It's 2007, you're in your friend's basement and they bust out a plastic Gibson Les Paul. They put their Wii remote in it and voila, it's a magical guitar with 5 buttons and a whammy bar! All of a sudden Through The Fire And Flames was everywhere, every kid could sing the lyrics to Slow Ride, and Slash was once again a household name. Guitar Hero 3 was the absolute peak of rhythm games for so many reasons. Neil and Mike are joined by friend of the show Ali to breakdown why this game was so successful and the impact that both Guitar Hero and Rockband had on the world. This is part 1 of a special 2 part episode, look out for the other half next week!

A Rareware game for a Nintendo system with a cute, cuddly squirrel as it's mascot? What a great family platformer! Well many parents may have thought this 25 years ago, it turns out that this is one of the most vulgar, crass, funny games full of innuendo and pop culture references that would go way over a kid's head. Friend of the show Harrison joins the pod to discuss playing this game secretly as a kid and then only somewhat secretly as an adult while Neil pours one out for Rare (he still has his Rare Replay disc at least). Happy 25th birthday to a game that we may never see again!

No this isn't a sequel to Pokémon Stadium as so many often mistake it for, this is one of the longest, grindiest, but most unique Pokemon games to ever exist. It's the JRPG-inspired 2004 cult classic Colosseum! Here on Switch 2 The Past Mike & Neil are celebrating 30 years of Pokemon by talking about a game with no random encounters, not created by GameFreak, and one which you SNAG other people's Pokemon! Friend of the show Erin from the Fake Gamer Girls podcast joins the show to talk about her memories of the game, protagonist Wes as the ultimate edgy 2004 teen, and how this game tells you absolutely nothing, but we still love it all the same.

Change court! It’s Mario Tennis time here on Switch 2 The Past as Mike & Neil celebrate the inclusion of a new game in the Franchise, Mario Tennis Fever! Joining the show to chat tennis and of course some N64 is Dave from the Remember64 podcast who reminisces about his favourite shots, courts and characters. Mario Tennis 64 still hits hard after all these years and there’s still much reason to go back to it. AND it’s of course the debut of the number one Nintendo character of all time, Waluigi!

Financial earnings? A recent direct? That means its time for the NFT report! No that’s not Non Fudgesicle Tokens, it’s the Nintendo Financial Times report, with Mike & Neil, reporting on all of the fun stats, figures and news from Ninty. Q4 of course being the holiday season we got some big numbers from the Switch 2 as well as the Switch officially becoming the best selling Nintendo console of all time! The boys also discuss the most recent partner showcase and what they would really like to see done to the Virtual Boy's library. It's all here! (except for fudgesicles).

WAHHHHH. It's time to go back to 2003. No not to F-Zero GX, or Windwaker, or Soul Calibur....no it's everyone's favourite Treasure developed game, Wario World! An absolute gem for the GameCube, Mike & Neil covered this wayyy back in the day on The GameCube Was Cool and are bringing it back for it's inclusion on the Switch 2's GameCube Online Service! Friend of the show @gamecubegalaxy on YouTube joins the podcast to chat all about his favourite memories and stage from the game and why Nintendo REALLY needs to show the ol' purple and yellow some more love.

With the darkest days upon us (as well as snow for almost everyone on the east coast of North America), this episode felt extremely appropriate to record at this time of year. One of the best pure survival games in recent memory, this game from indie Canadian studio Hinterland has become a cult favourite and undercover hit selling over 6m units! Friend of the show Marty joins the episode and the boys could think of no one better to bring on as he's racked up 1400 hours playing this game and knows what it's like to get cabin fever after running away from some bears chasing you in Bleak Inlet. Don't know what that means? Listen to this very special episode to learn all about this terrific game and what makes it so special 12 years after it's release.

2026 is gonna be a big year full of some great anniversaries, new games, and lots more GameCube content! Mike & Neil talk about things to look forward this year for the podcast and for the world of gaming while diving into some news in the Nintendo world and wondering why people need salt content warning labels on jars of pickles.