is a 1983

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the " ar ...

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

developed by Kōji Sumii (住井浩司) and released by

ASCII ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...

for the Sharp X1 computer, followed by ports to the

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-p ...

, FM-7, NEC PC-6001,

NEC PC-8801 The , commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan. The PC-8800 series sold extremely well and became one of the three major Japan ...

and NEC PC-9801 computer platforms, as well as an altered version released for the

Family Computer The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redes ...

console and later the Virtual Console service. It revolves around a leader who must lead an army in phalanx formation across a battlefield in

real-time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...

against overwhelming enemy forces while freeing and recruiting soldiers along the way, with each unit able to gain experience and level up through battle. The player must make sure that the leader stays alive, until the army reaches the enemy castle to defeat the leader of the opposing forces. The game was responsible for laying the foundations for the tactical role-playing game genre, or the "simulation RPG" genre as it is known in Japan, with its blend of

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to Acting, act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-pl ...

and

strategy game A strategy game or strategic game is a game (e.g. a board game) in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decisio ...

elements. The game has also variously been described as an early example of an

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...

, an early prototype real-time strategy game,Dru Hill: The Chronicle of Druaga
,

1UP In video games, a life is a play-turn that a player character has, defined as the period between start and end of play. Lives refer to a finite number of tries before the game ends with a game over. It is sometimes called a chance, a try, rest ...

and a unique reverse

tower defense Tower defense (TD) is a subgenre of strategy games where the goal is to defend a player's territories or possessions by obstructing the enemy attackers or by stopping enemies from reaching the exits, usually achieved by placing defensive struc ...

game.Gems In The Rough: Yesterday's Concepts Mined For Today
Gamasutra In its time, the game was considered a major success in Japan.

Release

Originally developed in 1983 for the Sharp X1 computer, it won

ASCII Entertainment was a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Group Holdings in 2004, and merged with another Kadokawa subsidiary MediaWorks on April 1, 2008, becoming ASCII Media Works. The company published '' ...

's first "Software Contest" and was sold boxed by them that year. An

port was then released in 1984, followed in 1985 by versions for the S1, PC-6000mkII, PC-8801, PC-9801, FM-7 and the

(the latter released on December 14, 1985). LOGiN Magazine's November 1984 issue featured a sequel for the X1 entitled ''New Bokosuka Wars'' with the source code included. With all-new enemy characters and redesigned items and traps, the level of difficulty became more balanced. It was also included in Tape Login Magazine's November 1984 issue, but never sold in any other form. The PC-8801 version used to be sold as a download from Enterbrain and was ported for the i-Mode service in 2004. The Famicom version was released for the Wii Virtual Console on April 8, 2008. A sequel, ''Bokosuka Wars II'' was released in Japan on November 10, 2016 for the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

and Xbox One. A western release was released in February 2017 for Xbox One and October 2017 for PlayStation 4. A

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

version was released on March 19, 2020 in Japan.

Plot

In the later Famicom version, King Suren's forces have been captured and turned into trees and rocks by King Ogereth. King Suren has to release his warriors from trees and rocks, and defeat King Ogereth's forces. The allies coming from trees and rocks only appear in the Famicom version. In the earlier X1, MSX and PC computer versions, however, the player starts with a complete army and may gain some extra knights by freeing them from prison cells, not from trees or rocks. There are no soldiers turned into objects in the original computer versions.

Gameplay

The player can control three chess-like units: the King, Knight, and Pawn. Pressing the D-Pad will move King Suren and his army in the desired direction. Captive soldiers are freed using a knight to break the gates in front of them. In the Famicom version, the player starts the game with only King Suren at 597m, and acquires more allies by bumping against trees, cacti, rocks, and walls using King Suren, which will restore them to their normal form. Throughout the world of Bokosuka there are obstacles only certain characters can pass. The gates in which Soldiers are locked can only be broken by Knights. Death tiles will kill all characters except Soldiers who will remove them when they step on them. The walls at 500m, 400m, 300m, and 200m can only be broken by King Suren. When one unit collides with another, a battle takes place. The tile will change to an icon of crossed swords and a then a B (for battle). The victory is automatically calculated by the computer based on the difference between the offensive strengths of the units. If King Suren dies, the game ends, announcing "WOW! YOU LOSE!". When King Suren succeeds in defeating King Ogreth, the game ends with "BRAVO! YOU WIN!" The Japanese instruction manual contains the lyrics "Onward, Bokosuka" (すすめボコスカ) to the peculiar game music, written by the programmer himself.

References

{{reflist

External links

darkscarfy.tripod.com
on Nintendo's Japanese Virtual Console site 1983 video games Action role-playing video games ASCII Corporation games Japan-exclusive video games MSX games Nintendo Entertainment System games NEC PC-8801 games NEC PC-6001 games NEC PC-9801 games FM-7 games Role-playing video games Sharp X1 games Strategy video games Tactical role-playing video games Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games

Release

Plot

Gameplay

See also

References

External links