Retro Game Challenge

Retro Game Challenge is one of the weirder game ideas I've come across, you've been transported back in time to the 1980s, where you must play through old (but awesome) games in order to return to your own time. An awesome concept, and it'd actually be amazing to see a game like this on Wiiware that used licensed VC games instead, however all of these games are faux-retro, they were lovingly made for this game, and thus they are a bit easier, have more cheats and in some cases have removed extremely annoying parts of older games. Throughout the game whenever you're playing the game you have a younger version of Arino (he's the guy who sent you back to the 80s) to watch you play, he's fairly obnoxious (at one point he'll hit on you, whether you're a guy or a girl), but helpful in the sense that he buys you magazines that are chockful of hints and cheats for each game. Each game has 4 challenges that you have to complete, most of these are pretty easy and you won't get too bogged down, but at one point you will get a "special edition" of a particular game with four more challenges, and it feels a bit cheap. The last challenge is to see the END screen for each game, it sounds hard, but there's a way around it for the longest (and most archaic game) Guadia Quest.

Anyway, now onto the individual games.
Cosmic Gate: Old school shmup, will feel VERY familiar to Galaga fans, has a very interesting gate jumping element that makes it much easier to complete it to stage 64.

Robot Ninja Haggle Man: This series is the meat of RGC, they're odd platformers, you go into a stage and use your magic gear and door spinning ability to defeat enemies until the boss reveals himself, then defeat the boss.

Rally King: A standard top-down racer, I really like this one, the drift mechanic works great and the game requires enough skill to challenge but not enough to frustrate.

Star Prince: Another shmup, but this time MUCH more advanced, you have multiple powerups and bosses even, also very fun, this is the one I go back to the most.

Rally King SP: Wait, what? It's basically the same game, except it looks a bit different and the courses have more obstacles, I like the game, but this felt really cheap.

Robot Ninja Haggle Man 2: I loved the first one, but this one kicked my butt, it's much harder, and I did use a level skip cheat to beat this one at the end. I'm sure old school fans will love it though.

Guadia Quest: Plays very similar to the earlier Dragon Quest games, sort of fun, feels the most like an old school game. I skipped to the end on this one.

Robot Ninja Haggleman 3: Clearly the shining jewel of RGC, this reimagining of the series takes Haggleman in a Metroid/Ninja Gaiden direction, with upgradable weapons and jumps. It's excellent, if a bit short.

There you have it, Retro Game Challenge is a must have for Retro enthusiasts, but there are a few design choices that'll slightly mar the experience for anyone unwilling to wholeheartedly devour the nostalgia.

Score: 7.9