The NXpress Nintendo Podcast
The NXpress Nintendo Podcast is Goomba Stomp‘s award-winning flagship podcast, a weekly show focusing on all things Nintendo.
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Episodes
Wednesday Feb 01, 2023
Wednesday Feb 01, 2023
Are ya ready to engage, kids? This week on the NXpress Nintendo Podcast, Cameron Daxon, Marc Kaliroff, and Campbell Gill review two of January’s biggest (and perhaps controversial) Switch games: Fire Emblem Engage and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake.
First thing first, Marc takes the gang to a pineapple under the sea to review SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake, the spiritual successor to 2020’s hit remake Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated. While this 3D platformer cleverly renders many fan-favorite ideas and locations from the show, its sense of humor and routine gameplay can make the game a bit of a hard sell for all but the most diehard spongeheads.
Moving onto the biggest talking point, we come to the beautifully mixed bag that is Fire Emblem Engage. Marc walks the gang through the highs and lows in this latest entry in the long-running strategy series: while the story can be almost laughably bad with generic worldbuilding and unlikeable characters, the gameplay has perhaps never been as fun as it is here. Despite its issues, is Engage still worth a recommendation? Marc answers all this and more.
Don’t forget: If you want to suggest a discussion topic, share your thoughts on a recent episode, or simply chat with the NXpress crew, feel free to email us at videogameseditor@goombastomp.com!
You can listen to our show on YouTube | Stitcher | iTunes | Podbean | Spotify | Listen Notes | iHeartRadio | Player FM | Amazon Audible
Playlist:LFXIV – NXpress Intro0:39 – Main Event: Persona 3 Portable & Persona 4 Golden Reviews“Stadium Rave A” – SpongeBob SquarePants23:00 – Main Event Continued: Social Links and More!“Fire Emblem Theme” – Fire Emblem Engage
Thursday Jan 26, 2023
Thursday Jan 26, 2023
Baby, baby, baby! This week on the NXpress Nintendo Podcast, Cameron Daxon, Marc Kaliroff, and Campbell Gill are joined by very special guest James Cook for another Persona spectacular. After their last all-out discussion of the Persona 5 Switch port a few months back, the gang is back together for a wide-ranging conversation on the long-awaited Switch ports of Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable. Now that these classic RPGs have finally made their debut on Switch, the question remains: is it worth returning to Inaba or climbing the tower of Tartarus once again?
Of course, both games are classics in their own right. Maybe they’re starting to show their age, but they still shine in their own ways: Persona 3 might just be the most thematically consistent entry in the series, and Persona 4 Golden thrives in its upbeat sense of style. From social links to part-time jobs to dungeon exploration to the all-important waifu wars, the gang dissects everything that makes these games work so well–while looking ahead to the future of the series altogether.
Whether you’re a first-time player coming from Persona 5 or a series veteran, these Switch ports offer a brilliant way to experience these cult classics.
Don’t forget: If you want to suggest a discussion topic, share your thoughts on a recent episode, or simply chat with the NXpress crew, feel free to email us at videogameseditor@goombastomp.com!
You can listen to our show on YouTube | Stitcher | iTunes | Podbean | Spotify | Listen Notes | iHeartRadio | Player FM | Amazon Audible
Playlist:LFXIV – NXpress Intro0:39 – Main Event: Persona 3 Portable & Persona 4 Golden Reviews“Opening Theme” – Persona 4 Golden44:00 – Main Event Continued: Social Links and More!“Pursuing My True Self” – Persona 4 Golden
Monday Jan 23, 2023
Monday Jan 23, 2023
A new year means new adventures in the backlog. This week on the NXpress Nintendo Podcast, Cameron Daxon, Marc Kaliroff, and Campbell Gill return from a brief podcasting hiatus to revisit their favorite New Year’s topic: exploring their backlogs. The gang had plenty of time to delve into their ever-present backlogs over the break, and now they’re ready to share their impressions and hot takes. This simple recap soon grows into a bigger discussion altogether: was the original Portal actually any good? Is Skyward Sword a better Zelda than Link’s Awakening? What does the ending of Limbo actually mean? All this and so much more in this surprisingly in-depth tour-de-force discussion!
As the main event draws to a close, the indie spotlight begins. While Cameron shares a few disappointed thoughts about Lone Ruin, a Hades-esque roguelike that failed to meet expectations, Campbell has much more enthusiasm for Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, a nonsensically named 2D action game giving us what we all really need: a robot ninja adventure. Inspired by Shinobi, Strider, and Mega Man X, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is an intensely demanding adventure that tempers its retro difficulty with some incredibly creative items, quality-of-life improvements, and some brilliantly creative level designs.
Don’t forget: If you want to suggest a discussion topic, share your thoughts on a recent episode, or simply chat with the NXpress crew, feel free to email us at videogameseditor@goombastomp.com!
You can listen to our show on YouTube | Stitcher | iTunes | Podbean | Spotify | Listen Notes | iHeartRadio | Player FM | Amazon Audible
Playlist:LFXIV – NXpress Intro0:39 – Main Event: Tales From the Backlog: What We Played Recently“File Select” – The Legends of Zelda: Link’s Awakening1:00:30 – Indie Spotlight: Lone Ruin & Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider“Title” – The Legends of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Monday Jan 02, 2023
Monday Jan 02, 2023
Let’s a-go into a new year! This week on the NXpress Nintendo Podcast, Cameron Daxon, Marc Kaliroff, and Campbell Gill send off a momentous year with their final podcast recorded in 2022, and ring in a new year with an episode full of hot takes and spicy Nintendo predictions for 2023. Before all that, though, what better way to welcome the new year than with triumphant fanfare? The gang responds to a listener question by discussing their favorite fanfare themes in video games, and from Final Fantasy to Mario to Kirby to Metal Gear, they certainly have plenty to pick from!
Then, to the Main Event: predicting Nintendo’s 2023. We have a whole new year ahead of us, full of possibilities for surprises from the Big N. The gang takes turns making bold predictions about what Nintendo fans can look forward to: could this be the year we see Wind Waker HD on Switch, Advance Wars 1+2 Re-boot Camp make its long-delayed debut, or a new 3D Mario game to align with the upcoming movie? Will we ever see Metroid Prime 4, or the elusive next-gen Switch? The gang offer their takes on all these questions and more!
Last but absolutely not least, Cameron closes out the show with an RPG extravaganza centered on the excellent new indie adventure Chained Echoes. Taking after the best SNES JRPGs of the roleplaying Golden Age, Chained Echoes is a gripping take on the classic genre formula with plenty of modern conveniences thrown in to boot. Turn-based battles, an engaging plot, and plenty of controllable super mechs, Chained Echoes has a little bit of everything you could want–and this discussion leads into a broader conversation on other great RPGs on Switch (Final Fantasy VII, anyone?).
All this and more in this week’s episode of NXpress. Happy 2023, everybody!
Don’t forget: If you want to suggest a discussion topic, share your thoughts on a recent episode, or simply chat with the NXpress crew, feel free to email us at videogameseditor@goombastomp.com!
You can listen to our show on YouTube | Stitcher | iTunes | Podbean | Spotify | Listen Notes | iHeartRadio | Player FM | Amazon Audible
Playlist:LFXIV – NXpress Intro0:39 – Talking Point: Stocking Stuffers and Nintendo Switch Gifts“New Year’s Countdown – 1 Hour” – Animal Crossing: Wild World18:30 – Main Event: Ranking The Best Nintendo Switch Games of 2022“New Year’s Countdown – 15 Minutes” – Animal Crossing: New LeafIndie Spotlight: Chained Echoes“Happy New Year!” – Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Friday Dec 23, 2022
Friday Dec 23, 2022
The Best Nintendo Switch Games of 2022
Who will come out on top? This week on the NXpress Nintendo Podcast, Cameron Daxon, Marc Kaliroff, and Campbell Gill participate in a time-honored tradition: ranking the 22 best Nintendo Switch games of 2022. Before that momentous task, however, the gang celebrates the holiday season by sharing their top Nintendo-themed stocking stuffer hits. No matter how big or small your stocking might be, the NXpress crew has some surefire wins for the NIntendo fans on your holiday shopping list!
And then, to the main event–the moment we’ve been waiting for all year: ranking the best Nintendo Switch Games of 2022. It’s been a momentous year for the Big N, to say the very least, with releases ranging from eagerly anticipated sequels, shocking remakes, and long, long-overdue ports, making it no easy task for the Goomba Stomp team to rank this year’s best Nintendo titles. Yet rank them we did, so the NXpress gang is here to talk about each and every entry: from Splatoon 3 to Shovel Knight Dig, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge to Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the team combs through the year’s biggest Switch hits to see which one comes out on top.
Don’t forget: If you want to suggest a discussion topic, share your thoughts on a recent episode, or simply chat with the NXpress crew, feel free to email us at videogameseditor@goombastomp.com!
You can listen to our show on YouTube | Stitcher | iTunes | Podbean | Spotify | Listen Notes | iHeartRadio | Player FM | Amazon Audible
Playlist:LFXIV – NXpress Intro0:39 – Talking Point: Stocking Stuffers and Nintendo Switch Gifts“Silver Snow Story” – Kirby Triple Deluxe18:30 – Main Event: Ranking The Best Nintendo Switch Games of 2022“Super Mario Sleigh Ride” – The One Ups
Monday Dec 19, 2022
Monday Dec 19, 2022
And the award goes to…Bill Clinton? This week on the NXpress Nintendo Podcast, Cameron Daxon, Marc Kaliroff, and Campbell Gill celebrate Awards Season by reacting to the good, the bad, and the utterly bizarre at the 2022 Game Awards, along with reviews of the much-anticipated Switch RPGs Harvestella and Crisis Core – Final Fantasy VII – Reunion.
The gang kicks things off by running through the biggest announcements at the Game Awards of 2022 that were most relevant to Nintendo fans. From a sequel to one of the best roguelikes on the market to a surprise follow-up to a controversial award winner, the show certainly did bring a few exciting bits of news for fans of the Big N. Yet nothing compares to the biggest delight of the show: a new trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which goes where few other game movies have gone before: using music from the source material in the actual film. What a novelty!
Next up, Cameron turns things down a notch with impressions of two Square Enix RPGs that might fail to meet expectations. First up is Harvestella, the apocalypse-meets-farming-sim whose promising premise suffers under a repetitive, basic, and surprisingly barebones gameplay loop. Then, there’s the baffling Crisis Core, a followup to Final Fantasy VII with an excellent remaster for modern platforms that does little to address the oddities of the original release.
Don’t forget: If you want to suggest a discussion topic, share your thoughts on a recent episode, or simply chat with the NXpress crew, feel free to email us at videogameseditor@goombastomp.com!
You can listen to our show on YouTube | Stitcher | iTunes | Podbean | Spotify | Listen Notes | iHeartRadio | Player FM | Amazon Audible
Playlist:LFXIV – NXpress Intro0:39 – Main Event: The Game Awards 2022“Opening – Bombing Mission” – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate27:00 – What We’ve Been Playing: Disappointing RPGs“Genova” – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Deck the halls with Triforce shards! This week on the NXpress Nintendo Podcast, Cameron Daxon, Marc Kaliroff, and Campbell Gill ring in the holiday season with the help of Nintendo’s green-capped hero. All three hosts have holiday memories with the Zelda series, so the gang shares their favorite Christmas and Hanukkah moments with the series, from A Link to the Past on the Super Nintendo up to the Switch’s own Breath of the Wild.
After that, the gang keeps the Zelda love coming as the beloved once-controversial The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker turns the big 2-0! For The Wind Waker’s 20th anniversary, the hosts celebrate this innovative title for its timeless visuals, inventive design, and surprisingly impactful story. It may not have been what audiences wanted in 2002, but twenty years later, it stands strong as one of the franchise’s most memorable entries. (Dear Nintendo, what better way to celebrate the occasion than a Switch port? Pretty please?)
Lastly, Marc closes things out with hands-on impressions of all the multiplayer titles on the N64 Nintendo Switch Online collection. Not all titles in the lineup may have aged gracefully, but between Mario Party, F-Zero, and even Star Fox 64, the console still shines as a multiplayer destination–and it’ll only get better whenever we finally get GoldenEye 007 on the service.
Don’t forget: If you want to suggest a discussion topic, share your thoughts on a recent episode, or simply chat with the NXpress crew, feel free to email us at videogameseditor@goombastomp.com!
You can listen to our show on YouTube | Stitcher | iTunes | Podbean | Spotify | Listen Notes | iHeartRadio | Player FM | Amazon Audible
Playlist:LFXIV – NXpress Intro0:39 – Main Event: Zelda Memories and The Wind Waker’s 20th“Title” – The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker35:00 – What We Have Been Playing: N64 Expansion Pak“White Land” – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Roll aroundat the speed of sound towards brighter frontiers! This week on the NXpress Nintendo Podcast, Cameron Daxon, Marc Kaliroff, and Campbell Gill spindash into an all-out extravaganza discussion of everyone’s favorite blue blur. Before reviewing Sonic Frontiers, the gang shares their thoughts on the latest trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie in all its glory. The trailer gave us a first look at Peach and Donkey Kong in the new film, as well as sneak peeks at so much more – will this partnership between Illumination and Nintendo raise the bar for video game movies?
Speeding along to the main event, Campbell and Cameron share their thoughts on the long-awaited, much-criticized Sonic Frontiers–and hell may as well have frozen over, because their impressions are downright glowing (at least by Sonic standards). After years of the Sonic cycle, Sonic Frontiers goes a massive way towards realizing the full potential of the 3D Sonic gameplay formula. The gang gushes about Frontiers’ excellent exploration, nuanced storytelling, head-banging music, and surprisingly satisfying combat–among much else. The game certainly isn’t perfect, but the boys feel optimistic about the future of the blue blur after Frontiers!
Last up, Marc caps off this speedy discussion with an indie spotlight on Lunistice, a bite-sized high-speed platformer that sets the bar for Sonic-likes.
Don’t forget: If you want to suggest a discussion topic, share your thoughts on a recent episode, or simply chat with the NXpress crew, feel free to email us at videogameseditor@goombastomp.com!
You can listen to our show on YouTube | Stitcher | iTunes | Podbean | Spotify | Listen Notes | iHeartRadio | Player FM | Amazon Audible
Playlist:LFXIV – NXpress Intro0:39 – Main Event: Mario Movie Second Trailer and Sonic Frontiers Review“Genshi” – Sonic Frontiers51:20 – Indie Spotlight: Lunistice Review“Theme of Koco” – Sonic Frontiers
Sunday Nov 27, 2022
Sunday Nov 27, 2022
Mixed feelings, I choose you! This week on the NXpress Nintendo Podcast, Cameron Daxon, Marc Kaliroff, and Campbell Gill are joined by friend of the show and Pokemon expert Bradley (AKA Yoshiller) to dive deep into their thoughts on the latest and quite possibly greatest entries in the Pokemon franchise, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. In this wide-ranging discussion, the panel dissects the games in all their glitchy glory by asking the big questions: is its open-world gameplay loop an improvement from previous games? How does the Tera mechanic work, and how does it affect competitive play? Does the lineup of included Pokemon meet expectations? And of course, the Cufant in the room: how bad is the performance really.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet may be trending on Twitter nonstop for all its insane glitches, but under the technically iffy surface lies one of the best Pokemon games in recent memory. The hosts share their varying experiences with the franchise leading up to this newest entry: whether you’re in it for the competitive mechanics, new Pokemon, or just the sweet vibes, the Paldea region truly does have it all, leading to the most refined Pokemon gameplay loop in years.
While the hosts grapple with the mountains of technical issues plaguing the game, at the end of the conversation, its clear that Pokemon fans will have something special to look forward to in Scarlet and Violet. All this and so much more in this Terastallized discussion!
Don’t forget: If you want to suggest a discussion topic, share your thoughts on a recent episode, or simply chat with the NXpress crew, feel free to email us at videogameseditor@goombastomp.com!
Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
10 years ago, the Wii U tripped, fell, and died–all so that the Switch could run. This week on the NXpress Nintendo Podcast, Cameron Daxon, Marc Kaliroff, and Campbell Gill commemorate the Wii U’s tenth anniversary, along with a healthy dose of new game impressions. Before that, though, the gang runs through the newly announced nominees for the Game Awards 2022, highlighting the obvious winners, underdogs, and bizarre inclusions (does Bayonetta 3 really deserve Best Action Game?).
Moving onto the main event, the gang celebrates 10 years since the Wii U made its big debut on November 18, 2012. The console was a mixed bag, to say the least: it paved the way for the Switch’s innovative hybrid structure, delivered some of the best multiplayer games in Nintendo’s catalog, and began Nintendo’s tight relationship with indie developers. At the same time, it struggled to hold third-party support, suffered form lackluster marketing, and a controller that, creative as it was, was severely limited. The hosts reflect on the good and the bad of the platform’s legacy, from its iconic games to its legendary Miiverse posts.
Next up, it’s time for a round of gameplay impressions. Cameron kicks things off with his initial thoughts on Harvestella, Square Enix’s farming-sim-turned-apocalyptic-RPG that may have a ludicrously slow pace but also features a creative and compelling gameplay loop. Campbell then shines an indie spotlight on Once Upon a Jester, an improvised medieval theatrical adventure that might just be one of the Switch’s silliest indies yet.
Don’t forget: If you want to suggest a discussion topic, share your thoughts on a recent episode, or simply chat with the NXpress crew, feel free to email us at videogameseditor@goombastomp.com!
You can listen to our show on YouTube | Stitcher | iTunes | Podbean | Spotify | Listen Notes | iHeartRadio | Player FM | Amazon Audible
Playlist:LFXIV – NXpress Intro0:39 – Main Event: 10 Years of the Wii U Discussion“Nintendo Land Melody” – Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Wii U44:00 – Spotlight: Lonesome Village Review and a Little to the Left Impressions“Menu Theme” – Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Wii U
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