Influential and entertaining because of – not in spite of – their flaws.
Welcome back to the I Really Like This Thing series, where I do my best to introduce something I, well, really like. They could be music, movies, games – anything, really. The point is for me to share. Worst case, you think my taste sucks. Best case, you learn about something cool.
This time: the YouTube channel Super Best Friends Play.
What’s your definition of a friend?
For me, it’s someone who I can be around with zero stress or expectations. Someone who’ll call me out on my nonsense. A person I can shit on, and who can shit on me (all in good fun, of course). It’s someone whom I wish the very best for.
They’re imperfect yet always trying their best to be a better person. They don’t hide all the bad stuff – they own who they are, flaws and all – and can laugh at themselves about it all.
Screenship
Could you ever build that sort of relationship with someone you never actually meet, or talk to?
Well, I don’t know, but I think I got as close as I think is actually possible.
Say hello to the Super Best Friends.
Before Twitch and streaming came around, there was only the humble Let’s Play (LP). Edited videos, usually no longer than 10 minutes or so, of games being played while the person(s) playing comments on things as they happen.
With SBFP, 10-minute videos became 30-minute ones over time. And over time, four random Canadians became fixtures of my day-to-day life.
Genesis
The channel started as Two Best Friends Play; it was just Matt and Pat initially. And it had rough beginnings:
This janky approach came to be a trademark of the channel. Their unofficial tagline was “We promise nothing and deliver less” – a self-deprecating joke very much in line with their “brand”.
Their video and presentation quality would improve markedly, but the largely-unfiltered and unplanned nature of their content persisted and is what I feel makes them so extremely enjoyable. It’s basically the same vibe as watching B-movies with friends at home.
As time went along, Woolie and then Liam came on board. All four of them each possess distinct characters, so things don’t go stale. Plus, the different combinations for different LPs – it could be any pair or trio (and sometimes, all four of them at once) taking on a particular game – helped.
They eventually started a podcast as well, which has been a staple of my week since it began.
Greatest hits
It’s really difficult to narrow it down to just five, and I’m doing a disservice to so many great ones, but here are my top five SBFP LPs:
Yakuza 4
When I started watching this LP, I had no idea whatsoever about the Yakuza games. It was an extremely niche series.
Now, I’m a lifelong devotee, and the franchise has grown leaps and bounds. The games speak for themselves, but it was through the push channels like SBFP (Pat, especially) gave that led to the series’ growth in popularity in the West. And what works there will find its way to Singapore.
This LP showcases pretty much everything Yakuza 4 has to offer, and is arguably one of the most influential series SBFP put out.
Rustlemania
A month-long dive into wrestling games great and terrible, Rustlemania was one of the channel’s most enjoyable themed series.
While a part of my enjoyment likely came down to nostalgia from my childhood days of following the WWE, there are nevertheless some true laugh-out-loud moments in this series.
This includes one of THE best moments in all of SBFP history – it left me gasping for air from laughing too much when I first saw it.
Silent Hill 2
The Silent Hill 2 playthrough was really unique: most SBFP LPs are filled with jokes, but this was made to serve as an appreciation of one of the greatest horror video games of all time.
The respect with which Pat (who’s on the controls and who wanted to do this LP) approaches the whole game speaks for itself. If you’ve never heard of this game, or if you’ve heard of it but always wondered about its revered place in video game history, check this LP out.
Prison Break
This is classic Matt-Pat at their very best – playing an objectively shitty game and losing their minds over it. The game is terrible, and the jokes simply present themselves.
It’s one of the most fun, easy watches, and I find myself going back to it every now and then.
Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden
This is another terrible-looking game. The difference is that it’s actually good, and extremely self-aware in its “badness”. The jokes and references in the game itself are already amazing, and Pat and Liam bring so much more.
This LP also has one of the few instances which left me quivering in silent laughter (you know the type). It’s essential viewing.
There are many more classics – Matt and Pat are particularly great with survival horror games – but I can’t list them all without turning this into a mini-archive of LPs.
Integrity
Despite the group’s haphazard nature, they stuck by one rule: they finish every game they start (save for a few, due to extenuating circumstances), no matter how terrible or broken the game may be.
This has led to some classic LPs where part of the fun was seeing them suffer. Yes, I know that sounds sadistic and perverse, but they demanded it of themselves; as an audience member, you laughed both at and with them. You suffered alongside them.
The Ride to Hell LP is probably the most entertaining example of such a game, although the Omikron one isn’t far behind.
They also collaborate with and support many other content creators, from hiring animators to do LP series’ opening animations, to simply introducing their audience to other great video creators.
In essence, they’re just all around decent folk.
Sharing truly is caring
Two 30-minute videos a day, every single day, extended my pop culture horizons. Through SBFP, I learned of Persona, of Cromartie High School. I learned of Hajime no Ippo, of Yakuza.
Each and every one of these, among many others, will likely be getting their own episodes of I Really Like This Thing. It’s special.
The Best Friends played as big a role as anything else in shaping me to be who I am today – if not directly, then through sharing the things they loved with their audience.
That’s actually one of the main reasons I have for setting up and maintaining this site: through the things they did and shared, I’ve learned and experienced so much.
Their recommendations have made me laugh and cry in the best of ways, helping me to recognize the depths of my emotions. They made me truly feel things, and helped me to accept, understand, and deal with my inner demons better.
If four regular dudes can do that just by shit-talking each other and getting unabashedly excited about video games and anime (and putting it all on YouTube), then maybe I could do the same. Maybe I can make someone’s day a little better just by sharing some music or video game that’s captured my imagination.
The end
If you’ve made it this far, and are wondering why I’ve written so emotionally about what essentially is just a group of jokers having fun, it’s because the group has broken up.
They separated in late 2018, and I can still remember where I was when I learned of the news, and how I felt. It sounds a little silly for me to say such things about a YouTube channel, but that’s how much they meant to me.
After all, they were there for me almost every day for nine years… which is more than I can say for most human beings.
They’ve all gone on to do their own things now. Matt has his own channel, Liam streams, Pat streams, Woolie still does LPs and some streaming.
A small consolation is that my two favourites, Pat and Woolie, still collaborate regularly. They still do the podcast, which has since been re-branded to Castle Super Beast, and they’ve done a few LPs together.
It’s not quite the same, and I do miss the old dynamics. Still, better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, I guess.
Godspeed, you magnificent bastards. And thank you for everything.
