Retro Game Challenge has a string of retro games to beat leading up to an awesome treat. Many of you probably know the “surprise” already, but if you haven’t heard Retro Game Challenge has an 8-bit RPG called Guadia Quest. Before you get your hands on Guadia Quest you need to beat twenty four challenges from six other made up retro games. Some of the games like Cosmic Gate and Star Prince are excellent, but more than half way through Retro Game Challenge I felt like I was “grinding” just to play Guadia Quest.
At first the challenges were a breeze. Cosmic Gate’s goals can be completed in less than half an hour providing you read issues of GameFan, Retro Game Challenge’s in game “magazine”. The issues, packed with photos of veteran game journalists, have all the tips and cheat codes you need to complete Arino’s challenges. I used cheats liberally. They don’t block you from clearing challenges and they shorten the time to Guadia Quest. And, getting to Guadia Quest was my personal goal.
While you’re going through Rally King, a top down racing game, GameFan mentions Guadia Quest and starts a long series of teases via previews and “delays.” Huh? That sounds sort of familiar… During the virtual hype I was stuck playing Rally King SP, a spin-off of Rally King that is basically Rally King with new graphics. This was where Arino’s challenges got frustrating. Rally King SP is a joke because it’s supposed to be a “new” or “enhanced” game with few new features. It’s a parody of games that had minor changes and were re-released as quick cash outs. A funny premise until you’re stuck on the second challenge scrambling to shave seconds of your race time to finish it. Painful.
And we’re still not at Guadia Quest yet! A tougher sequel to Robot Ninja Haggle Man still stands in the way. Unlike Rally King SP this game wasn’t a total rehash. However, it still felt too much like Robot Ninja Haggle Man. Was the whole process worth it? Yeah! Guadia Quest is worth it and has even more grinding. Like Dragon Quest that inspired its creation you have to spend time walking in circles and fighting monsters to level up. In fact, leveling up your party is one of Guadia Quest’s challenges.
