''Dynasty Wars,'' released in Japan as , is a

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

side-scrolling

beat-'em-up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...

game released for arcades by

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...

, based on the Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

Tenchi wo Kurau is a Japanese manga series by Hiroshi Motomiya. The storyline is set in the Three Kingdoms period, when Western Shu, Northern Wei and Eastern Wu battled to conquer all of China. Plot Liu Bei is a descendant of Liu Sheng, prince Jing of ...

'' and a reenactment of the battle between the Kingdom of Shu and the Yellow Turban rebels. Each of the two players can assume the roles of one of the four Chinese generals riding on horseback from the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

period in an attempt to smash the rebellion. A sequel, ''

Warriors of Fate ''Warriors of Fate'', known in Japan as , is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up game produced by Capcom. It is the second arcade game based on the '' Tenchi wo Kurau'' manga, following ''Dynasty Wars''. Originally released to arcades in 1992, home vers ...

'', was released in 1992.

Gameplay

The players' goal is to wipe out the Huang Ching, the organization responsible for the unrest of the Han Dynasty and later defeat the tyrant

Dong Zhuo Dong Zhuo () (died 22 May 192), courtesy name Zhongying, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. At the end of the reign of the Eastern Han, Dong Zhuo was a general and powerful minist ...

, and up to two players can fight side by side to accomplish this goal. This game always scrolls to the right. Players must be able to survive the rebel hordes to reach and kill the rebel general in each stage to free the province. Players can use three buttons: to attack left, attack right, or use special tactics. In the arcade version, inserting more coins and pressing START increases the maximum life of the player. In an RPG style, completing stages and collecting yellow orbs increase the

experience points An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experien ...

of the player in order to level-up, where he gains more vitality and use stronger weapons. These weapons are upgraded for every 3rd blue orb collected. In-game treasure increases player score, and food packs replenish vitality. There are 4 selectable characters, each with their own varying amounts of attack power and initial vitality. Aside from unique weaponry, each character also has a unique partner character during a certain special attack. For every 3 blue orbs collected, the player's weapon improves, depending on his current level range. There are a total of eight stages (called rounds), corresponding a province in reference to the historic battles in the novel.

Conversions

Home computer versions for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sin ...

and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

were developed by

Tiertex Tiertex Design Studios Limited was a British software development company and former video game developer based in Macclesfield, England; it was founded in 1986, focusing on porting games to home computers and handheld platforms. As a video ga ...

and published by

U.S. Gold U.S. Gold Limited was a British video game publisher based in Witton, Birmingham, England. The company was founded in 1984 by Anne and Geoff Brown in parallel to their distributor firm, CentreSoft, both of which became part of Woodward Brown Ho ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

NEC Avenue was a Japanese music and video game publisher. History NEC Avenue was founded in 1987 as a record label within NEC. NEC Avenue eventually got involved with video games, and secured licenses to produce console versions of arcade titles from Sega ...

produced a

PC Engine Super CD-ROM² 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 ...

version of ''Tenchi o Kurau'', which was released exclusively in Japan in 1994. It adds an extensive intro and in-game cut scenes. A version for the

Capcom Power System Changer The is an arcade system board developed by Capcom that ran game software stored on removable daughterboards. More than two dozen arcade titles were released for CPS-1, before Capcom shifted game development over to its successor, the CP Syste ...

was planned and previewed but never released. A completely different game based on the manga and made by Capcom was released on the

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit 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 redesigned version, was released in American ...

as ''

Destiny of an Emperor ''Destiny of an Emperor'', known in Japan as , is a strategy role-playing game by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System based on the '' Tenchi wo Kurau'' manga by Hiroshi Motomiya. It was originally released in Japan in 1989, with an Englis ...

'' in North America.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Dynasty Wars'' on their May 15, 1989 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month, outperforming titles like ''

Crack Down is a run and gun arcade game released by Sega in 1989 and ported to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1990 in Japan and 1991 in North America by Sage's Creation. It was also ported and released to a number of home computer platforms by U.S. ...

'' and ''

Valkyrie no Densetsu ''Valkyrie no Densetsu'' is a 1989 action-adventure role-playing arcade game developed and published in Japan by Namco. It is a follow-up to the Family Computer game '' Valkyrie no Bōken'' (1986). Players control the warrior maiden Valkyrie an ...

''. The ZX Spectrum version was received with mixed reviews; ''

Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993. History The ...

'' awarded it 80%, highlighting the detailed graphics and horse-mounted theme of combat. ''

CRASH Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'' rated it only 44%, criticizing the monochrome graphics, juddering scrolling and dull gameplay.

References

{{Romance of the Three Kingdoms 1989 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Arcade video games Atari ST games Cancelled Capcom Power System Changer games Capcom beat 'em ups Cooperative video games Commodore 64 games CP System games TurboGrafx-CD games Video games based on anime and manga Video games based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Manami Matsumae ZX Spectrum games Side-scrolling beat 'em ups Tiertex Design Studios games Multiplayer and single-player video games U.S. Gold games