Against all odds, GameCenter CX is coming to America. Get ready for "Video Game Training" on your DS.
There's really nothing else like Retro Game Challenge. It's a Namco Museum-like compilation of classic 8-bit games… but all of the games are fake. That is to say, they are real, brand new games made to resemble Famicom/NES games from the late 80s. They also come with fake magazine articles, fake strategy guides, and everything else you need to get excited for a fake NES game and eventually beat the final boss.
There's a total of eight games in the collection, and most of them are clearly imitating real NES games such as Ninja Gaiden, RC Pro-Am, and Galaga. I was impressed by the quality and depth of the games I played. Also surprising is that each one is full-length, though that term meant something different in the late 80s. There is even a Dragon Quest-style RPG that takes up to ten hours to complete. Another game actually has a sequel, also included in the collection, so you can see how the original game, if it had actually existed back then, might have evolved if a sequel had been released a few years later.
The story has something to do with a couple of kids discovering an old gaming console and deciding to learn about these old games that were released before they were born. The kids appear on the touch screen and watch you play the fake 8-bit games on the top screen. It's a very clever interface, as you see the kids swap out cartridges when you get ready to try a different game. There are even times when you have to blow the dust off a connector by blowing on the DS microphone… hey, that's so clever, it doesn't even piss me off! Each game has numerous challenges that you need to clear, like reaching a certain score, killing certain enemies, or finding secret areas. That's where the fake gaming resources come into play – the American producer told us that some challenges are virtually impossible without using cheat codes from the fake magazines.
Although the E3 demo was just the Japanese version of the game, which has been out for a while overseas, we did learn a bit about the English version. The game will be fully localized, not just translated, so many of the cultural elements will be rewritten to make more sense for an American audience. The kids' virtual Famicom system will probably be replaced by an NES, and the magazine formats may be altered to reflect the differences between Japanese and American gaming publications.
I didn't get a fully developed idea of the game's appeal without seeing all the games or getting to see the English archival elements, but Retro Game Challenge has tons of potential for fans of classic games and even younger players who want a cheaper way to get in touch with that era of gaming history. XSEED Games expects to release it by the holidays, and God bless them.