Ryan "warboss5"

Ryan "warboss5" Profile Photo

Geek

Born into comfortable middle-class suburbia, I got into gaming early in life with Sonic and the Sega Genesis. Things were great, as all new romances are, but eventually I tired of her. And so I moved from the chunky cartridges of my youth to the sleek curve of the Playstation's CD-ROM disks. From there it was on to her sister the Playstation 2, then to their cousin the Xbox. They were fun times to be sure, but all the while it felt like something was MISSING. That's when I realized that what had been searching for had been staring me in the face since the beginning, the best friend that had been by my side all along: my PC. And so I forsook (mostly) the realm of the console and began the one great love of my life. And I haven't looked back since.

5
May 7, 2025

S3E05: Phantasy Star IV -or- Hazy Cosmic Jive

Ryan (Warboss5) is rejoining the party for another quest with Mike and Jaymo as they play Phantasy Star IV (Sega Genesis/Megadrive, 1993), continuing their epic quest to research and review every retro game in the Nintendo Switch Online catalog! In this episode, we discuss when it’s appropriate to search through someone else’s belongings, try to figure out just how much Phantasy Star IV was really borrowing from Star Wars, and examine the virtues of direct translation compared to reinterprete...
8
July 31, 2024

S2E08: Breath of Fire I and II -or- The Wyrm Turns

Ryan (aka Warboss5) rejoins Mike and Jaymo as they dive deep into the classic RPGs Breath of Fire (SNES, 1993) and Breath of Fire II (SNES, 1994), continuing their epic quest to research and review every retro game in the Nintendo Switch Online catalog! In this episode, we explore the origins of the Dragon Clan, debate the merits of archaic turn-based combat, and discover the hidden depths of these two epic tales. Ryan shares his love for old RPGs and how Breath of Fire II’s intriguing storyl...
14
Jan. 26, 2024

Episode 14: Yeah, Bud! Abba Dudes! - Part 2

Mike, Jaymo, and YouTuber WarBoss5 (aka our wry friend Ryan) club their way through "Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics" and "Prehistorik Man" in their epic quest to research & review every retro game in the Nintendo Switch Online catalog! In Part Two of this mammoth two-part episode, we dig deep into prehistory as the boys discuss the wrong way to woo a cavewoman, an Xbox game so blasphemous it triggered international controversy (for real this time), and a previously undiscovered connection to t...
13
Jan. 12, 2024

Episode 13: Yeah, Bud! Abba Dudes! - Part 1

Mike, Jaymo, and YouTuber WarBoss5 (aka our old friend Ryan) meander-thal their way through "Joe & Mac" and its pseudo-sequel "Congo's Caper" on their epic quest to research & review every retro game in the Nintendo Switch Online catalog! In Part One of this dino-sized two-part episode, track the evolution of the caveman-genre as the boys discuss the rampant bodyshaming of the early 90's, an Xbox game so blasphemous it triggered international controversy, and what happens when Cro-Magnon Man ...