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User Rating: 8.9 | Tenchu San: Kaiki no Shou XBOX
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
