Hello and welcome to another instalment of Retro Revival, the series where I cover classic games that have been given a second chance at life. In this feature I cover HD remasters, emulated ports and compilations in part or as a while. This week I will be diving into another NEOGEO release with Sengoku, a hack and slash brawler developed by SNK in 1991. This title is available on modern platforms via the ACA NEOGEO series by Hamster Corporation.
Disclaimer: the games discussed in this feature have been my own purchases, so all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own. There has been no sponsorship of the content in this feature, with links to the games where available.
So with the introductions out of the way, let’s get started. I will be discussing the general gameplay experience, then provide my personal thoughts on the release.
About the game
400 years ago, a powerful warlord set out on a mission to conquer the world, terrorising towns and villages. Anyone in his path was met with brutal attacks, where death was their only escape. Two warriors joined forces to stop the warlord, finally defeating him after many fierce battles. Before the warlord fell, he uttered a prophecy that he will return in 400 years, becoming even stronger accompanied by another to enhance his power.
400 years pass and the prophecy comes true, with the evil warlord returning to lay siege to the world and conquer it. Two new warriors are chosen, with their great strength and resolve being the only way to save the world. This adventure is a side scrolling action brawler, where the player takes on waves of enemies, either alone or with a partner in co-op action. Over the course of six stages, the player will battle the underworld armies of the evil warlord.
Each stage in this game is rather long, with the player making their way through hordes of enemies, using combo attacks to beat them down. As the player takes down the various enemies, including samurai, demons and kunoichi in the warlords army, they will drop colored orbs. The orbs all have different effects, with green orbs recovering lost health when 10 are collected, as well as the yellow orb giving players an enhanced attack for a limited time.
The most important of the orbs are the Sword orbs, which will give the player a weapon for a limited amount of time. These orbs are separated into Red for the Katana, Blue for twin blades and Purple grants the two handed broadsword. When the player has a sword, their attack power is greatly enhanced, being able to slay common enemies in one to two strikes. All of the orbs will drop randomly, which adds an element of chaos to the combat.
During the course of the stages, the battlefield will change between the human world and the other world, with a beam of light transporting the warriors between the two. The visuals of the human world show modern locations, like the golden gate bridge and a shopping mall, whereas the other world has elements related to feudal Japan. These environment changes keep the action exciting, as they keep the stages from looking stagnant during play.
When defeating enemies in the other world there is the chance or allies to appear, with the old man and the goddess, who will provide powers to the heroes. The old man will provide physical power, with the goddess healing wounds that have been suffered in battle. There will also be special warrior spirits that will bond with the heroes, imbuing them with the power to transform for a limited time in battle. There are three warrior spirits that can appear.
The warrior spirits consist of the Ninja, Samurai and the Ninja Dog, who each have their own unique attack styles and power levels. They can also be enhanced by picking up the sword orbs, which will grant temporary enhance powers. Players can freely transform between the hero and the warrior spirits, hopping between forms via the push of a button. The spirit change has a time limit, disappearing when the timer expires, but they can be extended with careful play.
At set points of the stage, there will be mid bosses, with strong spirit creatures that will attack the heroes, which will keep players on their toes. When the player reaches the end of the stage, they will encounter the warlord generals. These are the most powerful of the warlord’s armies, who hold great power in battle. They also have the ability to transform, becoming great demons making each of the battles a two phase challenge to overcome.
Between stages, there are cutscenes that give the game a little cinematic flair, showing the main enemy for the coming stage which adds to the action theme of the game. As this is an arcade game there is a high difficulty curve, due to the way character stamina is managed. Players have 6 hit points, which decrease by varying amounts based on the enemy. If the heroes die in battle, they will revive immediately if they have lives left, if not players can use credits to continue.
As this is an ACA release, there are several settings that players will be able to adjust, with the difficulty, ability to continue and other settings to adjust. The most interesting is the lives setting, where the maximum number of lives can be set to 99, making it possible to clear the game in a single credit easily. This can really help players who may struggle with these types of games, as well as playing with others making it a fun time that is breezy to play through.
Players can also adjust the way the game looks, with a wider screen display, video filter settings and audio adjustment options. The CRT style shaders and filters give this game a more accurate look to the original hardware, adding scan lines and other visual tweaks. There is also a manual that can be referred to at any time to go over details of gameplay, tips for play and more. The controls can also be adjusted to fit any controller that is used for play.
The last part of the gameplay is the extra game modes included. There is the domestic Japanese version and the International release, giving players two options to play through the game. Then we have the High Score Mode, where players have a single credit on default settings to get as far as possible. Last is the Caravan mode, with a 5 minute timer to get the most points as possible. All of these modes have online rankings, letting players compete globally.
Personal Thoughts
I enjoy beat ‘em’ ups and brawlers, both alone and with others, as they are simple to pick up and play. This is one of those games that I didn’t play during the initial run of the NEOGEO, playing it via unofficial emulation on NeoRAGE and the compilations on PSP and Wii. When I did get to play it though, I thought the mix of the modern world and an ethereal feudal Japan spirit realm was pretty cool, as I enjoy the usage of Samurai themes in games.
The action is super simple to pick up, with only three buttons needed for the combo attack, jumping and transformation power. Combat is a lot of fun, even though the movement can be a little sluggish, but this isn’t a detriment to the overall experience. I really enjoy the transition system as it prevents the environments from getting repetitive, as that is one of the troubles that can occur with side scrollers, with background fatigue in long stages.
The bosses are also a good challenge, making it satisfying to beat them down, either solo or with someone else. My favourite experience with this game was recently, when I played through it with my wife as we have been exploring the NEOGEO library together. We cranked the lives up to 99, played through it and had a hell of a lot of fun, taking down the demonic army of the evil warlord. It is a good time and perfect for partners to jump into together.
This isn’t the longest game, as it takes about 45 minutes to get to the end credits, but it is one of those games that you can come back to time and again. That is part of what makes the NEOGEO library fun, as so many of the games can just be picked up and played through at any time. The sound and cinematic elements are also excellent, as they have this ghostly feel to it, with digitised voices that build on the atmosphere of it.
Sengoku is one of a limited number of brawlers on the NEOGEO, and one of the earliest as it released before Burning Fight (which I previously covered), making it an important title in the library. The game was also released in the home, with arcade perfect ports to the NEOGEO AES and NEO CD. It also released on the Super Famicom and the Mega-CD, which were limited in their accuracy to the original, but were passable for the time.
I appreciate everything that Sengoku offers, as it is a unique take on the belt action genre, with the multiple playable characters through transformation, weapon system and twin worlds. It does have some less than fantastic elements, like the awkward life system and slightly sluggish movement. But they don’t severely impact the fun that can be had. It is also very expensive on the secondary market, but it may become affordable if included as a future AES+ release.
If you have enjoyed this feature, then take a look at the other content available and see what catches your eye. There are reviews, sometimes news and features that cover a variety of games. There is the lost gems series, special Gaming Oddities and more coming in the future. So stick around for a while and check out the other content.
Link to Nintendo Switch Version (HERE)
Link to PlayStation version (HERE)
Link to Xbox version (HERE)
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