or cult classic? Plus learning to forgive the negative qualities of retro g...
#080 - "Do the Mario" (Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix)
How Dance Dance Revolution lived and died on home consoles, how classical music actually fits the Marioverse, and how to think of rhythm gam...
#079 - "Finger Prince" (Elden Ring)
Navigating the swamps of difficulty discussion, inspirations behind FromSoft's latest going all the way back to the NES, two very diffe...
#078 - "Super Mario's Second Family" (The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening)
We are the music makers but are you the dreamer or merely part of someone else's dream...? I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is MAGE...
#077 - "A Lynx to the Past" (Radical Dreamers)
A chronological interpretation of the Chrono series in earnest pursuit of Magus and Schala, a deep dive into the lore of Cross and Trigger,...
#076 - "Ted Sephiroth" (Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin)
Nomura's Big Reveal, a Final Fantasy multiverse, how to hijack a creative project with bad marketing, how to love an experience whilst...
#075 - "Abzulutely not a Swimulator" (Abzu)
What is a game? What is play? Join me as we explore these questions, discovering the myths of Abzu, the identity of the Diver, walking simul...
#074 - "Games On Consoles Deader Than Uncle Ben" (Spider-Man)
The uniqueness of Spider-Man as a character, the difficulty adapting him to games, the Uncle Ben storytelling trope, an overview of more Spi...