|
Remember the '80s? Members Only jackets, Duran Duran, AIDS - those were the days. If reflecting back on the times when you had to blow into your game carts brings a nostalgic tear to your eye, Retro Game Challenge is for you.
Hit the jump.
Retro Game Challenge, developed by indie zero [sic] and published by Bandai Namco, is a collection of faux Famicom games and mock magazines. Starting out in current times, you are transported by a vengeful floating head back to the 1980s. In order to return from the time warp, you must complete certain videogame challenges presented by Mr. Floating Head. There are four challanges per game and to help you along the way, the younger version of the floating head, now complete with body and apendages, will give you advice and let you read his issues of GameFan magazine.
There are eight games in Retro Game Challenge. While they are all fun, some are not as good as others and the fact that three of the eight games are sequels seems to be a bit of a cop-out. Also, more than one game makes you beat the title two consecutive times in order to really finish the game - sorry, but our princess is in another castle. It was funny the first time, but it's just frustrating after that. This one's definitely for retro fans only.
The action series in Retro Game Challenge is called Robot Ninja Haggle Man, which is actually pretty original for the Western audience. The game is analogous to Ninja Jajamaru-kun, which most of us never got to play, as it was never localized. In the first two Haggle Mans (Haggle Men?), the titular robot stuns and defeats enemies by opening color-coded doors. He can also jump on his enemies, Mario style, but the game's programming makes this a risky strategy - hit detection isn't too great. The difficulty is my only complaint about the first two Haggle Man games. The first is too easy, while the second is too difficult. This makes me wonder if the developers realized the original was too easy and rather than fixing it, just overcompensated by making the sequel hard.
Robot Ninja Haggle Man 3 is where things pick up. This installment is closer to Ninja Gaiden than Ninja Jajamaru-kun, but with a twist. You have three empty slots that you can fill up with power-granting gears, such as triple shuriken shots or high jumps. While the previous two titles are good, this one's the best.
Retro Game Challenge also features a few shooters. Cosmic Gate is the analogue to Galaga while Star Prince resembles Star Soldier. Cosmic Gate features over 60 levels and is a decent replica of the arcade classic. Star Prince is great at first, but shows some flaws after prolonged playing. The DS screen is too small for the game, which reaches near-bullet-hell status at times. Some bullets are only a few pixels big, so it's very difficult to keep track of everything. Enemies enter the screen from both the top and bottom boarders, making things even more difficult. To top it off, you have to beat the game twice to actually finish it. This is just too much for an already difficult game.
The Rally King games were very enjoyable. Impressive speed and varied courses make Rally King a great game. Rally King SP, though, left me shaking my fist. The game is a parody of limited, corporate sposored cartridges, like All-Night Nippon Super Mario Brothers. A simple magazine article about the game would have been sufficient - I would have laughed and moved on. But the developers decided to put the entire title in the game. This is nothing but filler.
Finally, Guadia Quest is an RPG resembling Dragon Warrior, but it also has a Shin Megami Tensei twist. You can recruit certain mosters to protect you at critical points during battles. The game is fun, but it gets what most RPGs get wrong - random battles trigger ever half second, at least inside dungeons.
GameFan magazine is a great addition to Retro Game Challenge. Familiar personalities, like Dan Hsu, are guest editors-in-chief. The pages are full of cheats, but the hardcore gamers will probably scoff at the thought of using the codes. I wish the magazines had a bit more content, but they are a fun feature nonetheless.
Unfortunatley, your gaming buddy is more of an annoyance than anything else. Residing on the bottom screen of your DS, the little snot will shout out boring phrases like "yay!" or "you've got it, man!" I'm sure you can see how this can get old fast.
Retro Game Challenge is made up mostly of quality games. Though repetitious at times, the game is certainly an enjoyable one. Finishing all the games is a bit of a chore, but all the games are fun in short bursts. The variety of games is impressive, but I do wish there were a few more titles on the cart. Oh, and did I mention that this game has the best scrolling-text sound effect ever?
If you like old games and self-referential humor (the intention Engrish is hilarious), Retro Game Challenge is a worthy purchase. A sequel for the game has already been released in Japan and will probably be making its way over here if the original sells well. Let's just hope it's not as lame of an update as Haggle Man 2.
Retro Game Challenge is available exclusively for the Nintendo DS. Click here to purchase.
|
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 