GameCenter CX Episode Rating Graph

Arino takes on Donkey Kong Country. Though he finds the game fun and grows fond of it, it's brutal difficulty and limited save system may be to much for him to handle.

A few familiar faces return and present Arino with his final challenge of the season, The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past! Will Arino be able to finish a game that he claims is one of his favorites? In the stunning conclusion of Ring Ring Tactics Arino calls upon Kaayan who proves to be quite useless once again. Not all hope is lost however as another viewer provides valuable information which may be just what Arino needs.

Previously bested by Super Mario Bros 2 (SMB: The Lost Levels), Arino vows revenge. Staff involved in the Pokemon games are interviewed including Satoshi Tajiri.

We pick up right where we left off as Arino struggles to conquer Super Mario World. Watch as he ventures closer to Bowser's lair in what will prove to be the most dramatic episode yet! But if you can't handle all the stress you can calm your nerves with a little Ring Ring Tactics where we find Arino struggling to decipher a string of random letters.

Arino is faced with the difficult challenge of beating Super Mario Brothers 2 for the Famicom Disk System. He first practices is skills with the original Super Mario Brothers before moving onto Super Mario Brothers 2; will he be able to beat the game? Or will he be defeated by one of Nintendo's own? Contains interview with Yoshio Sakamoto.

Arino once again heads for the sky in this live episode, seeking to clear the expert mode of Pilotwings.

Nintendo’s classic sci-fi game is thrust upon Arino this time, and his goal is not a very noble one. Inspired by a rumor, Arino hopes to clear Metroid as fast as he can, to see if heroine Samus Aran really does take her clothes off after a speedy clear. Contains interviews with Akira Sakuma, Takayuki Doi and Chisa Yokoyama.

Arino seeks out the mystery in Tantei Jinguuji Saburou, a Famicom Disk System game involving the investigation of a murdered bar hostess.

For this episode, Arino takes on an original Famicom "classic," Vic Tokai’s Kakefu-kun no Jump Tengoku Speed Jigoku, which came out internationally as "Kid Kool." Kakefu-kun was a real-life kid celebrity, and his game looks like a regular platformer, with seven worlds to complete.

At 10:00 A.M. on August 29th, 2009 Arino embarked on his second live challenge. With a time limit of 24 hours he will try to clear Lemmings on the "Taxing" difficulty level. This episode recaps the 24 hour special with some additional behind-the-scenes moments.

Arino couldn't beat half of Donkey Kong Country before he ran out of time in the last episode.

First Samurai is a platform game published by Kemco, but originally made by Europeans on Amiga. While it’s not particularly great, and only five stages long, the hope, as always, is that it will give Arino a good challenge.

Satoshi Tajiri, head of Game Freak and creator of the Pokemon series idolized Namco, and in the mid-’80s he and Ken Sugimori created their own Famicom game, Quinty, and managed to sell it to Namco. And at the end of season 8, Quinty becomes Arino’s next challenge.

It was just a few months ago when Arino defeated the French classic Another World, and now he’s ready to take on another European classic, Flashback: The Quest for Identity. Flashback looks and plays very similarly, but with a greater emphasis on puzzle solving… and firepower.

50th Episode Special. In celebration of the 50th episode of of the show, Arino is leaving home and heading to South Korea! There he heads to many of South Korea's arcades, and interviews some of South Korea's pro gamers.

Arino explores another forgotten Japanese action game: Namco’s Wagyan Land. Though clearly this is a game for little kids — it looks cute and colorful, and the boss "fights" are just memory and word games. This surely will be a cinch for Arino...

There won't be any Takahashi Meijin appearance to save Arino during his challenge of another Hudson classic, Adventure Island. Will the ADs be a suitable replacement for this brutally difficult game? An arcade with the unusual title of Amusement VIKING is the venue for this week's TamaGe. Things become even more unusual when Arino exhibits actual skill when taking on a prize machine before moving on to play some of the rare VS. Super Mario Bros. For Secret Trick Jet Stream Arino receives a request for an Ice Climber glitch. In Project: DVD the staff continue their discussion over what challenges deserve to make it onto the set. The challenge that they finally settle on was one of the longest in the show's short history.

Arino's history with the Super Mario series is mixed to put it extremely generously. He hopes to rectify this when he challenges one of the true all time classics in Super Mario World. While some may view this game as a straight forward platformer Arino is sure to meet stiff resistance in this challenge. One of the holiest places in all of retro gaming, the mega store Super Potato, is the settings for this week's gaming excursion. Filled from floor to ceiling with classic games and systems, Arino is like a kid in a candy store. At long last Arino completes a missed connection in Ring Ring Tactics so at least this episode isn't a total failure in terms of progress.

To celebrate his recent engagement Arino is tasked with beating the dating sim, Tokimeki Memorial. The staff hope that his gameplay will instruct lovelorn viewers in how to succeed in the art of love. Even after being presented with the strategy guide Arino boldly declares that he won't be needing it as he embarks on his quest to win the heart of Fujisaki Shiori.

Part two of the Prince of Persia challenge. The Western game completely hooks Arino in, but can he clear the game before the in game time limit?

Konami’s all-star action platformer is the challenge this time. Konami Man and Konami Lady must rescue six of Konami’s heroes in their own game worlds. This time, Arino has the strategy guide right off the bat — two of them, in fact, thanks to the staff. Contains interview with Hideo Kojima.

Kirby Bowl (Kirby’s Dream Course) isn’t a regular Kirby game — it’s a crazy hybrid of mini-golf and elements of pool, with Kirby being the ball, and needing to get through the tricky courses by destroying all the enemies and dropping into the hole at the end.

In a brilliant piece of network synergy Arino will challenge the disk system classic, Doki Doki Panic. Originally a promotional tool for Fuji TV, Doki Doki Panic was very famously re-skinned and released overseas as turnip picking simulator, Super Mario Bros. 2. Ring Ring Tactics features a surprise helper from the past who attempts to help Arino move ever closer to his goal.

In this episode Arino is faced with a 3 round Konami challenge. He must go through challenges on the games Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Gradius, & Konami Hyper Olympics. Features extensive interviews with developers (Shingo Takatsuka, Akira Yamaoka, and Toshiki Yamamura) behind the PES and Silent Hill series.

Two years ago Arino challenged Rockman 2, and though he got incredibly far, he just couldn’t quite get to that ending screen. But now he faces the original Rockman, arguably the toughest of the 8-bit originals.

Arino has tried out many difficult games throughout the show, but his first Castlevania game Castlevania III, is probably not the best to try out first.

Arino challenges Konami's classic action game, and he doen't even use the Konami Code! AD Inoue a.k.a. Inoko MAX tries to aid Arino after his previous blunder.

The season finale is on location at the Sun Hatoya hotel in Ito. Arino spends the last show in style. The challenge room is in a lovely suite overlooking the ocean. The TV and Famicom are all set up, and he even has a new ergonomic chair to sit in and play with the least physical stress. And the game? One of the most stressful of all: Super Mario Bros. 3. Contains season 2 outtakes with Okamoto, Suzuki, Kojima, Igarashi and Ebisu.

Arino takes on the most popular game in Capcom's Mega Man series, Mega Man 2! Contains interview with Etsunobu Ebisu.

Shortly after Arino completed Solomon’s Key, Sasano steps in with a Super Famicom and offered Arino the next challenge: Prince of Persia. With no break in between, Arino begins the challenge. He must save the princess from the evil Jafar by completing 20 stages in under two hours. Contains interview with Koji Igarashi.

What secrets are hidden in the many castle rooms of Solomon's Key? Arino takes control of the titular wizard and discovers the many wonders to be had in this difficult puzzle game. Arino travels to Matsudo to visit an arcade with a name fit for a boss, Mechman. Arino barely makes it inside before he finds himself fending off ninjas and flying into the Danger Zone. Arino then meets the creator of the much beloved game centric manga series, Game Center Arashi. Creator Sugaya Mitsuru discloses his favorite game and presents Arino with a gift to top off what is an informative and entertaining interview.

After starting his Donkey Kong Country 2 challenge brimming with confidence Arino was quickly brought back to earth in the way only Rare games know how to do. With some 'words of encouragement' given by AD Matsui this is a quest Arino feels he must complete. A short GCCX News segment brings us to a press conference where a number of exciting announcements were made regarding the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the show. The size of Arino's ice cream is directly proportional to the size of the announcement so you know today's ice cream break is going to bring big news. Two suspicious fellows exchange a white package in the middle of a busy intersection but it's not the plot of a crime thriller, it's Famicom Sniper.

The game this time is Septentrion (Vic Tokai’s "SOS" in America), a Super Famicom action-adventure taking place on a sinking cruise liner, the Lady Crithania.

Arino tackles one of the scariest games of them all, Ghouls 'N Ghosts! At least it's not all doom and gloom as Arino continues his visit to the TRY Amusement Arcade. After encountering one of the more brutal game over screens Arino manages to recover to play a boat load of classic games but he still pines to get a chance at Xevious. Arino then speaks to one of the most revered game creators of all time, Sega's Yu Suzuki. They speak about a number of his cherished creations and even have a bout in Championship Boxing.

Can Arino blast every enemy in the arcade classic Galaga's first bonus stage?! Featuring interviews with Iwatani Toru (Pac-Man) and Endo Masanobu (Xevious, Tower of Druaga).

This episode centers on Hudson, featuring some of their hit games in the collection. The Challenge centers on Star Force where Arino must get the 50,000 bonus from Rarios; Takahashi Meiijin shows up to help Arino as well. Contains interviews with Akira Sakuma and Eiji Shio.

In what is a first for the show Arino's challenge of Donkey Kong Country 2 was stretched into a third day. With only the last world standing between Arino and victory he'll be praying that this challenge won't throw up any more surprises than it already has. For this week's TamaGe Arino is tipped off about a miraculous toy store. First up Arino plays a class beat-em-up before speaking to the owner in order to discover the true nature of the miracle of which the postcard spoke. Arino will have to deal with a special guest who's quick on the draw if he hopes to guess the game in Famicom Sniper. This Project: Game Version 3 segment brings us what will undoubtedly be the first of many production meetings to discuss ideas for the third Retro Game Challenge title.

The Tower of Babel is an action-puzzle game where you guide the big-nosed hero up the eponymous tower. Each level is filled with L-shaped blocks that must be placed so that Arino can reach the exit door.

Ultra Seven is the sequel to Ultraman, the game that opened season 4! And from the look of the game, it seems Arino’s in for yet another kaiju-driven hellride.

Arino challenged the original Star Force way back in season 1, and Super Star Force would make the second ever shooting game featured in full on the show.

Arino takes on the unique Western Side scroller Battletoads. Known in the west for both it's unique gameplay, and it's difficulty, Arino finds himself doing something he hasn't done in a while on the show...

In the first episode of Game Center CX, Arino visits Taito to learn it's history and play one of it's most difficult and cruel games Takeshi no Chousenjou. Upon first entering Taito he marvels at the Space Invaders machine. Tomohiro Nishikado, the creator of Space Invaders comes and discusses with Arino the history and impact of the game and they challenge one another to a game. After this Arino meets Akira Saito to discuss the Densha de GO! series. As the tour continues he finds out nobody from the original development team of Takeshi no Chousenjou is left so he meets Tetsuo Egawa instead to discuss it. To find out more about the legendary game he talks to Kazuhiro Hayashi who presents Arino with guidebooks for the game. Finally we see Arino tackle Takeshi no Chousenjou which includes various hilarious snippits of him getting frustrated at the game's bizarre challenges such as singing karaoke, and waiting one hour without pushing anything.

One of the earliest SNES games is the challenge for this week as Arino battles with the unusual god/action game hybrid, ActRaiser. It may not be the game's difficulty and instead be Arino's tendency to be distracted that will be his downfall in this exciting challenge. This one goes out to all those Dragon Quest 2 adventurers out there in Secret Trick Jet Stream. Project: DVD has Arino answering a couple of viewer questions including what the DVD exclusive challenge will be and the design of the packaging.

"Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru" is a ninja Famicom game from Capcom. However, it was released outside Japan and heavily reworked into the NES game Yo! Noid.

Arino challenges Super Puyo Puyo on the hardest difficulty, but it may prove to be to difficult even for the self proclaimed puzzle kacho.

Koshien takes its name after Koshien Stadium, the regular home of Japan’s National High School Baseball Championship. All Arino has to do is complete the tournament in the game, a six-team gauntlet. For the occasion, AP Ishida will be keeping score, and AD Katayama follows by giving Arino a baseball cap.

Horii’s game career began in 1983, but before that, he was kicking around as a freelance writer. But his love of games led him to enter an Enix game design contest in 1982, the same contest that Koichi Nakamura, another part of the Dragon Quest team, would enter. Horii’s entry was a game called Love Match Tennis. Both his and Nakamura’s games ended up published, and from there, Horii was in it to win it.

Arinos 4th challenge in the Mega Man series, sees him battle a new foe... the mysterious Dr.

Part 2 of the Mega Man 4 challenge, has Arino challenging the final 4 Wily stages.

With a zit on his nose and a new hair style, Arino faces Metal Storm on the Famicom, a gravity defying action shooter.

Mito Koumon is a Famicom game sort of based on the long-running historical TV drama of the same name, featuring the old adventurer Mito Koumon and his band of followers. It’s an action adventure a little bit like the Ganbare Goemon games, but with more "adventure" — in other words, figuring out what to do half the time. Arino has to get through seven stage, which sounds promising, but it is a Sunsoft game, after all.

Arino goes HIYA! in the first installment of the Super Chinese series on the Famicom.

Season 17 is a special season, the 10th anniversary season! In the first episode of this special season, Arino plays his first Disney game, the Capcom-made Magical Quest for the SNES.

In celebration of the 150th episode of the show, Arino tries out his 4th PS1 challenge, Parappa the Rapper. It is the first music game to be challenged in the show. However in order to master a game about rap, he must become a rapper.

The game that AD Nakayama wanted Arino to try finally makes an appearance! Fatal Fury Special in addition to being one of Nakayama's favorite games, is Arino's second fighting game challenge. During the challenge Nakayama announces that this episode will be his last.

Arino takes on Sega's unique comic book styled beat-em up.

Arino enters the Capcom building in Osaka and meets his first interviewee: Keiji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man and Onimusha, among others. Then he interviews Hiroyuki Kobayash and Atsushi Inaba. Lastly, Arino takes a seat in the Fuji Multi-Theater for some extra-special playtime with Tekki (Steel Battalion).

Arino's first adventure game challenge. As the valiant Sir Cucumber, Arino must rescue Princess Tomato and stop the evil Minister Pumpkin.

Mere seconds after the brutal Mighty Bomb Jack challenge, Arino gets up to leave, but is called to sit back down. He’s handed Red Arremer II (known in the west as Gargoyle's Quest II) for the next challenge. Arino finally gets to play as his enemy the Red Arremer, but in an almost ironic twist, this Arremer moves nothing like his old foe.

The final challenge of this season is on-location, but rather than a fancy hotel, this time it’s at the headquarters of Bandai Namco Games! Today’s game: Namco’s Kai no Bouken! The second sequel to The Tower of Druaga; a side-scrolling platformer starring the princess Ki, whose magical powers let her float up through the tower.

Fushigi no Dungeon 2: Furai no Shiren (Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer) is a "roguelike" dungeon crawler, where death is swift and frequent.

Part 2 of the Ninja Gaiden II challenge. Arino continues to fight his way through the brutal game. In order to help him, Tojima returns with multiple AD's from past and present at his side. It will take the all of their combined power to finally put an end to Jaquio.

Arino’s tasked with conquering Golgo 13 for Famicom, better known to English-speaking countries as Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode for NES. And coincidentally enough, it has 13 arduous stages for the kacho to try to get through as he assumes the role of the manga super spy for the first episode of the 13th season.

Arino’s challenge for this episode: GeGeGe no Kitaro: Fukkatsu! Tenma Daioh (Resurrection of the King of Demons) for the Super Famicom, the third Kitaro game and a pretty standard platformer. Arino must get through all 19 stages before seeing the ending; no small number for him.

From the creator of Dragon Quest, comes this adventure game. As a detective you must find out who is behind a series of murders in Hokkaido and stop them.

Jerry is turned into a slime by an evil magician who also goes ahead and steals the princess. For Arino, this means he must complete all eight worlds in this cute platformer before midnight.

Arino takes on this surreal side scroller, and makes amazing progess.

The game that opens this new season is Sunsoft’s Gimmick! This platformer came at the peak of the Famicom’s life, and is a fantastic production both visually and musically. And though it may look cute and possess only six stages, it’s designed for platforming pros; a nice send-off for a system that more or less made the genre.

Daisuke Nagashima, the shows former producer, reappears before Arino. Like the Arinos, he had a baby girl and so he looks to the Kacho for advice on how to raise a child. In Arino's 3rd PS1 challenge he takes on Quiz My Angel which is both a quiz game, and a simulation game in which you raise a daughter to adulthood.

This time Arino tackles Bio Miracle: Bokutte Upa, a Konami Disk System game that was often pirated and sold as "Baby Mario.

Four years after tackling the original Ninja Ryukenden (Ninja Gaiden), our hero is forced to endure that game’s sequel: Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos.

Arino takes on one of the greatest games ever made, and luck may be on his side.

Arino's body is pushed to its limit as he challenges the power pad game, Attack! Takeshi's Castle Showdown. Based on the hit TV series of the same name, it stars the maniacal Beat Takeshi, who you may remember as the star of the eponymous, Takeshi's Challenge. To take a break, Arino visits a lovely convenience store in Odawara containing a number of addicting prize games. There is one prize game in particular that catches Arino's fancy and before he even has a chance to buy some candy, might end up bankrupting him. Arino continues his quest for glory in Ring Ring Tactics by trying to solve the mystery of the vanishing battle screen.

Arino begins his last challenge: Youkai Dochuuki (a.k.a. Shadowland), the PC Engine version of a Namco arcade game starring Tarosuke, a boy trying to make it through a land full of demons.

Hello! Pac-Man," known outside Japan as "Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures." is a cartoony action-adventure where you guide Pac-Man through a series of missions. You can only direct him using a slingshot to fire pellets at things he should pay attention to, or a secondary "look" command. There are only four episodes ("rounds") in the game, but this likely won’t be a jolly stroll for Arino.

Arino challenges "Challenger" for Famicom (1986). In a game that often changes the gameplay style, can he prevail? Meanwhile, he continues his search for the legendary sit-down arcade cabinet, Hang-On.