Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
I've been wanting to compare the music industry and the video game industry for a while now, but I finally got a good opportunity to do so because my friend @SpidersSTG went on a rant about the music industry in his appearance on the Game Design Archive podcast. However, this video kind of took on a life of its own and became something much bigger than a simple response video. I even touch upon things like the Telecommunications Act Of 1996.
00:00 The Inspiration Behind This Video
00:52 How Video Games And Music Are Similar
04:50 The Divisive Push Toward All Digital
07:13 Why The Music Industry Is Much More Screwed
19:17 Don't Give Up On Video Games Just Yet
Spiders on the Game Design Archive podcast:
youtu.be/j9Wab1y14UA?si=Dj98FW6kaTCH2awf
I've been wanting to compare the music industry and the video game industry for a while now, but I finally got a good opportunity to do so because my friend @SpidersSTG went on a rant about the music industry in his appearance on the Game Design Archive podcast. However, this video kind of took on a life of its own and became something much bigger than a simple response video. I even touch upon things like the Telecommunications Act Of 1996.
00:00 The Inspiration Behind This Video
00:52 How Video Games And Music Are Similar
04:50 The Divisive Push Toward All Digital
07:13 Why The Music Industry Is Much More Screwed
19:17 Don't Give Up On Video Games Just Yet
Spiders on the Game Design Archive podcast:
youtu.be/j9Wab1y14UA?si=Dj98FW6kaTCH2awf
![Cool Spot [Sega Master System] - Hard Mode Any% Speedrun 41:40](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eJoSwhz4yqo/mqdefault.jpg "Cool Spot [Sega Master System] - Hard Mode Any% Speedrun 41:40
This is the first ever speedrun on Youtube of Cool Spot on the Sega Master System done on Hard Mode. Cool Spot got a port to the Sega Master System in1993 after the more well-known Sega Genesis version, but it was only released in Europe as far as I know. Its actually a very impressive port from a technical standpoint, as the graphics are well beyond most Master System games. The only catch is that it runs at 20-25 FPS instead of 50 or 60 FPS, though the frame rate stays pretty consistent. It is a bit more zoomed in because of the lower resolution, but not as bad as the Game Gear version in this regard. The 7 Up references this game is known for are removed in this version because Spot was not the mascot for 7 Up in Europe.
As far as gameplay goes, it translates pretty well here to the Master System. Controls are fine overall. The main issue with this game is the giant hitboxes. Spot has a very big hitbox and just about everything else does as well. Plus, there are quite a few blind jumps here and there. Im actually going to talk more about this game and its hard mode exposing the limitations of the game in an upcoming video Im working on about difficulty in games.
The Hard difficulty makes it to where you have to grab at least 90% of the red coin before you can free your friend at the end of the stage. This forces you to not skip large chunks of the levels.
As far as the run goes, this is my first no death speedrun and my best time so far. I saved quite a bit of time by avoiding the bonus stages via just collecting what I needed in terms of coins to finish each stage. There is no special ending for doing the bonus stages to begin with, as their main purpose is to grant players continues by spelling VIRGIN (UNCOLA in NA versions of the game). I did have some small mistakes here and there like going toward some dead end spots of stages when I know better, so there is some room for improvement. I could have ended the last stage a bit more cleanly as well. But a speedrun is a speedrun, and nobody else has done a speedrun of this version of the game on highest difficulty. Hopefully, this will inspire some speedrunners to give this version of the game a shot and on this difficulty. I guess this is the World Record for now until someone else beats it.
Note: Time was measured from the beginning of the Stage 1 screen to the Level Completed screen popping up at the end of the final stage. No intro in this video because I wanted to show the unedited recording as is.
00:00 Intro
00:23 Stage 1
04:48 Stage 2
10:29 Stage 3
17:30 Stage 4
20:17 Stage 5
23:40 Stage 6
31:05 Stage 7
36:50 Final Stage")
![Land Of Illusion [Sega Master System] - 1CC Playthrough](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eQIE8J5a5Ck/mqdefault.jpg "Land Of Illusion [Sega Master System] - 1CC Playthrough
Land Of Illusion on the Sega Master System was a sequel to Castle Of Illusion, released in 1993 by Sega in PAL regions and later in Brazil. It also got a Game Gear version that saw a release in North America and elsewhere. Both versions originally came out within a month of each other.
This game is a lot bigger than Castle Of Illusion and pushes the Master System to its limits. It features an over world map kind of reminiscent of Super Mario Bros 3. The difficulty is also a bit higher than its predecessor, but it is still not a difficult game outside of a few sections here and there like the second half of the Sand Castle stage and the final stage. You unlock new abilities after beating certain bosses, which the game does a good job of testing your knowledge of the further you get into it.
I did this playthrough before my run of Castle Of Illusion and it was also done on my MiSTER FPGA. I did not go for all the stars because it would have involved a lot of backtracking, but doing so does give you a secret ending. Definitely one of the best Sega Master System games either way.
00:00 Intro
00:15 Forest
01:13 Lake
02:56 Blacksmiths Castle
06:13 Lake Revisited
07:47 Castle Ruins
13:07 Tiny Cavern
14:59 Flower Field
16:13 Toy Workshop
20:55 Palace Ruins
24:49 Craggy Cliff
27:11 Desert
31:26 Good Princesss Castle
35:53 Sand Castle
42:32 Island Stage
44:20 Phantoms Castle
48:55 Final Boss")
![Downwell [PC/iOS] - One Of The Best Indie Games Ever Made](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eq6ccKsAuMA/mqdefault.jpg "Downwell [PC/iOS] - One Of The Best Indie Games Ever Made
Downwell is one of the best indie games Ive ever played, and I finally beat it on Standard mode. In this video, Ill break down the game in detail from presentation to gameplay mechanics. Ill discuss my strategies for beating the game, since I beat it recently. Its part review, part commentary, and should provide good tips for newcomers.
The gameplay footage is from my clear of the Standard mode. I used the Lavender palette, one of my favorites.
00:00 Intro
01:26 Discussing Graphics And Sound
04:05 Gameplay Basics And Stages
10:55 Key Gameplay Mechanics
16:51 My Approach To Playing Downwell
Music:
Duff Egan - Intention Experiment
Buy Downwell:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/360740/Downwell/
https://www.gog.com/game/downwell
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/downwell-switch/
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/downwell/id1032708262
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devolver.downwell_rerelease
https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/downwell/9p641z19nt2s
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP3643-CUSA04550_00-DOWNWELLUSP40001/
Downwell Achievement Stats:
https://steamhunters.com/apps/360740/achievements
Downwell Mega Guide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=537123243")
![Griffin [Sega Game Gear] - ALL Clear 68,900 pts (Full Game)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f7QqRT9IpeA/mqdefault.jpg "Griffin [Sega Game Gear] - ALL Clear 68,900 pts (Full Game)
Griffin is a run n gun/shmup released for the Game Gear exclusively in Japan in 1991, published by Renovation Game and developed by Telnet Japan. This game was known for being kind of expensive on the second-hand market, but it recently got re-released on modern consoles and Steam.
Honestly, once people get to play this one, theyll realize that its way too easy for a run n gun. Even a more casual players should be able to chew through this game without many continues. Gameplay-wise, I would compare it to Jackal on NES but more cramped. It is very generous with pickups, whether it be powerups, extra health, bombs, or even extra lives. You can take quite a few hits before dying.
It allows you to switch between three weapons: a regular shot, a sub shot that fires over walls, as well as a special weapon that fires slowly but is very powerful and has splash damage from the explosion. The regular shot is the only one that can fire in all eight directions as it lines up with your movement.
There is a vertical shmup stage in Stage 3 of the first loop, but that stage gets cut from the second and final loop and honestly, its pretty weak anyway. Thankfully, its even easier than the normal tank stages.
Speaking of the second loop, its hardly any different from the first loop outside of the shmup stage missing and the final stage having different enemy placement.
The controls felt good overall, but having to pause to switch weapons killed the pace quite a bit at times. The graphics are solid, especially for an early Game Gear game. The cramped perspective didnt turn out as badly as I had expected.
For an older handheld game, you could do a lot worse than this one.
Also, the video quality is a bit lower than usual by accident, but I still feel like it came out alright after watching it myself.
Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3387410/Griffin/
Switch release: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/griffin-switch/
PS4 release: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/EP0896-PPSA26109_00-GRIFFINRATAGAMES
00:00 Intro
00:11 Stage 1-1
03:24 Stage 1-2
06:31 Stage 1-3
10:00 Stage 1-4
16:06 Stage 2-1
19:48 Stage 2-2
23:41 Final Stage")
![Pole Position II [Gamecube/Arcade] - Suzuka/Wonder 1st ALL Clear 54870 pts (Namco Museum)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f_2JemsSwXI/mqdefault.jpg "Pole Position II [Gamecube/Arcade] - Suzuka/Wonder 1st ALL Clear 54870 pts (Namco Museum)
Played on Namco Museum with default difficulty/time settings using the Dolphin emulator.
Pole Position II often gets overshadowed by its predecessor, probably because it has not been included in as many Namco compilations as the original. It is also perceived as being almost identical to the original, which appears to be true on first glance but is not entirely the case when you dig deeper.
Pole Position II stands out to me for a couple of reasons. One, it has more courses than just one. The original Fuji/Namco circuit is back, but there are three new courses as well. Two, it has some hidden extra mechanics that add depth to the racing. The game tries to simulate the effects of tire temperatures in a rudimentary manner. If you hold the accelerator long enough before the green light, youll take off with some squealing sounds, but youll also accelerate faster as a result, i.e. the tires getting warm. Also, you can exploit the gears after that to give yourself another acceleration boost, which also leads to you hit higher top speeds than otherwise.
As far as the courses go, Suzuka (renamed Wonder for licensing reasons) is the hardest course along with Seaside (Long Beach). Some of these curves are legitimately tricky with the primitive handling that carried over from the original, and the oil slicks are in well-placed spots to interfere with your racing lines and drop your speed more than they did in the original. Plus, the AI is even nastier with plenty of evil RNG in terms of where theyll be on the course, though where youll encounter them also depends on how well you are driving in the first place. One last thing is that pole position is difficult to achieve. This was not my best qualifying by any means, but Ive never gotten pole before on this course even with a time of 54.7 seconds. However, second place in qualifying is definitely achievable for sure.
Combine all that and you get one of the hardest courses in arcade racing history. I imagine Seaside is just as hard if not worse with its sharp corners.")
