QCF: Toki

n somewhat of an ironic twist, one of the fondest memories I have with video games from my childhood isn’t a video game that I played on my television, but a show that I watched on my television about video games. As the 16-bit boom kicked off the nineties, Nickelodeon debuted Nick Arcade—a new game show that embraced the gimmickry of its video aesthetic with the grace of cat walking along a floor made of bubble-wrap.

While the show has only gotten hokier with age, it was vital for a Challenge segment that showcased some of the hottest new games in action on my television screen, something no issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly or GamePro could ever do, and one of those games was Toki: Going Ape Spit.

In a climate that was undeniably overwhelmed with action-platformers, Toki managed to stand out from all of the other classics that were lined up for the show with its bizarrely unattractive, yet colorfully sharp visuals, and surprisingly delicate balance of action and strategy for an arcade shooter. Decades later, the lumbering primate has suddenly slouched his way back into 2018 with a remastered remake of the arcade classic that mostly considered to be vaporware at this point, until the development of it was taken over, and then released by a French developer and publisher Microïds.

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PPR 6th Year Anniversary Special: Street Fighter Commentary

ix years may not seem like a long time for some folks but, that’s quite time stamp when you really look at it, that’s 312 weeks, which is also 2,190 days, made of 52,590 hours; that’s impressive for a podcast driven website that has never literally shit itself—I can’t say the same from a figurative standpoint though.

So what better way to celebrate than what we normally do; Sitting down and goofing up a storm on what may possibly be one of the biggest film flops of the nineties—that’s how. Starring Jean Claude Van Damme, Raul Juliá, that one lady from Agents of Shield, and more, it’s Street Fighter, the movie based on the game…that’s now a movie—adapted from the hit video game (is this this getting through yet?)

In this anniversary commentary special, we bear through all of Van Damme’s cringe inducing dialogue, reminisce about all the Nickelodeon game shows that donated their stage sets to the production of this film, Love Boat, and more—strap in and prepare yourselves.

I know we’ve said it before (and will most likely say it again the actual anniversary podcast), but the countless nights of editing, writing, laughing, and crying would not have been possible without you guys—I’m sincerely grateful for everyone who has supported us. The T-shirts and posters are still being made but will hit the store really soon (we’re really sorry about the wait!) I’m truly blessed to have PPR, all of us here are, and it’s all thanks to you lovable shmucks.

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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