Recently released in North America as Retro Game Challenge1, GCCX just getting a sequel in Japan prompted me to pick up the original. This game is fiendishly old school and hilarious to boot.
I could go on about the awesome atmosphere the game gives with the magazines, cheat codes, encouragement from your gaming buddy sitting by your side in game. I was actually a bit disappointed when the game wouldn’t start and you were told that maybe you had to blow into the cartridge that the game didn’t make you blow into the DS. But what I want to talk about is how this game is “Achievements” and “Trophies” done right.
I was thoroughly confused when I finished a level in one of my first Xbox 360 games and was awarded points for doing so. This doesn’t make sense. I don’t deserve anything for doing what I would normally do when playing a game. Now, doing something like clearing the first three levels of a stage without using your main weapon is a challenge.
This isn’t to say all of the challenges in GCCX are like this. Often the first few challenges are to clear a few stages or rank a certain amount. But a lot of them encourage playing the game differently or thinking differently about how to approach these simple standards. It’s a lot more than just “use the annoyingly bad gun a few rounds to get some points.” As it’s something I like to do anyway2 the game really clicks with me. Doesn’t hurt that I love these kinds of older, simpler games to begin with.
