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 …

Arino visits the headquarters of Koei to speak with the two men behind the Dynasty Warriors and Nobunaga’s Ambition series of games. He then speaks to a PR representative about another of their popula…

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. La…

Rather than center on one company, this episode of Game Center CX explores an entire game series: specifically, Sega’s Sakura Taisen. Arino challenges Sega's Roommania #203 for the Sega Dreamcast. Con…

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 t…

During this episode Arino's challenge is to defeat Astro SASA! Will he surpass this challenge or give in? Contains an interview with Hiroyuki Sonobe.

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).

Arino must trap six aliens at once behind one door in the Famicom classic Door Door. Featuring the game's creator, and Chunsoft founder Nakamura Koichi as well as an interview with Shinichiro Tomie.

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 develope…

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 …

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.

Arino faces the challenging platformer for the NES, Atlantis no Nazo. Will Arino get the hang of its difficult controls and unforgiving level design? We follow Arino on the first ever arcade trip (Tam…

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…

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…

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 of…

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 r…

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 Ma…

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 …

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?

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

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, …

Season 3 opens with Arino being officially "promoted" to Kacho Dairi (Deputy Section Chief). The first challenge of the season is Hudson’s Kato-chan & Ken-chan, for the PC-Engine. A quirky platformer …

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…

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.…

In a series first this week's challenge features the licensed video game, Famicom Jump. What sets Famicom Jump apart is that it doesn't only feature a single licensed character but dozens which were p…

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 relea…

Based on the classic manga from Astro Boy creator, Osamu Tezuka, it's Hi no Tori Hououhen: Gaou no Bouken! The game features a mix of puzzle and platforming elements so we'll have to see if Arino's pu…

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 …

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'…

For this episode Arino challenges the much maligned Hudson classic, Milon's Secret Castle. This early entry in the action adventure genre has a bottomless bag of gotchas which Arino has to constantly …

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 favorite…

In this Season 4 opener, Arino challenges Ultraman for the Super Famicom! Having been promoted to Kacho, Arino sports a new blue suit and a cockier attitude.

A new season brings a new genre to the table with the beat 'em up classic, Final Fight. Hopefully Arino can take back Metro City from the evil gangs which now control it. An amusement park dating back…

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? …

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 t…

It's all hands on deck for the first quiz challenge in show history when Arino takes on Quiz: The Feudal Lord's Ambition. Hopefully everyone is up to date on their early 90s Japanese pop culture. Arin…

Another licensed game with a questionable pedigree, it's Doraemon! Arino will try and get this time travelling cat over the finish line and improve his overall record when it comes to challenging Huds…

Arino had enough trouble with Mario when he was only 2D so let's see how he fares with an extra dimension in Super Mario 64. He'll have to conquer the highest mountains, ice cold tundra and searing he…

Join Arino for the exciting conclusion of his Super Mario 64 challenge. Arino has it all ahead of him though as he takes on the games toughest levels to try to increase his star tally and open up the …

In this episode, Arino returns to another classic NES game. This time it’s the fan-favorite Tecmo game Ninja Gaiden. With a victory here, he can bring his record for the season to a tie, but the Ninja…

In what could be the last challenge ever, Arino attempts to save the mythical land of Kid Icarus and rescue the goddess Palutena from the tendrils of Medusa. Along the way he'll have to berate shop ke…

Six months later, everyone’s favorite section chief arrives back on the scene. Due to Arino’s family commitments, season 5 is only a scant six episodes long, but it promises to be as entertaining as e…

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.

Arino challenges Bonanza Bros, a Mega Drive game about burglarizing buildings and hiding from the cops.

Arino's worst nightmare has come true, he must challenge the sequel to Makai Mura, and once again face the Red Arremer.

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

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.

It's Arino's first fighting game challenge! Arino tries to clear the game but first he must find which of Street Fighter's iconic brawlers suits him best.

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.

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 cha…

In front of a live audience, Arino tries to complete the game that he came close to clearing Mighty Bomb Jack. The immense pressure from hundreds of eyes watching his every move makes Arino and the st…

Arino is given another PC Engine quizfest: Hatena no Daibouken, which features a Capcom character theme.

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.

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

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.

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 …

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 g…

This time, with a pair of new shoes over his feet, Arino challenges another Super NES classic: The Legend of the Mystical Ninja, the first 16-bit "Ganbare Goemon" game; the wacky story of Goemon and h…

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…

After returning from South Korea, Arino is given a choice of trying to clear one of 3 video games based off of 3 different comic book series. Taito's Sword of Musashi, Hudson's Ninja Hattori, and Band…

Arino challenges the third and final game in the GnG series. With only 5 continues, he must defeat the forces of hell and rescue Arthur's beloved.

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 Th…

A month’s rest leaves Arino ready and willing to finish the game he had to give up; Kai No Bouken.

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 …

Arino takes on "Bikkuriman World", a port of Wonder Boy in Monster Land on the PC Engine with characters from the Bikkuriman sticker franchise featured in the game.

"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.

Despite his lack of skills with shooters, Arino must face the challenge of Super Fantasy Zone, SEGA's smash hit shooter series.

Arino attempts to clear Bonk's Adventure. In addition a recap of Arino's live Kai no Bouken Christmas Challenge narrated by Toujima is shown.

The goal of The Toukaidou Gojuusan-tsugi is to guide the fireworks maker, Kantaro through 21 extremely difficult stages. The game's difficulty may prove too much for Arino to handle, and in an effort …

Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula-kun (Kid Dracula) is a unique Castlevania spinoff starring Alucard.

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. An…

Aired while Arino Kachou was hospitalized. Arino and the staff head to the Cannes Film Festival in hopes of selling the show overseas.

Arino was hospitalized after he discovered an abcess on his lung. Returning to work for the first time, Kibe "interrogates" the Kachou. Afterwords Arino enters "recovery mode". The staff decides it wo…

Arino must save America from being completely zombiefied in the cult classic Abarenbou Tengu (Zombie Nation) for Famicom.

Not since Clock Tower has Arino played as a girl in a challenge game before, but this season we have The Madoola no Tsubasa, starring the female knight Lucia.

After three victories, Arino faces what could be his biggest challenge this season. The game before him is Namco/Falcom’s Dragon Slayer IV, known in America as Legacy of the Wizard. This action-RPG fe…

In the first episode of the new season, Arino tackles a game based on one of his favorite comic book series, Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball: Shenlong no Nazo is known for it's brutal challenge, can he clear…

Data East’s Chelnov was part platformer, part shoot-em-up: the hero, Chelnov, always runs forward. And while he can stop, the screen always scrolls forward anyway. Even as he looks at the screenshots …

Arino must assemble a team in hopes of defeating Yuuyu no Quiz de GO! GO!. Yuuyu is the nickname of Yukiko Iwai, a teen idol from the ’80s and early ’90s who was part of the musical group Onyanko Club…

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 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.

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

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 t…

The Game Center CX staff head to Fukuoka, the hometown of Cameraman Abe, Urukawa, and Inoko MAX, to promote GCCX's second DS game and meet fans. Along the way Arino visits two game centers with the st…

LayLa must rescue her partner from the enemy base through eight stages that Arino has to get through.

Hoshi no Kirby: Yume no Izumi no Monogatari, the bigger, bolder sequel to the original Hoshi no Kirby on Game Boy. It’s not a terribly hard game for most, but it can be lengthy, and regardless, there …

Battle Golfer Yui is probably one of the most unique games ever made. It's part RPG, part adventure, and part golf. In addition the new AD Emoto arrives to help Arino, and Arino ends up in a vs mode a…

Arino has 1 win and 1 loss in the Mega Man series, by taking on Mega Man 3 he will either overcome his losing streak or increase it.

Part 2 of the Mega Man 3 Challenge. After fighting not just 8, but 16 brutal boss battles, Arino heads to Wily's Castle.

This action puzzle game has you moving and placing blocks in order to guide Gussun to the exit door. With tons of stages to get through, Arino may have his work cut out for him. Gussun is easily spook…

Arino’s back in the saddle, and this time he’s tackling the PC Engine game Genpei Touma Den, a Namco action game from the arcades. In it, the undead samurai Kagekiyo traverses a very bizarre-looking J…

This time, Arino is playing a pretty simple game: Namco’s Dig Dug II for Famicom. Rather than a game of digging underground to burst enemies, Dig Dug II is a game of walking around an island to burst …

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…

Arino returns to his post, and for the start of the twelfth season, he’s playing Dragon Buster, Namco’s Famicom port of their arcade game. Arino must take the brave young hero through 12 worlds ("Roun…

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 celebr…

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

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 …

Game Center CX returns for 2010 with the Famicom sci-fi action game 2010 Street Fighter. SF2010 tells the story of bionic warrior Kevin (or Ken in the English version), tasked with defeating some bion…

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.

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 ta…

Arino takes to the sky with Pilotwings, the Super Famicom launch game that’s now almost 20 years old! This "sky sports simulation" features a variety of flying machines that the player uses to complet…

Today it's Rainbow Islands from Taito, the first sequel to Bubble Bobble. In it, the dinosaurs-turned-humans Bubby and Bobby must rescue a princess, and rather than blowing bubbles, the boys shoot rai…

It’s the 100th episode of Game Center CX! And his challenge game: Wrecking Crew. The Famicom action puzzle game from Nintendo stars Mario as a demolition worker who must use his hammer to bust down al…

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 kac…

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. F…

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 mu…

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.

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 Koich…

Today’s challenge, Paris-Dakar Rally Special, is considered a bad one. It’s low-quality all-around, from a Famicom-era publisher (CBS Sony) that was never known for quality in the first place. It’s a …

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

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 this surreal side scroller, and makes amazing progess.

Arino recently played through the detective adventure Okhotsk ni Kiyu, and now he tackles another adventure, though this one is almost pure story: Kamaitachi no Yoru, Chun Soft’s Super Famicom visual …

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.

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 do…

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…

In his early 20's Arino played F-Zero on SNES more times than he can remember, because of this Arino must clear all of the original F-Zero's courses on Expert difficulty.

Arino's F-Zero challenge has been lowered from Expert to Standard difficulty, but even so it proves to be quite a hurdle.

For the first time, Arino challenges a mini-game compilation title, Tant-R on the Mega Drive.

Jaleco’s Bio Warrior DAN was an action game that’s filled with weird imagery, and is also a bit confusing at times.

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

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 destro…

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

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 …

Battle Formula is hard, rare and expensive, making Arino even more nervous making sure he beats this hefty investment.

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 …

Arino takes on a Mega Drive game, and it’s another well-regarded title: Strider, Sega’s port of the Capcom arcade game. It’s a relatively short game — just five stages — and not as brutal as, say, Gho…

Arino’s challenge this time is Hiryu no Ken for Famicom, a simple action game from the company that would become Culture Brain. You play as a young man named Ryuhi, martial arts master trying to recap…

It’s time to challenge Saint Seiya: Ougon Densetsu, the first Famicom game based on the popular manga/anime Saint Seiya. It’s a regular action game with some RPG elements and loosely follows some plot…

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 lit…

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 …

Part 2 of the Battletoads challenge, Arino continues to struggle through the brutal difficulty of the game, but the fun factor seems to override the frustration factor.

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

Arino takes on SEGA's original mascot game, Alex Kidd in Miracle World on the SEGA Master System.

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

Dynamite Heady is the strange hero of one of Mega Drive's finest, and hardest, platformers.

Arino continues his struggle with the detachable hero, Dynamite Headdy.

Kattobi! Takuhai-kun is a strange game on the PC Engine where the player takes the role as a delivery boy. Arino sits on his trusty moped and hopes to get the package delivered in time, but many obsta…

Arino goes for the gold trophy in the first of Captain Tsubasa's Famicom adventures.

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

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 a…

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.

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 …

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 challe…