Awesome / Retro Game Master

• Any time Arino beats a notoriously difficult game, such as Battletoads, Ninja Gaiden, and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts.
• In the Ghosts 'n Goblins playthroughs, when Arino first meets the Red Arremer he runs away, losing a life but skipping the demon by reaching a checkpoint. It's very satisfying to see him getting over his fear and carefully taking down the Arremers when forced to fight them in the end-game.
• Despite having some trouble with stages 2 and 4, Arinoppa the Rapper beat Parappa The Rapper in just about 4 hours.
• Any time Arino finishes a game on a 24-hour or less live events.
  "DO KI."
  —A fax from Kawaguchi, when Arino was getting sidetracked by Spelunker

  "I did Ki. I DID IT!!"
  —Arino's response after beating the game with 4 minutes left.
  • His victory on his third attempt at Pilotwings was truly miraculous. On his last try and with little time left, he had finally finished off all the enemy turrets on the last level. Under immense pressure, he still had to land the helicopter successfully, which he does, right as the game started complaining he was descending too fast!
• Arino finishing Ninja Spirit in a mere 2 hours, largely thanks to pure luck getting him through an extremely difficult Free-Fall Fight in a single try which took the ADs 5 hours to do the same.
• The AD's have their own Crowning Moments of Awesome, including...
  • The "Ace" Urakawa finally beating Adventure Island after 28 straight hours, and this came after he was unable to complete the game prior to Arino's challenge.
    • To be specific, after taking over for Arino, it took Urakawa 5 hours to get to Stage 7-1, where Arino gave up. It then took him another three hours to clear that stage, 5 hours to clear Stage 7-4, and an unbelievable NINE hours to clear Stage 8-3.
  • Inoko MAX, having spent most of the fifth season screwing up in one way or another, redeems himself in the finale by getting the good ending of "Shadow Land". Much later, in Season 16, he gets another when Arino bets on him in Barcode Battle and he wins.
  • Tsuruoka beating the ultra-difficult The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido after Arino gave up. Yes, the same episode where his voice cracked trying to sing the game's lyrics.
  • Though not an AD, sound guy Fukuawa volunteered to attempt the good ending of Densha de Go!! by playing the Yamanote Line without continuing. None of the staff thought he could do it, especially since it was his first time ever playing the game. He completed it in six hours.
• From Tokimeki Memorial, Arino successfully romances Shiori on his first try, a feat considered near impossible. What's even more impressive is that he refused to use the strategy guide stating he could clear it because he got married a few days earlier when the episode aired.
• One celebration of the ten year anniversary wasn't enough. They celebrated the whole year.
• The latter half of the Super Mario Bros 30th Anniversary Special at NicoNico Chokaigi 2015 involved various Japanese Let's Players trying their hands at Super Mario Maker levels made by Arino. After 1 win and 1 loss, they brought in a special tiebreaker guest: Shigeru Miyamoto himself.
• The Budokan event is one for the entire show as the sheer scale of the people who attended was huge (we're talking about 7000 people who went there just to watch a middle-aged old man play retro games, something no Let's Player can even claim to have). Though the Chief himself had some really awesome moments (especially clearing Mario 8-4 with the hammiest announcement ever), the crown has to go towards AD Matsui for getting towards 8-4 with 20 lives and fire flower equipped Mario in such a short time before the event starts.^note The Famicom console that had the well equipped Mario froze so he had to do it all over again
• Arino played a fair bit of Super Mario 64 with a hatless Mario, which causes the player to suffer double the normal amount of damage when hit.
• When Arino found out a female staffer beat Wizards & Warriors in roughly six hours for said game's challenge, Arino decided to one-up her and beat the game faster than her time, which he manages to succeed with a time of 4 hours and 50 minutes.
  • Then there's the fact said female staffer's only knowledge of video games comes from smartphone games she plays to pass the time. For someone as inexperienced as her to beat a difficult game like Wizards & Warriors in just six hours is nothing short of a miracle.
• Arino managing to beat Dream Penguin Story in only one hour and thirty-five minutes, surpassing Ninja Spirit for the fastest clearing of a game in the show's history.
  • Even better, the game's final boss is the only time throughout the game where one can get a game over, which forces the player back to the title screen. Had Arino lost a second time, he would've had to start all the way from the beginning, crushing his chances at clearing the game in record time.
• Arino, Fukawa and Kaga take turns playing the Yamanote Line in Densha de Go! 64, and this time they make sure Arino runs last so the helpers don't end up stealing the spotlight. Thanks to a 5 seconds bonus earned by Fukawa in a previous station, Arino is able to reach Shinjuku on the first try despite a 10 seconds penalty for reaccerelating on the station. Only problem is that leaves him with just 4 seconds to advertise the film he's played a train conductor role in...
• Arino clears Dragon Quest I in 17 hours and on level 20 as recommended by the series' creator. The thing is that on the first attempt to fight the Dragonlord he mistakes Hurtmore for Healmore and realizes the spell deals massive damage despite being horribly innacurate. He then keeps jokingly insisting on it to no avail until, while on the ropes during the third attempt, he casts it twice in a row with his last few MP and the second actually hits, winning him the playthrough with style.
  • After much trying, he finally kills a Metal Slime and the entire staff cheers him on. Arino then realizes Metal Slimes grant surprisingly few exp in the original game, but he also happens to level up from the fight so it doesn't spoil his fun.
• Arino plays The Tower Of Druaga on a DVD exclusive episode and manages to beat it, even with the game's Guide Dang It! in full effect.
• The entire Captain Tsubasa 2 two-parter. The challenge room had the atmosphere of being in an actual soccer stadium, with all Gascoin staff cheering Arino on as he advanced the game's story.