Maximum Power Up
130 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 months ago - ★★★★ - 7 ratingsA video gaming podcast that covers both retro gaming as well as modern systems. The show features discussion on various topics, reviews and more.
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Episodes
Episode 76: H.P. Lovecraft
September 09, 2018 22:45 - 1 hour - 92.1 MB“That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die.” Hot on the heels(ish) of the Dreamcast Listener’s Choice episode, Phil, Tom & Chris reunite to tackle nameless horrors and eldritch terrors as they explore video games influenced by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."
Episode 75: Playing with Emotions
August 25, 2018 19:26 - 1 hour - 61.7 MBIn this spoilerific episode Julian Hill and guest Richard Otlet discuss some of the most thought provoking and engaging stories in video games, proving that the most powerful tales told in games can be as memorable as any novel or movie and that just because a game is geared towards a mature audience that doesn’t mean that it’s all about sex, drugs and ultra violence.
Episode 74: Listeners Choice Gameboy
August 12, 2018 17:57 - 1 hour - 90.6 MBIn this episode Phil, Jake and special guest Matt ‘Gameboyle’ 10 Game Boy titles chosen by our listeners to see how they’ve fared growing old. We take a trip down a rose tinted, nay, drenched, memory lane and revisit what our listeners decided we the shining examples of Nintendo’s legendary handhelds library. Some have fared better than others! See if your faves still cut the mustard, and perhaps give some of our alternatives a play too.
Episode 73: Steve Merrett Interview
July 17, 2018 09:07 - 2 hours - 123 MBIn this episode Paul sits down with another well known name from games journalism. Steve Merrett has worked in the games industry for over 30 years working on many well loved magazines such as Nintendo Magazine System, Mean Machines Sega, ST Action and many more. Currently working in PR for Konami, Steve discusses his experiences working on the magazines, what he loved and hated and how he ended up working for Konami. There are a lot of great stories told covering 30 years so we hope you e...
Episode 72: Nintendo Switch
July 02, 2018 20:10 - 1 hour - 110 MBPaul, Julian and Arron are massive fans of the Nintendo Switch so were more than happy to discuss Nintendo's latest home console. With it just over a year old there are loads of games to choose from. From Triple A titles such as Zelda, Mario Kart etc the console has a fantastic range of eShop games at some great prices. We discuss our thoughts on the console so far and what we are looking forward to for it. In the main part of the show we set ourselves a challenge to find three eShop games...
Episode 71: Jonathan Beales Interview
June 16, 2018 14:25 - 2 hours - 144 MBIn this episode Paul interviews documentary film maker Jonathan Beales about his new upcoming film Retro Gaming The Movie. Jonathan has worked in the games industry for magazines such as ACE for Future Publishing. After working on magazines Jonathan left print media to begin making promotional videos for Psygnosis, Gremlin, Sony and more. Jonathan's upcoming film will feature hours of unseen footage from the games industry and showcase some great behind the scenes footage from the years of 1...
Episode 70: Listeners Choice Dreamcast
June 07, 2018 23:56 - 2 hours - 135 MBHot on the heels of (6 episodes later than) our Commodore 64 Listener Top 10, we bring you another episode in the same format. Once again we bravely outsourced the responsibility for the games we played to you. Listeners were invited via social media to share their five favourite Dreamcast games with us, which we then combined to create a Top 10 of the most popular ones. Phil is joined by show regular Tom “The Dreamcast Junkyard” Charnock and Chris Smith vol. 2, as they play and discuss th...
Episode 69: Andy Smith Interview
May 08, 2018 20:29 - 1 hour - 109 MBIn this episode Paul sits down for a chat with Andy Smith. Andy started working for Future Publishing quite early on starting his career on multiformat magazine ACE. As the magazine became more popular it was sold to rival publisher EMAP. However that led to Andy's career continuing at Future on new magazine Amiga Format. Over this 2 hour chat we discuss Andy's thoughts and memories of gaming, his time on Amiga Format and the very popular Sega Power. As well as this we cover setting up Bin...
Episode 68: Castlevania
April 27, 2018 11:22 - 3 hours - 177 MB"Let us go out this evening for pleasure. The night is still young." Phil and interloper, Chris Smith HD (more a reboot than a remaster) stroll through the candlelit hallways of the Castlevania series, trying not to fall down any pits. Join our heroes as they take on pretty much every game, and almost get away with their sanity intact. As usual, do get in touch on the channels below with any feedback or to just say hi, and if you enjoy our work, it would be great if you could drop us a...
Episode 67: Nick Clarkson Interview
April 02, 2018 21:35 - 1 hour - 98.4 MBIn this episode Paul interviews Nick Clarkson. Nick has been in the gaming industry since the 1980's starting work for Gollner Publishing on ST Action. From his starting role as editor on the magazine it then led to working on popular weekly games mag Games X and then onto GB Action for the Nintendo Gameboy. In the summer of 1992 Nick left magazine work to start work as PR Manager for Gremlin Graphics helping promote so many well known games such as Zool, Premier Manager and more. Over the...
Episode 66: Paul 'Mr. Biffo' Rose Interview
March 18, 2018 19:54 - 1 hour - 79.4 MBIn this episode Paul sits down for a chat with Paul Rose AKA Mr.Biffo. Paul spent 10 years writing popular Teletext section Digitiser from 1993 to 2003. Over the years the quirky sense of humour to go alongside the gaming coverage gained a massive following. Although there was plenty of Sega and Nintendo footage, Paul did manage upset Amiga owners which we do discuss. As well as Digitiser, they discuss Mr.Biffo's Found Footage, Paul's magazine career on Edge, Retro Gamer and more. There ...
Episode 65: Shoot 'em Ups
March 13, 2018 07:50 - 1 hour - 98.6 MBJump into your R-9/Styx/spaceship of choice, and join us defending humanity against incredible odds and bright orange bullets. Phil and Jake are joined by special guest Shaun ‘In your face’ Holley from 10p Arcade Podcast to discuss shoot ’em ups, stand out titles and companies synonymous with the very best games – over tea and biccies – before destroying the core/robot/mother brain and heading back to Earth.
Episode 64: Listeners Choice Commodore 64
February 21, 2018 22:51 - 3 hours - 187 MBIt's taken us awhile to cover Commodore's amazing 8 bit machine the C64 but we wanted to make a big deal with this one. We chose the C64 as our first machine for our new Listener's Choice Top 10- the games voted for by the listeners of the show. We asked for your five fave games on social media and then took the top 10 highest voted games and then played them all to give our views. So good or bad we'll be honest with our viewpoints. We are also joined by Daz from Retro Domination and Arc...
Episode 63: PlayStation Portable
February 15, 2018 02:23 - 1 hour - 90.8 MBSony’s entry into the handheld fistfight was everything you’d expect from them. Sleek and glossy black, big bright wide screen display, and a host of titles squeezed down to fit, plus loads of new games made to order. Join us as we take our first look at this future-classic console.
Episode 62: Pokemon
January 24, 2018 13:50 - 36 minutes - 31.2 MBJoin us for this pocketsized podcast with Eloy, a young Pokémon fan and his dad Maximum Power Up host Jake and his son Eloy as they discuss the series, from Game Boy to 3DS, the characters, gameplay and tactics. Everything that makes this long term series appeal to a youngster… and his dad!
Episode 61: Movie Licensed Games
January 10, 2018 20:44 - 1 hour - 99.2 MBIn this episode Paul and Arron discuss their experiences with movie licensed games. From the 80's to now there have been hundreds made. Some have been amazing based on the summer blockbusters of that particular year, Batman, Jurassic Park etc. However there have been many awful ones such as Wayne's World, Home Alone etc. Some amazing Disney titles such as Lion King are discussed also as there were many great Disney games out there. So we hope you like some of the games discussed as we kno...
Episode 60: Indie Games
December 28, 2017 02:00 - 1 hour - 95.6 MBIndie games are some of the most highly regarded video games on current gen consoles and the PC, and indie development studios represent a hot bed of talent when it comes to creating titles that are not restricted by the business goals of mainstream publishers. With this in mind, regular Maximum Power Up hosts Phil and Tom get together in this latest episode to discuss their own experiences with the indie scene and then wax lyrical about some of their favourite games from independent deve...
Episode 59: Wulverblade Developer Interview
November 26, 2017 19:45 - 1 hour - 103 MBFully Illustrated’s Michael Heald realised a lifelong dream of becoming a bonefide game developer earlier in 2017 when his frst title Wulverblade hit the Nintendo Switch. Initially intended to be an Xbox One exclusive and years in the making, Wulverblade was picked up by Nintendo and upon release it garnered critical acclaim across the board for it’s engaging storyline and solid side-scrolling, old school beat ‘em up gameplay. In this episode of Maximum Power Up, regular hosts Phil and Tom...
Episode 58: Dave Perry Interview
November 12, 2017 20:50 - 1 hour - 88.4 MBIn this episode Paul interviews Dave Perry that is most well known for his time on GamesMaster and Games World. As well as TV, Dave has worked on and launched many well known magazines. We discuss his time on Sega Pro, launching Games World to tie in with the TV show, the problems launching Play due to Sony's strict ruling over the PlayStation magazine market and more. Over the interview we also cover Dave's thoughts on gaming TV shows and his own gaming history. Finally we bring things ...
Episode 57: Resident Evil
October 23, 2017 19:43 - 1 hour - 84.9 MBIn this Halloween Special episode, Phil and Amy delve in to the world of Survival Horror tacking an look at the much loved Resident Evil series. Starting way back with Sweet Home, and take us all the way through the main title games in the series. As well as discussing storylines and game play, they also look back on how they were first introduced to the series and drop in a few stories along the way! Released in 1996 on the PlayStation Resident Evil is arguably considered, the birth of mo...
Episode 56: Nintendo DS
October 10, 2017 16:36 - 1 hour - 96.8 MBIn March 2005 Nintendo unleashed the DS. A brand new dual screen handheld with a user friendly touchscreen. The DS soon became the gamer's handheld of choice with well known Nintendo titles such as Mario Kart, Animal Crossing and many more. Games companies were soon quick on the uptake to how the touch screen controls could enhance the games and a wide range of titles were seen as must buy. In this episode Chris is joined by Paul and Darran Jones editor of Retro Gamer magazine. They di...
Episode 55: Sports Games
September 24, 2017 21:08 - 1 hour - 87.3 MBIn this episode Paul and Phil take a look at a few of their favorite sports games.This is a genre that is mainly seen as just a load of yearly updates, however dig a little deeper and there's a wealth of great games. From the 8 bit systems to present day some classic games are discussed as well as a few lesser known titles. We have chosen games that have struck a chord with us over the years- great ideas in the game, rivalry with friends over some great multiplayer match ups and much more....
Episode 54: PlayStation 2 Revisited
September 10, 2017 20:48 - 1 hour - 85.6 MBMaximum Power Up takes another look at the excellent Sony PlayStation 2. This time Paul is joined by Chris to discuss some of their favourite PS2 games. As well as this they talk about what makes the PS2 such a great console, the range of games for it, their memories of the machine and more. Is the PS2 the greatest console of all-time? That's a big question? As usual please let us know your views on Facebook or Twitter.
Episode 53: Capcom 84 - 94
August 22, 2017 23:22 - 1 hour - 89.7 MBCapcom, a studio and publisher that needs little introduction. From 1984 to 1994, Capcom had developed a solid roster of arcade blockbusters, adult orientated and kid-friendly licensed titles and of course the venerable Street Fighter II. In this episode Alex, Jake and Phil sit down to reminisce about a golden era for Capcom, their high coin-op standards and the brilliant console releases that left a mark that is still with us all today.
Episode 52: Bargain Hunt
August 06, 2017 10:36 - 1 hour - 86.7 MBIn this episode Paul, Phil and Jake set themselves a challenge to buy games on a budget. With the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 being last gen there are loads of great bargains to be found. Using high street retailer CEX as a price guide the challenge was to buy 5 games for these formats only for under £15. Easy! However no sports, singing or dancing type games were allowed or games with yearly updates. So who got the best deal? Only one way to find out....
Episode 51: Super Nintendo Part 2
July 23, 2017 16:47 - 1 hour - 94.9 MBWe are back again with the second part of our Super Nintendo episode. Following on from Paul, Julian and Alex's discussion about one of the gaming communities most treasured system, Phil, Chris and Amy present a further 15 games that set the system apart from its peers. Join this episodes hosts on another retro gaming journey peppered with childhood stories and the ever controversial opinions of our beloved host Chris.
Episode 50: All Time Top 50 Games Part 2
July 10, 2017 20:58 - 3 hours - 196 MBHere it is, part 2 of the top 50 games of all time list! Already in part 1 we have covered classics for the Sega Megadrive, Commodore Amiga, Sony Playstation and more We had a great response to part 1 of episode 50 which covered a wide range of games. Obviously this hasn't been an easy task as there are many great games and we limited it to 5 games each. We hope you find some games in the final list of 50 that you agree with over the last episode and this one. Also please tell us your thou...
Episode 50: All Time Top 50 Games Part 1
June 11, 2017 10:27 - 3 hours - 250 MBBack in April this year we asked the listeners to help us put together the Maximum Power Up Top 50 games. Each of our hosts put forward their favourite games to get the list started and then with all the other listener votes the list stood at over 450 games! With the podcast covering new and old gaming we felt as though this episode is perfect to look at which games people see as faves. From Manic Miner to Crash Bandicoot or Dungeon Master to Zelda, every genre and decade got votes. The ...
Episode 49: Julian "Jaz" Rignall Interview
May 21, 2017 18:19 - 2 hours - 156 MBIn this episode Paul interviews legendary games journalist Julian 'Jaz' Rignall. In over 30 years in the industry Jaz has worked on many well loved games magazines including Mean Machines, Zzap64, C&VG and more. Jaz made the most of massive surge of love for the emerging console market in the late 80's and early 90's which helped make the magazines he worked on so popular. There is plenty of talk about the Commodore 64, Sega Megadrive, Super Nintendo etc. As well as the magazines we disc...
Episode 48: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
May 06, 2017 19:27 - 55 minutes - 58.3 MBThe Persona series has been going for over 20 years and has featured on many consoles. What started off as a niche game series, Persona has gained quite a large following which has helped latest entry Persona 5 become a huge hit. Joining Julian for hosting duties on this episode is Sara Ruehlman, herself a massive fan of the series and the RPG genre in general. Join them as they look at the games and spin offs in the Persona series and find out what makes the games so popular and why Perso...
Episode 47: Point And Click Adventures
April 18, 2017 16:56 - 1 hour - 104 MBIn this episode Paul and Julian discuss their history playing the point and click genre. Back in the late 80's and throughout the 90's this time of game offered hit after hit for fans of the genre. Lucasarts led the way with great adventures such as Secret Of Monkey Island, Day Of The Tentacle, Full Throttle and many more. Each game gave the player an opportunity to enter a massive world full of colourful characters and some fiendish puzzles in their quest to complete the game. As well a...
Episode 46: Super Nintendo Part 1
April 05, 2017 22:09 - 2 hours - 173 MBThe Super Nintendo is often cited as many retro gamer's favourite console. Just looking at game prices on Ebay etc for Nintendo's 16bit marvel shows that demand isn't fading either. With many amazing games such as Super Mario World, Street Fighter 2, Pilotwings, Starfox and more, fans of any genre were spoilt by choice for the SNES. The machine's capabilities were also shown with the Super FX chip, Mode 7 and later with the amazing art style of Donkey Kong Country. In this episode Paul...
Episode 45: Konami 16-Bit Era
March 21, 2017 13:14 - 1 hour - 122 MBWhen thinking back to the 16 bit era, one software developer/publisher stands head and shoulders above the crowd across all platforms. With formidable output on both home consoles and the arcades, Konami built further upon their household name and brand they’d established during the Famicom/NES years. Konami’s roster of games included strong titles from their back catalogue, (Gradius, Castlevania) new IP and gaming in the likes of Axelay and Boktai, and licensed titles that were actually e...
Episode 44: SEGA Power Magazine
March 02, 2017 16:42 - 1 hour - 88.3 MBSEGA Power magazine ran from 1989 until 1997 covering a lot of SEGA games over the years. Although there were many SEGA magazines available SEGA Power had a lot of fans, however in 1994 it went in a different direction. In this episode Paul is joined by Andy Lowe that became editor in the summer of 1994 and gave the magazine quite a shake up! Adding more comedy to the magazine with the features, reviews and more it did split opinion with readers. Also joining Andy are Alison Binns (Harper)...
Episode 43: Nintendo Famicom/NES
February 19, 2017 23:35 - 2 hours - 134 MBThe Nintendo Famicom or Nintendo Entertainment System (for those of us in the west) was the companies first step into the home console market following their success with arcade machines and the much loved Game & Watch. Although it wasn't an over night success Nintendo’s perseverance and cleaver positioning in the market the NES became a huge success and ushered in a new era that saw Nintendo become a global brand in gaming. In this episode Phil, Jake and Alex discuss the birth of the Fam...
Episode 42: Retro Gamer Magazine
February 08, 2017 23:08 - 1 hour - 105 MBRetro Gamer Magazine has bucked the trend in recent times, as many other print magazines close down or go fully digital the retro-themed monthly publication goes from strength to strength. Now in it's 12th year of existence, Retro Gamer Magazine shows no signs of slowing down, and every month features original content, exclusive developer interviews and reader interactions. Sections on the indie and home-brew scenes, mixed with reviews of all manner of gaming merchandise and new releases m...
Episode 41: Nintendo Wii
January 22, 2017 14:23 - 2 hours - 130 MBCan you believe that the Wii is over 10 years old? TEN YEARS OLD?! In late 2006 Nintendo decided it didn’t to play the same game as Sony and Microsoft anymore, instead they created a revolution! Gamers, grannies and the Redknapps could be found waggling in their front room with the innovative controller. In this episode just as Nintendo attempt to crack the market again with Switch, join hosts Chris, Phil and Jake as they discuss the highs, the lows and the games that defined a gene...
Episode 40: GamesMaster Magazine
January 10, 2017 15:21 - 1 hour - 116 MBThis year GamesMaster magazine turns 25 years old and is one of the last remaining games magazines on the shelves. Following on from the television show launched 25 years ago this month, the magazine gave fans something else to enjoy. In this episode Paul chats to four original staff from issue 1 of the magazine, Jim Douglas, Andy Lowe, Les Ellis and Ade Price. They discuss how the magazine came to market, what they wanted from the magazine, the infamous Sonic 2 review and much more. We ...
Episode 39: Games of 2002
December 29, 2016 14:45 - 2 hours - 126 MBIn this latest episode Paul, Phil and Tom sit down to discuss some of their favourite games from 2002. With the Playstation 2, GameCube and X Box, gamers were spoilt for choice with classics such as GTA Vice City, Metroid Prime and many more. Hopefully we can inspire you to give games a second look that you may have missed buying first time round.. Some fantastic titles from the year have previously been discussed on other episodes such as Eternal Darkness on our GameCube episode, so make ...
Episode 38: Tomb Raider Suite
December 10, 2016 09:14 - 51 minutes - 54 MBIn this latest episode Paul sits down with Nathan McCree, composer of the iconic Tomb Raider games for the Sony PlayStation. We look back on his career in the games industry starting at CORE Design in the early 90's working on Chuck Rock 2 and other titles before Tomb Raider. Nathan discusses the style of music he had in mind for the game and how these ideas progressed over the original trilogy for PS1. As well as this we chat about game music soundtracks and their growing popularity. S...
Episode 37: Amiga Memories
November 20, 2016 12:13 - 1 hour - 118 MBWelcome to the latest episode of the show. This time Paul is joined by new team member Julian Hill of Boxed Pixels fame. They sit down to discuss the extremely popular Amiga - the fantastic home computer that was in so many homes with an amazing line up of games. Covering so many genres the Amiga covered it all from platformers such as Robocod, Superfrog to sim games such as Theme Park, Populous and loads more. If this wasn't enough it had an amazing demo scene showing off loads of great m...
Episode 36: Rail Shooters
November 06, 2016 22:02 - 1 hour - 82.3 MBOn rail shooters is a gaming genre that seems to divide opinion. Some love them for the simplistic hi octane arcade style action, while others see them as nothing more than monotonous gallery shooters. No game in the genre exemplifies this point more than Rez. On initial release it was met with a very mixed response. The title has since retained a cult status among fans an has stood the test of time to the point that it has now become a killer app for the new Playstation VR Headset. In t...
Episode 35: Arcade Favourites
October 09, 2016 14:37 - 1 hour - 111 MBWelcome to the latest episode of Maximum Power Up podcast. In this episode Paul and Phil sit down to discuss some of their favourite arcade games growing up. The arcade was always seen as a gaming paradise for gamers in the 80's & 90's full of gamesyou wanted to play at home. Although many arcade favourites got home ports they were often nowhere near as good as the arcade version. So, we hope you enjoy or agree with our choices and even if you don't please tell us why. Also if you wan...
Episode 34: Nintendo Wii U
September 22, 2016 23:12 - 1 hour - 114 MBIn this latest episode of Maximum Power Up, hosts Phil, Jake and Amy get together to show the Nintendo Wii U, a criminally undervalued system, some much needed love & try and convince those who may have dismissed the system a second look before the NX arrives. Many have been put off by the Gamepad, which initially confused consumers on what it actually was. Many thought that it was a new controller for the Wii instead of actually being a brand new system. However for many games that have u...
Episode 33: Super Play Magazine
September 11, 2016 15:35 - 3 hours - 207 MBThis episode is rammed with Nintendo chat as we discuss the much loved Super Play magazine for the Super Nintendo that ran for 47 issues as well as a one off special Super Play Gold. Paul is joined by Chris as well as two special guests - ex Super Play artist Wil Overton and Damien McFerran from the excellent Nintendolife website. The panel discuss the magazine and what made it so special and much loved even 20 years since it ended. As well as this there is general Super Nintendo chat, fa...
Episode 32: Half-Life & Portal
August 24, 2016 01:43 - 1 hour - 97.3 MBValve is one of the most well-known and respected developers around today, and their first game, Half-Life spawned one of gaming’s biggest franchises. When it hit the PC in 1998, Half-Life wowed critics and went on to become one of the most popular first person shooters ever released for both PC and console. A seamless mix of first person shooting action and science fiction storytelling, the adventure catapulted Gordon Freeman into the limelight and cemented Valve as a force to be reckoned w...
Episode 31: The RPG Adventure
August 06, 2016 08:16 - 2 hours - 133 MBIn our latest episode Paul and Chris are joined by Kincl from Hyperplay RPG fanzine and Julian Hill who runs the Boxed Pixels website. All four of them are big fans of the RPG (Role Playing Game) genre. They sit down to discuss the genre in some detail including a few of their favourite games, what makes a great RPG, early memories of getting into the genre and more. Some classic games such as Final Fantasy 6, Dungeon Master, Chrono Trigger are mentioned as well as more recent titles su...
Episode 30: SEGA Saturn Part 2
July 26, 2016 08:26 - 1 hour - 103 MBThe controversy surrounding the launch of the SEGA Saturn not only took the media by surprise but also alienated a large amount of retailers. In short the launch was a disaster However even with the consoles glaring short comings, the SEGA Saturn it has gone on to be a much loved system of the retro gaming community. In this latest episode Phil & Chris have a look at the what makes the SEGA Saturn a must own for many gamers. Music tracks featured are: Panzer Dragoon - Flight Burning ...
Episode 29: Hidden Gems
July 07, 2016 10:37 - 1 hour - 102 MBEvery console has stand out, must own, games but some great titles unfortunately slipped under the radar. In this episode Paul, Phil and Chris sit down to discuss some of their favourite games that in their opinion are hidden gems. Hopefully some of the games mentioned here will inspire you to go back and check out some of the great titles that, for whatever reason, never stuck a cord with fans the first time around. As well as this we discuss what we've been playing and buying as well as ...
Episode 28: Steve Jarratt Interview
June 20, 2016 08:14 - 2 hours - 138 MBIn this episode Paul & Tom interview retrogaming magazine legend Steve Jarratt. Steve worked on many well known magazines in the 80's and 90's including Zzap64, Edge, Total, Commodore Format and more including launching the Official Playstation Magazine. Steve discusses his career, as well as working with Sam Dyer and Bitmap Books. He also gives his honest opinions on the current gaming industry and also takes part in the first (and maybe last!) Maximum Power Up magazine quiz. Check out...