HeyJaredThe Backlog Files
On The Backlog Files, host Adam Taylor dives into retro classics, cult favorites, and indie standouts—stacking entries franchise by franchise, platform by platform.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 8
- Latest publication
- Sep 3, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 3, 2026
Latest episodes
Does Luigi’s Mansion Still Hold Up? (opens the original)
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More than two decades after helping launch the GameCube, the original Luigi’s Mansion remains one of Nintendo’s most distinctive experiments. Adam revisits one of his earliest GameCube games to look at the room-by-room puzzle design, portrait ghosts, E. Gadd’s surprising influence on the larger Mario universe and the mechanics that now show their age. The atmosphere and central ghost-catching loop still work remarkably well, but limited enemy variety, underused elemental powers and frustrating B
Pokémon Pokopia: Bubbly Basin Brings Me Back In (opens the original)
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The first major Pokémon Pokopia DLC takes players underwater; but Bubbly Basin succeeds because it does more than simply move the existing gameplay loop beneath the surface. Adam looks at the submerged remains of Cerulean City, the surprisingly effective swimming mechanics, Pokopia’s environmental storytelling and why this expansion made the wider Pokémon world feel more cohesive than ever. But while Bubbly Basin successfully brought him back to Pokopia, did it actually add enough new content of
PlayStation’s All-Digital Gamble and the Death of Game Ownership (opens the original)
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As Sony doubles down on an all-digital PlayStation future, Adam considers what the industry is asking players to surrender in exchange for convenience. Without physical games, consumers could lose the ability to buy used copies, lend games to friends, discover overlooked releases in stores and preserve purchases beyond the lifespan of Sony’s servers. The episode also explores the danger closed storefronts pose to indie developers and why digital games should include permanent offline access and
Splatoon Raiders Is the Game That Sells the Switch 2 (opens the original)
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Adam has never played a Splatoon game in his life, and Splatoon Raiders might be his game of the year. A look at why this single-player looter-shooter spin-off is the clearest argument yet for what the Switch 2 can actually do, how the grind hits that rare Pokémon -level joy that never becomes a chore, why the difficulty curve nails what recent Nintendo games keep getting wrong, and the one buried setting you need to change in the first five minutes. Turn off the motion controls and thank us lat
News Tower and the Tycoon Game That Respects You (opens the original)
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Adam dives into News Tower , an indie tycoon game about running a 1930s New York newspaper that turns out to be far deeper than it looks. Why the simple weekly loop hides three interlocking games, a newspaper sim, an HR-and-employee-happiness game, and a Factorio -style optimization puzzle, and why the faction-influence system, balancing the church, the mayor, and organized crime, is the smartest thing in it. Plus where it lands on the short list of comfort games that never get uninstalled. A fu
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