Unlocking What Was Cool

Sum 41 - All Killer No Filler

Neil and Mike explore if this album really is all killer, and no filler and the answer? Yes, Dave's mom should NOT have had an abortion. Some Say (pun intended) that this album is the group's best and it's hard to argue that statement. With killer tracks like the ultimate summer jam 'In Too Deep', a crazy rap rock mix with 'Fat Lip' and an Iron Maiden-esque closer in 'Pain For Pleasure', Sum 41 showed off their chops and proved that they weren't just some one-off Canadian pop punk band, they were here to stay. The boys remember when they first heard some of these songs and go track by track as they breakdown the music, the lyrics, and even the iconic music videos. Come be a casualty of society and check out the latest album of Unlocking What Was Cool!

Seinfeld: Season 1

A show about nothing and a podcast about...something? Mike & Neil discuss the first season of the seemingly timeless Seinfeld to celebrate 25 years since the finale aired! While it didn't go out on the greatest stride this show has defined so many people's lives and has a had a huge impact and only gotten more relatable to Mike & Neil as they've aged. Season 1 with episodes like the stake out, male unbonding (the only episode not to have a "the" prefix) and of course the pilot, we see the roots of sitcom gold growing into a cultural phenomenon that still echoes loudly today.

Super Monkey Ball 1&2

It's time to go BANANAS! Neil and Mike are back talking about Super Monkey Ball just as they did back on episode 12 of the GameCube Was Cool Podcast. This time their focus is entirely on the first two entries in the franchise and they bring on friend of the show Cara to discuss her memories playing this game back in the day (and of course who could forget that arcade cabinet with the banana joystick). GonGon, AiAi, Baby and many more are here to partake in some marble madness style gameplay. A franchise that since has had ups and downs, and even a remake on the Switch, for many people Super Monkey Ball will always be synonymous with the GameCube. Like the back of the case says, warn your neighbours! and come on down to monkey island to enjoy this latest episode of the podcast.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Our May Patreon topic winner is a timely one, Breath of The Wild, the game that completely reinvented both Nintendo and the Zelda franchise. With Tears of the Kingdom out now it's an appropriate time to look back 6 years ago to when the world was young, and we knew very little about this dazzling open world adventure. Mike & Neil look back on the day they picked up the Switch and BOTW and chat about their initial thoughts and memories of this amazing title. Surely they boys will go back to this game in 10 years time and look back on it even more fondly (and with many MANY guests) but for now, and hour or so will do to remember and celebrate the Zelda series.

The Truman Show

The world's favourite Satirical Science Fiction, Psychological Comedy, Drama Film is celebrating it's 25th anniversary and Mike and Neil are here to watch all the drama unfold live on the air on THE TRUMAN SHOW! An amazingly prescient movie, The Truman Show goes down as Jim Carrey's finest dramatic role and one of the best movies of the 90s. Reality TV before Reality TV and an allegory for social media some 10 years before this film does an amazing job at captivating the audience before we see if Truman can escape this reality. And if we don't see you later, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!

Star Wars Battlefront II

This is where the fun begins. May the Fourth be with you all! For the first time Star Wars day falls on a Thursday allowing Mike & Neil to bring you some quality space content in the form of Star Wars Battlefront II. No no, not the 2017 one but the classic 2005 Pandemic Studios outing that set the stage for what shooters could be and how to properly to justice to a galactic size franchise. With so many characters, battlefronts, and modes, this is truyl one of the best all encompassing experiences a fan could ever want. Jedigeekgirl of the irebel podcast joins the show to talk about her memories of the game and it's impact. The boys also talk about the series and the ill-fated Battlefront 3 with land to space technology that we've still never truly seen since. 

Early Internet Experiences

Hear that? It's the sound of you waiting 3 minutes for AOL to connect. That unmistakable sound of pure noise that you'll never get out of your head. But hey there's more to the early internet that popping in that AOL disc and logging on! Mike and Neil talk about their second patreon elected episode, Early Internet Experiences, chronicling the period of around 1998 to 2006 when the boys were learning about Funkjunk.com, newgrounds, and learning to play Runescape and care for the Neopets. It was a wild, more primal era of the internet as we know it with no Google, YouTube or social media but hey, we had MySpace and Ask Jeeves okay?

Tony Hawk’s Underground

There's nothing quite like landing your very first kickflip wearing DC shoes, an Element hoodie, and a Circa cap. Well, you may never actually done this in real life but Tony Hawk's Underground, or THUG (turning 20 this year!), gave you the amazing opportunity to create your own character, customize their look, their deck, and even their tricks, and explore tons of amazing levels while teaming up with ultra famous skate icons like Mr. Hawk, Bob Burnquist, Chad Muska, and so many more. THUG is a landmark game in the genre that pushed the boundaries of what a sports game should be by letting you get off your board and explore the world around you. Mike & Neil bring on friends of the show Stefan and Harrison to revisit this game that they talked about almost 3 years ago and what the future holds for Tony Hawk Games and that weird monster T.H.U.D.

Linkin Park’s Meteora

It's 2003, your friends just invited you to Warped Tour, you go with you walkman that can't seem to play any of your CDs properly anymore. You take out Big Shiny Tunes 6 and put in your newest purchase from MusicWorld, the follow up the whole world has been waiting for: Meteora. Linkin Park came crashing on the scene with Hybrid Theory, an amazing debut album, but there's something to be said about being able to capture and grow the success from your previous album by delivering an equally great follow-up. Mike & Neil discuss their memories of this record, how it seemed like every single person they knew owned it, and how it's only grown in it's mythos over the years (especially those music videos!). They also discuss the 20th Anniversary edition of the record that includes some solid unreleased tracks and what Linkin Park means to them.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Your angel of death awaits! It's been 30 years since Batman: Mask of The Phantasm first premiered, in Theatres no less, and somehow this movie keeps climbing higher and higher on the critics' charts. Often referred to as one of the best superhero adaptations ever made and possibly the best Batman film around, this traditionally animated feature continues the legacy of Batman: The Animated Series. With a focus on a moody score, ambiguous motives, and an amazing neo noir art style, it's a fantastic, albeit short, slice of the best that Batman has to offer. Mike & Neil debate why we haven't seen the Phantasm appear in any media after this and if we'll ever see the caped crusader climb to these heights again. 

Looking Back at the 2030s

VictorChatBotGPT3.4 activated. Welcome to Episode 586 of The Unlocking What Was Cool Podcast. The show about all things retro that we loved from the past. New episode every Thursday on the only podcast service: Mickeycast - a division of ‘Disney Media’. - We are now the 9th best Podcast on the Metaverse hosted by 2 guys who were born pre-2020 pandemic. SURRENDER YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION TO OUR PAGE BOOMBUTT. WE ARE ALMOST AT 50 MILLION BUTTS. THIS WEEK we are talking a look back at a bunch of our favourite things from the 2030s. Its hard to imagine that it is 2040, so we thought it would be fun to highlight some cool things we got this decade. Enjoy the show! VictorChatBotGPT3.4 Terminate Message and the human race...

Format Wars: DVD, BluRay, VHS, CD, etc.

Since the beginning of time, humans have been unable to choose one format to rule them all. In the world of physical media there have been many challengers along the way. CDs vs. Casettes, VHS vs. Beta, VHS vs. DVDs, DVDs vs. Blu Rays, Blu Rays vs. HD DVDs. The list is endless but we're excited to talk about some of the best format wars the 20th century and early 21st century has had to offer. Join Mike & Neil as they dive in to their first ever episode topic picked by Patreon subscribers! The format wars begun, they have.

Roller Coaster Tycoon

Whether you're a true head and picked this up day one, or like Mike, you acquired this in your favourite cereal box, Chris Sawyer's Roller Coaster Tycoon is maybe one of the most perfect games ever made. Beautiful isometric graphics, insane amounts of customization, and with basically no bugs, this is a game that can be played by anyone, anywhere, all the time. Mike & Neil are joined by some friends of the show including Josh from the Still Loading podcast to talk about their memories of this title and of course the most efficient way to drown your guests. Sit back, relax, put on your panda costume, and enjoy the ride.

Luigi’s Mansion - Revisted

For today The GameCube Was Cool lives on in the form of our first revisited episode, looking back at one of the greatest launch titles ever, Luigi's Mansion. We first talked about this game all the way back in May 2020 in our second ever episode and it's time to do Mario's brother justice now that we've had three years to hone our craft. We reminisce about that second episode, talk about what's changed since, and bring on two extraordinary guests Kira @toonietwirls and enemy of the pod Ramon to discuss their memories first picking up this survival/horror title with a Nintendo spin. And we're also celebrating 10 years since Dark Moon was released! Enjoy this foray back into us talking about the greatest console of all time.

Weezer’s The Blue Album

Thirty years ago Rivers Cuomo wrote the songs along with his fellow bandmates that would become their first self-titled record, later labeled The Blue Album by fans and critics alike because the decided to make about a dozen other coloured self titled albums. Present day Weezer may be a far cry from 90s Weezer and basically have evolved into full meme form at this point but that won't stop Mike & Neil from covering them in their first album retrospective for Unlocking What Was Cool. Hear us talk about Buddy Holly, Say It Ain't So, and how cringe No One Else is today. Whether you take your car or your board to work, we hope you enjoy this episode. And if you're a patreon subscriber head over there to hear the episode with the tracks from the album included!

Kirby’s Return To Dreamland

Ladies and Gentlemen, WE ARE BACK! After a much needed vacation it's time to dive into some non-GameCube related media, starting with Kirby's best outing on the Wii (which evidently was supposed to be a GameCube game). Going with the "returning" themes of the episode, this game felt right to be our first to cover with the new format, as well as the deluxe edition being released on switch this week! We also bring back friend of the show and Kirby enthusiast Jake to talk about his memories playing this game in college and why multiplayer is where this game shines the most. Thanks for tuning in and welcome to Unlocking What Was Cool!

Madden 08 & The GameCube IS Cool

So it's come to this. The final episode. The GameCube is officially cool after hearing Neil read all 555 back of the cases and we couldn't be happier to send this era of the podcast off with a bang with...Madden 08? Yup, the last official release on the cube came in August of 2007 with this NFL title. But this episode is so much more than just a football game, it's about our two and a half years of podcasting, looking back on all our memories, some fun stats, and some really interesting stuff we've learned about the GameCube along the way. We'll be back in March with new content (yes even some GameCube content) but until then, enjoy the final episode of The GameCube Was Cool and thank you so much for all the support. This is our absolute favourite thing in the world to do and we couldn't have done it without you.

Happy Feet & Movie Tie-ins (2006-07)

As the GameCube library dwindles 2006 and 2007 gave us many, many movie tie-ins. Happy Feet, The Ant Bully, Open Season, Barnyard, Surf's Up, Flushed Away, and Meet The Robinsons are the games Neil and Mike have the pleasure (or sometimes displeasure) of talking about on this penultimate episode. The story here is that most of these games are okay, but in reality, they probably never needed to be made in the first place. Alas this was the golden era of the movie tie-in and literally everything needed a game. There are some fun inclusions here like Surf's Up being a pretty fun and rare surfing sim on the GameCube, Barnyard turning out to be a pretty cool pseudo Open World game, and Meet the Robinsons being a Jimmy Neutron clone. All this and more on the second last episode of The GameCube Was Cool!

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

It's time for the final AAA release on the Nintendo GameCube. Twilight Princess, the original dual console release for the Zelda franchise, always seems to be the dark horse (or dark wolf) of the series. Through a bundled release with the Wii where the screen got flipped to make Link right handed, to the Wii U remastered version, Twilight Princess seems to always fly under the radar. Neil and Mike discuss why this installment may be one of the greatest games ever made, with an incredible story, great characters, and subtle innovation on gameplay. Joining the boys are friends of the show Cam (@Cpawx), Kira (@toonietwirls) and Tristian (@tristanpantarotto). Bring your master sword and join us for the final Zelda episode of the show!

Over The Hedge & Movie Tie-ins (2005-06)

As the end nears for the GameCube's library Mike and Neil look back on 7 movie tie-in games for the cube. Including the stand out Over The Hedge which has some amazing golf cart vehicular combat that friend of the show Anneka comes on to talk about. Chronicles of Narnia, Robots, Ice Age 2, Madagascar, and Chicken Little round out the list of the many, many late GameCube games which also happened to be movie tie-ins. For the most part they're fun titles who's movies really didn't have enough game-y elements for a video game to be made of them, but hey, this was the mid 2000s where literally everything had to have a game (yes, even the Bee movie!). 

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