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The NES port of Namco's popular Dragon Buster is today's challenge. Arino must navigate twelve worlds filled with labyrinthine dungeons and dragons (obviously) in order to reach the ending.
It's the segment that comes but once a year, a visit to the Tokyo Game Show . At this year's show Arino was the host of a talk with game creators and made his usual visit to the Game Center CX booth.
Kibe comes bearing gifts in the new segment for season 12, A Waste Of Color. Each episode Kibe will share a few Game Boy games with Arino to try on the Super Game Boy. After playing each one Arino will choose which he thinks deserves a color remake and then draw what he imagines that would look like. First up is Super Mario Land, Bomber Boy and Heiankyo Alien.
Another season and another game featuring an obscure Japanese child star. It's Kid Kool starring Kakefu-kun who, as we will come to learn, is no longer living a celebrity life of excess.
For today's TamaGe, Arino heads to Nikoniko Shop where he immediately encounters a classic car themed coin flipper outside. He then heads inside to enjoy a bit of Metal Slug with Nakayama and a meal with Watanabe.
Next up is another instalment of A Waste Of Color where Arino must declare what he'd like to see remade out of Gargoyle’s Quest, Burgertime Deluxe and ONI.
Fushigi no Dungeon 2: Furai no Shiren (Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer) is a "roguelike" dungeon crawler, where death is swift and frequent. Can Arino even reach the double-digit floors before dusk falls?
Arino heads to a bowling alley in Chiba to check out some games and maybe play a few frames in the newest TamaGe. Inside he tests his strength before spotting a familiar face decked out in a full set of bowling gear who takes him on.
A Waste Of Color features For The Frog The Bell Tolls, Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge and the game that has been seen in color a million times in different forms including in the previous segment, Qix.
Unsurprisingly, Fushigi no Dungeon 2 left Arino beaten and bruised beyond recognition last time. His attempt to get through all 30 "floors" of the game’s dungeons fell pretty short of that number. It was a learning process the entire way, as Arino’s mistakes had grave consequences — having to start all over with nothing.
In A Waste Of Color, Arino tries out Mercenary Force, The Sword of Hope and Mole Mania which Kibe suggests may be good fodder for a challenge but Arino is having none of it.
Then we have a special report on Game Center CX's recent SkyPerfect award win which was humbly accepted by Abe and AD Emoto.
Arino immediately knows today's challenge is a special one when he enters the conference room and he ain't wrong. In celebration of the Yamanote train line's 100th anniversary it's time to take on Taito's famous train simulator, Go By Train!
If that's not exciting enough there's also a TamaGe to go along with it. Starlight Takayama is today's venue and it's an arcade that features a large variety of competitive games that Arino challenges the ADs on.
Known for being one of the most infamous examples of Capcom's exploitation of the Street Fighter franchise, today's challenge is Street Fighter 2010. Player's take on the role of everyone's favorite Street Fighter, Kevin, as he tries to rid the galaxy of evil parasites.
Today's TamaGe takes place in the hybrid sports center and arcade, Ikebukuro Batting Center. After playing a few games and showing off his super human strength Arino decides he wants to hit a few home runs in the batting cages.
A Waste Of Color starts to push standards and practises as three games that basically already exist in full color are presented to Arino for perusal.
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. It’s definitely no softer than its predecessor, but will Arino get far without the help of three ADs at his side, like last time?
On a chilly summer day an event was held in Akihabara to celebrate the release of the 6th DVD set. It proved to be yet another popular event with fans given the chance to win a new year's card from Arino and even a Game Center CX stock certificate if they collected enough stamps from the show's staff.
When Arino goes in search of the latest hidden TamaGe gem he's soon distracted by premium food before being stumped by a sweets shop. After finally reaching the Space Invaders clone he was searching for, Arino's game time is interrupted by AD Watanabe and her healthy appetite.
Arino will only be looking at three games in his A Waste Of Color class today. First is It's A Wooden Hammer! It's A Quiz! It's Hammerin' Harry!, a quiz spin-off of the Irem action game. Then Arino gets a double dose of sports from Tonkin House with Dodge Boy and Seaside Volleyball.
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.
In January of 2010, Game Center CX held a company day trip which doubled as a fan appreciation event. 120 lucky people were taken by bus to the event where they were greeted by Arino before moving on to a bowling alley, a picnic and finally a wrestling match which would be considered bizarre even by Japanese standards.
In A Waste Of Color the first game that Arino plucks from Kibe's supply is the unique card focused RPG, Monster Maker. He then selects the Ghosts 'N Goblins spin-off, Gargoyle's Quest, a game that eventually went on to spawn a console exclusive series. The last game he chooses is a personal favorite of Kibe, Space War Of Mu.
After the brutality that was Ninja Gaiden 2, Arino escapes to the air with his challenge of Pilotwings. Or at least he would like to but Pilotwings' difficulty curve and strict instructors have different ideas.
In a very special report we are presented with footage from Tojima's recent wedding which also featured a brief recorded message from Arino who wasn't able to be there.
In the final instalment Kibe is literally scrapping the bottom of the bag as he presents Arino with Prince Of Persia and Street Fighter 2.
It's time for another deceptively difficult game with a cute aesthetic when Arino challenges Rainbow Islands. This Bubble Bobble sequel seems like a pretty straight forward arcade action game but it has a unique win condition which makes it truly special.
Arino is going for a bit of fishing in this TamaGe segment and the spot he chooses is Super Fishing Adachi. Don't let the name fool you though, this fishing center also features a decent selection of arcade games to choose from.
Arino knows the show has truly made it when he and Nakayama visit a karaoke parlor to sing a recent addition to the set list.
The last episode of season 12 is also a milestone in the show's history. It's the 100th episode and to commemorate the special occasion Arino will challenge one of Ninendo's lesser known games, Wrecking Crew. Let's hope that Arino can end the season and celebrate this momentous occasion with a win.
The only other segment is a small interlude where Arino finds Nakayama messing about with a noise making, controller shaped toy. It turns out that Bandai has made 100 Game Center CX themed ones that will be given away to lucky viewers.
