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Digivolve your PlayStation controllers and prepare to shuffle your way through the most wonderfully confused identity crisis in gaming history, because this week on Play Comics we’re tapping into the pixelated card-battling chaos that is Digimon Digital Card Battle for the PS1! Released in 2001 when every entertainment franchise on Earth was racing to cash in on the trading card game gold rush sparked by Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh, Bandai decided their digital monsters deserved a piece of that sweet, sweet card-slinging action. The twist? They didn’t just adapt the existing Digimon trading card game – oh no, that would be far too simple. Instead, they created an entirely NEW card game exclusively for this PS1 title, because apparently someone at BEC thought “You know what kids collecting physical cards really need? A completely different set of rules that only exists in digital form!”

What emerged was a gloriously polygonal fever dream where Veemon, Hawkmon, and Armadillomon became your partners in a card-battling odyssey through Battle Arenas, all while you sacrifice Digimon from your hand like some kind of digital monster cult leader gathering “DP” (Digivolve Points, not whatever your brain just went to) to evolve your creatures into increasingly ridiculous forms. It’s rock-paper-scissors meets card game mechanics meets “please stop making me grind the same battles 300 times to unlock the secret final boss.”

Joining us for this digivolved discussion is the phenomenally talented Sahoni from Bramble Wolf Games! When they’re not busy crafting games that actually mean something or channeling their Queer and Indigenous (ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ) storytelling magic into unforgettable tabletop experiences, Sahoni brings their narrative expertise to help us understand how this PS1 oddity somehow convinced an entire generation that carrying around 30 digital cards was infinitely more practical than the hundreds of physical ones weighing down their backpacks.

So crack open that PS1 jewel case, practice your best “I’m going to pretend I understand these Support Card effects” face, and prepare for an episode more entertaining than watching the same Digimon battle animation for the 47th time. We’ll explore whether this card-game-that-never-was actually honored the spirit of the Digimon franchise, or if it just left us wondering why we couldn’t trade our digital cards with friends like we could in literally every other TCG game of the era!Continue Reading

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Attention, digital duelists and pixel-punching prodigies! Prepare to digivolve your eardrums as Play Comics takes a nostalgia-fueled dive into the arena of Digimon Rumble Arena on the PlayStation 1. This episode is more loaded than Agumon after a spicy curry feast!

Joining us in this byte-sized battle royale is none other than Derek B Gayle, the podcast polymath behind such hard hitting podcasts on the Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective such as Gimmicks, Walloping Websnappers, Lee Carvallo’s Podding Challenge, Skreeonk!, Falling with Style, and probably a few more shows he’s cooked up while you were reading this sentence. Together, we’ll explore how this fighting game adaptation captured the essence of the Digimon anime faster than you can say “Prodigious!”

So grab your Digivice, dust off that PS1 memory card, and get ready to rumble through this electrifying episode. Will Digimon Rumble Arena prove to be the champion of anime game adaptations, or will it get sent back to the Digital World? Tune in to find out – it’s time to digi-modify your podcast playlist!Continue Reading

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Welcome back to another thrilling episode of Play Comics! This week, we’re diving headfirst into the time-warping, demon-slaying world of InuYasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale, the PlayStation classic that brought the beloved manga and anime series to the gaming console. Get ready for a journey through feudal Japan, where sacred jewels and half-demons reign supreme.

But hold onto your sacred arrows, because we’ve got a special treat for you! Joining us today is the multi-talented Josh Wells, the creative force behind Character Wells and part of the new audio drama series set in the DC universe, The Mortalverse. Josh brings his unique perspective and boundless enthusiasm to our discussion, making this an episode you won’t want to miss.

Whether you’re a die-hard InuYasha fan or a newcomer to the series, this episode is packed with insights, laughs, and a touch of nostalgia. So grab your Tessaiga, tune in, and join us on this feudal fairy tale adventure!Continue Reading

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Smurf fans, mushroom dwellers, and plastic comic enthusiasts, lend me your ears! This week on Play Comics, we’re taking a hard look at one of the most mind-bogglingly bizarre video game adaptations to ever grace the original PlayStation – The Smurfs from 1999. That’s right, we’re diving headfirst into the small blue world where the air is crisp, the mushrooms are plentiful, and the gameplay is…well, let’s just say it’s an experience.

But we’re not going it alone, oh no! Joining us is the one and only Mike Clyburn from the wildly popular podcast The Twisted Cape. Mike’s no stranger to twisted tales and bizarre adventures, so we knew he’d be the perfect tour guide through this cobalt-colored carnival of chaos.

Prepare yourselves for tales of sinister wizards, hapless heroes, and more collectible items than you can smurfing shake a stick at. We’ll laugh, we’ll cry, we’ll question the very nature of our existence. But most of all, we’ll have a smurftastic time exploring this true relic of gaming’s awkward adolescence.

So grab your favorite mushroom cap, take a deep breath of that crisp smurf air, and join us for an episode that’s bound to be…unforgettable. It’s going to be one wild smurf ride!Continue Reading

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There’s something just so endearing about The Smurfs. Mostly I think it’s because it’s just such a simple concept. Little blue dudes have an adventure and it all wraps up nicely by the end. Seems pretty safe and kid friendly doesn’t it?

Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Good thing I have October K Santarelli here to help blow some of those ideas out of the water. Listen in as we take a dive into Smurf history and explore some of the dark secrets of these little blue demons.

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Yu-Gi-Oh is something I never really got into growing up. Or now for that matter since I’ve gotten into some things now that I should have gotten into when I was younger. Although I was kind of around it since I was into Pokemon and Magic: the Gathering so it’s not a totally 100% new thing to me. Plus the memes.

Good thing I somehow convinced Luke Herr to come back for another session of “Luke Explains Things To Chris that Chris Should Already Know About.” This time he takes on Yu-Gi-Oh and a combo shot of games in Forbidden Memories and Dark Duel Stories. Will we be trapped in the shadow realm for attempting this? Only one way to find out!Continue Reading

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You know what’s a great idea? Being a game publisher/developer and just buying a comic publisher so you can have IP to make games with a built in audience? So should you grab Marvel or DC? How about Valiant? Yup, that’s what happened.

Listen in as Insane Ian comes on the show to take a stab at Shadow Man for the N64, PS1, and Sega Dreamcast and we try to figure out if this game is good or not because it’s in a really awkward place and we can’t quite figure it out.Continue Reading