Matthew Reynolds
Hello! I'm Matthew Reynolds, and I make guides, tips, and gameplay videos primarily for retro games.
Series I've covered include Mario Kart, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario, Shenmue, Dino Crisis, and much more.
As well as on YouTube, you might know me from my written work at GameFAQs, Eurogamer.net, or Polygon.
If the video guides on this channel were useful, then please let me know in the comments, or share with friends - and, if you fancy it, support with a tip by giving a Super Thanks or the following link: ko-fi.com/crazyreyn
Thanks for watching and supporting!
Matthew Reynolds
Some channel branding and latest project news!
1) With the introduction of channel handles, I'm now using my real name upfront alongside the usual 'Crazyreyn' moniker - similar to how it works on Twitter and elsewhere.
2) I have a new profile picture!
I've been eyeing up a commissioned portrait for a while, and having grown up on a diet of Amiga games, working with Sensible Software's ‪@StooCambridgeArtist‬ (Cannon Fodder, Sensible Soccer) felt like the perfect fit for a retro-orientated channel. I love how it turned out!
Stoo has been a real pleasure to work with, and if you fancy an avatar or other pixel design work yourself, his shop can be found here: www.thedesigndroid.co.uk/
3) My latest project on Dino Crisis has now wrapped!
This was meant to be a 'quick' guides project in October to get me back in the groove after Shenmue swallowed up most of my YouTube energy in 2022, but some 30 guides later, I've finally reached the finish line. So much for my self-imposed Halloween deadline!
Part of this is forgetting how puzzle-driven Capcom's survival horror PS1 games were (even the shortest puzzles are quite hard to solve) and the other is the usual rabbit hole of double checking missables and branching narrative choices.
In short, Dino Crisis is far more elaborate than I remembered, and I wanted to cover it comprehensively - but hopefully that makes the videos all the more useful. If you do end up using them, please let me know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k7aK...
That's it! The rest of 2023 is looking busy for various personal reasons, so channel updates from here might be sparse - but the itch to tick off another game before the summer is strong. We'll see!
Speak soon,
Matthew
2 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 5
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Matthew Reynolds
My new missables video is on... Shenmue! Planning a new playthrough soon? Here's where to find easily missed events, items and moves as they come up - as well as a few other tips along the way.
I started this project during the Christmas break and was expecting to be done long before now, but a) it's been a remarkably busy year already and b) I'm surprised at how long it took to research and test a lot of what's in this video. Shenmue is dense!
I've lost count with the amount of times I've played and there's *still* things I'm discovering for the first time. What a game. I hope this cuts through some of the more confusing requirements so you can see and collect as much as possible.
I hope to follow up with videos on specific events mentioned here - such as the Nozomi park scenes, Ryo's friends and Enoki encounters - that break down the exact cut offs and discuss some things I was surprised to discover with how they worked. Something Shenmue fans will enjoy, I hope - and fingers crossed those will be with you in the next couple of weeks.
Thanks for watching!
3 years ago | [YT] | 0
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Matthew Reynolds
Happy Mario Kart 64 on Nintendo Switch Online day! Whether you're a new player or returning 25 years after the N64 original, here's some videos which can help:
ESSENTIALS:
- How to boost start and drift boost https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7GgL...
- Spinning out and banana recovery explained https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isHMW...
- All official shortcuts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jZNP...
ADVANCED TIPS:
- How to unlock Mirror Mode / Extra Cup https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6ja3...
- How to beat Bowser's Castle on 150cc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jItuu...
- Learn Rainbow Road's time-saving shortcut https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyMpH...
Full Mario Kart 64 playlist, including 150cc playthroughs of every track: www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
3 years ago | [YT] | 3
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Matthew Reynolds
Thank you to everyone who watched and commented on my recent Final Fantasy VII Shorts series in September! If you missed it - throughout the month, I posted a new Short based on some of my favourite moments in the game.
You can watch the playlist here (note: best viewed on mobile): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhfb-...
It was something a bit different for me - an experiment with short video on a new platform (shout out to my all-time favourite looping video service of choice, Vine - RIP) and a nice excuse to dig through my Final Fantasy VII guide footage again. There were a lot of scenes that didn't work in a 9:16 format (made more difficult by the game's 4:3 aspect ratio and text boxes in awkward places) so couldn't get every scene I'd hoped for in the series - but in the end, I'm really happy with how it came together.
Any thoughts on these Shorts - and whether I should do more, either in the comments or the attached poll - would be very welcome.
P.S. I can't wait to see how they handle this in the next FFVII Remake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kfbD...
3 years ago | [YT] | 0
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