TGS 2008: Ikki Tousen: Eloquent Fist Hands-on

TOKYO--The side-scrolling beat-'em-up has been something of a neglected genre in recent years in Europe and the US, but it has been fairly well served in Japan, particularly when it comes to anime titles.

Ikki Tousen: Eloquent Fist is based on the slightly risque anime Ikki Tousen, which centres around the tribulations of a number of high schools constantly at war with one another on the streets of Tokyo and the surrounding area. Some of these characters have been imbued with the spirits of ancient Chinese warriors, and so possess superhuman fighting abilities.

The premise of the game is simple--you control one of 15 characters fighting for control and dominance over the region. The gameplay is fairly simple, but challenging in places. You need to progress from one end of a level to another, defeating enemies in your path. One face button is the standard attack, with combos flowing naturally as long as you keep hitting the button, with these ranging from standard jabs to overhead kicks and other fancy tricks accompanied by animation that can only be said to be gratuitous. There is then also a special attack button, which varies for each character, with attacks such as a vaguely shoryukenlike fireball, and finally, a powerful move that hits everything onscreen but takes away some of your health.

The game isn't purely 2D either, as there is a certain depth of field down the roads you're fighting on. Most of the enemies look to be those from competing schools, but some look more like general hoodlums--and some are even armed with staff and projectile weapons. The streets are also littered with vending machines, recycling bins, and, somewhat more strangely, oil drums. These contain items of value and health-replenishing items--easily gettable with a swift kick. Most enemies are dispatched with three blows, or so, though some take a little more.

Points are awarded based on damage done, and bonus points are awarded at the end of a level based upon the total number of blows landed and the highest number of consecutive blows. The counter for consecutive blows is reset when you are struck, or you go too long without hitting anyone.

Get through a few streets, and you are rewarded with a boss fight against a much more powerful character. While we didn't fully understand what was going on, the one boss fight we encountered seemed to be against a female teacher.

While it seems unlikely that this game will be released outside of Japan, it looks to be one that fans of old-school beat-'em-ups with a penchant for anime should keep an eye on, just in case.