Lucasfilm Games teamed up with Infocom's visionary creative Brian Moriarty in 1990 for the fifth of the studio's SCUMM-based point and click adventures, the whimsical and musical Loom. Leon, Chis Worthington, Jesse (who selected this game as his pick for the Volume) and Ryan - along with contributions from the Cane and Rinse community - pick their way stitch-by-stitch through this unusual and accessible yarn.

Somehow, nearly six years has passed since we covered the original Pikmin back in podcast issue 321. 20 years on from the sequel's original GameCube release in Japan, we get cosy with Pikmin 2. Leon, Brian, Chris O'Regan plus community contributors weigh in on Nintendo's much-expanded and divisive follow-up.

A lovable set of siblings, a journey of hope, and a billion rats. Brian, James, Jon and Karl revisit A Plague Tale: Innocence to examine whether or not the story of Hugo and Amicia remains relevant. Come for the discussion, stay for the rat tornadoes.

With the game having been released for over three years, and actually finished for a few months now (at the time of recording), we felt we could finally take a proper look at Cyberpunk 2077. Leon, Jay, Rich and Ryan head down to Night City's scuzzy streets for a full and frank appraisal of CDPR's expensive and expansive future-GTA. We also hear from the Cane and Rinse community and assess what ambitious DLC expansion Phantom Liberty brought to the party.

James, Karl, Leah, and Tony go on an intrepid adventure through the Angolan jungle and Canadian Rockies hot on the trail of everyone’s favourite Canadian can opener. It’s not often that a movie tie-in outshines its movie, but back in 2009 Raven Software seemed to achieve that with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. We know Logan ages gracefully, but will his game fare so well?

Chris O'Regan interviews Mariona Valls and Jordi Garcia of Mango Protocol about the design and development of CLeM, a comedy horror adventure game. http://media.blubrry.com/caneandrinse/caneandrinse.com/sausage/TSF_Episode490.mp3   Music featured is by Pau Damià Riera and the sound track can be purchased from here:https://store.steampowered.com/app/2794370/CLeM__Original_Soundtrack/ 1. Wisdom2. Intelligence3. Loyalty The Sausage Factory 490 was edited by Chris...

Four years since we covered Super Mario Odyssey, and 35 years after its release, it's time for Super Mario Land to get the Cane and Rinse podcast treatment. Leon, Chris Worthington, James and Leah raid the cupboards in search of enough batteries to beat the platforming plumber's first outing. Which isn't many batteries. Because the game is really short. As usual we also get memories and opinions shared by a number of the game's 18 million plus players as we await Super Mario Land's arrival on...

From the Dragon of Dojima to the Hero of Yokohama, what was old is new again. Join Brian, Karl, Leah and Rich as they examine Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Are the shifts in genre and protagonist enough to elevate this evolutionary title?

"Version Upgrade" NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… arrived just over a decade after the original(s), promising a slicker experience and new lore to add to Yoko Taro's intricate mix. Leon, Leah (who nominated this one for the podcast having missed out on our original show back in 2014), James and Sean break down the themes as best they can, with invaluable contributions from forum and Patreon contributors. We address some of the more controversial aspects of the piece, and a wide range of...

More than a decade after his untimely death, Datasoft released this 8-bit computer game based upon the legend of Hong Kong/US martial arts movie star, Bruce Lee. Leon, Chris O'Regan and Jesse - along with contributions from the wonderful Cane and Rinse community - dissect this brief but punchy action platformer with kung fu elements, from its intriguing opening to its surreally simple conclusion. We also take a look at the game's many ports, successors and fan-made follow-up.

Leaping back over the drawbridge of doom and into the castle of mystery, we dance a do-si-do to the Rondo of Blood. Leon, Leah, Michiel, Rich(ter) and community contributors analyse and review the appeal of this cult, hipster classic, as well as taking a glance at the game's ports, conversions, rereleases and remakes in our latest Akumajo Dracula show - our Castlevania: Rondo of Blood issue.

We round off our coverage of Retro Studios' Phazon trilogy with our Metroid Prime 3: Corruption deep-dive review. Leon, Brian and Leah - along with contributions from our faithful community crew - suit up and blast off to strange, new alien worlds in search of a lasting peace. With 17 years of hindsight, what did the motion-controls and much-maligned 'waggle' bring to the Samus experience?

In the late 1990s, a swashbuckling and experimental Square released a Zelda-like action RPG based on historic samurai, Miyamoto Musashi.  Why not, eh?  Join Chris Worthingon, Brian, Dan and Leah as we look at whether the game (like the legend of Musashi himself) has stood the test of time.

Cane and Rinse is on a roll this week as Ryan, Jesse, Leah, and Chris take a twenty-year trip through the history of Katamari Damacy, from the PlayStation 2 original to the PS Vita conclusion and all of the spinoffs and delisted mobile games in between.

A relatively up-to-date title for our latest podcast, and the second team selection of 2024. It's Hi-Fi Rush! Leon, Brian, Leah and Tony (who picked this game for the show) - along with contributions from the Cane and Rinse Patreons and forumites - get on down with Tango Gameworks character rhythm-action shadow drop banger.

The first team-curated selection of the year goes to Double Fine's Stacking. Leon, Brian (who chose this one for the volume), Ryan, Tony and contributors from the Cane and Rinse community nestle into director Lee Petty's marvelous marriage of matryoshka and mystification.

We're back, yet again, for our thirteenth year of podcasts, and we kick off 2024 with a look at a 35 year-old arcade stunner. Leon, Chris Worthington, Michiel and Sean dash and slash their way through Capcom's coin-op of choreographed set-pieces, Strider Hiryu. Along with contributions from the Cane and Rinse community, we also investigate Strider's precursors, ports, the spin-offs and successors.

Wrapping up another year of Cane and Rinse podcasts, we revisit Demon's Souls, this time focusing on the PlayStation launch remake from 2020, put together by Bluepoint Games. Leon, James, Rich, Tom and community contributors drift about the Nexus, boasting of builds, strats and boss techniques. Of course we also consider the game's system-selling paint-job, and any aesthetic pros and cons that come with this comprehensive audiovisual 'glow-up'.

When we covered Subset's previous game, FTL back in... wait, what? Apparently we didn't. Perhaps in the future then. Anyway, here we are with mech vs. Vek strategic manoeuvres in Subset's sophomore effort, Into the Breach. Leon, Brian, Chris O'Regan, James and community contributors wrangle robots and defy insectoid kaiju in this issue of the podcast.

Seattle didn’t invent grunge or coffee shops, but it certainly popularised them. Seattle's Mega Crit didn’t invent roguelike deck builders, but… you get the idea. Chris, James, Jesse, and Leah venture ever upwards to confront the Corrupted Heart and ultimately Slay the Spire!

Is this really the end of Kiryu’s journey?  Well, we know it’s not, but at the time of release, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life was the final chapter in Kiryu’s story.  Join Brian, Leah and Michiel as they examine whether or not this was a fitting final chapter for the Dragon of Dojima.

It's the near future. The town of Norco has been driven to the brink of devastation by the Shield Corporation. Ryan, Leah, Jon, and Jesse venture back home to uncover the secrets of the town and the supernatural powers hiding within. In this issue, we discuss point-and-click adventure debut NORCO.

“It did appear that they might be onto something but not so.” After almost thirty years of (more than) annual releases, EA Sports' FIFA series of football (soccer) games ended in 2022. Leon, Chris Worthington, Tony and a team of listeners tackle every generational leap and incremental upgrade from 16-bit Mega Drive to PS5 and Xbox Series X. We remember the highs (FIFA 11) and lows (FIFA 97), the faded cover stars, the features that have come and gone and lament the death of all...

SEGA AM2 doubled down on an icon in 2003 when it finally released OutRun 2 into the arcades. Updates, expansions and follow-ups came - and went, thanks to elapsed licensing - but it's now been 14 years since a new game in the series was made available. Leon, Chris Worthington and Michiel celebrate Sumo Digital's work in bringing the mighty coin-ops home, while lamenting the expense of securing legacy physical copies. We've also got some particularly passionate user reviews for you in this...

It's been a while since we covered Halo 5 (check out that and our other Halo podcasts in the archive), but now it's been a couple of years since the release of its successor, so we felt it was time to review Halo Infinite. Leon, Brian, Karl, Tony and a swathe of community contributors recall 343's rocky road to launch and beyond, assess the state of the game then and now - even considering whether the recent launch of 'Season 5' could be the start (or even the end) of this game's 'redemption...