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   SOOKY – ISSUE #02 – 26TH of JULY 2025  
triple j hottest 100 australia edition
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EDITOR'S NOTE

"Sooky" is an Australian term for a "timid, weak, sentimental or overly sensitive" person which is me, variations include Sooky Lala and Sooky Bum.


Feature: Hottest 100 of Australian Songs - triple j

This is the event of July 2025, in Australia our national youth broadcaster runs a survey yearly to determine the objectively "hottest" song as picked by The Australian public.

This is perhaps slowly over time, or always been a test of what is the most popular song.

It is also a measure of whether a government owned station is actually just the same as a mainstream station.

These lines have blurred considerably, and maybe moreso as Triple J is now taking from Triple M in presenting us a choice of Australian songs, notably from the 70's, 80's and 90's. See my picks for an impression, I intentionally filled in three tracks in the last 20 years to round the list out.

I'm under the impression that the generation of voter will heavily impact the outcome. A modern "in the last 25 years" could be a decent tilt, again I think the choices would then shift towards early 00's tunes.

Sook's Picks
Who do I think will win though - Maybe Flame Trees by Cold Chisel? I'll write an update later today or tomorrow. 28th of July edit - I spent the day listening to the countdown, Flame Trees was 5th however I never considered INXS "Tear Us Apart" which makes a lot of sense - catches the cross section of Boomer to X crowd, however a lot of 18-29 year olds made up majority of the polling. Untouched by The Veronicas doesn't surprise me at all, either does Nosebleed Section by Hilltop Hoods. They're both cultural touchstones, just odd to state in the same sentence as Cold Chisel.
First Impressions: Wild Hearts S

The Demo is here and I finished it! Includes the Introduction area and Chapter 1 which features Kemono hunts include Ragetail, Sapscourge and Kingtusk. I've crafted most of the gear available in the opening hours and hunted online.

It's a sizable introduction to the 7/10 core Monster Hunter clone from Omega Force, originally released in 2023 with EA. Most weapon types are similar bar the Bladed Wagasa - an umbrella! I think many wrote it off for not being a "service" game, and for devs dropping support after release... which is true of most games no?

I wrote a full preview on Backloggd. The next game I'm likely to preview is Drag x Drive during the Global Jam on the 9th & 10th of August, check times for your region.
Side Quest: Super Mario Odyssey

I forgot to pre-order Donkey Kong Bananza, and revisited Super Mario Odyssey. The Switch 2 patch makes the game look incredible, the textures on Mario's fit and the world surrounding him are great. I'm taking a little more focus on the soundtrack listening on the Nintendo Music app between plays. Of what I know about Bananza, few have been critical about the linear paths, however... that's also true of Odyssey except in both cases you can absolutely walk off the beaten path to explore each world. Some of the voxel tech and breakable terrain is real obvious using the Tank in the Wooded Kingdom, a lot of inspiration from Odyssey's worlds and characters carry over into Mario Kart World too.


Retro Replay: Nintendo Classics

The titles available from Day 1 were F-Zero GX, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and Soul Calibur II. Coming off F-Zero X on N64, F-Zero GX build upon this initial 3D effort with considerable polish and features bizarro story cutscenes and exit interviews of each character after every cup, there's some great world building here even if it comes across as absurdist.

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker seems to be all hit and no filler, at least while collecting the three pearls. It's refreshing playing a 3D Zelda with dungeons and slice of life character arcs like in Majora's Mask but less depressing.

I've played a round or two of Soul Calibur II with my partner and she continues to wipe the floor with me every time we play a fighting game.

Super Mario Strikers came out a little later, I haven't spent nearly enough time with it to warrant a basic impressions. I enjoyed Charged on Wii and even the Switch entry was a fun party hit.


Sooky PICKS
My workmate showed me this clip and accompanying blog: Boiler Room Breakdowns: Kaytranada’s Divine Comedy, in short this Boiler Room set by Kaytranada is great. However away from the spotlight is a cast of unlikely heroes and villains going along a typical club experience circa 2013. Watch maybe the first 5 minutes in the background, then follow with the watchalong to understand the nuance of each background interaction and enjoy. It's a time capsule for sure.
Next edition
Donkey Kong Bananza, Drag X Drive Global Jam, Cannanes Live Review, Favourite Albums of 2025 so far. Hope to see you mid August.

—Sook

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