The miNEStry: An NES Podcast
The miNEStry founders, Archbishop Dracul and Father Avram, seek to inspire their 8-bit parishioners through methodical and ceremonial scrutiny of the library of games on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
The miNEStry: An NES Podcast
"Solar Jetman"
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Tonight we are reflecting on Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship, a 1990 physics-based, multi-directional space adventure co-developed by Zippo Games and Rare and published by Tradewest.
Zippo was best known for Ironsword, the sequel to the Rare’s 1987 Wizards & Warriors. Rare had a solid relationship with publisher Tradewest releasing games together such as John Elway’s Quarterback, Taboo the Sixth Sense and Battletoads.
Tonight our visiting Deacon is Jeff Gabor.
The miNEStry founders, Archbishop Dracul and Father Avram, seek to inspire their 8-bit parishioners through methodical and ceremonial scrutiny of the library of games on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Good evening and welcome to the ministry. I am Archbishop Dracool, and alongside me is Father Avram. Our creed is to inspire our parishioners with reflections on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Tonight we are reflecting on Solar Jetman, Hunt for the Golden Warp Ship. A 1990 physics-based multi-directional space adventure co-developed by Zippo Games and Rare and published by TradeWest. Zippo was best known for Ironsword, the sequel to Rare's 1987 Wizards and Warriors. Rare had a solid relationship with publisher Trade West, releasing games together such as John Ellie's Quarterback, Taboo the Sixth Sense, and Battletoads. Tonight our visiting Deacon is Jeff Gabor. Welcome.
SPEAKER_04Hey, hey, hey. Thanks for having me back.
SPEAKER_01Deacon Gabor, do you have anything to announce?
SPEAKER_04No, I'm happy to be back, but other than that, just gonna plug uh a couple more minutes podcast where we also talk about some retro video games and good stuff with combine that with some animation. So if you like this podcast, you'd probably like that.
SPEAKER_02Outstanding. Part one of the series, known as Jetpack, was developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game, which later became known as RAR. For the ZX Spectrum and the VIC 20 in 1983. I played all three games.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's crazy because I had no idea there was that much of a history with it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and uh this game's a this game was a lot of fun to play. Jetpack was a lot of fun to play. I um it was simple and it was frenetic, but you could see where where all those seeds of ideas for solar jetman came from in that game. Interesting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I gotta check that out. Uh as a side note, I love the spectrum. I think it's such a great, charming little system. It's so simple. There's only like, I don't know, like three colors that it can use at any given time or something like that. And uh all the cartridges, they use cassette tapes. And um it's it it it's like if I ever get a chance to actually own one, I definitely will get one because it's like I don't know, it scratches the gadget itch, you know. It's like you know what I mean? Like, and it's it's just like all the games. There's a couple of really well done games that uh it it's a very strange system, too. Like the way it renders and stuff, it's just uh it's odd. Just pull up some videos if you get a chance, check this system out. It's definitely worth it if you're into that uh you know retro scene.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I want to check it out for sure. Part two of the series, known as Lunar Jetman, was developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game, which as I said later became known as Rare for the ZX Spectrum in 1983. So they released two games for the ZX Spectrum in 1983. I did play Lunar Jetman and it is borderline unplayable. Really? Yeah, I I could not I could not survive at all past like a few seconds.
SPEAKER_04I wonder what the story was in terms of the development time, and I mean releasing in the same year two games, one so vastly different than the other that it's unplayable. It's interesting.
SPEAKER_02Well, they were saying that the ultimate play the game company was known for compartmentalizing um different parts of development.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02So they didn't have a team for programming and they have their team for the audio and not which is nothing compared to like what we do today, but it's it's uh back then it was it was a it was different because there were so few people involved. They were also n notorious for not releasing information about current projects or future releases.
SPEAKER_01So I mean I feel like that's kind of a a trope of a lot of pre-Nintendo uh type uh type systems and entertainment. I think it's everything was very much played close to the vest, you know.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I I mean it that's one thing that's hard to like even fathom how different it is than today, where we have trailers for trailers now. Like it's insane. And but and before that you hear of announcements of of you know the project's been greenlit or it's in development or whatever. You you know about stuff 10-15 years it feels like before it comes out. And even with video games, you know, everybody's tweeting the entire process of uh the development process of every single game, and you see it at some game developer conference like years before it's out, you have alpha launches, you know, of games. It's just not anywhere near the same of like surprise, this is coming out this week, and you have no idea back in you know '83.
SPEAKER_01Or if you're Bethesda calling out Bethesda, it's decades before the game comes out. Right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and there's something special about that though, where you're a kid and you go into a store and you're like, Whoa, look at that new game. I never heard of that before, you know. Like you check out the box.
SPEAKER_01Well, that looks really cool, or nah, I'm gonna pass. Yep, yep. Now we watch reaction videos to streamers playing the game.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, or I I I know at least I know myself, I get biased. Like, if I if I see a game that like I haven't heard of, my assumption is it's not good because I haven't heard of it. Like back in the day, yeah, you yeah, you would go into these stores and you know, and you'd go into either Blockbuster or your local video game rental store, and you just pick up any random game because it might be gold. You had no idea. I mean, you had Game Pro or whatever or Nintendo Power to kind of tell you, but it was even that was limited, and you could still find gold just on random. Or it might be the worst $40 you've ever spent in your life. Let's find out what you guys think about Solar Jetman then.
SPEAKER_02Speaking of which, the final installment, Solar Jetman, the final installment of the trilogy, was co-developed by Zippo Games and Rare. Zippo Games, as I said earlier, was known for developing Iron Sword, the sequel to Rare's 1987 Wizards and Warriors, and that was a good game. I enjoyed that game quite a bit. Um I also enjoyed the first one, Wizards and Warriors, as well. Um, Rare purchased Zippo Games, and after the buyout, Zippo Games founders Steve and John Pickford started the development of IOTA on June 1st, 1989, which was a game conceptualized by programmer Steve Hughes to be an arcade shooter inspired by the Atari ST game Oids. Rare then ordered Zippo Games to make it into a Jetman game. Interesting.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02It's interesting that rather than keeping that the company separate, that Rare decided to buy out Zippo. I don't know why. I don't know what they gained from it. Like Zippo obviously on their own proved themselves with Iron Sword.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So I mean honestly, they were probably they probably just wanted the personnel. You know, they wanted their success, they wanted the the the think tank of Zippo. That's what I'm guessing anyway. Right? Because if they had some successes under their belt you know. And it's like, hey, we want all those people to work on our next thing.
SPEAKER_02And I know that the founders of Zippo weren't thrilled when they were when after the buyout, I I I read that somewhere. Um because they wanted to work independently. But so does everybody.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I don't I haven't heard of a whole lot of buyouts where people are like, this was a good idea on both sides.
SPEAKER_01A testament to the creators Steve Hughes, programming, also worked on Leviathan for the Amiga in 1987. Uh, as mentioned Iron Sword, which was Wizards and Warriors sequel, 1989 for the NES. 1992 for the SNES, he worked on Wings 2, Aces High. And in 1993 for the SNES, he worked on Battle Cars. I'm not familiar with that one. It almost has a a title that sounds like it should be like a Mario Kart type thing, but I'm not I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_02My mind goes right to road blasters for some reason.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So we also have Lyndon Brooke on graphics, worked on Cabal in 1990 for the NES, also worked on Ivan Iron Man Stewart Super Off-Road in 1990 for the NES, and Wolverine in 1991 for the NES.
SPEAKER_02It's an LJN game. God, Wolverine sucks.
SPEAKER_04Yep. I think I rented that game like three or four times just because the cover art was so like, oh man, it's Wolverine, I want to play that.
SPEAKER_01And I forget how bad it was. Isn't that the worst? That was the worst. I feel like that was a lot of X-Men games, honestly.
SPEAKER_04Uh well, certainly there was no good ones on the NES, that is for darn sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Uh I know the uh the Sega Genesis had some pretty bad ones as well.
SPEAKER_04Oh, you the clone one is awesome. You gotta give that one another try. That one's great. I forget which one it was that I owned, but I did not like it. Yeah, I I think that there was one just titled, I think, the Uncanny X-Men or just X-Men. Um and yeah, it was difficult. I enjoyed it. I know we're going off a tangent here, but there is a part in that game, the X-Men game, and you tell me if this is the game you had, where you fight it, you fought this uh bad guy named Mojo, and you have to reset the computer, and the game goes to a terminal and it tells you to reset the terminal, and you have a timer counting down. I died there over and over and over again because I could not figure out how to reset the terminal.
SPEAKER_01I'm not sure. I didn't get very far in in whatever whichever game I had. I I certainly didn't get very far at all.
SPEAKER_04Well, let me let me do a little spoiler there. To to reset the terminal, you literally had to reset your Genesis. What? There was no way I was ever gonna figure that out. I had to call a hotline. They're like, no, hit reset. I'm like, reset? I'm so far in the game. You want me to hit reset? They're like, that's that's what they want you to do. I was like, that is that pisses me off.
SPEAKER_01That's so boneheaded. Anyway, uh David Wise worked on music uh for Solar Jet Man. Uh he also worked on Wizards and Warriors in 1987 for the NES, but he was uncredited for this. What a freaking shame. Great soundtrack on Wizards and Warriors.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_01Um he worked on WWF WrestleMania in 1989 for the NES. And he was uncredited for that as well. Man, this guy got the shit into the stick.
SPEAKER_04Um but he but he he got he gets lots of credit now. David Wise is like royalty when it comes to NES music.
SPEAKER_01Well, and as he as he should be. I mean, these are these are all great soundtracks.
SPEAKER_02Um and I and I and I had to pick and choose because there were so many choose from I was looking for marketing advertisements and I stumbled upon a PlayChoice Ten catalog advertisement that featured Solar Jet Man. So this to me is new, is a new concept because it makes me think that this was like part of a pamphlet that they would send to pr to arcades to be like, okay, which games do you want in your play choice 10? Because listen to how this goes. A reading from the ad. Blast off to global combat and send your revenues soaring. The fun is sky high when Solar Jetman takes a starring role in your play choice system. Players explore the universe in full combat readiness as they help Solar Jetman recover the sabotage golden warp ship, the most powerful spacecraft in the galaxy. But twelve alien worlds, each with their own army of enraged aliens and their deadly devices, are hiding the necessary parts to repair the damaged vessel. Players must act fast with finesse to fend off the destructive alien forces, gravity, baffling booby traps, perpetual black holes, and cosmic space warps. It's intense galactic rivalry that'll keep your players in orbit. Nintendo's Play Choice 10 library offers a universal selection of even more challenging new games. TMNT2, the arcade game, Rad Racer 2, Yonoid, Dr. Mario, Nintendo World Cup, and Mega Man 3. At Nintendo, excitement is always in the atmosphere, so order now. Contact your authorized Nintendo Distributor or Nintendo of America Incorporated at 206-882-2040. A reading from the ad.
SPEAKER_01That's super cool, though. I mean, could we take a moment to talk about the Nintendo Play Choice 10? What an interesting marketing concept and pretty crazy idea for a crossover. You know?
SPEAKER_02Well it was it was basically uh uh one of the M82s that you'd see in the stores uh with like an with a monitor attached to it. You know?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Man, I want an M82 so bad.
SPEAKER_01So for anyone who doesn't know what Play Choice 10 was, it's an arcade system where basically you could you could uh wire up ten different circuit boards into the arcade system to play ten of uh you know Nintendo games, basically. Uh but it's but it's uh really an interesting thing, because it's like uh when did the Play Choice 10 hit the market?
SPEAKER_02I don't know the answer to that question.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna look that up right now. Uh so I found the answer. The Play Choice 10 didn't come out until 1986. So really strange. Really strange that they even went this road because three years after uh no, that was in Japan, sorry. Japan uh one year after 1985. Well I guess it does make sense. Yeah. Because it came out the year after it was released in in North America, so I think they were really trying to get people to buy Nintendo's by having Play Choice 10 in arcade.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and to me, I feel like at least when I grew up, the Nintendo started to become like really hot in late 86, 87.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Well, it was discontinued in 1992. Um Play Choice 10 was.
SPEAKER_02Interesting tidbit about play Play Choice 10. My friend Jarrett, who played Granomere on the podcast, he actually owns one of these. And when he ordered it, he specifically ordered it with Goonies in it. Not Goonies 2, Goonies. Oh, cool. Oh wow. They they only released Goonies through the Play Choice 10 in North America. So he was able to get that. Wow. That's a piece of history right there. Yeah. There was also a television commercial which uh really pushed the idea that this game is gonna be difficult.
SPEAKER_00So I'm flying around the planet Mexamorph, minding my own business when this flexi snake gets on my tail. I say, hey buddy, I'm just trying to do a job here. Next thing I know, he slams my pot into a piston bumper, and I'm gone! Now I gotta fly this jetpack to the mothership and get a new pod, then I gotta keep searching for this golden warp ship thing scattered over like 12 planets! Give me a break! What kind of sickle bought this game up? I gotta go. Solar Jetman, new from Trade West. No one said it was gonna be easy.
SPEAKER_01Wow. They really sold this game, didn't they? There's nothing much to say about this commercial other than you should just try to watch it yourself. But they they really do uh they don't really sell the game very much very hard. They're uh nothing like putting a uh a slightly overweight middle-aged man center screen in a spacesuit complaining about the game. It's pretty much it.
SPEAKER_04It's a very good description.
SPEAKER_02Let us now discuss the seven categories for which we execute judgment on. Solar Jetman. Category 1 is the narrative.
SPEAKER_01A reading from the manual. The Golden Warship was once the most powerful spacecraft in Solar Jetman's galactic fleet. But that was before alien space pirates shipnapped the vessel on its last mission. The warpship now lies disassembled and hidden throughout the galaxy with Solar Jetman the only remaining hope for its recovery. This will be no easy task for our interplanetary hero. Solar Jetman must search through twelve menacing alien worlds in his quest to rebuild the Golden Warship, each one filled with savage alien armies, black holes, extreme gravitational forces, warp zones, and deadly booby traps. Once Solar Jetman has reconstructed the warp ship, he can forge ahead to meet the final challenge awaiting him. This is a reading from the manual.
SPEAKER_02So for so for me, the narrative I thought was fun and quirky and and interesting and really sets up the the gameplay. Like it really makes me want to sit down and play the game. So I I I think it's a success.
SPEAKER_04That's funny. I was actually I I I I would say the way they set it up, right? It it feels cool and it makes you want to play it. But my the thing I didn't like about it is it it just doesn't feel cohesive to when throughout the entirety of the presentation of the game. Like you have this back of the box in the manual talking about one thing, then you load up the game and there's like space loonies and this like flying imbecile flying across the screen that looks like a makeshift Ernest type character.
SPEAKER_02And it's like playing himself, too.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, he's in most awkward position, and it's played off as like, oh, you're kind of this dummy that kind of just like falls into this, but the back of the box or whatever is like talking about him being our last space hero to like to save the entire universe does not gel together at all. I it feels like they're way like completely different teams deciding what this game should be.
SPEAKER_01I totally agree with that. Um I think that this the the the story itself is like you know, at as displayed in the manual, is you know, almost trivial and charming, right? But at the same time, when you load up the game, there's almost this like um I got the impression like I should know something about the culture, like it it feels like there's a culture behind the game that is elusive, that I should somehow know about what Space Looneys is, or yeah, almost kind of like a he kind of plays off as almost like a a Space Ace type character. Yeah. Yeah. Which makes sense because uh what was what we said? There's uh there's um there was like a running comic book or something, right?
SPEAKER_04Well that's what I wonder if there's a connection back to well, I mean the ZX Spectrum or ZX Spectrum is like so European. Um that they have a history of making these like comics and stuff to their games, and they have like they have a really just kind of off sort of sense of humor with a lot of their games. So I'm wondering if there is a backstory with this that they had in those games or a comic or something that kind of gels it together, because it feels like it's out of left field.
SPEAKER_02Well, I did leave the part of the comic out. Uh they did make a comic after Jet Pack that was that was kind of tongue-in-cheek.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and and that totally comes through on the opening screens. And so I I kind of feel like the whole way that they set up not the narrative in the the manual, but uh the visuals, the visual narrative of the game. Um it I would I would lump it together in the same vein as, you know, like I said, Space Ace and like Dragon's Lair, like that type of that type of style, like very tongue-in-cheek, very comic book-like, almost almost animated. Earthworm Gym. Earthworm Gym, yeah, same thing.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01But if you don't know the history of the game going into it, it it all feels very out of place. Yeah, it really does.
SPEAKER_02Moving on, let us proceed to category two, which is audio. Um, I I gotta say, I I I I really liked the opening title music. But like the the space music, they it was just beeps and boops, they're trying like create atmosphere, but failed miserably, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_01There were a couple of tracks in there that were downright eerie.
SPEAKER_04Like later in the game. That's what I I I know. They they saved the best for later. That's the thing, it's like the opening I is like very downplayed, and it is just an occasional bleep and bloop, but then you your heart starts pumping in those later tracks, and it does create the atmosphere. I I just think they they waited too long. I don't think anybody ever gets there, or very, very few people get there, certainly not during the Play Choice 10, like nobody's getting there.
SPEAKER_02Um, I certainly didn't get there. I can't I can't imagine getting there in a Play Choice 10. Yeah. Never mind the controller.
SPEAKER_04But I will say, like, when you do get to those later levels, they do like get your like heart pumping, the the soundtrack, and you start to feel it, and because it is this like rising crescendo of um just matches the game perfectly. I thought it was fantastic. Yeah, there's definitely an eerie sci-fi vibe to a lot of the later tracks. Oh yeah, and even like when you pause to take a look at your map, it like goes into this like nice little like cute. I really like it.
SPEAKER_02So for full disclosure, I did not get past level three in this game. Well, that's one more level than I got. Before because I had I actually got to the end of level two, destroyed those gravity gravitational pull things, went into the black hole, and found a gauntlet of guns. And and your part you're supposed to get is at the bottom, and I was like, screw this. And I and I w and I put in a password to go to level three, went to level three, got through like half of it, got to the part where I had to like navigate through the this impossibly tiny little trench, and I was just like I'm done. I'm I'm done. And and uh so my review is just based off of what I experienced. So that's why I say that's why we have three people on the ministry. It's just so it's not um you know 1v1. It's uh yet we have another perspective in it.
SPEAKER_04So for full disclosure on my part, I got so into the game I sat down and played through all 12 light levels in one sitting without dying. Actually, no, I take that back. I think I lost I think I ended up losing two ships, but I still had all my lives at the end because of gaining back ships with uh with the diamonds or gold and stuff, whatever that you the money. So yeah, I had yeah, it was pretty cool. I had never done that before.
SPEAKER_02We're getting ahead of ourselves. We're gonna we're about to talk about gameplay. Yeah, so I guess I guess it was the right time to bring it up.
SPEAKER_04So gameplay. A reading from the manual. After landing on the alien planet, Solar Jetman emerges from the mothership in his jetpod ready for exploration. The jetpod is sensitive to each planet's gravitational forces, so maneuvering may be tricky. Each jetpod is equipped with a limited amount of fuel. If it looks like you're running low, you may need to return to the mothership to refuel. Most planets have fuel drums scattered around their surface, which can be retrieved by shooting. The mothership itself must be completely refueled before you can enter the black warp hole and collect a piece of the golden warp ship. The jet pod can fire its infinite supply of bullets in the direction in which it is pointing. More powerful weaponry can be purchased when enough points are earned. Optional weaponry and equipment are automatically re-energized each time the jet pod returns to the mothership. However, you will lose them if the jet pod is destroyed. If the jet pod is destroyed, Solar Jetman will still fight to finish on his own, even in his more vulnerable state. You'll receive a free jet pod if you make it back to the mothership in one piece. Alien goods are scattered throughout each planet. Your tractor beam will automatically activate when close enough to the booty. But beware. You must deactivate your shields to employ the tractor beam, and your thrusting power is reduced when towing the object. Once you have a hold of an alien object, you can bring it up to the mothership for analysis. Some objects are very valuable. Some are very well guarded. With sufficient exploring, you may discover an easier method of transporting booty to the mothership. Until you've collected all essential items on the planet, you will not be given the option to blast off when re-entering the mothership. If all items have been collected, blast off is automatic upon mothership re-entry. After capturing the missing piece of the golden warship, and reloading the mothership with enough fuel, you will be offered the choice of remaining on the present planet or continuing your journey onto the next world. May luck be with you on your quest for the golden warpship. You never know what surprises may be lurking ahead. This is a reading from the manual.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, gameplay. Um The game is extremely frustrating to play. It has physics-based propulsion and extremely tight corridors to travel through a la Gravitar by Atari, only much harder if that's imaginable. If that isn't hard enough, you have enemies to contend with that more often than not spawn cheaply. Hitting your enemy with your laser while trying to not crash into a wall seems almost impossible, and if you hit them, it feels more like luck than anything else. My strategy for shooting accurately was to bury myself into a wall with shields on and blast away. I'm also not a fan of the fact that you can only access the s the store in between levels.
SPEAKER_04Only on even number of levels.
SPEAKER_02Oh really?
SPEAKER_04So two, four, six, eight, you have to plan ahead for two levels each time you go to the store. Yeah, that sucks. Yes, I agree, that part sucks. That was a mistake.
SPEAKER_02Um yeah, like I said earlier, when I got to level three and I was trying to like navigate this like it it's a corridor the size of your ship, if that to get from one part of the of the map to the other, and I'm towing something through there and it's and it gets stuck in the wall, so I have to go back and bury myself in the wall to get it again. It's just it's it's just it's so messy.
SPEAKER_04Wait, so Archbishop Dracool. Did you ever figure out that you could take the items and just put them in those orange warps? And they would go directly to the mothership for you? You didn't have to bring them to the mothership.
SPEAKER_02I carried I how I found out that I did it wrong was that I carried the the warp itself over to the ship and it wouldn't drop in the ship, and I'm like, what's why isn't this dropping in the ship? Like and and I don't know, the warps confuse me. Like they like you have to have your shields off when or you can't go in when you're a ship, but you have to have your shields off before you uh in order to pick it up.
SPEAKER_01It's just Well, there's there's all sorts of strategy to at least I found there's even though I didn't get past level two and uh had to remember that uh I was playing with my my last Nintendo controller, so I ha I couldn't throw it across the room. Uh so um I did find a strategy where you know you you have your shields on and then you pick up like speed, and then as you're flying by, you take your shields off, and that speed will kind of kick the the part along with you. Um and basically you know a good way of getting that initial boost without burning through a bunch of fuel. There were some parts, just in level two, I can't imagine later levels, there were some parts where you'd like if you're going too slow and you and you take your shields off and activate the tractor beam, like there's no way you're lifting that thing. It's not moving. You you you have to pick it up with speed. And um and if you don't have the boosters, good luck. Like it's it's yeah, the boosters were a lifesaver. And also a killer for me as well.
SPEAKER_04I use them constantly. Yeah, you had to. The the odd part though is you have to use the select button, right? Yeah. To to use the boost. So which means you can't change direction while you're using the button. Yeah, so you're either doing like this like hook club type of movement to the controller. It's very awkward that part. Like to try to use the boost while you're trying to steer, and you're trying to make sure your your thumb is on the B button to make sure you're accelerating. And then you also got enemies, so you're just trying to shoot too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so you have the enemies, you have the the regular gravity of the planet, you have shields on and off, you have the tractor beam, you're the added weight of this thing that you're carrying, plus the tractor beam does not like statically attach the item to the ship. The item like swings back and forth, which can actually throw your boost off. Like it can it can actually shift your direction um if you hit it the wrong way. So all of that works very hard against you, making it an extremely challenging experience.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I played it on, like I said, I played it on rare replay. And uh the boost was actually mapped to the to the X button for some reason. So I had I was hitting the A button to to to move, and then I just tap my my thumb over and I could use the boost. That's pretty sweet. That's a huge person. And I still had a hard time with it.
SPEAKER_04So I'm guessing the fact that you use the cheat code to get to three, and uh yeah, and and you all you didn't and yeah, so we we got to level two and three, you're saying. So neither one of you probably bought yourselves the new pods. Uh no, I I had no idea about the new pods. Or the coolest thing in the item shop, if you can save up enough money for it, is there's anti-gravity. You simply equip your ship with anti-gravity, and you have a whole different um item bar for your for your ship, and you can turn off gravity for the planet. And everything is like weightless. It's awesome. That's cool. The game completely opened up once I got to the point where I could purchase those items. Uh like you talked about like these there's these enemies that one that there's the crappy ones that cheaply spawn everywhere. I hate those ones. But there's big, big enemies too that like just keep dumping out and firing, and they take out your shields really fast, and that they're they're usually set in a position where you they block an entrance to an important place. They take forever to use your little bullet, like Mega Man type of like little dot bullets, but you can equip these like other uh missiles and yeah, missiles.
SPEAKER_01Those are pretty big.
SPEAKER_04There's these like star ones. They they destroy those things in just a fraction of a second, and it completely changes the way the entire game plays. And I I played this game a ton growing up, and I don't think I was intelligent enough to like properly save up the money and to like I would just use cheat codes to get to different levels, so the game felt impossible.
SPEAKER_01I feel like that was a back-handed comment to Archbishop Draco. It's not like that.
SPEAKER_04Oh my. I would say the the biggest fault in the gameplay is that the first couple levels require you to put all the time in to get all the crystals, to get all the items. There's a mapping device that you can skip over that you don't like when you start the game, you don't even have access to a map.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_04Then you if you find that device and take it, and it's not easy to get because of the gravity. Uh once you get that, then you have access to a map that shows you everywhere you're going, so you're no longer lost. And then later you can buy a map that literally tells you where every item is. It it it makes it so you changes everything. It changes everything because you can strategize how you're gonna tackle the entire planet.
SPEAKER_02But you lose everything if you lose your ship.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Uh yeah, you would lose your gravitational. I can't I don't know if you lose your map. That's interesting. I I don't remember if I tested that. I don't think you do. No.
SPEAKER_01I think once you're definitely not the initial equipment yet.
SPEAKER_04Definitely that initial mapping device. Yeah, you keep that permanently. I don't know about the second um special one. Uh, but yeah, you definitely keep or you you lose like, you know, any sort of special bullets or anti-gravity or that kind of stuff. So it is crucial not to lose your ship and even go into your little man um mode. Uh, you definitely do not want to ever do that if you have all this special stuff equipped on your ship. So I would say like if you can just get to those levels and play the first two levels completely honestly and get every single crystal so you have enough money to buy that stuff, then the game is a different game entirely. Like the gravity is not an issue, you're not having to constantly boost, you have weapons to defend yourself. Um and I think you also get the option to like if you lose a couple lives or you lose a couple ships that have all those items, just restart. Just restart that level again. You have a passcode with all your money and everything, and then you can just you know tackle it again. The worst.
SPEAKER_02So are you saying, Mr. Gabor, are you saying that this game is similar to a Deadly Towers situation?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, actually, yeah. Like you have to you have to put in the time earlier to kind of like buff up your character, um, and then it becomes a different game, right? And I don't know. It's like you can easily get into playing this game and it's way too difficult and you want to turn it off, but it just it has that moment where it opens up. It's like it's um yeah, I it to me it just completely changed on how much I loved the game getting to that point.
SPEAKER_01But I think in order to actually decide to invest the time into buffing up your character, which I totally understand, and I got that right off the bat. Like I I knew eventually I would be able to buff up my character, right? But uh but investing that time and struggling through that initial you know curve, oh man, like you have to really like physics games. Like, honestly, like to me, like you have to really enjoy these types of games uh in order to commit that time because it is it it is a lot of time. Like you have to really take your time. The best time that I had in level two, I really took my time, really like made sure to like clear out the turrets as I went, and like but then I still died and I lost all that progress, which I think is actually what discouraged me. Because it I I I have to say, level one, right, this cool little introductory level that you know it you're playing it and you're like, oh okay, yeah, I can get on board with this game. And then level two just opens up and it suddenly becomes a huge commitment.
SPEAKER_02Um and so that it's also the in difficulty, and in difficulty way too high of a spike going into level two.
SPEAKER_04I totally agree. Yep. Now, did you guys play the last mission?
SPEAKER_01No, I had to watch the last mission, all right. Um but totally different than the rest of the game.
SPEAKER_04Oh my god. Alright, so I got a couple tells uh tales that is so my dad was the guy that was obsessed with solar jetman as a kid. It wasn't for me. I was too young, I didn't have the patience for this type of game. But what he got through all 12 levels, and then it turns into a horizontal shooter. Like, and he called me immediately into the room and he says, Jeff, Jeff, Jeff, Jeff, just do it, just do it. He handed me the controller, and I had all the pressure of trying to beat the game because it completely changed the style of game. What happens is level 12 is this super deep, massive level, massive, takes forever to do. So much so that it gets into this subterranean part where it is it turns into a giant maze.
SPEAKER_03Oh no.
SPEAKER_04And you very easily can run out of fuel. So when you do get there, when you do figure out, and you you know, my dad had the graph paper, yeah. He might have he must not have ever got the map items or something. But you know, drawing it all out, you get it, you understand where to go, and you finally do it. There is no pause. You get that final item, and the game throws you into the side scroller. Oh, there's immediate. It just says, and now ready for the final thing. And you're like, oh, okay. You grab your controller.
SPEAKER_01Oh my god.
SPEAKER_04And I don't know, they're talking about this this golden warp ship being like the master thing that you had to assemble. It's a one-shot death. Yeah, it's it's worse than your original ship. It is terrible. You it's a brand new system, there's new controls, you you have no like buffer time to learn what's even happening. It throws you in there, you get one shot, one life, one go. Doesn't matter if you have six lives saved up at that time, you have one hit to take.
SPEAKER_02What is with rare in there? Like one shot, you know, like so the seven, all that.
SPEAKER_04So the first time I played it, uh, this last this last go uh for this podcast, I got hit one time. And I was thinking, oh, this isn't that bad, or whatever, I'll just do it again. No. You take one hit, you have to replay the entirety of level 12.
SPEAKER_01Oh my god.
SPEAKER_04One hit. It pissed me off so much. I could not believe it. I was like, that just deleted that one hit of a bull crap asteroid hitting me that I could barely maneuver, just cost me probably 50 minutes of time.
SPEAKER_01Is that what those things were? Those were asteroids.
SPEAKER_04I think it's just a bunch of asteroids. You're just playing a Star Wars type of thing where you're just flying through an asteroid belt. There's not figure out what I was looking at. It's I don't know. That feels it feels so slapped on. They look like purple clouds. Yeah, I really love it. I loved it as a kid because you know, it was like, oh, cool, the game's completely different. It was like it felt like uh Kid Icarus, you know, like all of a sudden you go into the shoe. That's exactly what I was gonna say.
SPEAKER_01I was gonna say that exact same thing. Anyways, um, yeah, at least Kid Icarus doesn't punish you. It's it it feels like again, just like one of those things very typical for Nintendo where they'd be like, hey, and now for something completely different, you know. Um there are a lot of games that did that kind of thing. Um I would say, in my opinion, the best games definitely didn't do that type of thing. Yeah. Um, but uh, you know, there's a lot to say for consistency. Uh, but anyway, I I I felt, generally speaking, the controls were mostly okay, but a little bit wonky, right? I didn't like the select um uh mechanic. I I I thought that that m really made everything much more difficult and uh borderline frustrating. Um just that in and of itself. Level design, uh like I said, I only got to level two. I did see some other levels watching some playthroughs, um, but in general, uh I I'd say that they put a lot of thought into their level design. Um but the combat the combat, I I gotta say I did not like the combat whatsoever. Because I felt like the gravity was hard enough, and I understand that it opens up once you get anti-gravity and everything like that, but for somebody just getting into the game, like I felt like the gravity was hard enough, and then it's also, you know, this throwback to Atari asteroids type thing.
SPEAKER_04Very much so, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um so I didn't really like the combat. And those weird like whatever they are, like the uh like the the really fast spaceships that like zoom at zoom in at you and start shooting, you get the stars from them. Yeah, yeah. The like snake look Yeah, yeah. God, I hate those things.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Like the I I got I got rushed by like I think that's what ended up killing me the last time that I played through uh two, or actually when I got the furthest in the in in level two. I had like a piece of the ship, and I got rushed by these things, and just they just I didn't have my shields up, right? So they they just decimated me, and I was like, You gotta be freaking kidding me. And it was like my last ship or something like that.
SPEAKER_02And that's when I almost threw the controller, but I was gonna say I actually enjoyed going around as jetpack by himself and like shooting enemies, killing things, getting them like taken care of because I felt like I had a thousand times more control with jetpack than I did with this ship.
SPEAKER_01Agreed. I think that the part of that is because you can actually move left and right. Yeah. Like when you push when you push left and right, you're actually moving him. But you know, obvious obviously like the controls change a little bit with when you're when you're uh when you're jetman rather than flying around in the jet pod.
SPEAKER_04There's such an odd thing about the gameplay. Did you guys ever take a look at the names of the levels? No. No. They're all like these weird inside joke type stuff. Really? Like level 12. It's spelled M-I-P-L-E-Z-U-R. If you just sound that out phonetically, it's my pleasure. Wow. Then 11 is shank uh shanku. Like it's like I don't know if they're saying I want to shank you, or if it's like thank you. Number like level eight is Shishkebob. Like it's it's just weird. It's more that stuff that we were talking about with the narrative that it just doesn't really align. It's like now there's all these weird jokes in the game.
SPEAKER_01What is going on? It's it's space ace all day long. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Alright, let's move along. I enjoyed the graphics of the playership and the environments and the explosion effects animation specifically. But I hated the designs of the enemies. Like they're they just were they just felt kind of I don't know, there was like level three, there was like a box with like a hand sticking out of it. I was like, what the hell is this? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Oh, are you talking about the jaws? Yeah, is that what the jaws look like? I think so. I think that's what Jaws of Doom or whatever they are.
SPEAKER_04I forget what they're called. I will say they're very all just shapes. Like there's nothing really of any character, really. Uh not until you get to like some there's some of these larger mothership type of characters, but everything is like yeah, like like you can best describe it as like I guess that's a snake or something, or that's a circle that attacks you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the crit the crystal snappers, I think they're and it's funny, the manual calls it the jar of doom, but I think they meant the jaw of doom.
SPEAKER_02Uh oh, well, you think it was probably the like the the British accent?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, probably. The jaw of doom. Uh, but yeah, so I think I think that probably was the hand one. I think the best looking enemies in the game was the double-barreled piston pumpers and the limpet cannon. Um, which the limpet cannon's super simple, right? It's just a thing that opens up and shoots. But those are the coolest looking ones. All the rest of them, like you said, they're just like I don't know. They're weird looking.
SPEAKER_04I I I took the graphics as it it does enough to sell the game, but it's nothing really to write home about. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But what they made up for that with was the cut scenes. Yeah. Cut scenes were pretty damn cool for NES. Yep. Um, and the uh the the ship in and of itself, being having that full rotation, really cool. Really cool. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04It's not just it's not just like spinning the sprite, it's actually even kind of rotating in this like three-quarter type of interesting way. It's kind of cool.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, very well done there. Um that being said, the the the ship parts? What the hell are those?
SPEAKER_04I don't know what is going on. You're carrying just random shapes around. It's so bizarre.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Yeah, don't know what a ship part is. The only the only idea that you're even carrying anything useful at any point is when you carry the fuel thing that clearly says fuel on it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Oh, and then there are items later in the game that are basically there to like uh what is the term? Anyways, they're just trying to pull the wool over your eyes, type of thing. It's crap. You will go out of your way to get an item. You're like, okay, I need some money, okay? You'll get it all the way to your ship, and it'll say its value is nothing.
SPEAKER_01No. Nothing. Oh, that is stuck.
SPEAKER_04And then they have more inside jokes. You can you can get uh parts that are it's a box full of trebles. It's like you guys didn't get a like a copyright strike for that? You can just put trebles in the middle of the game. Like, okay.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_04Bizarre stuff.
SPEAKER_01Um, I I'd say another another cool thing was the um it's very minor, but the you know, the environment's very basic, right? Not a whole lot going on with the environment. But um they do some really interesting palette shifts and color shading uh in the game, specifically in the um in the last level, but all the way through, like the way that they reuse the environment, the palette shadings that they use are very they look alien, like they sell the sci-fi vibe to me. Yeah. Um so I I thought that was a cool use of the palette shifts.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. It's clean, at least that. You can tell what you're supposed to do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's definitely no like gutches in regards to like you think the environment is harmless and you get killed or something like that. You know, typical NES background graphic type stuff. At least nothing that I ran into. Yeah, I don't think so. If it's a black background, you're you're fine.
SPEAKER_02Let us move to category five, which is box art and presentation. Uh should be noted that on the European box art, uh there was a major typo in the tagline of the game calling it solar chipman the hunt for the golden warship instead of warp ship.
SPEAKER_04Okay, that's interesting too, because if you go back to your uh advertisement for the player choice 10, read it up there. It says warship up there. It does say warship there. Yep. So maybe this was from Europe. I'm wondering if it's a censorship issue.
SPEAKER_02Which that's pretty nitpicky, but no, it's a good point. It's a good point. But there were other games that use the word warrior.
SPEAKER_04I know, I know, I don't get it. It doesn't make sense that it would be a censorship. It could just be a I don't know. Nintendo of America preferring it. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02I don't know. That makes me wonder now, because like now I'm like I'm thinking, I'm trying really hard to try and think of a game that has war in it. And I I'm drawing a blank. Well, it's worth looking into, I'd say. That's pretty cool. Alright. The uh the box art I really enjoy the designs and the the uh the colo the use of colors, the vibrant colors and uh the composition. I f I find it very uh inviting.
SPEAKER_01I I found it really interesting that um th that the cover art was reminiscent of something for me. Uh and I had to think about it for for a little bit. Um but the tree with the eyes on it, I was like, oh wait a minute, that that's the freaking hover art from the Moody Blues album on the threshold of a dream.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I can see that. Uh it also it also reminds me a lot of like Pee Wee's Playhouse. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I was gonna say Pee Wee's Playhouse have a have a thing like that?
SPEAKER_02Like outside in his yard. I gotta look this up now. Pee-wee, Pee-wee's Playhouse. Like in the beginning, like when you when it you never like, yeah, in on in the show Pee Wee's Playhouse, you'd never go outside. The only time you're outside is at the very beginning when you when you're like zooming around his house and it was all cremation. But that's what it reminds me of.
SPEAKER_04But I like it too. I think you're right. You're dead on about like just the composition being really cool, super colorful, it's fun, it's uh attractive. Um it definitely is another case of Nintendo where whoever designed it didn't actually play the game whatsoever.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04It's like they're like, okay, so you're this ship, and they probably got a couple screenshots of the game, and there's a giant mothership, and they're like, okay, I guess this is the character. It's like, uh, actually, you don't play as that. But on the cover you do. All right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, I mean, I I agree that the the cover art is charming. Um it doesn't have a lot of like there's so many Nintendo cover art box there. There's so much there's so much cover art for the Nintendo that is like there's something like off about it. There's it's like slightly wonky. It's like I I've said it before, it's like somebody's decided, oh well, I'm gonna actually let my son draw this. Um, you know, there's like something off about it sometimes. Yep. It this has nothing like that. It's very clean, very, very well done, very colorful, uh consistent all the way through. And the color scheme is pretty easy on the eyes. Like the it's not like they don't um they don't jump out at you with anything. What I'd say is against it is that based on the color scheme, the text on the back of the box kind of s fades into the background a little bit. Yeah, that's true. Um but yeah but other than that.
SPEAKER_02Speaking of the back. Of the box, let's give it a read. Oh, we haven't done that yet. Nope. A reading from the back of the box. Solar Jetman is a one-man rescue mission to recover the most powerful spacecraft in the galaxy. That takes one hit.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02The golden warp ship. But he must first survive the twelve deadly alien worlds which hide the sabotage vessel's parts, each with its own legion of menacing obstacles, devastating gravitational forces, vicious alien armies, paralyzing booby traps, cosmic space warps, mysterious black holes. It's all up to Jetman's quick wits and galactic combat skills to carry him through the Herculean task that lie ahead. Only then can the Golden Warp ship continue on its original mission. Solar Jetman is a single player game that's easy to learn but hard to master. Boy, that's an understatement.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02A reading from the back of the box.
SPEAKER_01Appealing to all teenage boys everywhere, paralyzing boobies in mysterious black holes.
SPEAKER_04I don't know what they're getting at with the black holes, though. I guess that's the warps they're doing. I think those are the warp things that lead you elsewhere. Man, they're yeah. I I wasn't gonna get into it, but there's like these secret warps that like if you get to them right off the bat, like you start the level, you know where to go, and you get to them just in time, it'll skip you several levels ahead. Oh, what is that? What? Yeah, no, that right away. They're they they're they look just like the regular warps, except for instead of being orange, they're like blue. And if you get to them fast enough, they'll skip you like several levels ahead. Oh wow. Um but you screw yourself.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_04You don't get the points, you don't get the upgrades. Yeah, so it it actually makes the game a hundred times harder.
SPEAKER_01That's probably how you would speed run it though. Yeah, you're right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Let us proceed to category six, which is fun factor. Mr. Gabor, I apologize. I hated this game. Oh no, I hated this game. I it was an absolute chore for me to play.
SPEAKER_04Uh, I will say for me, this is like a top 10, maybe top 20, at the very least, any S game for me. It it's once you get past that barrier and a game opens up, it it just becomes a pleasure to try to just challenge yourself, and it's that perfect balance of it's super hard, but it's fair, and you can there is an arc to get better. And it it's not it never felt like bull crap to me, where it's like that's just not fair. Like I'm I'm the so many Nintendo games were like just not plain not fair, like you you um never had a chance, like RNG or a random item being put somewhere that you can't get it, or a stupid jump with a you know, Mega Man type of like gotcha moments and all that. Uh, but not here. Uh everything always felt like you could earn it.
SPEAKER_01So I lie somewhere in between where Archbishop is and where you are, Deacon. Um I enjoyed the upgrade path knowing that it's there, knowing that I could get there eventually, but I did not have fun with the initial struggle. Um so I I am so on the fence about how I feel about the fun factor of this game. I think it is fun for the right kind of person. Um, and that right kind of person being the person that kind of enjoys physics games and enjoys challenges, which, you know, that is Deacon Gabor. Um so I think it is it it achieves its purpose for its genre, but me personally, uh there were elements that I liked about it, and there were just as many elements that I didn't like.
SPEAKER_02So let us proceed to category seven. Just technical.
SPEAKER_01Can I start here? I think on a technical level, this game rocks. Um the physics are fantastic. The calculations that they have to pull off um using the NES, which I I've programmed in, you know, uh 6502 assembly, the the the calculations that they had to pull off uh with the physics and everything. I don't know how they did it, to be honest. This is it's a very it's a very clean experience as far as the physics is concerned. There's like no bugs. Um and uh performance-wise, it's great. There's like there's like virtually no slowdown. Um I think you have to get into some really dicey situations to experience any slowdown or or sprite flicker. Um I mean it happens because it's just the nature of you know the limitations of the system. Uh so it happens at times, but it's handled well. Uh so yeah, I agree. So yeah, I think I think on a technical level, purely on a technical level, I think the game rocks.
SPEAKER_02I agree.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, there was a bit of sprite flickering. I think that's about I never got any slowdown. I'd say the only knock I could probably give it, and it probably would almost go more to gameplay, but your the physics and stuff would sometimes pull your items into the surface, the ground itself, right? Where your ship can't go. Like it would your items would fall into a wall. Yeah. And they would fall so far into a wall at times you'd be soflocked. Like oh, really?
SPEAKER_02That's never that didn't happen to me. That happened to me.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And it's like you could jam your ship in as far as you can into the wall, and you can net your tractor beam will never pull get it. Um so that that part sucks. Um I wish they would have had a technical.
SPEAKER_01I would I would definitely qualify that as a bug, for sure. Um but the uh you know, I I think the the sheer amount of graphics too, like with all the cutscenes and everything like that, the stuff that they crammed into this game, um, it's really impressive. Sure. Sure thing, yeah.
SPEAKER_02No, I agree. I mean, like I like I said, I I hated playing this game, but I do agree that it is a technical marvel for the NES. Father Raven, why don't you sing the hints and cheats chant? Are you are you serious?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, of course. Yeah, alright. Um, me, me, me, me, me, me. Let us proclaim the hints and there's no hints and cheats in this game.
SPEAKER_02While there were no hints or cheats in the manual itself, gamefacus.com have plenty of passwords that make the game a little more palatable.
SPEAKER_01Let us offer each other the body of price. Uh game price then and now. So unfortunately, a price could not be found for Solar Jet Man when it was out on the market. Deacon Gabor, do you happen to remember?
SPEAKER_04Uh, no, I mean, we most definitely got it like secondhand. So I don't know what it was.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so we couldn't find a price. Um, so let's just cover the prices now. According to PriceCharting.com, a loose copy is a mere $6.91, which is a a steal. Like, if you find this game, you should definitely buy it. It's worth having in your library. Uh, box only, uh $19.99. Manual only, $7.41. Complete in box, $32.82, not bad. And brand new, $125.25. All around, the pricing on this game is really not bad.
SPEAKER_04I'm telling you right now, if I see a sealed copy for $125 for Solar Jetman, I am getting it. That is awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's a good price for sure. Let us now execute judgment on Solar Jetman and decide which of the seven cardinal sins it has committed. Father Avon. In regards to narrative, what is your final judgment?
SPEAKER_01In regards to narrative, Solar Jetman has committed no fault.
SPEAKER_02Deacon Gabor, in regards to narrative, what is your final judgment?
SPEAKER_04In regards to narrative, Solar Jetman has committed a most heinous cardinal sin.
SPEAKER_02In regards to narrative and in the presence of this assembly, Solar Jetman has been spared. Did not see that coming. Father Avram.
SPEAKER_01In regards to audio, what is your final judgment? In regards to audio, Solar Jetman has committed no fault.
SPEAKER_04In regards to audio, Solar Jetman has committed no fault.
SPEAKER_02In regards to audio and in the presence of this assembly, Solar Jetman has been spared. Father Abram, in regards to gameplay, what is your final judgment?
SPEAKER_01In regards to gameplay, Solar Jetman has committed a most heinous cardinal sin.
SPEAKER_02Beacon Gabor, in regards to gameplay, what is your final judgment?
SPEAKER_04In regards to gameplay, Solar Jetman has committed no fault.
SPEAKER_02In regards to gameplay and in the presence of this assembly, Solar Jetman has committed a loathsome cardinal sin deserving of hellfire and damnation. One.
SPEAKER_01For what category, Deacon?
SPEAKER_04For gameplay.
SPEAKER_01This is Are you ha f ⁇ ing kidding me?
SPEAKER_04This is a top 20 NES game. How dare you guys say that it has committed a heinous cardinal sin?
SPEAKER_02You shall not find a second among this assembly. Father Avram. In regards to graphics, what is your final judgment?
SPEAKER_01In regards to graphics? Uh Solar Jetman has committed no fault.
SPEAKER_04Beacon Gabor, in regards to graphics, what is your final judgment? In regards to graphics, Solar Jetman has committed no fault.
SPEAKER_02In regards to graphics and in the presence of this assembly, Solar Jetman has been spared. Father Ravram, in regards to box art and presentation, what is your final judgment?
SPEAKER_01In regards to box art and presentation, Solar Jetman has committed no fault.
SPEAKER_02Deacon Gabor. In regards to box art and presentation, what is your final judgment?
SPEAKER_04In regards to box art and presentation, Solar Jetman has committed no fault.
SPEAKER_02In regards to box art and presentation, and in the presence of this assembly, Solar Jetman has been spared. Father Ravern, in regards to Fun Factor, what is your final judgment?
SPEAKER_01In regards to Fun Factor, Solar Jetman has committed a most heinous cardinal sin.
SPEAKER_02Deacon Gabor, in regards to fun factor, what is your final judgment?
SPEAKER_04In regards to fun factor, Solar Jetman has committed no fault.
SPEAKER_02In regards to Fun Factor, and in the presence of this assembly, Solar Jetman has committed a loathsome cardinal sin deserving of hellfire and damnation. Two.
SPEAKER_04You've lost your minds, deacon and archbishop.
SPEAKER_01I was just about to invoke the talisman of damnation, actually. For what? For fun factor. No.
SPEAKER_02Oh. I second that. Oh.
SPEAKER_01Now wait a minute.
SPEAKER_04Which one are you seconding?
SPEAKER_01The talisman of damnation has always just been a formal protest. Are we saying that this actually puts a mark against it because there's a second?
SPEAKER_02Nah, we shouldn't. It's always a formal protest. It's always it's always always has been that way and always will be. Oh very well. Father Abram, in regards to technical, what is your final judgment?
SPEAKER_01Uh in regards to technical, Solar Jetman has committed no fault.
SPEAKER_02Eaging Gabor, in regards to technical, what is your final judgment?
SPEAKER_04In regards to technical, Solar Jetman has committed no fault.
SPEAKER_02In regards to technical, into the presence of this assembly, Solar Jetman has been spared.
SPEAKER_01I invoke a talisman of absolution for the category of technical. I'll second that one.
SPEAKER_02Well deserved. Those assembled are sent forth to bring the fruits of the ministry to the world.
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
A Couple More Minutes Podcast
Jeff Gabor, Pete Paquette
Remember The Game? Retro Gaming Podcast
Adam Blank