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Grab your duel disk and prepare for the ultimate test of patience, because this week on Play Comics we’re shuffling into the notoriously punishing world of Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction for Game Boy Advance! This 2003 Konami creation took the beloved manga and anime franchise and somehow managed to turn it into a gaming experience more brutal than being sent to the Shadow Realm by a pack of rare holographic cards.

Based on the wildly popular Yu-Gi-Oh series that taught an entire generation that the real power of friendship is having really expensive cards, Reshef of Destruction promised an epic adventure featuring Yugi, Joey, and the gang facing off against an ancient evil. What it delivered was a grinding experience so merciless that even seasoned duelists found themselves questioning their life choices faster than you can say “Exodia, obliterate!”

Joining us for this masochistic journey through the world of impossibly difficult AI opponents and deck-building restrictions is the absolutely delightful Max Golden from The Pop Quiz Podcast. When he’s not busy creating the most creative trivia games known to humanity or making movie nights infinitely more entertaining, Max brings his pop culture expertise to help us understand how this handheld nightmare somehow spawned from one of the most beloved franchises in entertainment history.

So dust off that Game Boy Advance, practice your most dramatic card-playing poses, and prepare for an episode that’s guaranteed to be more satisfying than finally beating that one opponent who’s been destroying your carefully crafted deck for the past three hours. We’ll explore whether this digital duel was faithful to its source material, or if it just left us feeling like we’d been trapped in our own personal tournament from Hell.

Learn such things as:

• Why does grinding for cards feel more exhausting than actually working a real job?
• What happens when the AI cheats harder than a politician during election season?
• How many times can you fight Yugi before you start questioning your sanity?
• And so much more!

You can find Max as part of The Pop Quiz Podcast.

If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.

If you want to help support the show check out the Play Comics Patreon page or head over to the Support page if you want to go another route. You can also check out the Play Comics Merch Store.

Play Comics is part of the Gonna Geek Network, which is a wonderful collection of geeky podcasts. Be sure to check out the other shows on Gonna Geek if you need more of a nerd fix.

You can find Play Comics @playcomics.bsky.social on Bluesky, @playcomicscaston Twitter and in the Play Comics Podcast Fan Groupon Facebook.

A big thanks to D’OhMance Dawn and the Glitterjaw Podcast Collective for the promos today.

Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who was wearing a strangely evil smile when telling me to meet up in the shadow realm……

Support Play Comics by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/playcomics

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-89f00a for 40% off for 4 months, and support Play Comics.

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Holy hybridized heroes and gamma-powered game adaptations, comic crusaders! This week on Play Comics, we’re diving beak-first into the pixelated pandemonium that is Disney’s PK: Out of the Shadows for PS2 and GameCube – because apparently someone thought the best way to honor The New Papernick Adventures (or The Duck Avenger for us North American folks) was to trap Donald Duck’s superheroic alter ego in a 3D action-adventure that makes even the most patient gamers quack under pressure.

Released in 2002 by Ubisoft Casablanca, this cel-shaded space opera promised to let players wield PK’s X-Transformer gadgetry while battling the dastardly Evronians in their quest for galactic domination. What it actually delivered was a gaming experience that had all the depth of a Duckburg puddle and combat mechanics so repetitive that even One, PK’s AI companion, probably wished he could compute his way out of this digital disaster.

Joining us for this intergalactic expedition into mediocrity is Esh Johansen from the YouTube channel Fiction Addiction – a man who’s already subjected himself to this very game and lived to tell the tale with his signature blend of wit and existential gaming dread. Together, we’ll explore how this comic book adaptation managed to take one of Disney Italy’s most innovative sci-fi superhero series and transform it into a linear platformer that makes rescuing scientists feel like actual work.

So grab your cape and prepare for an episode that’s infinitely more entertaining than grinding through the same alien duck enemies for hours on end – which, let’s be honest, isn’t exactly setting the bar at Ducklair Tower heights. Will this Evronians-versus-earthlings adventure redeem itself through sheer nostalgic charm, or will it vanish into the shadows faster than Donald’s secret identity? Tune in to discover if this galactic game deserves a place in the Hall of Heroes… or should be banished to the Phantom Zone alongside Superman’s worst enemies!

Learn such things as:

• What else can Donald Duck get himself into?
• Did the developers even get to see the comics before working on this one?
• How many people are going to come ask me about doing other Disney Duck related games now?
• And so much more!

You can find Esh on YouTube @FictionAddiction.

If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.

If you want to help support the show check out the Play Comics Patreon page or head over to the Support page if you want to go another route. You can also check out the Play Comics Merch Store.

Play Comics is part of the Gonna Geek Network, which is a wonderful collection of geeky podcasts. Be sure to check out the other shows on Gonna Geek if you need more of a nerd fix.

You can find Play Comics @playcomics.bsky.social on Bluesky, @playcomicscaston Twitter and in the Play Comics Podcast Fan Groupon Facebook.

A big thanks to There Are Houses In The Woods (brought to you by Blue Frog Den Comics) and Distant Echos for the promos today.

Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who might have been arrested at the mall for stalking Donald Duck.

Support Play Comics by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/playcomics

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-89f00a for 40% off for 4 months, and support Play Comics.

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Get ready for some black-and-white mayhem that’s more chaotic than trying to untangle Christmas lights while wearing oven mitts! This week on Play Comics, we’re diving headfirst into the wonderfully ridiculous world of Spy vs Spy for the original Xbox—the 2005 game that took MAD Magazine’s iconic feuding spies and somehow convinced them to blow each other up in glorious 3D.

This delightfully deranged espionage extravaganza comes courtesy of the twisted minds at Vicious Cycle Software, who apparently looked at the classic NES version and thought, “You know what this needs? More explosions and better graphics!” Whether you’re here for the nostalgic callback to those legendary MAD TV shorts or you just enjoy watching cartoon spies meet their doom in increasingly creative ways, this episode promises to deliver more backstabbing action than a corporate boardroom during budget season.

Joining us for this masterclass in mutual assured destruction are two absolute legends from the podcasting world: Anthony Sytko and Doc Issues, the brilliant minds behind Capes on the Couch. When they’re not busy psychoanalyzing superheroes and providing much-needed therapy to fictional characters who definitely have trust issues, these two bring their expertise in comic psychology to help us understand why watching two spies repeatedly murder each other is somehow deeply satisfying.

So dust off that original Xbox controller, practice your best evil laugh, and prepare for an episode that’s guaranteed to be more explosive than a briefcase full of dynamite left by your nemesis. We’ll explore whether this modern take on the classic formula captured the essence of those timeless comic strips, or if it just left us feeling like we’d been caught in one of the White Spy’s elaborate traps.

Learn such things as:

• Does choosing Black Spy make you morally superior?
• How many ways can a cartoon spy die before it stops being funny?
• Why do we find such joy in elaborate revenge schemes involving household appliances?
• And so much more!

You can find Anthony and Doc @CapesOnTheCouch on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and of course the Capes on the Couch website.

If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.

If you want to help support the show check out the Play Comics Patreon page or head over to the Support page if you want to go another route. You can also check out the Play Comics Merch Store.

Play Comics is part of the Gonna Geek Network, which is a wonderful collection of geeky podcasts. Be sure to check out the other shows on Gonna Geek if you need more of a nerd fix.

You can find Play Comics @playcomics.bsky.social on Bluesky, and in the Play Comics Podcast Fan Groupon Facebook.

A big thanks to Escape the Mojoverse and The Monitor Tapes for the promos today.

Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who cloned himself and is both of the spies at the same time.

Support Play Comics by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/playcomics

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-89f00a for 40% off for 4 months, and support Play Comics.

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Welcome to another gloriously chaotic episode of Play Comics, where today’s adventure features everyone’s favorite lasagna-loving, Monday-hating tabby cat stumbling through the digital wasteland of Garfield: The Search for Pooky on the Game Boy Advance. Because apparently, losing a teddy bear is serious enough business to warrant an entire platforming odyssey filled with death pits, questionable physics, and mice that probably deserve their own organized crime documentary.

Joining us for this tale of feline desperation and handheld gaming horrors is the phenomenally creative Ryan Estrada—artist, author, and genuine adventurer who has somehow managed to create official comics for everyone from Star Trek to Popeye to (yes, indeed) Garfield himself. When he’s not crafting award-nominated graphic novels like Banned Book Club or wandering through actual adventures that sound like they belong in their own comic series, Ryan brings the perfect blend of insider knowledge and artistic sensibility to help us navigate this particular slice of orange cat chaos.

So grab your favorite plush companion (and maybe hide it somewhere safe), prepare for some seriously questionable level design choices, and settle in for an episode that explores what happens when beloved comic strip characters get translated into the unforgiving world of Game Boy Advance platforming. Will our heroes survive Garfield’s glacially-paced walking speed? Can anyone explain why this cat can leap tall buildings but still can’t find a simple teddy bear? And most importantly, does this game capture the essence of Jim Davis’s creation, or does it just make us want to curl up for a very long nap?

Learn such things as:

• Is there anything more important than lasagna and naps?
• Do you ever need to grow out of your favorite stuffed friend?
• How do you manage when your worst enemy is your own laziness? And does that make Garfield much deeper than we ever gave it credit for?
• And so much more!

You can find everything you could ever want to know about Ryan on RyanEstrada.com. Let’s see if anyone can pick out my favorite part. I’ll give you a hint, it’s on the home page.

If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.

If you want to help support the show check out the Play Comics Patreon page or head over to the Support page if you want to go another route. You can also check out the Play Comics Merch Store.

Play Comics is part of the Gonna Geek Network, which is a wonderful collection of geeky podcasts. Be sure to check out the other shows on Gonna Geek if you need more of a nerd fix.

You can find Play Comics @playcomics.bsky.social on Bluesky, @playcomicscaston Twitter and in the Play Comics Podcast Fan Groupon Facebook.

A big thanks to The Last Comic Shop and Life, Death, & Taxonomy for the promos today.

Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who was going to tell me something about what I’ve been saying here at the end of the show notes. And then realized that it just wasn’t worth the effort.

Support Play Comics by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/playcomics

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-89f00a for 40% off for 4 months, and support Play Comics.