Developer: Psikyo Publisher: 505 Games Release: 03/06 Genre: Shooter
I like the Sengoku series of shooters. Honestly though first game was a bog standard shooter despite its charming cast of characters and excellent Psikyo art direction. Sengoku Blade goes a long way toward giving the series an identity with killer graphics and gameplay. I will freely admit some of my interest in Sengoku Blade is due to a certain shrine maiden. Let’s just say she has one hell of a glow-up. Ignore that, the game rises above its very obvious fan service to be a great shooter worth your time. Europeans were lucky to get this under the name Tengai but whatever version you get this is worth your time.
The simple plot finds the various characters on a quest to save a kidnapped princess from an evil warlord. Some are looking for family members, some want revenge while others are chasing money. Most of the cast is brand new but the returning favorites have changes. I’m looking at you Koyori. Sengoku Ace largely stayed in the arcade so it is not as popular. Sengoku Blade is more popular not just because it is a better game but also due to its home ports. The Saturn version has the most extras but is very rare and expensive. The Japanese version bundles it with its predecessor for a nice 1-2 punch. In Europe the two games were separate releases at a budget price which makes them worth seeking out.
Whereas Sengoku Ace was created in the mold of Aero Fighters (same designer) Sengoku Blade gives the cast more flavor. The cast of characters now fly solo rather than in planes and have unique psychic powers. Everyone has a distinct primary shot, sub-weapon, charged attack, and bomb. These are wildly different: while everyone’s main weapon is straightforward their sub options and charged shots vary. Shomaru creates four mirrors that are like options while Koyori has homing orbs and a familiar that munches on enemies. Hagane’s weapons are all based on their spears and is the most similar to the Aero Fighter’s cast. The bombs are just as varied and the game is not shy about dropping these. However if you want to maximize your score you need to be frugal in their use.
Sengoku Blade switches the viewpoint to horizontal scrolling but suffers no loss in action. In fact one might say it is even more frantic. The change in perspective allows them to drown the screen with sprites and bullets while giving more room to maneuver. Your experience drastically varies depending on the character. Due to the strength and behavior of their various abilities some have a rougher go of it than others. Hagane is slow but immensely powerful while Junis is kind of lacking. My favorite is Koyori as she is well-rounded. I have to give special mention to the art direction. The game looks fantastic with generous parallax scrolling and some of the coolest looking samurai mecha this side of M.U.S.H.A.
Sengoku Blade is tough. The game is generous with its power-ups and most of the characters have their strengths and weaknesses. Yet the difficulty spike that comes around the midpoint can be jarring. The first four stages are in a random order. After that the game kicks in to high gear with bullets flying left and right and dense enemy patterns. As much as you might want to hoard bombs for the score bonus it is all but impossible to avoid using them in the back half. That only helps somewhat. The game is lenient when it comes to death; coming in contact with an enemy only stuns and drops your weapons down a level. Bullets are still instant kills which is where most of your deaths will come. Even though the challenge is high I was enjoying it; it is far from the likes of bullet hell and straightforward.
Unlike most shooters from the mid-90s there are no complex scoring mechanics in Tengai. Certain enemies drop coins that rotate before falling off screen. Coins award 200, 500, 1000 or 2000 points depending on when they are collected during their animation. The temptation to maximize the point bonus has to be tempered by impending danger. This especially applies to the later levels where coins are most prevalent. In addition once you reach the maximum bomb stock each additional award 10,000 points which incentivizes hoarding. This is a tough proposition as the late stages ratchet up the action tremendously. You will probably manage one extend at most unless you are an absolute machine at shooters. The game is manageable without them but will take serious skill to loop.
In Closing
Tengai is a fantastic game with fast action and a great cast of characters that give it a ton of replay value. It presents a good challenge yet is still accessible to shooter novices. I knew it would be good based on the developer’s pedigree; Psikyo created some of my favorite games in the genre. But I tempered my expectations as the game is old. I did not need to be cautious as Tengai has held up and is still good for a quick run with its diverse cast.
