is a series of war

strategy video game Strategy is a major video game genre that emphasizes thinking and planning over direct instant action in order to achieve victory. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, as a genre, strategy games are most commonly defi ...

s by SystemSoft and SystemSoft Alpha in Japan. The series debuted in Japan in 1985 with exclusively for the

NEC PC-98 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2000. The platform established NEC's dominance in the Japanese personal computer market, and, by 1999, more th ...

. Games in the franchise have been released for many platforms including the

PC-88 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 Japane ...

, X1,

FM-7 The FM-7 ("Fujitsu Micro 7") is a home computer created by Fujitsu. It was first released in 1982 and was sold in Japan and Spain. It is a stripped-down version of Fujitsu's earlier FM-8 computer, and during development it was referred to as th ...

, MSX,

Famicom 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 ...

Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan a ...

Turbo CD The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, thoug ...

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...

Game Gear The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear pri ...

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South ...

, Sega Saturn,

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nint ...

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...

, Nintendo DS, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable,

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...

, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4,

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

and other mobile devices. In April 1993, ''

Famicom Tsūshin formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...

'' (''Famitsu'') magazine awarded the ''Daisenryaku'' series a world record for being ported to the most

game consoles A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a ...

. It was ported to seven consoles up until then, including the Game Boy and Mega Drive.

Daisenryaku titles

Personal Computer

Console

Handheld

Mobile Phone

Notable games

Early titles

is the first title in the series, released in November 1985 exclusively for the

. It sold 20,000 copies. Its successor, ''Daisenryaku II'', modified game systems including the order of unit's move, the defence statistic of cities, indirect fire, warships, and increased a variety of weapons. It sold 50,000 copies. Daisenryaku II was too rich and complex for 8-bit computers, so it was ported to 8-bit computers and gaming consoles as a simplified version titled ''Super Daisenryaku''. ''Daisenryaku III'' changed the game system from turn-based strategy to real-time strategy. Daisenryaku titles for the PC-98 had been developed for its built-in BASIC interpreter (N88-BASIC(86), a variant of

Microsoft BASIC Microsoft BASIC is the foundation software product of the Microsoft company and evolved into a line of BASIC interpreters and compiler(s) adapted for many different microcomputers. It first appeared in 1975 as Altair BASIC, which was the first ...

). ''Daisenryaku III'' was very slow, so it was superseded by the pre-compiled distribution of ''Daisenryaku III '90''.

Advanced Daisenryaku

''Advanced Daisenryaku'' is a

war game A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...

. The game takes place during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and the player can either play as Germany, its allies or its opponents. Multiplayer games are possible, using the modem that was sold for the Sega Mega Drive.

Daisenryaku Expert WWII: War in Europe

is a

game that takes place during

at either the Eastern Front or the Western Front. There is a

scenario In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; ) is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action describing the plot of a play, and was literally pi ...

mode and a

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

mode. By default, the player controls the Third Reich but it can be changed prior to starting the game. An remake of the game was released in 2006 for the PlayStation 2 as a part of the Sega Ages 2500 series.

Iron Storm

''Iron Storm'' is the 1996 North American release of for the Sega Saturn. The game takes place within the context of

. The game is played as either

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, or Japan. The outcomes of certain battles result in a change in the path of the war. ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

'' gave the game an 8 out of 10, praising the ability to view the outcome of each battle in cinematic view and the use of experience points.

Advanced Daisenryaku 2001

''Advanced Daisenryaku 2001'' is a sequel to the World War II strategy game ''Advanced Daisenryaku: Europe no Arashi - Doitsu Dengeki Sakusen''. Advanced Daisenryaku 2001 included some bug fixes and improved graphics.

Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics

''Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics'' (known simply as ''Daisenryaku VII'' in Japan) is a

turn-based tactics Turn-based tactics (TBT), or tactical turn-based (TTB), is a computer and video game genre of strategy video games that through stop-action simulates the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics in generally s ...

videogame Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedb ...

for the

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

, which was produced by

Kemco Kemco (abbreviated from Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) is a Japanese video game developer and publisher established in 1984. It is headquartered in Kure, Hiroshima. One of its best known franchises is the ''Top Gear'' series ...

and released in 2004 (in the United States). In December 2007 the game was ported to the PlayStation 2 by Valcon Games.

Daisenryaku Portable

''Daisenryaku Portable'' is a military

turn-based strategy A turn-based strategy (TBS) game is a strategy game (usually some type of wargame, especially a strategic-level wargame) where players take turns when playing. This is distinguished from real-time strategy (RTS), in which all players play si ...

game for the PlayStation Portable published by

Genki Genki may refer to: *Genki (company), a Japanese video game company *Genki (era), a Japanese era name *Genki (given name) Genki (written: 元気, 元喜, 元基, 元規, 源気 or 源基) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with th ...

. The game takes place on a battlefield of hexagons, upon which the player assembles an army. The aim is to capture cities and factories, in order to increase available resources. The hexagons are rendered in an isometric view with no rotation supported, but the individual attacks are rendered in 3D. The game supports use of the ad hoc wireless mode of the PlayStation Portable for two player multiplayer. The main campaign takes place in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

in the twenty-first century. The factions in the game are fictional versions of Japan, USA, Russia, China, South Korea, and North Korea.

Daisenryaku Portable 2

''Daisenryaku Portable 2'' is a military

game for the PlayStation Portable published by

. It is a sequel to Daisenryaku Portable, and is set in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. The player does not control any country, instead controlling the supranational army named "Wild Geese".

Moe moe 2-ji Daisen (ryaku)

This version of the franchise features World War II, but using

mecha musume is a form of anthropomorphism in anime and manga where '' moe'' qualities are given to non-human beings (such as animals, plants, supernatural entities and fantastical creatures), objects, concepts, or phenomena. In addition to ''moe'' feature ...

. It includes units from Japan, Germany, America, Britain, and Soviet. The game grid is hexagonal, but characters are in isometric view. The game separated into strategy and adventure mode. Player can play the Pacific Ocean (as Japanese), or the Europe (as German) campaigns. The strategy mode is played in turn-based mode. The Deluxe version for PlayStation 2 and PSP added a new campaign for allied forces, new characters, and made a few gameplay and visual adjustments.

Daisenryaku Perfect: Senjō no Hasha

''Daisenryaku Perfect: Senjō no Hasha'' is a Turn-Based military simulation set in the modern era. The player can selects from 22 countries and then becomes either an ally or attacking country.

Localized titles

While the vast majority of titles in the ''Daisenryaku'' series were never released outside of Japan, a few titles were officially localized and others were partially translated by fans. The series saw its first release in English when

Working Designs Working Designs was an American video game publisher that specialized in the localization of Japanese role-playing video games, strategy video games and top-down shooters for various platforms. Though the company had published many cult hits, it ...

partnered with SystemSoft Alpha to translate and release '' Iron Storm'' for the Sega Saturn in North America in 1996. A second entry in English was realized when

released '' Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics'' in North America for the Microsoft Xbox in 2005. The PlayStation 2 port also saw a North American release in 2007. The

spinoff of Daisenryaku, ''Moe moe 2-ji Daisen (ryaku)'', was translated into Chinese and released by Taiwanese publisher TWTTIME Technology Co., Ltd for the PC in 2008. ''Daisenryaku Perfect 4.0'' saw a worldwide release on Steam in 2018 with a partial English translation done by SystemSoft themselves. Users have criticized the translation calling it "

machine translation Machine translation, sometimes referred to by the abbreviation MT (not to be confused with computer-aided translation, machine-aided human translation or interactive translation), is a sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates t ...

" and many units' names remain in Japanese. Fans have partially translated various entries in the series. ''Advanced Daisenryaku'' for the Sega Mega Drive, ''Advanced Daisenryaku 2001'' for the Sega Dreamcast, and ''Daisenryaku VII'' for the PC all saw translations of various levels released unofficially.

References

{{reflist Video game franchises World War II video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Turn-based strategy video games Video games developed in Japan