This week on The Free Cheese, the end is the beginning is the end.

Join us for the final episode of Season 10 as we look back on the 45 games we played and ranked this year. We reflect on 2022 and the games we played and loved the most. Finally, we take one last look at The List ahead of our next season and where every game ended up.

This week on The Free Cheese, it's about what's on the inside.

Our final game of Season 10 started out as Final Fantasy VII and turned into something entirely on its own. Let's head to New York City and help Aya Brea to stop the end of humanity before it's too late.

This week on The Free Cheese, oh no, I'm stuck.

Let's check out Eri—Bomberman '93 as it returns to the TurboGrafx-16. We talk about how Bomberman brings us together and how the Wii truly changed the future of emulation for the better.

This week on The Free Cheese, press the dedicated pill button.

Everyone is after us and there's only one way forward. We return to Remedy's roots and celebrate Christmas in New York.

This week on The Free Cheese, a fireside chat—hold the fire.

We share some of what video games have made us grateful for and just hang out for a bit.

This week on The Free Cheese, my Shepard.

We're putting a team together to save the universe, wanna come? BioWare's sequel to Mass Effect sends us around the known universe to gather a ragtag group of heroes willing to fight to the end to stop the Collectors.

This week on The Free Cheese, everything is always wet.

Even if they took Sega from the title it can't stop us from celebrating the history on display in this 2012 kart racer. We share our favorite Sega moments from the game, discuss what Nintendo could learn for its next Mario Kart game, and lay our sights on some new Sega franchises.

This week on The Free Cheese, avoid going outside when it is raining.

Grab your coffee and get ready to take a drive across town as we investigate a strange murder in a small town. We’re playing and ranking Deadly Premonition after finding it to be quite the surprise title on our list.

This week on The Free Cheese, we only come out at night.

Happy Halloween! We take a break from our usual game ranking episodes this season and focus on the greatest holiday of the year with some topic questions and mini games for the panelists.

Questions asked this week:

• What is the best horror video game film adaptation?
• Have you ever dressed as a video game character for Halloween?
• What video game would you give copies of to trick or treaters if money were no object?
• What is your favorite horror-adjacent game that you wish more people would play?
• Which video game character is due for its own Luigi’s Mansion?

This week on The Free Cheese, get on your mask and kill. 

On its tenth anniversary, we're revisiting Dennaton Games' Hotline Miami and ranking it on The List. Does the blood-soaked, neon glow of a ten year old indie hit still punch as hard? Tune in to find out.

This week on The Free Cheese, there's zero escape.

Wake up, it's time to die. You're in a room and it's filling with water. There's no way out but there are a bunch of keycards. Maybe they mean nothing, maybe they mean everything. We revisit a DS classic this week and rank it with the rest of our games this season.

This week on The Free Cheese, bad crystal combo. 

We're celebrating the 20th anniversary of Blinx: The Time Sweeper by adding it to The List. We also talk more about the launch of the Xbox and the games that made it.

Article referenced at the top of the show: The Alternate Timeline

This week on The Free Cheese, we're going backwards.

After ten years of this podcast, we have a lot of memories to share. We look at some of our favorite episodes and ahead at what we hope for in the future.

This week on The Free Cheese, we're driving up a wall, apparently.

Midway brings us one of the final games from Boss Game Studios and it's not surprising that this team would eventually build the beginnings of the Forza franchise. We explore some of its contemporaries and check in with what nostalgia can truly do to your memory.

This week on The Free Cheese, stick your tongue out.

We’re playing one of Nintendo 64’s many 3D platformers in the form of Chameleon Twist 2. We compare it to the original title and see how it lines up with other games of the era.

This week on The Free Cheese, we're fighitng ourselves!

Let's reach back to an era where superheroes were all the rave and dreams of seeing our favorite comic book characters on the big screen were becoming a reality. No, the time before that. Yeah, the one before that.

We play and rank 1995's Genesis exclusive X-Men 2: Clone Wars. Despite its licensed contemporaries that often left us wishing for something more, Clone Wars goes a long way in making itself stand apart.

This week on The Free Cheese, 2007 is gonna be a weird year.

Nintendo's not-so-trapped-in-Japan-any-longer collaboration with Treasure makes its way onto our list this week. Sin and Punishment explores a dystopian future through the journey of two characters fighting to save it. At times evocative of Metal Gear Solid and Evangelion, this shooting game sure did have a lot to say in 2000.

This week on The Free Cheese, the Midway Knuckle®.

How do you reinvent an arcade game for the end of a console generation sitting right on the edge of always-online gaming? Midway Studios San Diego attempted with 2005's Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows. Playing as one of the four core classes from the original Gauntlet, we play through several stages fighting waves of enemies, destroying the generators of their origin, and defeating one of the titular Sorrows.

This week on The Free Cheese, oh, I get it.

We add another shooting game to the list with Konami's parody of its own Gradius. We talk about how other games were born from the Parodius series and wonder why there has yet to be a modern collection. We weigh the difficulty of enjoying an arcade game both on a console and for ranking on a weekly podcast, and dream of new characters for an inevitable Apple Arcade release.

This week on The Free Cheese, there's like, a hole in your head.

Just in time for QuakeCon 2022, we add Quake to The List. While we've all been into id Software games and have played a range of games inspired by Quake, we've yet to play all the way through the original campaign. This episode changes that as we learn the secrets within, revisit the history made with Quake, and learn how to rocket jump.

This week on The Free Cheese, we should always fear shrimp.

What happens when the Ace Combat team makes a Star Fox game? We take on the Aparoids to save the galaxy as Team Star Fox in the Namco-developed Star Fox Assault. We talk about the history of Star Fox games and how many reboots the series has endured so far, and of course wonder where it will go next.

This week on The Free Cheese, time to check the list!

We break our list of games from this season into 4 categories and reflect on the choices we’ve made so far. As we revisit each game, the chance of the list changing entirely rise. Will the list look different in the end or did we get the rankings right the first time?

This week on The Free Cheese, it tastes different than Sprite!

We return to an age of mascot platformers with one of the most recognized of the era. Then, we wonder what happened to all of the mascots. Finally, we design video games for mascots who never got the green light.

This week on The Free Cheese, let’s save daddy. 

Take to the skies and space as Lucia steals a ship and races off to rescue her kidnapped father. This once relic of Mega Drive obscurity is now readily available and it’s time we rank it.

This week on The Free Cheese, is that a gnome on your desktop?

We celebrate the joy of random satisfaction in Peggle, comparing its multiple releases and sharing experiences we’ve had with other games like it.

This week on The Free Cheese, get Diddy Kong in the back there for a giant banana.

We add another GameCube game to the list and our first kart racer. How does the change to gameplay hold up for Mario Kart all these years later? Does this game have the best course list in the series?

Find out the answers to those and more, and be sure to listen in for Matt's eSport Tips® for dominating every track.

This week on The Free Cheese, we need to find the car keys.

Stranded on a strange planet, we take control of three lost adventurers and a fleet of tiny creatures to discover cell phones, trash, and delicious fruit. We revisit Pikmin 3 for the Wii U, talk about how it's changed on Nintendo Switch, and of course, rank it with the rest of the games this season.

This week on The Free Cheese, there goes another customer.

We explore a sequel to an arcade classic in Paperboy 2. Within, we discover ghosts, break windows, and trap strangers beneath cars. We also compare the multiple versions of the game and of course rank it against the rest of the games from this season.

This week on The Free Cheese, he's on fire.

Right alongside the NBA Finals, we're checking in with an arcade classic that made its way home across a number of platforms. A sequel to NBA Jam and a bonafide hit in its own right, NBA Hangtime let us continue the 2-on-2 arcade basketball that we first fell in love with in Jam.

This week on The Free Cheese, an event has started in Dogenzaka.

When all that remains of Japan's metropolis are its buildings and wild animals, everyone is just trying to survive. As we play Tokyo Jungle, we're also celebrating the class of games that you could only find on PlayStation Network in the PS3 era. We look for other games that try something similar (there aren't many) and discuss how the developers took an unconventional approach to building this game.

This week on The Free Cheese, gonna be a big man someday.

Tape up those sticks and lace up your skates, it's time to hit the ice in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System's NHL Stanley Cup. We discuss the title's use of Mode 7 to bring hockey into the third dimension and stack it up against its Genesis counterparts.

This week on The Free Cheese, t h i s w e e k o n T h e F r e e C h e e s e.

What do you get when the team who made Bayonetta didn't know they would make Bayonetta and still worked at Capcom and wanted to make a 2D beat 'em up? Viewtiful Joe 2! But before that, they had to make Viewtiful Joe so we could talk about and rank it this week.

This week on The Free Cheese, get your Expansion Pak ready.

We're here to shoot mines and save aliens and we're all out—Oh, I guess we've got everything we need. Perfect Dark is the product of experimentation on tested ideas from the talent that redefined first-person shooters on the Nintendo 64. Does it exceed its predecessor or remain in obscurity?

This week on The Free Cheese, we're going down.

Our first mobile game makes the list this week as we explore the roguelike Downwell. Strap on your gunboots and jump in as we try to build the highest combo and make the best upgrade selections we can.

Episode Timestamps

06:50 - Downwell

49:35 - What games have you liked more than their inspiration?

59:05 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, can I be your memory?

How much damage can we create? It's time for Burnout 3: Takedown and a return to arcade racing, the likes we have not seen in quite some time. We also discuss the era of video game rentals and those games we never owned but loved renting.

Episode Timestamps

07:01 - Burnout 3: Takedown

47:11 - What games felt unobtainable to own but you loved renting? Why?

56:25- The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, it's got Bob Burnquist.

The (probably) first skateboarding game for PlayStation 2 is here and we're going for gold. We also figure out what games defined the PS2 era and beyond. Where are we at now? Tune in to find out!

This week on The Free Cheese, it's all in your head dude.

We're journeying midway through the first decade of the new millennium to revisit a game lost to time. In addition to a stellar special features section, Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy brings together superpowers and third-person shooting like no one else.

06:04 - Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy

31:58 - What other games are lost to time?

43:28 - Demo Disc

55:51 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, why do you have so many controllers in your lap?

It's more than just a week to talk about Rez Infinite, we talk about all of Mizuguchi's games and reflect on the impact they've had on us, the industry, and the future of video games. We also finally figure out how to pronounce "Lumines."

Episode Timestamps

06:23 - Rez Infinite

01:07:00 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, where did Kane come from?

Can a wrestling game from more than twenty years ago still be great? Yes. We're playing and ranking WWF No Mercy this week as we also figure out which names are those of professional wrestlers and those of horses. We also find out who of us deleted the save data from rental cartridges.

This week on The Free Cheese, and I’m all outta Gatorade. 

We play and rank Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, discussing its legacy and breaking down some of our favorite details. We reach the end of the bracket and declare Video Games’ Greatest Sidekick and share our favorite Game Over screens.

Episode Timestamps

10:47 - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

49:41 - Lightning Round

01:02:55 - Who Would Win in a Fight?

01:21:33 - What’s the Best Game Over Screen?

01:31:15 - Patched

01:45:42 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, banana on the floor.

We're playing and ranking a classic PC Engine title that just recently came to Nintendo Switch. We also imagine how to revive the Valis series today, carry forward our bracket of sidekick showdowns, and spend other people's money.

Episode Timestamps

7:07 - Valis III

36:40 - How would you revive Valis today?

46:54 - Who Would Win in a Fight?

01:07:23 - PC Engine Game or Sailor Moon Episode?

01:18:40 - Shopping for Somebody Else

01:29:09 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, rejected jokers will always lose. 

Our month-long bracket elimination continues as we uncover the greatest sidekick in video game history. The Trivia Dungeon awaits our adventurers with some topical questions as we discuss and rank The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and rank it among the rest of this season's games so far.

Episode Timestamps

8:00 - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

37:27 - The Legend of Zelda Franchise Celebration

56:41 - Who Would Win in a Fight?

01:14:55 - Trivia Dungeon

01:30:10 - Demo Disc

01:39:48 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, we take The JNCO test. 

Let’s explore one of Insomniac’s non-PlayStation exclusives this week and rank Sunset Overdrive on The List. We also kick off the start of a month-long bracket to decide the best sidekick in video game history.

Episode Timestamps

05:02 - Sunset Overdrive

26:48 - Many Years Ago Today

46:47 - Who Would Win in a Fight?

01:14:36 - Roundtable Question

01:21:12 A Proper Sequel

01:26:29 The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, oooooooo.

They really don't make them like they used to back in the PS2 era. We save the world with our dog and our friends using the power of music. We then build the sequel to Gitaroo Man that never happened and discuss games that change key right before the ending.

Episode Timestamps

7:07 - Gitaroo Man

28:11 - A Proper Sequel

36:40 - Shopping for Somebody Else

01:02:40 - Roundtable Question

01:11:35 - Trivia Dungeon

01:31:52 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, a revolution.

Our game this week launched the Nintendo Wii and truly became a household name. We talk about Wii Sports and its legacy, our own memories of the game, and how it holds up today. Additionally, on the tenth anniversary of the PlayStation Vita, we look back at our highlights with the game, discuss its entrance into the marketplace, and where it stands against the 3DS.

Episode Timestamps

4:44 - Wii Sports

29:38 - PSN Recommendations

48:48 - Many Years Ago Today

01:11:20 - This or That?

01:19:32 - A Game By Its Trophy

01:38:13 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, Blinx, go deep!

How well do you know your arcade hardware by name? What were the launch prices of consoles entering the market? If you know these, you might survive this week's Trivia Dungeon. We also build a football team from Nintendo and Sega characters and review ESPN NFL Football from Sega.

Episode Timestamps

03:36 - ESPN NFL Football

27:06 - Who Would Win in a Fight? Super Bowl Edition®

50:38 - Trivia Dungeon

01:05:32 - Demo Disc

01:17:14 - Lightning Round

01:31:21 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, building the Twisted Metal soundtrack.

Extreme sports used to be the center of everyone's attention and it seemed like there was no shortage of video games to coincide with every major sport. With those days sadly long gone, we revisit SSX Tricky and see how it holds up twenty years later. We also figure out which video games need new mascots and help them to find the face of the franchise.

Episode Timestamps

05:02 - SSX Tricky

24:16 - Patched

33:38 - Many Years Ago Today

48:07 - Snowboard Trick or Hot Sauce?

59:40 - Who's that Pikachu?

01:16:49 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, water bed body.

The journey through the Trivia Dungeon reveals more mysteries and asks more questions of our adventurers. We create new Demo Discs to give away with qualifying purchases. Finally, we discuss Valve's 2011 Portal 2 and find out where it ranks among the rest of the games from this season.

Episode Timestamps

05:12 - Portal 2

26:43 - A Proper Sequel

39:14 - Demo Disc

55:17 - Trivia Dungeon

01:11:19 - What video game needs a Mother 3 Handbook?

01:21:55 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, final boss only on Genesis!

Season 10 continues with a journey into the world of demonic pinball. We play Compile's classic virtual pinball title, Devil's Crush, read through some headlines from ten years ago to see how they hold up today, and build the ultimate crossover game. More inside!

Episode Timestamps

06:09 - Devil's Crush

26:47 - Many Years Ago Today

51:14 - What three companies would you combine for the next Project X Zone?

01:05:00 - Shopping for Somebody Else

01:24:05 - A Game By Its Trophy

01:52:02 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, good morning!

We begin Season 10 with a discussion and ranking of one of the first major exclusive titles from SEGA on the Nintendo GameCube. We also discuss what a perfect sequel would be, take a stroll through the Trivia Dungeon, and cast our dream actors to bring this game to the silver screen.

06:28 - Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

30:17 - Trivia Dungeon

47:42 - A Proper Sequel

01:05:34 - Fantasy Cast

01:12:51 - If Nintendo contracted remakes of NES Black Box games, who would make them and what would they be?

This week on The Free Cheese, what’s the Game of the Year?

We have decided to change up our regular end of the year show to fit our style a bit better. The three of us have never been able to play the same games each year. We miss out on a lot of releases in a single year because we play games from so many different platforms and eras. With this in mind, we opted to look back through 2021 and talk about some of the games we played that made an impact on us. In some cases, these games introduced us to new genres or took us back to something that we had long forgotten.

To follow along with our list or read write-ups about some of the games, check out the 2021 - Year in Review post.

This week on The Free Cheese, future's bright man.

Let's commence 2022 with a recap of last year's predictions and a look ahead to the next twelve months. We also share stories of trivial aspects of video games that turned us off. Finally, we each share our personal idea of what 2022 will mean for our gaming habits.