An interesting take on retro gaming for new players, Retro Game Challenge can even be an emotional ride for old timers.
The Bad: Can feel repetitive at times.
The premise is interesting: a kid who simply can't win at current gen games is sent back to the past to learn how to play like a pro through retro challenges. The execution is lovely: a typical 80s gaming experience is provided in every aspect--8-bit games (and that means cartridges with manuals and all) being released, magazines with hints and reviews, playing in another kid's house while convincing his mother to allow you to keep going... Retro Game Challenge achieves a nice balance in these elements making it a blast for both young players and old-school veterans as well.
Your friends' living room acts as a hub for you to explore this brave old (:P) world. While sitting on the floor in front of the TV you'll face challenge after challenge as your buddy comes in every now and then with new carts (and monthly issues of fictitious mags) covering pretty much every genre available in the 80s: shooters, action-platformers, racing games... even an RPG shows off towards the end. The presentation here--more than that, the overall care with details--is stunning and makes it for a warming experience: reading a game manual, being surprised by an amazing secret revealed in a mag, listening to your friend cheering (and sometimes bothering) you, winning a special limited edition of a game at a contest, buying a "turbo" controller... Everything sums up to make you feel right at home (be it a revisited one or a brand new place depending on who the "real" player is) in such a living environment.
Talking about the games, as said above they're not just plain retro assemblage. Each one was carefully tweaked to be enjoyable to everyone--and here we've got to the biggest achievement on this Xseed project: to make a pile of simple games not to necessarily feel dated. The nice variety of titles include sequels to original IPs that allow the series to develop internally while making you care for them, leaving you eager for the next "releases".
One could argue that RGC can get a little repetitive when it comes to the aforementioned challenges (they make you replay the same game a couple times for different goals) but even that can't be considered a chore due to a constant stream of new info on the games. Hints, tips and cheat codes lend you a helping hand when the time to replay 'em all comes by without spoiling the pleasure of exploring a new title for the first time (just like it used to be in the 80s when videogame journalists didn't know much more than regular gamers from the start).
In the end Retro Game Challenge is a neat piece of hypothetical gaming history... and along the way it manages not only to capture a real retro feeling of an entire era but also to be amusing to new players--even if it's the case of someone who lacks a soft spot for nostalgia.