On this, the one-hundred and fifty-seventh episode of Barrel Roll, Jonah and Jesse are on their own. It’s up to the two of them to talk about video games and attempt to keep you edutained.

The Portal 2 authoring tools dropped, and both the guys have been playing around with them. They go into the good and bad of using it with no prior design experience. On the board game front, Jonah picked up a copy of Tetris Link, which is kind of broken but has the potential to be really fun. Jonah also finally got his own copy of Kid Icarus Uprising, which leads to talk of multiplayer, and leads Jesse down a dark path of discussing the original Kid Icarus, which he was playing via the 3D Classics edition.

Since there hadn’t been nearly enough wizard talk in a while, Jonah brings up the Civ V styled wizard strategy game Warlock - Master of the Arcane, and the obscure end of the world, flashlight based Wii game Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon.

All this and more on Barrel Roll #157, “Is that Snake Coming on to Me?”

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I do not like the original Kid Icarus. I didn’t like it in its heyday and I didn’t like it when I played the recent 3D Classics downloadable version. So make no mistake that when I say I absolutely adore Kid Icarus Uprising on the 3DS, it is in no way related to nostalgia.

That said, I adore this game.

Like the original’s mix of Ice Climbers-esque platforming, Metroid-like exploration, and shmup style final stage, Kid Icarus Uprising divides its time between a few game types. For the most part, stages start with you flying around as Pit in a third person rail shooter that plays like Sin & Punishment: Star Successor practically verbatim. These sections never waste a moment of your time. Every second is a roller-coaster of arcade action.

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On this, the one-hundred and fifty-sixth excursion into Barrel Roll country, Jesse and Jonah are joined by the internet’s own Michael Bachmann. While Mike was off playing the Diablo III open beta, Jonah and Jesse spent time with the Dragon’s Dogma demo and character creator. Jesse has also finished up Kid Icarus: Uprising while Jonah played through Journey.

There is discussion of Space Quest and Leisure Suit Larry, as well as Bizarro Shenmue, which isn’t a real game, but probably should be.

Getting back to games we actually played, Jesse breaks down Ridge Racer Unbounded and it’s strange drifting mechanics. Jonah started in on The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition on the Xbox 360 while Mike completed the first chapter of The Walking Dead adventure game from Telltale. All this and more on Barrel Roll #156, “Bizarro Shenmue”.

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This week on show, Jonah and Jesse are joined by two returning champions of guest hosting, Adam Milecki, who may or may not be a robot, and Wesley Johnson. After shooting the breeze about remix contest and albums you should definitely go check out, they get right into the video games discussion.

First up is Skullgirls, the indie fighting game from Autumn Games that dropped on XBLA and PSN last week. Then Adam and Jesse have an in-depth discussion on Kid Icarus: Uprising. After the break we unfortunately lose Adam due to his suddenly getting down with the sickness. But the show must go on and Jesse gives his thoughts on Asura’s Wrath and how much he wishes there was a game there. Jonah has actually played a new game, Legend of Grimrock, even though it plays like an old game. He also finally gave in and bought the Rock Band 3 keyboard bundle he has been putting off since the game’s initial release nearly two years ago. Before he falls asleep (it was approaching 2am on his end), Wes gives us his thoughts on Fallout: New Vegas.

All this and more random banter on Barrel Roll #155 - “Adam is (Probably) A Robot”.

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I never really got into Kid Icarus, short lived as it was. My greatest exposure to the series was Captain N: The Game Master. I also wouldn’t have figured it’d have retained much of a fan base over the years. So it was pretty surprising at least year’s E3 when Nintendo announced Kid Icarus: Uprising as one of their initial offerings for the Nintendo 3DS. This take on the series comes off as an entirely different kind of game, which I do believe is for the better.

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My first day at E3 was essentially all about getting my feet wet. I didn’t line up to play games so much as I explored the premises and got a good idea what was around. It’s been a pretty lively event, and one that only got busier as the day wore on. But one thing I did manage to take a stab at, the one thing I was prepared to do when I knew I was going to E3, was trying out Nintendo’s 3DS.

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