Retro Game Challenge

[Normdogg]

Do you remember a time when gaming was but an emerging entity? Don't you wish to relive those days? Well, you are not alone. From indiezero and published by Bandai Namco comes a game that brings you back to those days.

This is the story taken straight from the manual: Having been utterly defeated by his friends in every current-gen multiplayer game, Arino longed to be a gaming master. His obsessive desire for complete dominance in the gaming world spawned a digitalized version of himself in his Nintendo DS. He came to be called "Game Master Arino," and he began to haunt gamers around the world with retro game challenges. you have been chosen for his all new game challenges from his home turf, the 80's!

The premise is simple, you must beat Arino's challenges in 8 different fictional games reminiscent of the NES/Famicom games of old. Each game is a different genre, such as space shmup, action, racing, and even an rpg. Each challenge is something different. For example, in Cosmic Gate, you need to beat stage 5. Another example, in Rally King, you need to drift boost twice.

However, before you think you can't figure something out in any of the games, here's the hook, line, and sinker. The game has a fictional monthly magazine, complete with a constantly changing editor, game news, cheat codes, and reviews! So if you have a hard time trying to beat a certain challenge, you may be able to use a cheat code or two for your advantage.

Now moving on to avoid a major wall of text as well as spoiling the fun any more, here's the breakdown.

Graphics: 5; I rated this a 5 because it perfectly copies the awesome 8-bit graphics from the NES / Famicom. It feels like a game you might have played and enjoyed back in the 80s.

Sound: 5; I rated this a 5 because the music and sounds are straight out of the good ole days. It adds to the nostalgia that this game offers very well.

Replay Value: 4; I rated this a 4 because some games are better than others, even though they are overall good. Some people may dread having to play through some games, but this is rectified by the Freeplay mode, which has all the games you unlock available for play outside the story mode. However, some codes do not work in Freeplay mode.

Challenge: 4; I rated this a 4 because even though the games are pretty tough (a retro gamers dream), most of the challenges are too easy to beat. However the final challenge, beating all of the games in their entirety, makes up for the easy challenges.

Final note: If you are a true retro gamer looking for a nostalgia trip, this is THE game for you. My final score is a 4.5/5

[Demon-Mask]

A pretty solid review, though it would be nice to see an image demonstrating the graphics, and maybe one or two videos demonstration the music.

Looks like a fun game, but I don't know if I could get past the idea of playing games made just to feel like old games. The old games are enough, and it would have been cool if they used some of the games which the inspiration for the fictional games were drawn.

[Dudebro]

Thanks for making this review I never knew this existed. It seems good and nostalgic while still being somewhat original, hard to do. I didn't see any clips for the RPG part but I found this video of the other gameplay parts-
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DdAUHM8MK4"]YouTube - ‪Retro Game Challenge Gameplay‬‎[/ame]


Btw it's only like 20 bucks, I think that's worth it. Too bad it seems like the sequel will never be released in the US do to poor sales of the first game.

[Normdogg]

Here's a video that shows more games from Retro Game Challenge.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5GS8SvcNAA"]YouTube - ‪Retro Game Challenge Trailer‬‎[/ame]