Tenchu
Reviewed by Dyson Turner
Tenchu is one of my favorite games of all time. I remember
since being a little boy how I loved sides scrollers
especially ninja games. Game like Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi
at the time were the best games there were and nothing
compared to them. For a while ninja games were rarely seen,
besides the excellent Shinboi series that was for Genesis.
Then I bought this gem for my PSX Tenchu, it was a ninja
game lovers dream. 3D atmosphere, swords, Japanese time
setting is what this game was about. No longer were ninja
games confined to the usual ninja star throwing nuts and
side scrolling. This opened up a 3D arena where you moved
freely through dark towns and got the sneak attack from
rooftops or around corners on unsuspecting guards.
Story 10/10
Well actually the story didn't develop to later on in the
game their never was any 's et' story in this game. You did
jobs for your master Matsunshin Gohda, there were two ninjas
Rikimaru a leader of the Azuma Shinobi-ryu ninja sect and
Ayame, a young ninja. These ninjas went on odd jobs for
their master Gohda for example Find the Herb, Deliver the
Message, Punish The Merchant and others. The other
characters in the story were:
Rikimaru- a 25 year old ninja who was trained since birth to
be in the Azuma Shinobi-ryu. He has been working for Lord
Gohda for 9 years and gained much respect among his peers
for his selfless dedication to his master and saving people.
The sword he carries is called the Izayoi, which is very
powerful and legendary.
Ayame is a 21 year old ninja. She has been trained since
childhood to become a ninja she has served Gohda for 7
years. Gohda's daughter Princess Kiku is like a little
sister to Ayame. Ayame is considered to be tough and kind of a bragger.
There are other characters too like Onikage an evil guy who
will always pop up at the most in opportune times, and Princess Kiku.
Graphics 10/10
The graphics were gorgeous. Every level gave you the feeling
that you were actually in Feudal Japan, in the 1700's, With
the old houses and the rooftops. The 2 characters Rikimaru
and Ayame looked great. They were both a nice sized and
moved pretty quickly and very fluently with the button
presses. The backgrounds were great especially in side of
the caverns it really looked like it was lit with
torchlight. The snow that came down in the evacuate the
castle stage, looked realistic and added to the atmosphere.
When you killed someone using stealth a shower of blood
would come out, and if you did the behind sneak attack its
head might come off. Overall the graphics on this game was
real good, and it made it even more enjoyable.
Sound 10/10
This game also some very calming and Japanese like music.
With just small voices humming over the music, during some
themes. It sounded very good, and it added to the atmosphere
during play. The attacks were perfect with the voices and
sword swipes. It actually sounded like your weapon was
cutting through the skin or if you missed. The voices were
good too, sometimes you would hear guards yawn or say Nice
Night. When they spotted you they would say you! When you
got attacked you would do a little yell. Bosses usually
talked, and some of them had the same voices all though they
tried to cover this up. The sound department did well to
produce a great game.
GamePlay 10/10
This game was for 1 player only. Before you started your
mission you had the choice of two characters. Rikimaru and
Ayame, Ayame was quicker and better at Stealth than Rikimaru
because she is smaller. Rikimaru was better at actual combat
depending on what you like to do more is whom you should
pick. Personally I liked Ayame because the sneak attack with
her is much cooler than Rikimaru. You had your stealth
moves, which were the coolest moves in the game. Both Ninjas
did a behind the back jugular slice. Then their was the
impale move, but the only moves different that were Stealth
was Rikimaru's combo were here would break your shoulder
then break your are reset it then break your neck. Ayame did
a hurricarana and landed you right on your neck, these two
were harder to pull off but worth it. You also got a rank
after you completed each stage. You got anywhere from thug,
to Grand Master. If you got Grand Master you got a special
item which could be used in the next stage. These Special
items were mega cool, some were fire breathing, decoy,
chameleon spell. To raise your rank you had to get barely
spotted and do a majority of un detected kills. The more the
better, because you should try for the master ninja. You had
special moves, which helped your stealthness, like the
ability to crouch and slide along walls. These were good
when you were spotting a guard to kill and they couldn't see
you. You also had combination moves, which were easy to come
by, for those unfortunate times when you were spotted. You
did get shruikens if you did well, and sometimes you would
find them in the course of the stage these were good for
killing an enemy from a rooftop. You had a grappling which
were used to get on rooftops so you can watch a multitude of
enemies from a high place. Some stages however had guards on
the rooftop, these guards were usually tough up there as
well. The difficulty was intermediate mostly. You had the
memory card for saves as well.
Overall 10 out of 10
This was a fabulous game, not too many other ninja games
that I have experience even come close to the fun this game
had to offer. Some people would have wished for a 2 player
simultaneous mode, it had been great as well. I really would
have enjoyed this game if there were a split screen for this
and you both can help each other to win. Well maybe in a
sequel if one ever comes out. The replay value is high
because you should try to get the grand master rank on every
stage to see what new items you will obtain. The fun factor
is particularly high as well, because getting the surprise
attack on enemies was truly great. Another only problem I
had with this game was their weren't any cut scenes. I think
if it had cut scenes instead of just the talking it would
have made it even more enjoyable and fun. If you enjoy old
kung fu movies and old ninja games then this is definitely for you.
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