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Retro Game Challenge is Out Today. You Will Buy It.

Posted by Bob Mackey

It seems that, outside of a few very specific outlets, we retro game fans don't get nearly enough love. Sure, most modern franchises will occasionally throw us a bone or a little steaming nugget of fan service, but we're mostly left to our own outdated devices. This is why we should thank our lucky stars (yes, all of them) that companies like XSEED (who I respect for bringing over interesting B-Grade RPGs like Wild Arms 4 and Shadow Hearts: From the New World) recognize our need for attention and seek to remedy this problem with the release of games like Retro Game Challenge--which, if you couldn't tell from the title of this post, is out today. And I would like you to buy it. Please.

The interesting thing about Retro Game Challenge is that shows no guilt about tapping into the purest roots of nostalgia; through the framing device of the game, you're basically re-living a childhood narrative of electronic entertainment. Okay, it's a bit more Japanese than your childhood probably was, but RGC's goal is to capture the innocent wonder we used to feel about video games--which should be the same, regardless of culture. That being said, RGC doesn't just throw a bunch of extremely-playable genre homages in your face; all of the attendant culture is there, from instruction manuals to magazines to pure, unbridled child-hype. Our friends at the 1UP Retro Blog have been covering Retro Game Challenge in extreme detail, so instead of badgering you further with this post, I'm just going to point you in that direction if you still need to be properly hyped.

And just in case you forgot: BUY THIS GAME NOW BUY IT BUY IT

Related Links:

Trailer Review: Retro Game Master
Pole’s Big Adventure: Sega Rides the Retro Train, Takes Advantage of You
Don’t Call It Retro: Mega Man 9 and Design Resurrection


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

Comments

Darrell said:

I totally bought this game yesterday.  And let me say that while my time with it last night was brief, I enjoyed the hell out of it.  

The first game is this sort of Galaga-type game, though it's enhanced in a few key ways.  I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I'm not a fan of the real Galaga.  The challenges were clever, and the supplemental materials that become available and give you all sorts of neat hints and whatnot mesh well with them.  

It's a neat, lighthearted game with an absurd premise, and I can't wait to get home tonight, throw the charger on my DS, and play through some more of this game to see what lies after the first game and its set of challenges.  :)

February 12, 2009 12:18 PM

About Bob Mackey

For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.

If unsatisfied, please return unused portion for partial refund.

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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