Tenchu

Genre(s)	Stealth game
Developer(s)	Acquire, From Software, K2 LLC
Publisher(s)	Sony Music Entertainment, Activision, From Software, Sega, Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft
Creator(s)	Acquire

Tenchu (天誅) is the title of a stealth game series of video games originally developed by Acquire wherein the player assumes the role of a ninja.

The title in Japanese literally translates in English as: "Divine Retribution", with 天 (ten), meaning heaven and 誅 (chu), meaning death penalty (another translation of this phrase, Wrath of Heaven is the title of the first PlayStation 2 entry in the series).

Storyline

The series takes place in 16th-century feudal Japan. The original story (Stealth Assassins) revolves around two ninja, Rikimaru and Ayame, who have been both 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, wreaks havoc throughout Lord Gohda's province. Although Mei-Oh was killed in the first game, Onikage appeared in all subsequent games (except Fatal Shadows) as the archenemy of the two ninja, especially Rikimaru. Another major character who shows up frequently is Princess Kiku, Lord Gohda's daughter who is often the damsel in distress.

The storyline has been continuously expanded with the release of newer Tenchu games.

• Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins is the prequel to Stealth Assassins which depicts Rikimaru and Ayame as teenagers first being taught the ways of the ninja by their master Shiunsai, this game also indicate their fellow ninja and former master of the Azuma clan Tatsumaru.
• Tenchu: Stealth Assassins is the continuation of Birth of the Stealth Assassins. This story takes place after Tenchu 2, which is set 7 years earlier.
• Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven is the continuation of Stealth Assassins.
• Tenchu: Shadow Assassins is the continuation of Wrath of Heaven.

Unrelated to main storyline are:

• Tenchu: Fatal Shadows is the PS2 game.
• Tenchu: Time of the Assassins is the PSP game.
• Tenchu: Dark Secret is the Nintendo DS game.
• Tenchu Z is the Xbox 360 game.
• Shadow Assault: Tenchu is an Xbox Live arcade game.

Gameplay

The game perspective is third-person. There are numerous items to help the ninja on his/her mission, but unlockable items can be acquired if the player gets a "Grand Master" rating at the end of the level by being as stealthy as possible. Items and controls vary from game to game, but the gameplay is essentially the same throughout with the exception of Tenchu: Shadow Assassins. Stealth is a very important element in the game, where players have to duck, crouch, and hide behind walls to avoid detection. Enemies can be killed with one manoeuvre by using Stealth Kills, and a player can avoid detection by using the Ki meter. The larger the number, the closer the player's position to an enemy. If a player is spotted, the Ki meter will turn red, the enemy will alert everyone in the area, and the player is forced to fight hand-to-hand or hide somewhere until the enemies give up their search and resume their patrol routes (similar to Metal Gear Solid's "Soliton Radar").

Characters

The main characters of the game are Rikimaru and Ayame. Rikimaru is a tall, silver-haired ninja with a single ninjato named "Izayoi" and a scar over his right eye. He is physically stronger than Ayame but relatively slower. Ayame is a kunoichi or female ninja who wears standard ninja clothes with her midriff exposed. She carries a pair of kodachi. She is faster and could perform more combos than Rikimaru, but is the weaker of the two.

Games

Activision purchased the rights to this game from Sony Music Entertainment, who originally published the game in Japan. However, Activision sold the rights to the Japanese game publisher From Software in 2004.

From Software's rights agreement does not include games previously published by Activision. From Software licensed distribution of Fatal Shadows to Sega and Tenchu Z to Microsoft.

Main Series

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (1998)

• Platform: PlayStation
• Developer: Acquire
• Publisher: Sony Music Entertainment, Activision

Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins (2000)

• Platform: PlayStation
• Developer: Acquire
• Publisher: Activision

Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven (2003)

• Platform: PlayStation 2, Xbox, Mobile Phone, PlayStation Portable
• Developer: K2
• Publisher: Activision, From Software

Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (2008)

• Platform: Wii, PlayStation Portable
• Developer: Acquire, From Software
• Publisher: From Software, Ubisoft (Europe/North America)

Spin-Offs

Tenchu: Fatal Shadows (2004)

• Platform: PlayStation 2
• Developer: K2
• Publisher: From Software, Sega

Tenchu: Time of the Assassins (2005)

• Platform: PlayStation Portable
• Developer: K2
• Publisher: From Software, Sega

Tenchu: Dark Secret (2006)

• Platform: Nintendo DS
• Developer: Polygon Magic
• Publisher: From Software, Nintendo

Tenchu Z (2006)

• Platform: Xbox 360
• Developer: K2
• Publisher: From Software, Microsoft

Shadow Assault: Tenchu (2008)

• Platform: Xbox Live Arcade
• Developer: From Software
• Publisher: From Software

There was an additional Japan-exclusive release for Tenchu on the PlayStation. One hundred of the best competing levels designed with the level editor of Tenchu: Shinobi Gaisen (an expanded version of Tenchu re-released in Japan) were put together to form a stand-alone, non-story based expansion set called Tenchu: Shinobi Hyakusen. The engine and game fundamentals remained unchanged. Shinobi Hyakusen is still famous for the hardest level settings among Tenchu fans, especially because of the tight time limits and the overall lack of the items, excluding the caltrops and the throwing stars. No North American or European versions were released however.

Several games were also ported to mobile phones with graphic changes. This includes: Tenchu: Ayame's Tale 3D which was released for The Sony Ericsson mobile phone series and Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven by TKO-Software and Digital Bridges which was released for mobile phones in 2005, although it used two-dimensional graphics.

Reception

Aggregate review scores
As of February 26, 2011.

Game	GameRankings	Metacritic
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins	86.45%	87
Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins	79.43%	77
Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven	(Mobile) 80.67% (PS2) 79.62% (Xbox) 70.09%	(PS2) 79 (Xbox) 70 (Mobile) -
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins	(Wii) 70.16% (PSP) 65.18%	(Wii) 70 (PSP) 68

In 2010, CraveOnline featured the Tenchu series in the article Top 10 Ninja Games Of All Time.

See also

• List of ninja video games
• Shinobido: Way of the Ninja - a 2006 PlayStation 2 game also developed by Acquire with similar gameplay and stealth/action principals.

External links

• Official website (From Software Tenchu games) Template:Jp icon
• Tenchu at MobyGames
• Template:Tvtropes
• Tenchu Checkpoint Forums