| Tenchu | |
|---|---|
English logo |
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| Genres | Stealth |
| Developers | Acquire, From Software, K2 LLC |
| Publishers | Sony Music Entertainment, Activision, From Software, Sega, Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft |
| Creators | Acquire |
| Official website | http://www.tenchu.net/ |
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).
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The series takes place in 16th-century feudal Japan.[1] 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 sought to destroy Lord Gohda, and using his demon warrior Onikage, wreaked 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:
Unrelated to main storyline are: Tenchu: Fatal Shadows, Tenchu: Time of the Assassins, Tenchu: Dark Secret, Tenchu Z and Shadow Assault: Tenchu.
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").
The main characters of the Tenchu series 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.
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.
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (1998)
Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins (2000)
Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven (2003)
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (2008)
Tenchu: Fatal Shadows (2004)
Tenchu: Time of the Assassins (2005)
Tenchu: Dark Secret (2006)
Tenchu Z (2006)
Shadow Assault: Tenchu (2008)
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.
| Game | GameRankings | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| Tenchu: Stealth Assassins | (PS1) 86.45%[3] | (PS1) 87[4] |
| Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins | (PS1) 79.43%[5] | (PS1) 77[6] |
| Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven | (Mobile) 80.67%[7] (PS2) 79.62%[8] (Xbox) 70.09%[9] |
(PS2) 79[10] (Xbox) 70[11] |
| Tenchu: Shadow Assassins | (Wii) 70.16%[12] (PSP) 65.18%[13] |
(Wii) 70[14] (PSP) 68[15] |
In 2010, CraveOnline featured the Tenchu series on the list of Top 10 Ninja Games Of All Time.[16]
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