Season 3 Episode 9 - Sonic Frontiers

Season 3 Episode 9 - Sonic Frontiers

Author: Franchise Festival October 1, 2023 Duration: 1:26:29
Hamilton and Chris explore Sonic the Hedgehog's first "open zone" adventure, Sonic Frontiers (2022). Along the way, they discuss the game's development, its peculiar minigames, and how well it succeeds at shifting the franchise away from linear stage design. Noteworthy sources include interviews with Sonic Team Creative Officer Takashi Iizuka by IGN and Eurogamer.

Franchise Festival digs into the stories behind the video game series that shaped a medium. Each season is a deep, chronological exploration of a single franchise, tracing its creative and technical evolution from often-humble 1980s origins through to its latest installments. You’ll hear about the design breakthroughs, the business decisions that changed course, and the cultural moments that turned pixels into lasting legends. This isn’t just a review show; it’s about understanding how these interconnected worlds were built, year by year and sometimes crisis by crisis. The podcast favors depth over breadth, spending multiple episodes to fully unpack the development history of noteworthy series like Castlevania, SimCity, or Mega Man. The narrative focuses on the people and processes behind the games-the how and why, not just the what. It’s for anyone who’s ever wondered about the connective tissue between their favorite sequels or the forgotten prototypes that paved the way. Tune in for a thoughtfully researched and structured audio documentary experience, one franchise at a time.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 85

Franchise Festival
Podcast Episodes
Season 2 Episode 6A - Welcome to Raccoon City [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:05
Chris, Spencer, and returning special guest SuperNamu chat about Resident Evil‘s newest cinematic adaptation, Welcome to Raccoon City (2021). It was interesting to discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what might have be…
Season 2 Episode 6 - Resident Evil Zero [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:21:01
Chris and Hamilton explore the development and gameplay of the last traditional Resident Evil game. They discuss the game’s notorious inventory and partner systems at length, discovering that not all hookshots are as del…
Season 2 Episode 5 - Resident Evil REmake [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:41
Chris, Hamilton, and Spencer discuss the development, gameplay, bosses, and puzzles of the Resident Evil REmake. Lisa Trevor and Crimson Head Zombies make a strong impression. The Aqua Ring receives an extensive makeover…
Season 2 Episode 4 - Resident Evil: Code Veronica [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:54:48
Join Chris, Hamilton, Spencer and special guest Kamijace as they explore Resident Evil: Code Veronica‘s deep lore, discover the game’s original protagonist, and debate the merits of how director Hiroki Kato creatively re…
Season 2 Special Episode - Interview with Nadia and David Oxford [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:22
Chris and Hamilton discuss Mega Man X: The Maverick Hunter’s Field Guide with authors Nadia and David Oxford. They explore how the book was written, which Mega Man X spinoffs are worth playing, and which Maverick is the…
Season 2 Episode 3 - Resident Evil 3: Nemesis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:30:34
Chris, Hamilton, and Spencer are joined by special guest SuperNamu to discuss Resident Evil 3: Nemesis‘ rocky development and controversial dodge system before celebrating the unique terror introduced by its title charac…
Season 2 Episode 2 - Resident Evil 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:41:05
The crew discusses the development, gameplay, and story of Hideki Kamiya’s brilliant follow-up to 1996’s Resident Evil. Chris and Spencer take a deep dive into Resident Evil 1.5 while Hamilton explores how zombies turns…
Season 2 Special Episode - Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:03
In a rare bit of zeitgeist-capturing, up-to-the-minute coverage, the Franchise Festival crew offers their impressions of Netflix’s Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness (2021). Spoilers abound, so be sure to watch the show be…
Season 2 Episode 1 - Resident Evil [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:31:48
Christian, Hamilton, and Spencer explore the development, gameplay, monsters, and story of Capcom’s Resident Evil (1996). The Franchise Festival crew also surveys a selection of earlier genre titles and later console por…
Season 1 Episode 23 - Spiritual Successors and Wrap-Up [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:11
Chris, Jasmine, Hamilton, and Spencer survey nearly thirty years of The Legend of Zelda spiritual successors, including Crusader of Centy, Blossom Tales, Okami, Genshin Impact and more. Then they each share their ‘Top 3’…