1Upsmanship

Jun 19 2023 792

1Upsmanship Podcast artwork

Michael likes story-driven games with lots of contemplative moral quandaries and inventory management. Adam likes action-driven FPS games with gorgeous graphics and no down-time. Together, their friendship is constantly on the verge of ruin! But you can watch it all crumble before your very ears on 1Upsmanship, the pod where two lifelong gamers run one game an episode through the crucible to determine if it belongs on the Celestial Hard Drive. GAME ON.

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1Upsmanship: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Feat. Cody Johnston)

Jun 19 2023 63 mins

Vwoom and jedi-leap your way through Respawn’s latest with Adam, Mike, and special guest Cody Johnston! Will this jedi survive to the end of the episode, or even score a spot on the Celestial Hard Drive? To find out, young padawan, you must use this zipline to go over there. This is very important. The fate of the galaxy itself may depend upon you being cool at zipline, can you d

1Upsmanship: L.A. Noire

Jun 12 2023 57 mins

Possibly Rockstar’s most divisive open world experiment, 2011’s hard-boiled noir film homage gets the once-over by your favorite creative investigation duo. But beneath the glossy paint and ground-breaking motion capture is this game actually fun? How does the storytelling hold up in the twelve years since this game’s release? Does the game handle its problematic topics like

1Upsmanship: Legend of Zelda - A Link To The Past (Feat. Danielle Radford)

Jun 05 2023 70 mins

We’re back, fresh from the barren, content-less Dark World, and we’re starting this season with a bang! This week we warp into the 2D Zelda that perfected the formula, and we’re joined by our favorite Zelda Enthusiast, Danielle Radford! Some would say this is one of the greatest games ever made. Some would say this game is still being imitated to this very day. Some might eve

1Upsmanship: No Man’s Sky (Feat. Cody Johnston)

May 01 2023 66 mins

Host of Some More News Cody Johnston sits in with Adam and Mike as they tackle a game with ambitions as vast as a galaxy and a launch scandal to match. Has Hello Games done enough to improve NMS over the years? Will it launch onto the Celestial Hard Drive or run out of hazard protection and get eaten by a Gek? They do that, you know. Strap in and let’s go exploring.See omnystudio

1Upsmanship: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Apr 24 2023 51 mins

Join the chorus, new one. Voices clash and clamor in the never-ending quest to recover our lost souls from the dark places they may wander. In this episode, your stalwart hosts Adam and Michael pore over a game that demands to be taken seriously, both by virtue of the topics at hand and the loving care the developers obviously put into the exercise. But does laudable handling of hu

1Upsmanship: Katamari Damacy (Feat. Starline Hodge and Hana Michels)

Apr 17 2023 55 mins

Ship Heads, prepare yourself for maximum fun, because our illustrious host has teamed up with two stellar guests, Starline Hodge and Hana Michels to talk about a game that’s truly one of a kind! Though tough to explain, the sheer joy of rolling up all of known civilization into a junk star is an unparalleled experience that deserves unpacking (and then re-packing obvs). The squad

1Upsmanship: Callisto Protocol (Feat. Tom Reimann)

Apr 10 2023 58 mins

Stranded in a cold, dark, and surprisingly poop-covered future, our 1upsmanship crew battles its way through Callisto Protocol. Joined by longtime colleague and friend Tom Reimann (Gamefully Unemployed) our heroes debate whether this game got unfairly maligned and whether there’s ever truly enough spike-covered walls. They answer key questions like do we really need this particul

1Upsmanship: Atomic Heart

Apr 03 2023 48 mins

Your original 1Ups Boyz are back in the USSR! Michael officially returns from some time away, although we air episodes out of order so that’s not actually useful information. What is useful is their breakdown of the first big title from Mundfish, a little bit of Bioshock and a little bit of Fallout all wrapped up in a Soviet Russian package. Blast ‘bots, uncover mysteries simil

1Upsmanship: Diablo 2 (Feat. Abe Epperson)

Mar 27 2023 63 mins

Slap on your controversy armor Ship Heads, because this episode’s got some scorching hot takes that are gonna do some real AoE damage to looter fans. Joined by longtime pal, collaborator and Dia-bro Abe Epperson (Small Beans), our journey takes some twists and turns as we talk about the growth of the looter genre, Diablo 2’s historical significance, the role of internet communi

1Upsmanship: Assassin’s Creed Origins (Feat. Youssef Maguid)

Mar 20 2023 70 mins

Michael and Adam are joined by Ubisoft host and producer Youssef Maguid to discuss a huge turning point in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and, dare we say, history? A lively conversation ensues about what makes this entry essential, the meticulous crafting of Ptolemaic Egypt, and whether the changes were good or bad for the series. Mount your camel and zip directly to your desti