3-chōme no Arino is the third game based on the popular Japanese television show Game Center CX (a.k.a. Retro Game Master). Arino has been sent back to the 1980s and has lost his memory, remembering only his love of classic video games. The only way to recover and return to his own time is by playing video games and completing challenges. And of course, you’re there to help him a little—or in other words, play everything for him while he sits and comments on how you’re playing.
The story mode is broken into chapters—one for each featured game—where the player can wander around the small town and speak with various characters, who are all based on and voiced by cast or guests from the TV show. Each of the featured games is a brand new “faux-retro” game made to look like an old 8- or 16-bit video game, from a wide variety of genres including maze games, platformers, shooters, and even a full-fledged RPG. There are also a number of side games including Game & Watch-style LCD games, marble labyrinth games, and even the 10-yen medal games commonly featured on the show’s arcade trip segments, for a total of over 15 games.
In addition to the story mode, there is also a free mode where any unlocked game can be freely played, an ad-hod multiplayer mode for the games that support it, and a dictionary mode where famous quotes and terms from the TV show are explained.