Passing our video game exams, playing Bokura no Telebi Game Kentei

I picked up Bokura no Telebi Game Kentei expecting Wario Ware with old Namco Bandai arcade games. Bokura no Telebi Game Kentei isn’t far off from that idea, but unlike the Wario Ware series Bokura no Telebi Game Kentei is not import friendly. Each video game lesson has instructions on how to play a game and the goal in Japanese. I suppose you can figure out some of the goals by trial and error if you’re familiar with all of the truncate ROMs, but Bokura no Telebi Game Kentei still throws curve balls at players who can’t read Japanese. There is a newly created Idolm@ster mini-game where you have to pick phrases written in kana to build a relationship with one of the girls. Her likes are on the right hand side of the screen, but you still need to read fast enough to select the right answer. The other adventure training game has even more reading since you have to investigate by asking questions.

Bokura no Telebi Game Kentei has a fair amount of original, mock 8-bit games. Gil, from the Druaga series, is thrown into an “RPG”, which is really a turn based combat mini game. You can select spells, swing your sword or use a stash of items. The goal is really simple, kill or be killed, but each enemy has “tricks”. The sorcerer (pictured) deals 100 damage every attack. He can kill you in three hits and it takes more than three sword swings to finish him off. The way to win is an unorthodox method of using an item first to weaken him and then attack. The Druaga RPG also has an alchemy test where you have to blend a series of items to get a result. However, you don’t have an infinite supply of materials, if you make a single mistake you fail. Another made for Bokura no Telebi Game Kentei game is a quick quiz with Namco arcade trivia. If you want to avoid losing a life, brush up on your Namco history. If you lose three lives during the set of six rapid fire video game lessons it’s over.

The goal isn’t just to skirt by the requirements in Bokura no Telebi Game Kentei. You want to pass each set with a perfect set of S rank grades. Pull this off and you can earn a gold medal worth 20 points towards your video game mastery. Every level has a different amount of points you need to obtain before you test your skills at a boss level and move up a rank. The boss level reviews a mix of challenges from previous levels and throws them to you randomly. You need to reach a certain average of marks to “pass”, but it isn’t a clear numeric average. If you fail two tests with a C, you won’t be able to complete the exam. Get a passing grade and you’re rewarded with optional conversations with Namco Bandai arcade icons.

So what are the “challenges”? Here are some of the things I completed thus far:

Hit a home run in Family Stadium

Strike out a batter in Family Stadium

Collect 13 balloons in Mappy

Use the blaster in Xevious to blow up a number of ground targets

Rescue the heroine in the Tower of Druaga

Get a ship captured and recover it in Galaga

Avoid all the other cars for a timed duration in Rally X

Collect the candy in Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti

Get to the goal under the time limit in Metro Cross

Dig to the bottom in Dig Dug

Shoot five enemies in Dragon Spirit

Double jump to collect an item in Dragon Buster

Break the rock in Dragon Buster

Return the tennis ball four times in Family Tennis

Save the ship from crashing in Sky Kid

Defeat all of the ghosts with a power shot in Youkai Douchuki

… the list of Nick Arcade style challenges continues…

Images courtesy of Namco Bandai.