I’ve been meaning to bring up this unique game ever since Arino spent a little time with it in Game Center CX’s Shiren the Wanderer episode, but Hardcore Gaming 101 just posted a Mercenary Force piece that’s far more informative and thorough than anything I could have typed up.

A quick intro to the game in case you need some motivation to click the above link: Mercenary Force is an obscure Game Boy shoot’em produced by a trio of Japanese studios — Meldac, Live Planning, and Lenar. You command a formation of mercenaries (e.g. Ninjas, Monks) through stages set in a mystical/Goemon-esque medieval Japan.

Gameplay video (hit the balloon to disable comments):

There’s speculation that the game’s U.S. release was slated to be a reskinned version with the Ultima license, but it made it to the States with its Japanese setting/units intact.

Buy: Mercenary Force (super cheap!)

See also: HG101 examines Game Center CX

tags / mercenary force / meldac / hardcore gaming 101 / live planning / lenar / ec

Hardcore Gaming 101, a collection of informative and in-depth video game reviews, posted an excellent article on Retro Game Challenge (a.k.a. Game Center CX) and its Japan-only sequel today. If you read our “favorite tiny cartridges of ‘09” list last week, you’ll remember we ranked RGC as last year’s most cherished release (though with all the praise we’ve given the game, you likely knew we did that even if you didn’t read the piece).

HG101’s Kurt Kalata isn’t as fanboyish about the series as we are, and he brings up more than a few flaws he found with it. I don’t agree with all his complaints — I really enjoyed Rally King, and I actually like that Xseed localized Haguru-man’s title as Haggleman instead of Gear Man. Still, the two-page article has neat breakdowns and screenshots for each of the faux-retro games, and it shares this funny “Game Computer Floppy Drive System” loading screen from the Detective Kacho titles:

Buy: Retro Game Challenge

Import: Game Center CX 2

See also: Lots of Game Center CX media

tags / game center cx / game center cx 2 / retro game challenge / indies zero / imports / hardcore gaming 101 / namco bandai / xseed / ec