491: Croc Was Meant to Be Yoshi - Then It All Changed! - Matt Porter, Argonaut Programmer - The Retro Hour EP491

The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)

The Retro Hour

Technology, Leisure, Video Games

4.9 • 558 Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2025

⏱️ 99 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week we’re joined by Matt Porter, former programmer at Argonaut Software and one of the key developers behind Croc: Legend of the Gobbos. Matt shares inside stories from the development of titles like Creature Shock, Scooby-Doo Mysteries, and SWAT: Global Strike Team, delves into the challenges of porting games across wildly different platforms, and teases some fascinating lost betas and unreleased gems he’s been finding on 30-year-old hard drives.

Dovetail Games: https://dovetailgames.com/

Contents:

00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
37:40 - Matt Porter Interview

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Show notes

James Pond Revival and AI Campaign: https://tinyurl.com/9wafa3zx
Bitmap Bureau Terminator Game Delay: https://tinyurl.com/yry357hp
Game Gear Camera Mod Using GBC Hardware: https://tinyurl.com/msrus64r
Rare 3DO M2 Console Withdrawn from Sale: https://tinyurl.com/4z6hv5h7
Super Mario Bros. Remastered Coming to PC: https://tinyurl.com/4dmy62vk

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Coming up on this week's show, one of the rarest ever consoles goes on sale.
0:05.3	A 90s classic makes a comeback.
0:07.6	And we go inside the world of crock with Matt Porter.
0:28.4	And the Retro Hour podcast is brought to you each and every Friday with our friends, our sponsor Bitmap Books.
0:33.5	Now, coming soon from them, 50 indie games that change the world.
0:38.2	Now, this is a celebration of some of the most important titles who've made it big outside of the typical AAA studio system. From pixelated classics like Shovel Night and
0:44.4	Dead Cells, stuff like Super Meat Boy and limbo in there as well, and weighing in at a massive 450 pages.
0:51.7	Coming soon from Bitmap Books, you can get notified when that's available and check
0:55.1	out the rest of their retro gaming collection at bitmapbooks.com. And with our friends at PCB way.
1:01.9	Now, if you're working on maybe a retro project over the summer, have a look at their website
1:06.5	and check out the shared project section on there. They offer fully featured custom PCB prototyping,
1:12.3	low-cost, fast turnaround quality boards, and if you're looking for someone to do services
1:16.6	like 3D printing and injection molding, they've got your cupboard. You know, they're huge
1:20.5	supporters of the retro community as well. So get an instant quote right now on their website
1:24.5	at PCBway.com.
1:34.8	Hello and welcome to the Retro Hour podcast, episode number 491, your weekly dose of retro gaming and technology news with me, Dan Wood.
1:37.1	Me Ravi Abbott and me Joe Fox.
1:39.5	And a very warm welcome to the podcast every single Friday, bringing it up to speed on all
1:43.7	the big news headlines from the world of retro gaming and technology.
1:47.2	And welcoming on veterans of the industry on the second half of the podcast to hear their story and the games that they worked on as well.
1:54.8	And we've got an incredible guest on this week's show, which will tell you more about in just a second.
1:58.8	Actually, I guess this week was someone you were hanging around with an event in Nottingham
	...

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