Game Center CX Season 10 – Back to Contents
#72
課長と「ゆうゆのクイズでGO!GO!」GO!
The Kacho and "Yuuyu no Quiz de GO! GO!" GO!
Chousen
Oh, quiz games, will you ever stop existing? Yet another adventure in multiple-choice is thrust upon Arino for this episode: Taito’s Super Famicom game Yuuyu no Quiz de GO! GO! Could you ask for a name any more cliche? Yuuyu, by the way, is the nickname of Yukiko Iwai, a teen idol from the ’80s and early ’90s who was part of the musical group Onyanko Club.
Just as Arino opens the game’s box, AD Nakayama appears and gets Arino in the "mood" by handing him Yuuyuu and Onyanko Club photo books. Nakayama even has a Yuuyu poster, which of course goes right behind Arino.
The key to success in Yuuyu’s game is to get enough questions right before the session ends — you’re graded on a percentage, and a "borderline" value is shown as your goal. Pass the borderline, and you’re golden. You can also freely select any of the quiz categories. Arino, as usual, goes for Anime & Manga. Unfortunately, even with his otaku brain, Arino flubs virtually all of the questions, and it’s a quick trip to the Game Over screen. He can continue, but only has four credits for the entire game.
Arino continues, and does better on the next category, just barely getting over the borderline with 60% right. On stage 2, there are only four categories, and one of them involves videogames. The Retro Game Master dives right in, but the first question is about Fire Pro Wrestling, which he knows nothing about, and the rest of the questions aren’t exactly about areas of his expertise, either. After only getting a couple right, Arino fails again.
Next time, he goes with the music category. Despite a couple more mistakes, Arino gets through, and clears stage 2. Up next is a bonus game, the Frog Race. Push the jump button when the meter is filled and the frog jumps farther. Arino needs a few seconds to get the hang of it, but ends up winning and simply gets a bag of money, which does nothing but add more points to his score.
Stage 3 is tense, and though Arino gets a late assist from cameraman Abe, he doesn’t clear it. He fails a second time, and then decides to go for the second, harderAnime & Manga category. He does better, but in stage 3, a miss can really knock you down in the percentages, so he doesn’t quite make it past the borderline once time runs out. And then it’s Game Over for real.
Arino starts all over from stage 1, getting past the Entertainer category and subsequently inching past stage 2’s music one. Once again he goes for the Game category, but still doesn’t cut it. He tries the Music category again, and this time makes it through. Stage 3 is finally done!
Stage 4 starts, but Arino fails after trying Music again. Another Game Over. Stage 4’s borderline (75%) just seems to be too tough to crack, and Arino begins to spiral into failure. Just then, Nakayama and AP Tojima return, with the trusty GCCX quiz game number paddles! Just like with the other quiz games, whenever Arino’s stuck, all he has to do is check with the assistants and see what number answer they suggest.
And of course, they have to make sure what subjects they know the most about. Abe is still best with Cars & Bikes, and Nakayama knows some things about sports, so that may be a help. Arino starts again from stage 3.
Tojima helps Arino get through History, and then it’s Abe’s turn to help with Cars & Bikes. He does the kacho proud, getting him over the borderline with a nearly-perfect run with questions on everything to engine features to F-1 racers. And then the dreaded stage 4…
Arino hesitates on stage 4, and Tojima and Nakayama aren’t much help. But then, VE Suda starts yelling out answers, and he gets two right in a row, enabling Arino to finally pass stage 4!
Stage 5 begins, and Arino goes with Manga & Anime. He has no clue with any of the questions, and the helpers are no help, either. Arino falls short of the borderline, and is once again forced to start all over at stage 1. The challenge crosses the four-hour mark. Arino fails stage 1, and after that, Tojima has to leave to get back to his real job. "This isn’t your job?" Arino replies.
With one man down, Arino must continue the quiz gauntlet. But wait! Tojima’s replacement arrives: former AD Nakayama. With paddles in hand, Nakayama attempts to help Arino through stage 3… and gets all of the first questions wrong. After more stage 4 failure, another Game Over appears. Nakayama then chimes in: didn’t Arino’s manager Noda go to Kobe University? Noda is called over, and he’s definitely ready — he’s the only one that yells "GO! GO!" this time.
Noda’s the only one to suggest answers for stage 1, too, but gets them all wrong. And then Nakayama has to leave! Arino moves ahead by choosing Cars & Bikes, which Abe naturally aces. Nakayama then suggests going with Sports (likely so he can actually help). Finally, he shines, and Arino breezes through stage 4 and continues onto 5.
But it’s not perfect: almost every answer in the first category is correct, but a late miss takes Arino way down below the borderline, causing him to lose. It’s down to the last continue for this session. He almost makes it, but it’s not enough. Game Over. With eight hours clocked, will this nightmare ever end?
Just as Arino reaches stage 5 again, Tojima rejoins the group. Now four men strong (plus Abe, plus Suda), Arino just might win this. He loses the first attempt, but on the next try, with help from Noda, Arino clears the stage flawlessly. It’s about time.
Much to Arino’s chagrin, the final stage has four more categories to clear! To start, he chooses the one about Yuuyu herself, and then hands the Onyanko Club book over to the guys. Nakayama starts frantically flipping through the book, looking for relevant data on Yuuyu.
But Arino’s too fast for him, and he starts answering questions before time runs out in the game. He doesn’t do well, either. Eventually, after failing to answer questions about Yuuyu’s hobbies, clothes and whatever else, Arino fails again, and gets a Game Over.
Kibe-kun then steps in to add to the crowd. Fast forward to stage 6. The team has the Yuuyu books open and ready to go. But still, nothing really happens. Arino blasts through, but fails. Once again, he’s down to his last continue.
The stage begins again. Arino gets the first question right. The second one wrong. The third one right, along with the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eigth. The final question is about the network Yuuyuu made her TV debut on. Well, it just happened to be the same one GCCX is on — Fuji! Arino clinches it! High fives all around! The challenge ends after 10 hours.
TamaGe
Rather than going to an obscure arcade in the middle of nowhere, this time Arino is at the famous Tokyo Tower! There’s an arcade on the fourth level, so he starts there.
And the first machine he tries out? The Lethal Weapon 3 pinball game, complete with Joe Pesci going "OK, OK, OK" when you insert a coin. Arino loses the ball in seconds, and doesn’t do much better from there.
There’s an outdoor part, too, with larger machines and candy grabbers. Arino tries the "New Sweet Land" machine, attempting to get a small bag of treats that’s right on the dge of the platform. On his last attempt, the bag just barely makes it over!
And then for the really fun stuff: Arino rounds a corner and finds a Mario ball-toss game, "Koopa Taiji." You chuck balls at a mechanical Bowser for points (which happens to be missing its arms). Arino hammers Bowser with every ball that comes his way, and gets 15 points — enough for a prize card! It’s stuck in the slot, though, and takes some time to pull out, but he gets it.
Arino then tries a videogame: Namco’s Suzuka 8 Hours 2. It’s a dual-bike unit, so he and cameraman Abe sit down for a race. Since Abe is the bike guy, he naturally ends up winning. After Arino loses, he rides bitch with Abe. Just like old times.
Further ahead is a merchanical car, the "Big Hood." Arino can’t fit in the driver’s seat, so he calls over AD Watanabe. She can just barely make it in herself. Once Arino inserts a coin, the rollicking ride begins. Watanabe is hilariously thrashed around, hanging over the hood as Arino just sits back and teases.
The Game-itization Project 2
Arino visits Indies Zero again and sits with president Suzui, who needs help from Arino. The team wants to make a "game training tool" minigame for Arino no Chousenjou 2, and would like Arino’s input on what they could do, based on the many hardhips he’s faced on the show.
Arino sketches out a scene of a "giri-giri jump" — those parts in games where you have to repeatedly jump over small and/or falling platforms to get to safety. (Think back to Atlantis no Nazo or Adventure Island.) We’re then shown the final product: "Kugure! Girijan MAX," a minigame that looks like an old LCD game, and challenges players with a variety of platform-jumping scenes, ranking them after each attempt.
And then we’re shown more of the new games in Arino no Chousenjou 2: Kacho wa Meitantei; the Pac-Man-esque Wiz-Man; Mutekiken Kung Fu; the puzzle game Toriotos; and the platformer Demon Returns. And what secrets await when you choose to go to the game shop?!
Singing About Whatever the Hell You Want
This time, Arino fills in lyrics for the Dragon Quest level-up tune, the Gradius boss theme, and the battle music for the first Final Fantasy.
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