Skip the Podcast
By Skip the Tutorial
Hey everyone, I'm Skip the Tutorial! In this podcast you'll find a comedic insight into the gaming analysis and design critiques of Nintendo games. The content is a mix of audio from my YouTube analysis series, as well as my current takes on games I record specifically for this podcast! Thanks for stopping by, and you have a good one, alright?
Skip the PodcastNov 07, 2018
00:00
05:29
The Comeback of the Pokemon Elite Four
The Comeback of the Pokemon Elite Four! The Elite Four League in Pokémon have seen better and worse days - until Generation VII brought new life to the Pokemon League. With the new features of the Elite Four and Champions of Pokemon Sun and Moon & Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee, the franchise is finally making a return to its original charm. So today, let’s tackle the Generation 7 approach to the Elite Four - in this episode of Skip the Tutorial’s Boss Battle Breakdown!
Feb 20, 201910:45
Smash Ultimate Makes Bowser a Better Boss
Smash Ultimate Makes Bowser a Better Boss! When Super Smash Bros. adapted Bowser for a boss fight, it had to keep his famous battle progression from the Super Mario series while also changing the format from a platformer to a fighting game. To do this, Smash added in Giga Bowser, a more powerful boss version that plays like a more traditional and better boss fight. So today, let's see how Smash Ultimate's version of Giga Bowser makes the iconic boss even greater - on this episode of Boss Battle Breakdown!
Feb 13, 201906:37
Smash Ultimate Makes Kirby's Marx Even Better
Smash Ultimate Makes Kirby’s Marx Even Better! Marx is one of Kirby’s most famous bosses, so when HAL Laboratory adapted him as a boss in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, they had big shoes to fill. Luckily, this Smash boss fight in the World of Light and Spirits modes is very faithful to the original fight from Kirby Super Star, and it might even be a better boss battle due to the changes Sakurai’s team added. Let’s discuss that, on this episode of Boss Battle Breakdown!
Feb 06, 201907:31
Kirby Star Allies Saved Meta Knight
Kirby Star Allies Saved Meta Knight! Meta Knight was always the antihero of the Kirby series - but in recent games, HAL Laboratory drifted away from using him in that way. That was until the 2018 release of Kirby Star Allies on the Nintendo Switch - which made him a familiar boss and rival for Kirby again. So today, let’s dive into how the Kirby franchise brought Meta Knight back to his pattern from Kirby’s Adventure - in this episode of Boss Battle Breakdown!
Jan 30, 201908:48
King Dedede Keeps Getting Better
King Dedede Keeps Getting Better! King Dedede has been a staple boss in Kirby ever since appearing as the final boss in Dreamland - but how does HAL Laboratory keep him so interesting and memorable? Let’s look at how his story inclusions across the franchise make him such a great character right up to Star Allies, even if his moveset stays the same. Here’s why King Dedede is so great - on this episode of Boss Battle Breakdown!
Jan 23, 201906:35
Bosses That Keep You Coming Back Post-Game
Bosses that keep you coming back post-game! Designing a post-game is tough to do for an RPG - so here are three different approaches to making great bosses after the story mode. Grinding gets boring, so here are bosses to fill your time after the credits roll - so let's discover the tactics of these bonus bosses - on this episode of Boss Battle Breakdown!
Jan 16, 201905:39
Masahiro Sakurai's Bizarre Approach to Final Bosses
Masahiro Sakurai's Bizarre Approach to Final Bosses in World of Light! Ever since Super Smash Bros Brawl's Subspace Emissary, these adventure mode final bosses have been a great part of the SSB series. Now, in World of Light mode, the new final boss battles are given a design overhaul to be wonderfully weird. So today - let's tackle Tabuu and Smash Bros. Ultimate's Galeem and Dharkon true ending fight - on this episode of Boss Battle Breakdown!
Jan 09, 201907:31
What Makes a Good Smash Bros Boss?
What Makes a Good Super Smash Bros Boss? There've been plenty of Smash Bros bosses over its history, but what makes one of these boss fights great? To answer this, let's looks at the evolution of Super Smash Bros bosses and see what worked, and what didn't, for the SSB series. Let's design a great Smash Bros boss - on this episode of Boss Battle Breakdown!
Jan 02, 201907:21
Did Color Splash's Bosses Have to Be Bad?
The bosses in Paper Mario Color Splash are a problem, but how could we fix it? It’s easy to talk about why boss battles with the Koopalings here are bad, but let’s also see where these fights could have been better within the story and gameplay. So today, let’s set the card battle system aside, forget the Sticker Star 2 comparisons, and just see how this aspect of the controversial title can be improved - on this episode of Boss Battle Breakdown!
Dec 26, 201807:56
Toby Fox's Genius Approach to Final Bosses
Toby Fox has made fantastic final boss fights in Undertale and Deltarune [or Undertale 2]. How does he design a final boss battle? By concluding themes, the Chaos King and Sans fights become the best battles in both games and serve as perfect cohesion to the games’ concepts. Here’s how his approach is so genius to boss battle design in this episode of Boss Battle Breakdown!
Dec 19, 201806:33
Why We Need to Hate Our Pokémon Rivals
We need to hate our Pokémon rivals! Blue and Silver are perfect examples of this done well, but the recent trailers for Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee show that GameFreak is abandoning this concept for... Trace. Here's why we should dislike our rivals in Pokémon games - and why we need one in Generation 8.
Dec 12, 201806:45
What Makes a Great Pokémon Gym Leader?
Pokémon gyms are an iconic staple of the series - but what makes for the best gym leaders? We’re studying every region from a main series Pokémon game and learning how it’s own merits and/or pitfalls teach us how to make a great gym battle. From Kanto to Alola - what factors are truly important for a Pokémon gym leader - let’s find out in this Boss Battle Breakdown!
Dec 05, 201808:45
Building On Inspiration: Fan Game Bosses
Nintendo has some of the most influential games on the market, so it's no surprise that they also have their fair share of fan games. From Pokémon Uranium to AM2R, we're taking a look at how these bosses use their inspiration, and how we should critique these fights overall in this Boss Battle Breakdown!
Nov 28, 201811:37
Repurposing a Boss the Right Way
Players look down on reusing boss battles, but there are proper ways to implement these fights while still keeping some level of original context. Today, we're looking at the Donkey Kong series and how it tackles recontextualizing v. reusing a boss battle!
Nov 07, 201805:29
Should Minecraft Have Bosses?
Minecraft has been a juggernaut since 2011, but does that transfer over to boss battles? Today we are looking at the Ender Dragon and the Wither fights to see how these boss fights compare to the rest of the gameplay. Hello everyone, I'm Skip the Tutorial - and welcome to Boss Battle Breakdown!
Oct 31, 201807:43
Are Mario Party Bosses Worth It?
Mario Party 10 made some weird game decisions, and its boss fights definitely fell that way. Following after the Mario Party 9, this Wii U game looked into boss battle minigames - which mean some weird game design blends. So let's look into this and see if it's worth keeping in today's Boss Battle Breakdown!
Oct 24, 201806:22
Accounting for the Random in Roguelikes
Roguelikes are all over the place, to say the least. From gems like Enter the Gungeon, to Dead Cells, and especially Edmund McMillen's Binding of Isaac, there's been so many great indie developed roguelikes (or roguelites, depending on who you ask) in recent years. But what does this randomness mean for boss design? That's what we're tackling today in this Boss Battle Breakdown!
Oct 17, 201806:54
Boss Rushes and Why We Need Power Trips
Boss rushes offer some of the greatest final experiences in gaming, so we're talking about Mega Man 2 and Shovel Knight's examples in this one! Are power trips worthwhile in gaming? Let's assess that today in this action platformer themed episode of Boss Battle Breakdown!
Oct 10, 201807:45
Designing a Mario Kart Boss - 7 Tips
Remember when Mario Kart had bosses? Today we take a look at that part of the Mario Kart series history and looks at the 7 DS bosses to see what we can learn about boss design - especially for racing games. Pick up your steering wheel and let's go zero to 60 right into this Boss Battle Breakdown!
Oct 03, 201807:33
What Makes a Good Platformer Boss?
Designing a platformer boss is tough, so today we’re looking at how to design a good platforming boss based off three bowser Boss battles from New Super Mario Bros Wii, Super Mario 3D Land, and Super Mario 3D World. These boss fights teach a lot about how to make a proper and fitting brawl in the quintessential Mario platforming series, so I’m on a hunt to see what I can learn for other platformers based off these three examples!
Sep 26, 201807:52
Monster Hunter PERFECTS Repetition
With the recent release of Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate finally on the Nintendo Switch, I just had to talk about the boss design in one of my favorite video game series. From the bombastic set pieces of the big budget Monster Hunter World to the smaller handheld titles of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, the franchise has gone a long way with its reach but maintains one very consistent theme: repetition, and that's the focus of today's Boss Battle Breakdown!
Sep 19, 201805:26
Ditching the Zelda Boss Formula in Breath of the Wild
Breath of the Wild didn't just earn all of its Game of the Year awards for no reason. By switching the series from a linear and straightforward progression to an open world playstyle, the bosses were forced to change in tandem. For better or for worse, the bosses are completely different in BOTW, and that's the topic of today's episode!
Sep 12, 201804:08
How King K Rool Surprises with the Mundane
King K Rool stands as one of the most iconic video game villains of all time, especially for Nintendo baddies. Because of this, I just had to analyze my favorite fight of the big croc's in anticipation for the new smash bros! Here is my breakdown of how the King K Rool boss fight is designed to misdirect you in a clever and completely unexpected way!
Sep 05, 201803:45
Tinker Knight and PREPARING for MISDIRECTION
If I had to pick just one thing that stuck out me the most from Shovel Knight, it would have to be the game's brilliant boss design, and out of the Order of No Quarter, my favorite fight falls to Tinker Knight. The main reason for this definitely has to be because of how the fight throws the player through a loop, providing a remarkable experience all around.
Aug 29, 201804:24
Bowser Should NOT Be the Final Boss in Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey left a big impact when it released in 2017; however, when this epic journey concluded, the final fight felt underwhelming, to say the least. Because of this, I firmly believe that its better suited to call the game's final level, Darker Side, the "final boss" instead of Bowser and any of his fights.
Aug 22, 201806:23
How DJ Octavio TEACHES Multitasking | Boss Battle Breakdown
Splatoon definitely made an impact when it released in 2015. While the multiplayer provided an exciting and innovative experience, the singleplayer really took me by surprise. Primarily, I fell in love with the game's great boss design.
That's why I wanted to breakdown the brilliant aspects of DJ Octavio's boss battle.
That's why I wanted to breakdown the brilliant aspects of DJ Octavio's boss battle.
Aug 15, 201805:39
Bomb Chicken's Dual Purpose Design | GMTK Response
Cracking open Nitrome's dual-purpose design and how Game Maker's Toolkit taught me to appreciate it. In this episode, it's a deep dive into what Nintendo-style game design can mean for what game designers put into, and leave out, of their games.
Aug 08, 201805:55
How Super Mario 3D World RUINS Co-Op
Super Mario 3d World is a fantastic platformer, but only when played in singleplayer. When it comes to multiplayer, the game's willingness for competition ruins what could have been a fantastic cooperative experience.
Aug 01, 201803:51
Mario Tennis Aces NEEDS to LEARN from Arms
Mario Tennis Aces is a great game, but is it doomed from the beginning? With a lackluster single-player experience and a small amount of upcoming content, it seems Nintendo is repeating their history of multiplayer-focused games that can't hold on to a player base.
Jul 25, 201808:59