First of all, I must say that I am amazed that Retro Game Challenge ever came to the states. In Japan, it is called GameCenter CX: Arino’s Challenge, sharing its name (sans the subtitle) with the Japan-only show in which it is based on. The show follows comedian Shinya Arino as he plays popular retro games and documents his progress. In this videogame adaption, things play out a little differently.

The story begins with you getting transported back to the 1980′s by Arino, who then forces you to complete challenges in a series of fake, retro games. While you play, you are accompanied by Arino’s child self who not only talks to you between games, but also shouts things while you’re playing.

The progression of the game plays out in a very linear manner. You start with only one game and one challenge. Each challenge you beat will unlock the next until you have completed them all and the next game is unlocked. The process then repeats until all games are unlocked. After that, every game must be beaten from start to finish.

Between and even during challenges, you can look through gaming magazines. These magazines have interviews, previews, letters from readers, tips and even codes for the various games contained within this parody of the 80′s. There is also a full manual for each game that mimics those of times past. This, in combination with some of the dialogue, make for some nostalgic and endearing moments, especially if you really were into the gaming scene in that era. There is even some “engrish” slipped in to some of the games for good measure.

With each new game you unlock, you see the improvements in graphics and gameplay mechanics that parallel the ones that took place in our world on the NES. Most of the games are fairly obvious parodies of real retro games. The first game, Cosmic Gate, is a less than subtle parody of Galaga, for example. The games span a decent number of genres to keep it interesting. There are a couple SHMUPS, three installments of a platforming series called Robot Ninja Haggleman, a top down racer similar to R.C. ProAm, and even a Dragon Quest-like RPG.

Each game can be unlocked in its entirety after completing all the challenges for it. The depth and replayability can vary greatly from game to game. Robot Ninja Haggleman 3 is a definite standout. The action is reminiscent of Ninja Gaiden, while each stage has an open structure like in Power Blade. In addition to that, there are shops where you can buy equipment to customize Haggleman’s abilities. It is very solid, but like the other games featured, it is also pretty short.

Overall, I really enjoy Retro Game Challenge, but I have a few complaints. Anybody who is a seasoned enough gamer to appreciate the nostalgia will probably have little to no difficulty in completing the challenges. A majority of the challenges I was able to complete on my first try. Also, every time you complete a challenge it ends your game. I would have liked to have the option to continue, maybe even completing more than one challenge in a single play through. This leads me to my next point. You are only ever progressing in one game at a time. It would be nice if you had a list of challenges for several games and could bounce between them and play them at your leisure, rather than having to complete every challenge for a game before the next one is unlocked.

Despite these issues, it is still a fun little game. I actually really enjoy playing some of the games (mainly the SHMUPS) in freeplay mode. There is already a sequel out in Japan. Unfortuntely, the North American publisher has stated that not enough copies sold here to justify bringing the sequel over. Not all hope is lost, however, as they said that if sales did reach a certain point, they would consider it.

I think you know what to do.

Tags: Bandai Namco, DS, GameCenter CX: Arino's Challenge, nintendo ds, Retro Game Challenge, XSEED

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.