Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first few minutes of UltraBox 6-gō make one thing clear: this is not a compilation built around a single genre or a unified mood. It is a grab bag, and a proudly strange one. The pleasure comes from sampling its wildly different pieces, then deciding which curiosity deserves more of your time. That can be refreshing when you want short, sharply different sessions; it can also feel scattered if you came hoping for a substantial main game.

Jangken & Fairies is the anchor. It has a recognizably old-school RPG framework: you move through a top-down world, meet random enemies, manage weapons and equipment, and gain simple levels while gathering magical amulets. Then it throws rock-paper-scissors into the battle mix, sometimes replacing regular combat outright. That is a wonderfully offbeat idea, because a routine encounter can suddenly become a fast guessing game. It also means progress can hinge on a deliberately fickle contest rather than careful RPG planning, which will either charm you or irritate you depending on your patience for chance.

The remaining games are lighter and more specialized. Alice in Flagland leans on Japanese-style menu interactions, so its pace is more about choosing responses than navigating action challenges. Henai Lecture splits its romantic pursuit between dialogue selections and choosing activities to improve the prince’s charm in the girl’s eyes. DokiDoki Driveland is the cleanest immediate diversion: steer a sports car from an overhead view and beat the clock to the finish. None of these modes need to carry the entire package alone, but together they make UltraBox 6-gō easy to dip into when you want something unfamiliar.

Graphics

The visuals shift with each game rather than chasing a common look. Jangken & Fairies alternates between a top-down overworld and first-person battle scenes, while DokiDoki Driveland puts the sports car on an overhead course where the route and finish-line chase are easy to read. Alice in Flagland gets its character from modernized versions of Wonderland figures, including its white rabbit.

Story

Jangken & Fairies gives you the clearest traditional objective: a hero sent by his father to collect magical amulets. It is a simple quest frame, but it suits an RPG that is more interested in its unusual battle interruptions than elaborate plotting.

Alice in Flagland takes familiar Wonderland material and updates its cast with modified and new characters. The hook is recognizable enough to give its menu-driven scenes a playful starting point, even as the game heads in a more modern direction.

Henai Lecture is the most focused on a personal goal. You guide a young prince trying to win over the girl he loves, first through conversation and then through activities meant to raise his charm. It is a straightforward romantic setup, and the two-part structure keeps its story tied directly to your choices.

Overall Experience

UltraBox 6-gō earns its interest through eccentricity, not consistency. Jangken & Fairies alone has enough conventional RPG structure to invite a longer stay, but the rock-paper-scissors detours ensure it never settles into predictability. The other games work better as palate cleansers than as deep destinations.

The compilation framing matters. Alongside the games, you get every episode of Cusuto previously spread across the first four volumes, plus a PC Engine game database and fan drawings. That gives the disc the feel of a fan-oriented assortment: part game collection, part archival curiosity, part bonus-material scrapbook.

If you enjoy digging through peculiar Japanese compilations, this final UltraBox has genuine pull. Go in ready to sample rather than master everything, and let the strange RPG, romance choices, Alice variation, and quick racing challenge take turns. If you need a single sustained game with a steady tone, its constant switching will likely wear you down. As a closing box of oddities, though, it is memorable.

Retro Replay Score

6.4/10