GBAtemp game of the week- week #19

[FAST6191]

GBAtemp game of the week- week #19 Retro Game Challenge

In among all the new announcements we still have time to look back in what is the nineteenth week of the the GBAtemp book game club. For those that had not been playing along at home each week a game is suggested and after playing with it we get together to discuss opinions of the game, mechanics of it or any aspect of it that warrants discussion. Games will usually come from the consoles we tend to focus on around here but of those it could be something from the large library of commercial releases or the equally viable libraries of homebrew, hacks or otherwise. It is not our intention to have this as a top ? games list so games that might have had interesting ideas, tried things not normally seen on the platform, were the last game or an offbeat game for a company do appear alongside the games most have seen and played.[/p]

Retro Game Challenge (USA)

Developed by a small relatively unknown game company called indieszero who did some stuff for the GBA but were probably best known for Electroplankton before this and now as the developers of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy for the 3ds this game turned a few heads when it was released outside of Japan (and turned some heads inside Japan as well). Gameplay itself is best described as what if the 9 volt sections of Warioware were their own game and longer (maybe an entire level as opposed to a short burst) which is sure to be of interest to some but thanks in part to it drawing a large amount of inspiration from a Japanese game show of the same name as the Japanese title (GameCenter CX) the humour alone is a big draw.
An as yet Japanese only sequel (despite this game being something of a critical darling sales and buzz surrounding it never amounted to much) has been made and although a few tried their hand at a translation hack nothing has come of it but largely being composed of minigames they are not that troublesome to play.[/p]

GBAtemp release thread

Gameplay trailer Some lets play and reviews are also available.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVkjbA8d1vY[/youtube]​

Did the developers get it right or should they have stuck to making music games and cooking tutors? Share your thoughts in the discussion below[/p]

Discuss

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=search&search_tags=gbagotw&search_app= should get you other links in this series

 

[Another World]

i am in the process of playing through this game for a second time. it is so much fun. anyone who grew up on 8bit gaming should give this one a try. the game balances silly humor with things we actually did back then, like trading games with friends, submitting cheats to nintendo power, blowing in our carts to make them work, etc. the included games provide enough fun to see you through to the end and replay value with new challenges and some expanded free-mode elements.

great suggestion fast!

-another world

 

[Aeter]

i am in the process of playing through this game for a second time. it is so much fun. anyone who grew up on 8bit gaming should give this one a try. the game balances silly humor with things we actually did back then, like trading games with friends, submitting cheats to nintendo power, blowing on our carts to make them work, etc. the include games provide enough fun to see you through to the end and replay value when new challenges and some expanded free-mode elements.

great suggestion fast!

-another world

You just said all I wanted to say about this game.
I wish they had released Retro Game Challenge 2 in America or Europe.

 

[Hadrian]

What AW said.

This was such a spot on retro title in every way, none of this "its yeah yeah its retro" and then it turns out to have a lot of modern elements, this was pure retro 8 bit gaming and it was really great too.

Sequel was a lot of fun too, you can play it without Japanese knowledge though some may struggle with the RPG title.

 

[choconado]

I don't normally participate in the game of the week discussions, but this game might possibly be my favorite DS game. I absolutely love the game's retro feel, and it's humor. Apparently XSEED, the translation team, even did inside jokes of their own in the game referencing the translation efforts of the 80's. (Though I don't recall the exacts of it, apparently things like the oddly translated "Haggleman" are exactly the sort of things we'd see back in the day).

I'm currently in my second play through myself as well. Because I'm stuck grinding to get the last secret Guadia in Guadia Quest (the Red Arino). He's FAR harder than the last boss. I'm trying to farm figs from the Celestial Tower to buff my guys up to far higher stats...

If I could critique something about the game, it's the "Ramen Cup" version of the racing game. I'm not much of a racer to begin with, and when they suddenly decided that hey, you need to do all that crap over again, I got pretty ticked.

This game also actually turned me on to the actual "Game Center CX" TV show. There's tons of episodes on YouTube with subtitles if you look for them--The show is still on the air in Japan apparently. It's format goes like this: Arino (Yeah, he's a real guy, and instead of being the jerk he is in the game, he's actually a somehow lovable guy) plays classic games-usually NES/Famicom-with the challenge of beating them (usually with a time limit of say, 11 hours). Arino is what I would call an "Average" skilled gamer. Sometimes he does pretty good at games, but far more often he takes many hours to make progress, and there's many times he fails his challenges. He gets help from the show's AD's, who are far better at the games, often using a whiteboard in the back to strategize which gives this whole "war room" feel. Also, they highlight retro games, and there's segments where Arino goes on field trips to Game Centers around the country (Apparently that's what they call arcades in Japan,) or to game companies to find out information on specific games or franchises. Arino is so goofy and without an ego that you can't help but find him charming and want to root for him.

 

[aragon]

Brilliant game, brilliant TV show. I just finished watching the "Prince of Persia" episode, really funny.
I think I will resume playing "Guadia Quest" now

I would highly recommend both the game and the show!

 

[machomuu]

I recently started playing this as well after watching the "You Can Play This" regarding its sequel by Jew Wario. Great game, but VERY underrated, and understandably so.

I just got to Gaudia Quest.

 

[smile72]

I love this game; I wish they would have released the sequel in America or Europe.

 

[tbgtbg]

Great game for anyone who grew up in the 80's. Shame the sequel never got localized.

 

[chyyran]

I've played this game before, it's pretty good. I recommend it.

 

[Fishaman P]

JESUS THIS GAME IS SO GREAT!!!!

Seriously, I am addicted like cocaine to Robot Ninja Haggle Man. The Chingensai fights are WAY too easy, though...

 

[MarkDarkness]

I'll be an opposing voice here in the sea of praise. Conceptually I want to love this game. I am a big fan of Game Center CX and Arino.

However, this game simply is not fun. It's not fun because it mimics several games and game styles, and at the end of the day, the original games obviously play better than what is presented here. So why not go play a good NES platformer instead?

Essentially, this is a glorified games collection. If it wasn't so cult and involved in quirky charm, people would say this: "bring me a shovel lol minigame collection lol" or something along those lines.

If you must, play it for the charm, not for the content. Otherwise you might as well just go play Galaga.

 

[Evo.lve]

I'll be an opposing voice here in the sea of praise. Conceptually I want to love this game. I am a big fan of Game Center CX and Arino.

However, this game simply is not fun. It's not fun because it mimics several games and game styles, and at the end of the day, the original games obviously play better than what is presented here. So why not go play a good NES platformer instead?

Essentially, this is a glorified games collection. If it wasn't so cult and involved in quirky charm, people would say this: "bring me a shovel lol minigame collection lol" or something along those lines.

If you must, play it for the charm, not for the content. Otherwise you might as well just go play Galaga.

Look, the game itself, conceptually, is shovelware. However I think the content and everything else about it is nice.

 

[machomuu]

I'll be an opposing voice here in the sea of praise. Conceptually I want to love this game. I am a big fan of Game Center CX and Arino.

However, this game simply is not fun. It's not fun because it mimics several games and game styles, and at the end of the day, the original games obviously play better than what is presented here. So why not go play a good NES platformer instead?

Essentially, this is a glorified games collection. If it wasn't so cult and involved in quirky charm, people would say this: "bring me a shovel lol minigame collection lol" or something along those lines.

If you must, play it for the charm, not for the content. Otherwise you might as well just go play Galaga.

Look, the game itself, conceptually, is shovelware. However I think the content and everything else about it is nice.

This. On paper this is almost no different then, say, Action 52. However, it's execution is very well done (and Yosuke Hanamura does the voice of Young Arino, so that's a plus), and it's a game for Retro Game Fans, a pretty high quality one at that.

 

[shakirmoledina]

its an amazing collection of retro games and it progresses beautifully.
the only issue i had is that i have not played as many retro games and hence found this at times difficult. always love a challenge

 

[Dann Woolf]

I don't know if I'm allowed to ask this here, but are there any good websites to watch Game Center CX?

 

[choconado]

As I said in my other comment, just use Youtube. I think they only have like, half the episodes up there subbed in English so far, but that's still a lot.

 

[FIX94]

Tried the game out now and it makes pretty much fun, thanks for this recommendation!

 

[Mugiwara no Kot]

i am in the process of playing through this game for a second time. it is so much fun. anyone who grew up on 8bit gaming should give this one a try. the game balances silly humor with things we actually did back then, like trading games with friends, submitting cheats to nintendo power, blowing in our carts to make them work, etc. the included games provide enough fun to see you through to the end and replay value with new challenges and some expanded free-mode elements.

great suggestion fast!

-another world

THIS! this is what anyone who knows 8-bits games want to say!
Thanks for posting xD