Retro Game Challenge

[toblix]

Holy fucking Maloney, look at this!

[n0wak]

Yes, it is enjoyable(*), but being forced to the challenges one after the other really messes with the flow of the various games. Also, the numerous nods to magazines and other games are nice. http://sorethumbsblog.com/post/78221321/dan-sock-found

(*) I'm currently on the second game.

[Roderick]

Wow not only is it an excellent review (Kohler!), the game looks like great fun! Games.

[mikemariano]

Through liberal cheating, I completed every game in Retro Game Challenge last night. This is considered the final challenge of the game, at which point you finally get a proper end credits sequence.

Cheating is the only tolerable way to beat Robot Ninja Haggle Man 3 and Guadia Quest. The games become way too unbalanced as you play. There are almost no ways to heal in the later Haggle Man levels, and the last dungeon of Guadia Quest is a seemingly endless tower. No fun!*

These problems didn't factor into the earlier challenges, because you didn't have to play too far to complete those. But as full games, these imitation retro games aren't quite as good as they should be.

Ironically, my favorite fake game was Rally King, critically considered the worst of the collection. I thought it was a clean and simple racing game, and its wiggle-boost made good use of my Mario Kart DS skills.

DISCLAIMER: Please keep in mind my strong anti-JRPG bias.

[Sully907]

This game would have been better if the actual games inside of it were better. The little gaming nostalgia nods were nice, but those type of games went out of style for a reason.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Haha! Wow, that looks awesome... I only wish they were the real games. That probably would have left it with a more balanced and enjoyable bunch to play with (based on the review). Still, I'd definitely pick this up.

[Tanukitsune]

I'd hate to resurrect this thread, but it took me a while to get my hands on this game since it never came out in Europe.

This game is just a nod to the 80's in so many ways, the magazines are great and the way young Arino acts represents the mentality of most of us in that era of gaming.

And the games are so well made, I could almost believe they really existed, almost... I refuse to believe that drifting and drift boosting existed back then, such a concept could not have existed in that era! And sometimes I feel the pallete is a bit off, some of the colors I see don't look right for a NES game.

I'm at the final challenge, and I'm having a blast!

[Noyb]

Kotaku somehow got the rights to Game Center CX, the Japanese reality show this game is based on. They're geo-blocking non-American IP addresses, unfortunately.

http://kotaku.com/5814938/episode-1-ninja-gaiden

The show itself is a good watch, essentially a series of Let's Plays with some tension as to whether the player will actually be able to beat the game, along with occasional segments (cut from Kotaku's version) focusing on Japanese gaming culture.

That said, I couldn't make it five minutes into the dub before the generic Spike TV announcer and inconsistent subtitling irritated me. It just makes me wish someone who wouldn't half-ass the entire thing would pick up the rights.

Edit: Okay, the announcer isn't too bad once you get used to it.

Edited July 12, 2011 by Noyb

[Tanukitsune]

It also looks like they are hand picking the episodes that would appeal more to the Western audience, I highly doubt they'll ever show Arino playing a relatively obscure game.

Now that I know what I'm missing, I beginning to think I should look for a fan dub of the show instead of Kotaku's version.

[a purple future]

even if they only show a handful of episodes that's still awesome. it was hard as shit to find copies online before. that said, i disagree with the "western games only" sentiment. i'd be very surprised if they didn't show the Takeshi No Chosenjo episode because it's hilarious, even if you've never played it or heard of it.

And I mean, how many people are familiar enough with Bonanza Bros or Solomon's Key to care about the games themselves?

[Tanukitsune]

They are all games you can get on Virtual Console? They are games that are more like to be remembered by Western retro gamers?