UFO 50 was one of my most anticipated games of the year. Actually, screw that, UFO 50 has been one of my most anticipated games of every year since it was announced in 2017. I’m already a fan of companies like Mega Cat Studios making new games for old systems. But here we have 50 — count ‘em, 50 — absolutely brand new games for a fake console called the LX.
As others have said, these aren’t 50 minigames or tributes to classic video games — they are full, complete games. Some of them, like Magic Garden, play in short bursts. Others, like Grimstone, are far more complicated and take longer. There are some great games here, and they’re all laid out right from the start, ready to play in any order. It’s beautiful. It’s brilliant. And if you like that, I am begging you to play Retro Game Challenge on the Nintendo DS. I can’t tell you to emulate it, and I don’t even know why I’d bring that up.
Retro Game Challenge Is The Precursor To UFO 50
So the first thing you need to know is that Retro Game Challenge is a game that nobody but me bought in this country. It’s actually based on the Japanese show GameCenter CX which provides a lot of extra context that’s missing from the English version. It’s not that important. I mean, GameCenter CX is definitely worth watching and not that hard to find with subtitles. But what makes Retro Game Challenge work so well is, thankfully, the games. Just like UFO 50, Retro Game Challenge features new, complete games made to look like they came out in the ‘80s.
And, not for nothing, both work under the premise that these fictional games actually existed. You’re supposed to experience them as you would have experienced a new game as a kid. Everything in Retro Game Challenge is meant to be played for hours on the Nintendo DS or maybe a Steam Deck if you know what you’re doing.
Like UFO 50, the games are great. Robot Ninja Hagelman is better than it has any right to be. You’re a ninja who has to attack enemies by opening doors and stomping on their heads. Classic arcade stuff. If you’ve played anything from the first year of the Nintendo Entertainment System, you’ll be able to pick it up immediately. And, lord, Guardia Quest is a full JRPG. It’s only about ten hours or so, but it’s a perfect, complete Dragon Quest-style game that even features the ability to summon monsters in battle. There are points when I forgot I wasn’t playing a game within a game. It’s so captivating that if I didn’t own a copy, I might Google the words “Retro Game Challenge” just to see if anything came up on websites that may or may not have been shut down yet.
Oh, did I mention the magazines? That’s right, Retro Game Challenge even features fake video game magazine articles mocked up to look like ones you’d see back in the day. They’re intended to give you tips and tricks to complete special challenges — but the writing gives it an extra flair. There are previews for ‘upcoming’ games you haven’t unlocked yet. The whole experience feels like you’re playing with your friends over months and years. I can’t emphasize enough just how good this game is. It has never been far from my Nintendo DS, whether that be my physical copy on a real system or a file I definitely don’t have on an emulator that I wouldn’t know anything about. What am I even saying? Nevermind!
Don't Get Retro Game Challenge For Me, Get It For Yourself
Of course, you might have sussed out one specific problem with my recommendation. Retro Game Challenge is a Nintendo DS exclusive. Well, that’s not entirely true. In Japan, they got a remaster of the first two entries in the GameCenter CX (eg Retro Game Challenge) series on the Nintendo Switch. Yes, I imported it. Yes, I’m constantly holding a phone up to my screen with a Japanese-to-English translator open. And that’s the other thing. There are actually three games in this series, but only one has been translated into English. And the other two games are good. You start getting to visit shops and ‘testing’ new video games at a kiosk the way you’d do as a child. So, no luck. On the bright side, there are fan translations of the games available. I can’t say if I’ve played any of these translations because it would require patching a morally gray file downloaded from the internet, which I’d never do. But — from what I hear from other people who aren’t me doing this — the translation is very good. I don’t even know how the patched files got on my computer. Here’s where I wink.
Look, man, I’d love Retro Game Challenge to be readily available right now. I have paid for it. I have paid for Japanese versions. I’d love to open my wallet and buy it again right now. Yes, I understand why they didn’t localize the second game, third game, or the remaster: Nobody in the West wanted this game. It sold less than 100,000 copies in America according to an internet search I’m just going to believe without any evidence.
To be fair, the name ‘Retro Game Challenge’ doesn’t really tell you anything at all and the Japanese version is part of a popular TV show brand. Even the box of Retro Game Challenge looks like shovelware you’d buy at GameStop for the $3 of store credit you’ve got left. It’s not. It’s actually brilliant. Again, these are all real games that could have stood up on their own. And they’re presented so beautifully well on any screen you might play it on as long as it’s a certified Nintendo DS absolutely not using one of those special cartridges that can have ROMs on it.
This is a cliche, but UFO 50 and Retro Game Challenge both give me that Christmas morning feeling. Childhood Christmas morning when you were still surprised by gifts and didn’t already know everything about a new video game before you played it. God, I hope UFO 50 does well, because ‘new old games’ might be one of my favorite genres after ‘old new games’. If anything, I just wish we had appreciated Retro Game Challenge when we had the chance. By now it’s too late for the series to pop off and get sequels over here. That ship has sailed and sunk. I’m not asking you to play Retro Game Challenge because I want sequels. Girl, they ain’t coming to our market! I’m just telling you because I want somebody else to play these games. And however you do that is none of my business.
Platform(s) PC Released September 18, 2024 Publisher(s) Mossmouth
