Game Center CX Special – Back to Contents
Arino’s Challenge: Virtual Console

Following the Mega Man 9 challenge, Arino returns to the Nintendo Channel to check out some of the Wii’s Virtual Console games. Since Nintendo added the ability for the Wii to read channels off of an SD card, it’s easy to browse the VC selection. Arino has a Wii with an SD Card Menu filled to the brim with 240 retro games (out of more than 400!)

It’s an unorganized mess, but that does make it easier for Arino to pick something at random. Yet the first game he tries is one he’s already done: Youkai Dochuuki on PC Engine. After hopping around and trying to get used to the wonky controls, heplays the frog’s dice game, then dies just before the boss. That’s enough of that.

Next is Ninja JaJaMaru-kun for Famicom. It’s pretty similar to Haggle Man from Retro Game Challenge, but different enough to be decent. Arino plays up to stage 3, but eventually dies.

Then it’s on to Revenge of Shinobi. Arino laughs at the cheesy title screen opening, but the game keeps him in check with enemies that toss shurikens at just the right moment, and he dies often.

Back to the PC Engine, and the first Shubibinman game. He chooses the female hero Kyapiko and gets up to stage 2 before dying within seconds from a rogue missile. Oh well.

Following that is Alex Kidd in Miracle World for the Sega Master System. The game starts with a high-speed motorcycle level–! Oh, it’s just the demonstration — Arino was a little surprised. Again, Arino makes it to stage 2 before dying and giving up.

More Sega fun is to be had with the original Golden Axe. Arino goes for the comedy relief and picks the dwarf warrior Gilius. He’s constantly bonked on the head, though, and barely makes it to the end of the first stage. However, the staff is highly amused by his antics, especially when he steals a bird beast from an enemy and starts tooling around the screen with it. He’s knocked off and killed eventually, though.

Moving on, Arino tries Super Gussun Oyoyo, an action-puzzle game. It’s for the Super Famicom, so he needs a Classic Controller. AD Nakayama hands him one, and then the game begins. Basically, Arino needs to create steps for little Gussun to climb and get to the exit. Gussun scares easily, though, so when Arino drops a block too close, he runs off. Gussun drowns from the rising water eventually, much to the pain of Arino.

He tries again, though, and this time smoothly gets Gussun to the exit. That ends Arino’s mini-challenge fun for now, but the exploration of Virtual Console continues later.