The Backlog Files

Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories already is a remake—but replaying it today makes a compelling case that it needs another one.

Adam revisits Sora and Riku's journey through Castle Oblivion, the wildly unbalanced card system, frustrating 3D mobility and a story that remains much stronger than the mechanics surrounding it.

What happens when you revisit a game that helped shape your childhood and try to judge it like you're playing it for the first time?

Adam begins a full Kingdom Hearts retrospective with Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, examining what still works, what has aged poorly and how much of the series' eventual identity was still being figured out in 2002.

Sometimes the best sign that a demo works is realizing you've been playing it much longer than intended.

Adam checks out Backpack Syndicate, a dungeon crawler with strong Pokémon Mystery Dungeon energy and a deceptively complex backpack-management system built around weapon placement and synergy.

The demo is limited, but it does exactly what it needs to: make the full game immediately wishlist-worthy.

Bills Must Be Paid has a very simple proposition: smash piggy banks, make money and try to keep up with your increasingly expensive life.

Adam looks at the game's smooth performance, satisfying incremental loop and surprisingly good moment-to-moment feel, along with the progression problem that allows players to exhaust most of what the game has to offer far too quickly.

More than two decades after helping launch the GameCube, the original Luigi’s Mansion remains one of Nintendo’s most distinctive experiments.

Adam revisits one of his earliest GameCube games to look at the room-by-room puzzle design, portrait ghosts, E. Gadd’s surprising influence on the larger Mario universe and the mechanics that now show their age. The atmosphere and central ghost-catching loop still work remarkably well, but limited enemy variety, underused elemental powers and frustrating Boo behavior reveal how much room the series still had to grow.

The first major Pokémon Pokopia DLC takes players underwater; but Bubbly Basin succeeds because it does more than simply move the existing gameplay loop beneath the surface.

Adam looks at the submerged remains of Cerulean City, the surprisingly effective swimming mechanics, Pokopia’s environmental storytelling and why this expansion made the wider Pokémon world feel more cohesive than ever. But while Bubbly Basin successfully brought him back to Pokopia, did it actually add enough new content of its own?

Plus, with another major area still coming, where can Pokopia possibly go next?

As Sony doubles down on an all-digital PlayStation future, Adam considers what the industry is asking players to surrender in exchange for convenience.

Without physical games, consumers could lose the ability to buy used copies, lend games to friends, discover overlooked releases in stores and preserve purchases beyond the lifespan of Sony’s servers. The episode also explores the danger closed storefronts pose to indie developers and why digital games should include permanent offline access and transferable licenses.

Sony has the right to build an all-digital console. Players also have the right to decide that a...

Adam has never played a Splatoon game in his life, and Splatoon Raiders might be his game of the year. A look at why this single-player looter-shooter spin-off is the clearest argument yet for what the Switch 2 can actually do, how the grind hits that rare Pokémon-level joy that never becomes a chore, why the difficulty curve nails what recent Nintendo games keep getting wrong, and the one buried setting you need to change in the first five minutes. Turn off the motion controls and thank us later. A full 5 out of 5.

You can watch the f...

Adam dives into News Tower, an indie tycoon game about running a 1930s New York newspaper that turns out to be far deeper than it looks. Why the simple weekly loop hides three interlocking games, a newspaper sim, an HR-and-employee-happiness game, and a Factorio-style optimization puzzle, and why the faction-influence system, balancing the church, the mayor, and organized crime, is the smartest thing in it. Plus where it lands on the short list of comfort games that never get uninstalled. A full 5 out of 5.

Microsoft just cut thousands from its gaming division and pushed out four studios, and Adam argues it's the first crack warning of a coming collapse, like Bear Stearns to the industry's coming housing crisis. Why the "billion monthly players" mandate is structurally impossible and what it really signals, why games can't chase trends the way movies can, why a decade of failed Fortnite clones taught the industry nothing, and why an AI-background executive now running Xbox points toward the brand being wound down and sold for parts. Plus the case that the future, and the safe harbor, is indie...

Another week, another new release, and this one's a pleasant surprise. Adam digs into Rhythm Heaven Groove, the first new entry in the series in over a decade, and finds a WarioWare-style collection of musical minigames that nails the feel even when the hardware fights it. Why the catchy, pick-up-and-play design is exactly the itch it sets out to scratch, the audio-latency quirk that makes your choice of headphones matter more than it should, and why forty dollars is the number that seals the recommendation. A short one this week, but an easy one to love.

Sony has announced it will end physical disc production for all new PlayStation games starting January 2028, and Adam has feelings. An extra episode on the slow death of ownership, why a license you can lose isn't the same as a disc that works for fifty years, and how Sony managed to argue against its own decision by delisting purchased movies the same week. Along the way: the delisting incentive that's quietly killing backward compatibility, whether games can be art if the companies making them won't let them be tangible, and the real opportunity hiding in all this, indie developers...

Nintendo has opened a console generation on an Ocarina of Time and a Star Fox 64 remake for the second time, and Adam dug into the new Star Fox on Switch 2 as a series newcomer. Why the remake's tutorials, voice acting, and cinematic story fill the gap left by the death of the instruction manual, how Falco, Slippy, and Fox finally feel like characters, why the tank level is still the tank level, and why a $50 price tag is a breath of fresh air in an $80 world. Plus a barrel roll or two. A full 5 out of 5.

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GTA 6 finally has a price: $80 standard, $100 Ultimate, and a "physical" edition that's just a download code in a box. Adam unpacks why the number matters less than what it signals, why GTA's discount-driven history makes an $80 launch a tougher sell than it is for Nintendo, why the AAA industry might be too big to succeed, and why even a record-shattering launch could still set off alarm bells across the industry. Plus: why GTA 6 isn't competing with GTA 5, it's competing with twelve years of the version players built in their heads.

Adam reports live from Pier 57 at the Tribeca Festival, fresh off hands-on time with seven of this year's indie game selections. A modern 3D Zelda in Demi and the Fractured Dream, a gorgeous paper-airplane journey in DRIFTED, a speedrunner's dream in Rebounder, Devolver's sledgehammer-swinging Virtue and a Sledgehammer, and two out-of-nowhere standouts in Kidbash: Super Legend and the wordless, sound-driven LOFSÖNG. Join in for a quick on-site dispatch before sprinting downtown for X-Men '97.

A Nintendo Direct finally arrived, so join Adam as he breaks down what it actually means. The Ocarina of Time remake is real but shown without a frame of gameplay, Kingdom Hearts IV lands on Switch 2 at launch, and Square Enix turns up in force. So why does a stacked lineup feel so empty if you don't already own the console? Join in for a conversation about ports versus system-sellers, the conspicuous absence of Mario and the next Zelda, and the GTA VI-shaped hole hanging over the entire holiday season.

Succession Planning is now available for pre-order...

We covered the console version on the channel, so this week on The Backlog Files I'm taking the Game Boy Advance port of Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure out of the backlog. It's Tony Hawk in a Disney coat of paint, squeezed onto handheld hardware that doesn't want to cooperate, and it gets me thinking about something bigger: the slow disappearance of the on-ramp game, the accessible entry point that teaches you a genre. Why has nobody but Nintendo kept making them? Where's the kid-friendly Soulslike? Plus a look back at the strange era of GBA ports that tried to...

Fifteen years after it launched alongside the Nintendo 3DS, does Pilotwings Resort still hold up? Adam revisits the dormant flight series Nintendo resurrected as a glasses-free-3D showcase, and digs into a launch window built almost entirely on tech demos and ports. The controls are still great, the game around them is still thin, and somehow they made Free Flight grindy. A look at what Pilotwings always was, why it probably should have come bundled in the box, and whether a Switch 2 entry could finally give this series the engine it deserves.

Good-Feel knows how to make a Yoshi game look and feel inviting, but the question has always been whether there's enough underneath. On today's Backlog Files, Adam reviews Yoshi and the Mysterious Book; the Switch 2 exclusive that has charm to spare and a genuinely clever premise, but leaves you wondering if Yoshi deserves more of a challenge than this. Is delightful enough?

Adam discusses the new indie Paper Mario-like: Escape From Ever After.

Pokemon Champions is finally here and Adam discusses the borderline disastrous launch.

Adam discusses probably the worst game that's been discussed on this show, Neopets: Mega Mini Game Collection.

With The Super Mario Galaxy Movie releasing this week, Adam looks back at the Wii game Super Mario Galaxy.

Let's look back at 2002 and Nintendo's kind of risky experimental title Super Mario Sunshine!

Adam discusses what is probably the 30th anniversary Pokemon title - Pokemon: Pokopia!

Well, they're definitely ports of FireRed and LeafGreen.

So Pokemon Wind and Waves will not be arriving in 2026, despite the leaks indicating otherwise. What does this mean for the 30th anniversary of the franchise and a mostly vacant year for releases?

Adam discusses the latest Sonic the Hedgehog game, Sonic X Shadow Generations.

Adam finally plays Mario Kart World! Join in as he discusses how this changes the franchise going forward.

Adam continues his quest for a fun hockey game to play on PC and also discusses the ad for Pokemon that aired during the Super Bowl.

Adam discusses GameStop's obvious death rattle as it circles the drain.

With the first and only DLC pack for Pokemon Legends: Z-A out, Adam gives his thoughts on The Mega Dimension.

Adam discusses the new cozy survival crafting game Winter Burrow.

Adam discusses the new metroidvania Gigasword from Akupara Games.

A copy of the game was provided by Akupara Games for review purposes at no cost.

Adam discusses Out of the Park Baseball 26 and the fact that apparently Gamergate is still a thing.

So with video games getting more expensive, Adam explores the appeal of the randomizer mod for older games.

Adam discusses the new Katamari game: Once Upon A Katamari.

Adam discusses what works and what doesn't in Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

With two days to go until the release of Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Adam looks back at Pokemon Legends: Arceus and what the next entry could bring to the table.

Adam discusses the new remake of PAC-Man World 2 for modern consoles and PC.