We look back fondly on the days where a company could release a fun arcade racer with a cool gimmick, without it being a boring racing sim that's bogged down with licensing agreements - it's Split/Second (aka Split/Second Velocity) in the book club, for PS3, 360 and Steam!

Meanwhile, Tibbs becomes embroiled in the latest argument to grip the Sonic community, and Ollie gets similarly angry at one of Nintendo's recently announced products. Plus more Metroid Prime 4, Dome Keeper, Bzzzt, musical rollercoasters and we reveal a new feature on Pod 'em Up; Gardening Corner!... Yes, really.

If you would like one of Tibbs' growing collection of spider plants, please get in touch. Also get in touch if you know how to look after a chilli plant, thanks.

Incoming Indie: Big Hops - https://www.luckshotgames.com/big-hops

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On this final episode of 2025, we look back at Future Cop: L.A.P.D. for the PS1 - the entry in the Strike series that was never to be. Still a great game though, but how will it fare in our annual Pod 'em Up Awards, which of course is also happening in this very episode!

Also in this bumper end-of-year episode, we're skirting around some sensitive issues in our analysis of those other game awards that usually happen to coincide with our own - though for some reason we also bundle into this our reviews of Animals of Farthing Wood and Babe: Pig in the City.

Plus, Metroid Prime 4, Journey to the Savage Planet, Parking Garage Rally Circuit, and the surprising reveal of quite possibly the catchiest theme tune to a cartoon based on a video game of all time.

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Just how strange is life, anyway? Very, apparently, if you're playing 2015's excellent time travelling, episodic, narrative-driven adventure game, Life is Strange.

I'll be honest, our anti-spoiler policy means that we can't fully delve into some of the more interesting aspects of this beautiful game during the normal discussion of this on the podcast. So for anyone who has already played the game in full, we've released a bonus chat, covering some of the plot twists and heart-breaking moments that we could only carefully hint at on the show. Please see this link for all the SPOILERS:

https://soundcloud.com/user-557762286/life-is-strange-extra-discussion-spoilers

We've got lots more lighter content too though, including a general discussion about the GTA series, Sonic Racing Crossworlds, Donkey Kong Bananza and Yooka-Replaylee. Plus, Tibbs brings us the Incoming Indie this month because Ollie is too busy ranting about skill trees again.

Goodnight, God bless, see you in the morning.

Incoming Indie: Carpark Capital - https://www.microprose.com/games/car-park-capital/

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