Genpei ToumaDen
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| Genpei ToumaDen | |
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| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Release date(s) |  1986 |
| Genre(s) | Beat 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, PlayStation |
| Input | 8-way Joystick; 2 buttons |
| Arcade cabinet | Upright, cabaret, and cocktail |
| Arcade system(s) | Namco System 86 |
| Arcade display | Horizontal orientation, Raster |
Genpei ToumaDen (源平討魔伝?) is a beat 'em up arcade game that was released by Namco in 1986 only in Japan. It runs on Namco System 86 hardware. Over a decade later, the game was released in America as part of Namco Museum under the title The Genji and the Heike Clans.
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[edit] Gameplay
The player makes his way along a very strange landscape fighting enemies as they appear. The game offers three types of action: Small Mode (standard), Big Mode (standard, but with large characters and usually boss fights) and Plain Mode (viewed from an overhead perspective). Most stages have torii, which are used to transport the player to a different stage. On most stages featured in Side Mode and Plain Mode, there are multiple torii that can be entered which will lead to different routes on the map. In Big Mode, however, there is only one torii at the end of this type of stage.
The leading character is a real Japanese samurai called Taira no Kagekiyo (平景清), he died during the Battle of Dan-no-ura. In Genpei ToumaDen, he was resurrected and fights Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源義経) and Saito Musashibo Benkei (武蔵坊弁慶) over the Imperial Regalia of Japan, as well as to defeat his enemy Minamoto no Yoritomo (源頼朝). (The characters mentioned above did exist in Japan.)
The game also involved "Sanzunokawa" (The Sanzu River; literally "Trifurcate Rivers") (三途川), a place mentioned Buddhism in Japan which was said to be separating "the current life" and "the afterlife", resembling the concept Underworld or Hell (The river is often identified with the River Styx in Greek Mythology). Therefore, some mythological characters like Emma-o (閻魔大王; litereally "Enma Dai-o"), god of the Underworld, and Sun Goddess Amaterasu (ja:天照大神) appear in the game.
[edit] Ports
The game's first port was released on October 21, 1988 for the Nintendo Famicom. The game, as it's title screen suggests, is a "computer boardgame" - another way of saying it is an RPG game. Instead of platforming action like its arcade counterpart, the game is completely overhead view, with turn-based fighting.
In 1988, the game was ported to the Japanese Sharp X68000 home computer. The game was also ported to the PC Engine (the Japanese TurboGrafx-16) and released on March 16, 1990. These ports remained faithful to the arcade game, unlike the Famicom port.
Genpei ToumaDen was also featured on the Namco Museum Vol. 4 compilation game for the PlayStation game console, released in 1996 for Japan and 1997 for the U.S. and Europe. For the U.S. and European releases, the game was re-titled as The Genji and the Heike Clans. This would be the first time the original Genpei ToumaDen would make an appearance outside of Japan.
[edit] Sequel
Genpei ToumaDen: Kannoni, a sequel to Genpei ToumaDen, was released on April 7, 1992 for the PC Engine. Surprisingly enough, this game also had an American release re-titled, Samurai Ghost, for the TurboGrafx-16. This would be the first time a Genpei ToumaDen game would be released to the U.S. market.
[edit] Trivia
- The game's name translates from Japanese as "Genji and Heike Clans Defeat Demon Story".
- A Konami game called Getsufuu Maden, released for the Famicom in 1987, is often criticized for blatantly copying Genpei ToumaDen's "Underworld" concept, characters, and gameplay.
- Unlike most Japanese video games, Genpei ToumaDen's score display uses Kanji rather than Arabic numerals. For example, "○二五○○○", would be read as "025000" (25,000 points). Mirai Ninja, another Namco game, also uses Kanji numerals, this time for the player's life meter.
- In the PS2 game Genji: Dawn of the Samurai, the roles were reversed, whereby Kagekiyo was one of the main villains, while Yoshitsune and Benkei were the main heroes. The game followed history more accurately; Yoshitsune was a true hero, historically.
- Kagekiyo also appears in the crossover game Namco X Capcom, whereas he teams up with Tarosuke, the child hero of Yokai Douchuuki. In addition, Yoshitsune, Benkei and Yoritomo also appeared in NxC as bosses.
