My Top 11 "Angry Video Game Nerd" Episodes! 

*UPDATE* A week or so after this video was uploaded with all the copyright problems fixed, another copyright was detected, I'm assuming manually, around the "Sega 32x" portion of the video so I apologize for the weird edit. I only noticed this in the editing phase but another thing I noticed about young James was he had a lot more "Jersey" in his Nerd persona which added some charm. You could definitely tell this dude was from the North East... that whole part of the Nerd character has been lost because I think James was infusing more of his personality into the character back then. Now it's all an act.

No matter how much people make fun of how he pronounces mountain and fountain, no matter how many people have been calling him Bimmy, or making fun of him for "No Time" and "My Kids", I think he will be looked back on fondly overall, when he calls it quits.

My all-time favorite is the 4-part Castlevania retrospective; those have infinite rewatchability

"balding nintendo dad" - Cruel, but so very, very, very funny

Plumbers Don't Wear Ties may be my all time favorite. I'm hardly the first guy to say this but I feel like a less claustrophobic game room would make new episodes a lot better. The hangout vibe of the early episodes was key, and you don't have that when we're crammed up against a single video game shelf and James can't even get up and walk around comfortably.

The Balding Nintendo Dad actually might be a good direction for his channel. "Hey watch me play Nintendo Switch with muh kids".

I remember they had a separate channel just called extras or something. It was James reviewing various movies and trilogies, like the 90's Batmans, Jackie chan movies and stunts, star wars Indiana Jones. They were all great but I just can't seem to find any of them anymore. When I first saw rental reviews I was excited because I think he's a great movie reviewer. We all know how that turned out

HES THE BALDING NINTENDO DAD

DAAAAWWW! I thought it was a Nostalgia Critic reference!

The Atari 5200 episode has always been one of my favorites. IMO it has everything that makes a great AVGN video. It starts with a little history about Atari, and then goes into how the 5200 failed. It includes angry rants, comedy spots like dropping the TV on his foot, and he times music just right. I also like the relaxing touch where he grabs a beer from the kitchen. Many gamers can relate to that. We like to relax on the sofa with a beer or soft drink, and play some games. He even ends the video with a final joke where the controller plug doesn't fit.

Mike’s Joker is one of the best joker performances ever

Woooo Plumbers Don't wear ties will get a remake I think. But man this episode was freaking wild😂😂

One you didn't have on here though that is one of my all time favorites is the NES Accessories episode. The one with the Power Glove and the other accessories. That one still cracks me up every time I see it. I remember when he landed the plane in Top Gun with the power glove it blew my mind when I first saw the episode. lol.

This video was very respectful and I appreciate you doing this instead of just more dogpiling. Respect. 👊🏻

Fair play for poking the Bimmy stans again after the last vid. Glad you didn't let them stop you from doing your thing. Quality vid as usual,Josh.

His Friday the 13th/Nightmare on Elm St episodes were always my favs

Little Red Riding Hood has to be on my personal top 10. Mainly for that camera angle of him looking back with the game on the background, one of my favs.

13:09 - Kevin Finn was used in the Ninja Gaiden episode if I remember correctly.

I may be wrong about this but something that also sticks out to me about the older episodes - which the Slobwave-era ones lack - is the chiptunes music, which of course fit the theme of the videos perfectly, and the innocent sound of it made for a funny contrast with all the cursing and yelling. I think he does use that a bit in some of the newer ones, but I remember in that awful Majora's Mask video that everyone likes for some reason, the music is instead some generic royalty free junk that sounds completely out of place. Just another little thing about what made the old episodes great that seems to have been lost along the way.

All of AVGN season 5 is my favorite. It's my nightly lullaby and constantly use it to fall asleep lol. I think it's because I found AVGN when I was really depressed and had terrible anxiety years ago. And watching his videos helped distract me from that pain of not knowing how to deal with my emotions lol

old AVGN was primo, honestly I think his show should've ended in 2017.

The Sega CD episode single handedly led me to going for a full set. I had it as a kid with like 2 games and had completely forgotten about it and his videos perfectly captured the vibe of what it was like having those oddball consoles back in the day. For instance, I never knew I needed the mixing cable so the whole time I had it as a kid I was missing half the audio I should've been hearing lol.

Nice video. I agree with almost every episode you chose. Doing a parody of the AVGN intro song was perfect!

Great intro and great list 😂 but I miss the Spider-Man and the Ninja Gaiden episodes, those were hilarious! 🤣

I've seen the first five seasons so many times that I'd be ashamed to know. Anyway, if I had to pick one favorite episode, it'd be the Atari 5200 one. The balance of information and entertainment, the pace of the editing, the use of music... it's just exemplary in every way. Also, James still had that indifferent tone to the character. Like, yes, the nerd's world revolved around the topic of classic video games, but he also didn't give a shit. It's hard to explain, but that's what's changed the most about the character itself through the years. Just the way he introduces the Trak Ball controller, delivers the line "...but it's an ungodly abomination that begs for apocalypse," and find outs that it doesn't work kind of illustrates what I mean.

Your editing on this is super-tight! Great job,Josh.

Thanks for making videos, I genuinely enjoy what you do and look forward to your stuff. The OG AVGN Robocop, R.O.B., and Batman run of videos were pretty rad and amongst my favorites.

Great selection! You definitely have some of my favorites on here. I can almost say that "Season 3" and "Season 5" include almost all of my favorite episodes. I think my favorite episode is a toss-up between Dracula and CDI Zeldas. I think Earthbound and Majora's Mask are his best newer episodes.

Should have ended the lyrics “making all his original fans sad, when he hangs it up we will all beeeeee glllladddddd”

You should a worst Rex Viper moments list, from the songs, music videos, and live performances.

I always thought the 12 Days of Shitsmas marathon and the Bad Cover Art marathon were full of gems. So many good memories.

Cheetah men and the Mega Man episodes are probably some of my favorites

Totally agree about the Polybius episode. Always one of my favorites. Looking back it seems obvious that he should have made some kind of video game horror movie instead of... what we got.

That intro song!! I can’t!! 😂😂😂😂 I loved it

OMG it made me so happy that you started this video with a song

NES Accessories will always be my favorite episode, with maybe the castlevania, bugs bunny crazy castle, and double vision episodes are a close second.

Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Ghost N' Goblins, Spider-Man, Action 52 / Cheetahmen and Dick Tracey are probably my favorites from what I can recall... it's been a minute since I've watched AVGN, his new stuff just totally took me out.

Your thoughts on modern Rolfe overusing the "Horny" joke felt spot on, i could almost see it in my mind. "HOOORNY? THEEEY NAAAAAAMED HIIIIM.... HORRRNYYYYYY!" *Zooms out to space, earth explodes. Cut back to James who is almost fainting. "oh jeez... Hooorny... HOOORNY! That would be like if i..." You catch the drift.

Nice job with the video and I enjoyed a lot of your favorite episodes as well.

Fun random fact: James’ primary main gaming CRT is a 20” Sanyo model DS20930. It has a rear input with both composite and S-video, however due to his set-up with multiple consoles into a switchbox, and his lack of concern for graphical fidelity, he never uses the S-Video. This CRT would later be relocated from his original Nerd Den (the original is from his Havertown residence) to his new residence’s basement, where it is displayed in his videostore set and is prominent in many rental ree-view videos with the slobs. Since approximately circa 2016, he upgraded to a TCL Roku flatscreen (bought at Walmart) and uses a Framemeister upscaling device to remove input lag. It is theorized by the subreddit that James has not freely played a videogame on his own accord in over 7 years unless for the purpose of making a video for money.

I have a theory that James is actually very tired of AVGN but he has to do it for the money, He probably got tired ever since like 2016 tbh, feel bad for the man.

Even though I would have included many of his earliest episodes, the Swordquest episode was incredibly gripping and filled with passion.

I just starting ranking every episode, so I'm so sad I can't watch this now so that my perceptions aren't colored - I'm sure it's great! Can't wait for the day I can check this out. Keep doing awesome work! Glad you did this!

What a time it has been to be alive...

His megaman/earthbound episodes had great writing as well

I still rewatch the old gems once or twice a year. It's worth actively remembering that even though Bimmy is the subject of jokes and ridicule nowadays, he's still a legend. He used to be the fucking king on RU-vid and shaped the landscape basically on his own.

Great video as always my man! Love ya!

Of Course I watched this video as soon as it came out - but probably my Favorite AVGN Video is the Sega CD/32x segments for most of the reasons you mentioned other than my Older Brother had a Sega CD and I had the privilege to play it in its Heyday.

Avgn's downfall really started when he started making sponsors with raycons

I really support your sidestep into this content. You are truly the right person for this type of stuff.

Awesome review--you hit a lot of the good episodes! One of my favorites was that Texas Chainsaw Massacre episode; seeing Mike do the chainsaw dance always gets me to this day. (that's gotta be Mike, right?)

I finally caved and watched this - great list! Much of my top 11 matches yours and a lot of these others are probably top 25 to 30 at worst, but great AVGN is great AVGN. Sorry in advance if in 5 years from now I accidentally Newt one of your thoughts when I reach my top 10 for my rankings. Though I doubt it, as you have a much different style. Love your duck walk cut and joke. Great job as always dude! Keep at it!

I faithfully watch season 1 and 2 daily....I fall asleep to them...I love his shows up to season 5

I would have to include Simon's quest. It was the first episode I saw. It's funny to look back on now because it's so bare bones and he doesn't even sound that angry. But at the time it was hilarious.

I'm not sure Bamesy deserved a roast that scorching at the beginning, but I loved it.

The sword quest video always got me hyped that it would get a follow up mini movie one day

Glad you did this instead of covering KingCobra.

The one thing I miss is the occasional guest character. Bugs bunny, jason, etc. It makes the avgn world feel bigger than it actually is. Sure they might be a little corney but it definitly makes the nerd feel more "real" when he interacts with other people

I’ll be waiting for your video on the new AVGN Mobil phone game review. I’m speechless! Hope to see it up soon

AVGN's Godzilla episode was another one of my favs. Mostly because of my own childhood/teenage years of getting Gaming Mags and finding all these awesome games already released in Japan and waiting to get them on Nintendo (Region Locked) consoles so I could play them. So many awesome games never left Japan, thus is the reason why games on PSP and PS Vita were important.

Great video dude 👍 I would pop Dick Tracy in the list also, it’s one of the only ‘later’ episodes where the rage felt genuine and real. Especially his absolute breakdown at the end and the way the audio clips, it’s just brilliant. I truly feel the last truly stellar episode he did was the Tiger Electronics one, his acting and commitment to the character in that one is just brilliant. I still love James and what he has achieved but I honestly cannot watch the Nerd anymore. Oh and his best episode? Silver Surfer. It is beat for beat absolutely perfect and so well written.

I liked that newer one where he walked around doing a 15 minute monologue uncut in that dungeon set.

Polybius showed me that James truly has the capability to make a fantastic horror film, i wish he would flex that muscle again

Plumbers don’t wear ties is unequivocally the best AVGN episode ever for me. I remember cry-laughing when I first saw it at 11, and I still laugh upon rewatches.

I recently rewatched series 2 and 3 of avgn and my god the difference in quality to what it is now, the old eps are timeless, the new eps are a waste of time

Really nice list! Personally, my two favourite episodes are Battletoads and Sword Quest. The Battletoads video is just a reminder how fun it is to play with a friend and James and Kyles chemistry is really great and charming. I love Sword Quest because James manages even better than usual to take you with him on this journey.

Better than James' own Top AVGN videos which at the time I thought was cynical and selfgratifying.

For me the episodes that sold the series was the 2006 Halloween episodes. They where so creative and had some creepy and funny stufff. Really like how simple early episodes where as well. Like one of my favourite scenes is from Karate kid when he just randomly drives his head into a cupboard. That kind of kinetic physical acting and performance only a younger guy would make

Loved your rendition of the avgn theme

Yeeesh, the earthbound one was already *six years* ago? Feels like it’s brand new. Crazy.

Also random but would you say Bimmy is in his Megaman X7 form? or has he reached X8 at this point?

Those Castlevania videos are some of my favorites

7:33 I agree. I saw a CDi only once in my life. It was at the house of a friend or family member (I don't remember which) of my mom's boyfriend when I was a kid. I remember being fascinated by it (still have memories of it over 30 years later), but it got ignored and we ended up playing Sega Genesis instead. Lol

I'm surprised you didn't mention the best part of the Big Rigs episode: it gave us Rex Viper.

Great stuff man. Do a tier list or a retrospective like Dylan the Night Owl

Finally, I've been hoping someone would make make a video like this and now it's here. You are right about how modern AVGN really likes to take jokes and run them into the ground with "Purr Pals" being a prime example of that with all of the unfunny cat skits.

As a guitar player myself, that intro was awesome

I used to love AVGN and look forward to each episode, you've picked some classics there but I would add Ikari Warriors and some more with James and Mike dressed up in costume interacting with each other. Nowadays it's garbage, haven't watched for years, such a shame.

I hope Screenwave reaches out to you to use your new AVGN theme from now on. Cuz it’s awesome

great intro mate !

We have a sveral top picks in common like the Zelda CDI, Sega CD, plumbers don't wear ties. I also love his Ghostbusters episodes it's so funny how long he spends on that one game, like it really did ruin his life or something 😂 Haven't watched any episodes in quite some time but still have quotes from em in my mind forever

The closest I get to a good angry nerd-esque video these days are Rerez's Just Bad Games. It's pretty funny and has some good editing that adds to the fun. Shane will often cover terrible plug n play or obscure systems as well.

Couldn't agree more about the Earthbound episode. A combination of nostalgia for me and him revering the game

Plumbers Don't Wear Ties is definitely one of my favorites because of how absurd the actual game was and how james was actually lost for words. Earthbound is another really good avgn episode for me since i've always heard about ness because of super smash brothers but i've never really checked into earthbound since i suck at RPGs and i just prefer not to play them but having watch that nerd episode made me realize there's a whole lot going on with the game than just the gameplay so i remember starting playing that one soon after (idk if you checked out mother 3 but that game is really good too). TBH, the most influential avgn video for me was the 4 part castlevania episode since it felt james was really passionate about the old school castlevania games (also what got me into the series as a whole). Lastly, i wanna say i really like the legend of zelda majora's mask episode because it felt like it was the last good avgn episode for me and learning more about majora's mask (a game i wanna beat one day once i have the time lol). i respect your reasonings with your choices and i hope you can make more videos like this once awhile because most of us do wanna remember the good times before he became a bimmy.

My top would be 1.) Plumbers don't wear ties 2.) Ghostbusters trilogy 3.) Bugs Bunny episodes 4.) Ninja Gaiden 5.) Batman Earlier episodes(first few seasons) have a certain charm, like Rocky episode has him going up the stairs, silver surfer has him taking ridiculous poses, and their anger levels are reasonably believable, over the top rants were used more or less sparingly , nowadays they are too overused, cartoonish, uninspired and cringy.

Sad to see dark castle not be on here. It’s my favorite episode. These are great choices though

Mega Man + Radiohead = I like this guy

Atari Sports, Big Rigs and Rambo are my favorite. Rambo mostly because that's how I found his channel a couple years ago.

Oh jeez, it would be really hard to make my own top 11. Lots of fantastic episodes that still hold up to this day. You name a few of them, but I'd also like to add Super Mario Bros. 3, NES Accessories, Bible Games 2, Virtual Boy, and Nintendo Power.

The last two mins of Lester The Unlikely made me laugh so hard, I woke up everyone in the house back then. That's my #1 for sure.

Plumbers Don't Wear Ties & Big Riggs are favorites... missing from your list Tiger Games & Swordquest probably. My favorite non-AVGN episode though was Dragon in my Dreams, still his best video to date.

Nintendo Accessories will always be my favorite episode

Three other "newer" AVGN episodes I like are Seaman, The Berenstain Bears, and The Last Ninja.

My all-time-favorite is and will ever be NES Accessoires.

Brudah has uploaded a new video, I'm hyped🔥🔥🔥

Loved the video, this was hilarious and very entertaining. Great job mane.

This is where its at. These are the classic. Not just novel at all. 😅

Conglatiouations you have made a great video You have prooved the justice of the fandum Now go rest our hero

"I shit all over it... With me glitches"

I grew up watching AVGN from back when the videos were hosted on his website. Admittedly, I find myself revisiting the old material a lot more than I do watching the new material. There's definitely a quality loss over the years, however. Nostalgia does it's thing, ya know? I'll always have a spot in my heart for AVGN content.