Tenchu: Stealth Assassins

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
Developer(s)	Acquire
Publisher(s)	JP Sony Music Entertainment inc. NA Activision EU Activision
Composer(s)	Noriyuki Asakura
Platform(s)	PlayStation
Release date(s)	JP February 26, 1998 NA August 31, 1998 EU 1998
Genre(s)	Stealth
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	BBFC: 18 ESRB: M

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins is a stealth game developed by Acquire and published by Sony Music Entertainment inc. in Japan and Activision in North America and Europe for the PlayStation in 1998.

Tenchu is known for its stealth gameplay and the eerie settings of feudal Japan. It was one of the first ninja games to incorporate stealth, a very crucial aspect of ninjiutsu. However, aside from featuring traditional martial arts in battles, the game incorporates elements of fantasy and Japanese mythology. The game also used motion capture where actor/martial artist Sho Kosugi and his son, Kane, were hired as actors for the game's combat moves.

Story

The game takes place in feudal Japan, introducing a pair of ninja: Rikimaru (力丸) and Ayame (彩女), members of the Azuma ninja clan since childhood. The two ninja serve the heroic Lord Gohda, and work for him as his secret spies to root out corruption and gather intelligence in his province. However, the evil demonic sorcerer Lord Mei-Oh seeks to destroy Lord Gohda, and using his demon warrior Onikage who wreaks havoc throughout Lord Gohda's province.

Gameplay

Rikimaru, armed with a single ninjato, is stronger than Ayame but relatively slower. Ayame carries a pair of tantos(although she does carry wakazashis in the second game) and is faster and has more combos than Rikimaru, but is the weaker of the two. All of the levels take place at night to compensate for the technical limitations of the PlayStation; the game's high rate of redraw is reduced by setting events at night and reducing the distance the player can see. Both characters are armed with a grappling hook which allows them to zip up to the tops of buildings and move freely across rooftops, which gave the game a sense of verticality that was rare among most action/adventure games of the time.

Characters

• Rikimaru is the servant and protector of Lord Gohda. He has obtained the sixth sense allowing special vision.
• Ayame is the loyal friend of Lord Gohda's daughter, Princess Kiku. They act like sisters toward each other but she, like Rikimaru, is a ninja protecting Lord Gohda.
• Lord Gohda is the leader and loyal royal of this ancient time. He has a daughter, Kiku, as well as two ninjas just as part as his protection. He has a counsel, Sekiya, who is also the trainer of Ayame and Rikimaru.
• Princess Kiku is the daughter of Lord Gohda and best friend of Ayame. She is respective to and from Ayame especially at training. At the end of the game, she is kidnapped, but is rescued.
• Mei-Oh is a powerful demigod and boss of Tenchu: Stealth Assassins. He is the first to employ the services of Onikage.
• Onikage - a ninja who serves Mei-oh and is the series' recurring antagonist. He has fought against Rikimaru several times, and he considers Rikimaru to be his ultimate rival, despite him being human, while Onikage is demonic in nature.

Cast

Character	Voice actor (Japanese)	Voice actor (English)
Rikimaru	Toru Okawa	Paul Lucas (actor)
Ayame	Youko Soumi	Terry Osada
Sekiya	Kouichi Kitamura	Takeshi Kuwabara
Gohda	Yousuke Akimoto	Takeshi Kuwabara
Princess Kiku	Ikue Ohtani	Yumiko Yasuoka
Echigoya	Masaaki Tsukada	Takeshi Kuwabara
Sasaki	Kiyoshi Kobayashi	Kiyomi Shimada
Goo	Akimitsu Takase	Kazuhiko Amagai
Onikage	Hisao Egawa	Seiichi Hirai
Tazu	Atsuko Tanaka	Maki Inoue
Akechi	Junpei Norita	Hiroki Morita
Hikone	Atsushi Ii	Junichiro Tsuge
Kataoka	Yasuo Owata	Takeshi Kuwabara
Bizenya	Masaaki Tsukada	Paul Lucas (actor)
On	Tamio Ohiki	Kiyomi Shimada
Balmer	Mitsuaki Hoshino	Aaron Casillas
Mei-Oh	Tamio Ohiki	Takeshi Kuwabara
Narration	Kiyoshi Kobayashi	Robert Belgrade

Versions and expansions

Japanese version

The Japanese version of the game is somewhat different from the Western version and the remake Shinobi Gaisen. The game came with 8 levels (missing Cross the Checkpoint and Punish the Corrupt Minister) and each level only has one layout. The option screen, character select and level select all come with different graphics. The boss characters have different weapons and before each level there is a small amount of Japanese dialogue that gives more detail into the game. The fighting moves are also different, whereas on the later version, mashing the button for attacks is all well and good, but in this version each strike must be timed to get the full flurry of moves. The 180 degree reverse roll is also absent.

Tenchu: Shinobi Gaisen

Tenchu was re-released in Japan on February 24, 1999 with many updates, including different mission layouts, all the stages seen in the American and European versions (levels 4 and 5 were missing in the original) and four selectable languages: Japanese, English, Italian and French.

The main feature of this version was its mission editor. The possibilities in creating missions were endless and it generated a special edition disc with the 100 best missions created by Japanese players called Tenchu: Shinobi Hyakusen.

Tenchu: Shinobi Hyakusen

Tenchu: Shinobi Hyakusen is an expansion pack for Tenchu. It was released on November 11, 1999 for the PlayStation. It is a standalone expansion, meaning it does not require the disc for the main game.

The game is based on the levels created by the users of Shinobi Gaisen. Acquire held a competition for these levels, and the best one hundred missions were collected, and ultimately formed Tenchu: Shinobi Hyakusen. There are also secret missions to unlock. The whole game consists of 122 missions. The theme of each mission focuses on a chosen objective. Some missions emphasise elimination, while others focus on assassination, finding a peculiar flower or protecting Princess Kiku along the way.

The game fundamentals and controls remained unchanged. However, missions in Shinobi Hyakusen are not bound together by any storyline. Playing through the missions earns the player FMV and other promotional videos, beta test captures, artwork and other behind-the-scenes material otherwise not accessible.

Greatest Hits release

The Greatest Hits release features the new Japanese version intro movie.

Development

A video of an early prototype build of the game was featured in Tenchu: Shinobi Hyakusen, showing a science-fiction type ninja game whose gameplay style was also very different from the one in the final version.

Reception

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins has generally positive reviews. GameRankings rated it 86.45%, GameSpot Rating it 8.3 saying "Tenchu excels in every way that counts". And IGN rating Tenchu 9.0 saying "Tenchu's the kind of game you would only find on a system such as PlayStation. Tenchu is a brand new kind of adventure game that has never been done before. You are a ninja and must operate strictly in the ways of a ninja—quietly, in the shadows, unnoticed, with cunning intelligence and speed."

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Tenchu: Stealth Assassins at MobyGames