VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 24: Autumn 1998

In the 24th episode of Video Wizards, we travel to a time close to the “mark of the millennium”, as we find ourselves covering the autumnal months of September, October and November of 1998 for yet another very substantial seasonal spectacular. Arcade games increasingly lose floor space to slot machines and the ones that don’t have specialised cabinets often see very accurate home ports. In that category we find the monumental 2D fighting game Street Fighter Alpha 3, Taito’s 3rd game in the “Ray” series of vertical shoot ’em ups, RayCrisis, and to some extent Gauntlet Legends by our good friends at Atari. Cave’s odd disco themed shoot ’em up Dangun Feveron DID get a home port, but that would come only 18 years later. And Neo Geo games like Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad being available at home as well is nothing new... if you had the funds, that is. On the other hand, we of course still get SEGA spectacle cabs, as we take a closer look at the zeitgeist friendly Star Wars Trilogy Arcade.

Gaming at home, then, is massive in the fall of 1998, with Half-Life coming out for the PC, Tekken 3 coming out for the PlayStation, Japanese import favourite Marvel Super Heroes Vs Street Fighter coming out for the Saturn and F-Zero X coming out for the N64. As well as a whole host of other titles. And with the U.S. president fighting off impeachment in the midst of an adulterous sex scandal at the background, we see everything from Google getting founded, Hip-Hop concept albums seeing the light of day, the rise of Nu-Metal, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker teaming up on the silver screen and Edward Norton taking a paycut for a defining role in the incendiary American History X to the first airing of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the UK and everyday people living our their odd sexual fantasies on Local Dutch National TV. That’s right, the world is getting ready to party like it’s 1999.

Get extra comfortable as this all makes for the lengthiest episode of our podcast yet. For the next 8 and a half hours we’ve got you covered with another riveting, uproarious and nostalgic audio journey, right back to the later half of 1998.

The top billing arcade games of the era we discuss on Episode 24, L-R-T-B: Street Fighter Alpha 3, Dangun Feveron, Gauntlet Legends, Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad, Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, RayCrisis

Show theme tune: NEON CITY, composed by Ed 「イートレム」 Tremblay for Mudprints Music and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2019 Mudprints Music, all rights reserved.

Baller of the Month Jingle composed by Yuli Anna and licensed exclusively to The Video Wizards Podcast, ©2022 Yuli Anna, all rights reserved.

Other music used in this episode:

• Steeple Chase – by Howard Drossin for Dynamite Cop, 1998
• Prismatic Stars (Theme of R. Mika) – by Takayuki Iwai for Street Fighter Alpha 3, 1998
• Dancing Bomber – by T’s Music for Dangun Feveron, 1998
• 2nd Mission – by Masaki Kase for Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad, 1998
• Lavender Blue – by Zuntata for RayCrisis, 1998
• Opening – by Nobuyoshi Sano, Keiichi Okabe, Yū Miyake, Hiroyuki Kawada, Yoshie Arakawa, Minamo Takahashi & Hideki Tobeta for Tekken 3, 1998
• Second Round K.O. – by Canibus, 1998
• Can I Get A... (Instrumental) – by Irv Gotti, 1998
• Let the Games Begin (Instrumental) – by Young Trey, 1994
• Ha (Instrumental) – by Mannie Fresh, 1998
• John Blaze – by Fat Joe featuring Nas, Big Punisher, Jadakiss & Raekwon, 1998
• Definition – by Black Star, 1998
• Aquemini – by OutKast, 1998
• Pad & Pen – by A Tribe Called Quest, 1998
• Magnum Force – by Heltah Skeltah featuring Representativz & Ruste Juxx
• Tha Game – by Pete Rock featuring Prodigy, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah, 1998
• Take Your Time – by Pete Rock featuring Carl McIntosh & Jane Eugene of Loose Ends, 1998
• Spazzola – by Method Man featuring Masta Killa, Streetlife, Inspectah Deck, Killa Sin & Raekwon, 1998
• Holocaust (Silkworm) – by RZA as Bobby Digital featuring Holocaust, Doc Doom, Ghostface Killah & Ms. Roxy
• Freak on a Leash – by Korn, 1998
• Faith (Live at the UNO Lakefront Arena 1998) – by Limp Bizkit, 1998
• If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next – by Manic Street Preachers, 1998
• Tsunami – by Manic Street Preachers, 1998
• The Bartender and the Thief – by Stereophonics, 1998
• Music Sounds Better with You – by Stardust, 1998
• Doo Wop (That Thing) – by Lauryn Hill, 1998
• Are You That Somebody? – by Aaliyah, 1998
• Cocktail – by Postmen, 1998
• More Days to Come – by E-Life featuring The Anonymous Mis & Karima, 1998
• Inte...