List of Challenges in Takeshi's Castle - R

R

• Rat Race: Slippery Wall, Honeycomb Maze, and Skipping Stones all thrown together to make one big long obstacle course. Music heard playing in the background of this game is an arranged version of the Hammer Brothers theme from Super Mario Brothers 3.

• Rice Bowl Downhill: Called Bowling Down the River in the original show, contestants had to sit in a bowl while being pushed down a hill into an area with water. Those who stayed in the bowl moved on. Called The Hot, Steaming Bowl of Love, Irritable Bowl Syndrome (or Training on a Teenager episode) on MXC. In Spain, the game was called Los tazones nipones (the Japanese bowls) in Tele5 and is called El tazón deslizante (the sliding bowl) in Cuatro.

• Ride The Wave: Players ride a bicycle made up like a whale on a course avoiding balls being shot at them by Kibaji and Strong (or Popcorn) over obstacles. In one episode they went in a straight line, but on an ice rink. Called Sperm Wheelers on MXC and Las biciballenas (The whalebikes) in Cuatro (Spain). The music heard playing in the background of this game is an arranged version of music used in the video game Star Soldier.

• Ro-Jim-Bo: Contestants play against an Emerald Guard by dancing to music and playing Jan-ken-pon, a Japanese variation of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Losers are lowered on a platform into oblivion. In MXC it is called Finger It!.

• Roller Derby: Described in the UK edition as "the Japanese version of the Grand National, but where every fence is Becher's Brook", six players wearing roller skates and dressed in costumes resembling thoroughbred horses have to clear obstacles in order to advance. As in Japanese horse racing, the first two to the finish line win. In MXC it is called Saddle Sores, and The Dark Horse Race in a politically-themed episode. In one episode of the UK version, Craig mentions there was a parents-and-kids version that was banned because of child cruelty laws (the children got seriously hurt) and as such, that version is not shown in the UK.

• Roll Out The Barrel: A giant version of the children's game "Pop Up Pirate". Also played in parents and kid specials. Contestants sit atop a large barrel on a disc. They ask the person to stick a sword in one of six holes. If it is right, then they try again, but if it is wrong, the top of the barrel tips them down a ramp on the disc into the water at the bottom. They must get three correct swords into the barrel. Named Dead Letter Zone on MXC, which cast the player's choices as the three digits of the answer to a comedic numerical trivia question. (Example: "In each grandstand section of a typical NASCAR race, how many fans are sporting a mullet?" Answer: 513.)

• Roll The Dice: Played in a couples' special. Each partner dressed up as a giant die, and were rolled down a hill to the bottom by the guards. According to Craig Charles, they both 'rolled' the same number, they went through, but uncut footage of the game suggests different. The music heard playing in the background of this game is from Athena.

• Rope: Earlier version of Bridge Ball and also an earlier incarnation of Strait of Gibraltar in the original show. The rules are exactly the same except a rope is used instead of a bridge and the contestant does not need a Golden Ball, making it harder for the contestants.

• Roulette: Players dig in a flour pit for a disk which tells them where to sit on the giant roulette board (either numbers, black/red, or even/odd). The wheel is then spun and whatever the ball lands on eliminated the people on that number/color/whatever. MXC gave this game three names: Bunk Buddies, Roulective Surgery and Cruelette.

• The Run Way (V1): Players run and jump onto a disk and must slide down a course and stop on an end zone. However the course changes shape so it's about shifting your weight. Two guards brush in front of the disk to put the contestant off. If the player falls off the course they land in a pile of fake snow. Think human curling.

• The Run Way (V2): The player sits in a cylinder and is pushed down a hill on some rollers. As they travel a math equation is flipped round on signs as they pass like " 3 + 4 x 2 - 10 =". The player then stops at the end and must give their answer to the teacher. If they are right they go through but if they are wrong or don't get it in time then the floor drops away and the contestant falls into a mud or flour pit. The name of this game on MXC is known as Sorry, Wrong Number or One and One Makes Two, and used the number as part of questions played for laughs. (Example: "You start with five cops, killing three of them with nine bullets, and you bribe six. How many of them were dirty?" {5-3+9+6=17}) In Brazil, it was called Mortemática (a pun on "morte"-death- and "mathematics").