Retro Game Challenge 2

Did You Know?

• The story is a total reboot: the player is sent back to 1984 by Game Master Arino, a disembodied head based on Shinya Arino, and must complete challenges to return home.
• A remaster titled GameCenter CX: Arino no Chousenjou 1+2 REPLAY was announced for Nintendo Switch with a February 22, 2024 release date.

Gameplay

The compilation features Famicom-styled games reminiscent of titles from the late 1980s through mid-1990s, along with games styled after Famicom Disk System, Super Famicom, Game Boy, and Game Boy Color systems. It includes a game trainer modeled after a Game & Watch and variants on games from the first Retro Game Challenge. Examples include Wiz-Man (inspired by Pac-Man), Mutekiken Kung Fu (mimicking a Western-developed Karateka-style game), and Demon Returns (a platformer inspired by Super Mario Bros. and Ghosts 'n Goblins).

Development

Despite composer Koji Yamada's desire for localization, Xseed Games, which published the first game, deemed it close to impossible to justify releasing the sequel in the West. Vice President Ken Berry cited the previous game's low sales, licensing issues involving both Namco Bandai and Fuji TV, and the high cost of localization due to multiple IP owners and extensive programming. He stated that their love for the first game blinded their business reasoning and that publishing the sequel would virtually guarantee a loss. A fan translation effort, the GameCenter CX 2 Translation Project, began in 2011 and released in 2014.

Reception

Retro Game Challenge 2 was the fifth-best-selling game in Japan during its release week, selling 44,000 units. Kurt Kalata of Hardcore Gaming 101 found its quality more consistent than the predecessor, with no outright stinkers, though no game matched Haggleman 3; he noted the text-based Detective Kacho minigames were very difficult without Japanese knowledge. Chris Kohler of Wired called it one of the most brilliant DS games and superior to its predecessor, lamenting its lack of localization while many inferior games were released in the West.

Legacy

A later Japan-only entry, GameCenter CX: 3-Chōme no Arino, was released for the Nintendo 3DS but developed by G.rev instead of indieszero. Chris Kohler described it as very bad compared to its predecessors, criticizing the minigames for lacking attention to detail, being by-the-numbers, repetitive, and boring. He also noted the replacement of fictional box art with a hub world as a negative change.