This should be on everyone's DS Hidden Gems lists. I'll save you the Game Center CX Shinya Arino introduction that the other reviews have done and hop right into the game.
It definitely has the show's sense of humor, which is excellent. From the Brain Age head Arino (which was the style at the time) to the contrast between Game Master Arino's world and young Arino' would, the commentary through out the games, and some of the magazine bits (which I wasn't a fan of the localization making it all Xseed staff rather than the original team, very odd and egotistical decision. It clashes with the setting and Arino himself, I just don't get the decision to change the magazine's side content at all.). The loop is simple, Arino gives you a famicom game, then 4 challenges, then you move on.
Some games attempt to simulate lag but there are no sprite flickers or sprite limits, and the later games like the final game, Ninja Haggleman 3 especially, feel way too advanced for the system. But the games are (mostly) decent enough despite this.
MINI REVIEW MONTAGE
Cosmic Gate - It's a galaga clone. The missile firing every third shot is interesting.
Ninja Haggleman - Interesting door and jump gameplay mechanics, gears feel useless once the enemies stop getting stunned by them but it's still solid
Rally King - Kinda clunky with how its boost mechanic and bumping into enemy cars is, but still would have been one of the better racers on the NES.
Star Prince - This is a fairly solid shmup, even if the boss variety is lacking (a problem all games here with bosses have but regardless)
Rally King SP - A parody of an actual trend in Japan where you just make same game but marketing that you can get for cheaper, but still feels like padding. Should have been counted alongside the original game.
Haggleman 2 - It's Haggleman but with verticality and a better graphics
Gaurdia Quest - Imagine Dragon Quest on the famicom but the gameplay is even simpler. You'll spend most of your time here thanks to one of the challenges and it sure is a Famicom RPG, but it's a nice experience. Besides, can you really recreate the Famicom experience without at least one RPG?
Ninja Haggleman 3 - Super high quality title with a good story for this "timeperiod" even if it's a Ninja Gaiden clone I'm not complaining about a copy of a good thing.
And this packaging just makes the whole thing worthwhile. These are all worth playing, and the recreation of the old days of playing games and hearing rumors, opening magazines, and so on is faithfully recreated here.
"When you are struggling out there, thinking back to the time we shared together in this game...will not help you at all. But we had fun together, and I hope you can remember that experience." ~Arino
It definitely has the show's sense of humor, which is excellent. From the Brain Age head Arino (which was the style at the time) to the contrast between Game Master Arino's world and young Arino' would, the commentary through out the games, and some of the magazine bits (which I wasn't a fan of the localization making it all Xseed staff rather than the original team, very odd and egotistical decision. It clashes with the setting and Arino himself, I just don't get the decision to change the magazine's side content at all.). The loop is simple, Arino gives you a famicom game, then 4 challenges, then you move on.
Some games attempt to simulate lag but there are no sprite flickers or sprite limits, and the later games like the final game, Ninja Haggleman 3 especially, feel way too advanced for the system. But the games are (mostly) decent enough despite this.
MINI REVIEW MONTAGE
Cosmic Gate - It's a galaga clone. The missile firing every third shot is interesting.
Ninja Haggleman - Interesting door and jump gameplay mechanics, gears feel useless once the enemies stop getting stunned by them but it's still solid
Rally King - Kinda clunky with how its boost mechanic and bumping into enemy cars is, but still would have been one of the better racers on the NES.
Star Prince - This is a fairly solid shmup, even if the boss variety is lacking (a problem all games here with bosses have but regardless)
Rally King SP - A parody of an actual trend in Japan where you just make same game but marketing that you can get for cheaper, but still feels like padding. Should have been counted alongside the original game.
Haggleman 2 - It's Haggleman but with verticality and a better graphics
Gaurdia Quest - Imagine Dragon Quest on the famicom but the gameplay is even simpler. You'll spend most of your time here thanks to one of the challenges and it sure is a Famicom RPG, but it's a nice experience. Besides, can you really recreate the Famicom experience without at least one RPG?
Ninja Haggleman 3 - Super high quality title with a good story for this "timeperiod" even if it's a Ninja Gaiden clone I'm not complaining about a copy of a good thing.
And this packaging just makes the whole thing worthwhile. These are all worth playing, and the recreation of the old days of playing games and hearing rumors, opening magazines, and so on is faithfully recreated here.
"When you are struggling out there, thinking back to the time we shared together in this game...will not help you at all. But we had fun together, and I hope you can remember that experience." ~Arino
rundeer
4 months ago