Vookcast Episode #108 – VCR Tape #007: Sweet Home

The team returns with an all new VCR! In case you weren’t aware, the Vooks Critical Review is a special kind of podcast episode where the team discusses and dissects a game in Nintendo’s past, whether it be third or first party, and talk about how it holds up today.

The game for this VCR tape is Sweet Home, a 1989 NES title that was developed by Capcom and considered by many to be the first survival horror games made. Mixed with unusual RPG elements, the game sees a group of five people, each with unique abilities vying to get out of a haunted mansion in a remote location somewhere in Japan.

The game was so scary and so violent at the time that Capcom never bothered to bring it outside to anywhere besides Japan. But thanks to fans, the game was translated sometime in the 2000s.

As with other VCR episodes, we look at the game’s development history and reflect on how media culture during the 80s was probably different than now. We also talk about the story and the themes tackled by this game, which was definitely one of the first to tackle these kind of dark and macabre themes. And don’t worry – we don’t spoil anything! Of course, we also discuss game design, presentation and give a final thought on how we felt about it.

Given the game’s ties to the Resident Evil series, this is an episode that any fans owes it to themselves to check out! After all, Capcom attempted to remake it in 1996 for the Playstation, and changed it so much that it eventually became Resident Evil!.

So sit back and enjoy this episode! We hope you like this new, alternate format for the episode and we’ll return with a traditional episode next fortnight to discuss Bayonetta!

Don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes! Subscribers get the episodes earlier than the general public!

The cast can be reached for any questions or comments on their Twitter profiles: –

James – @Nemesis556
Steven – @StevenImpson
Daniel – @Worthintendo

This episode was produced by Steven and features music from the Sweet Home soundtrack, and music from Resident Evil as backing music.