''Samurai-Ghost'' is a 1992

hack and slash Hack and slash, also known as hack and slay (H&S or HnS) or slash 'em up, refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes combat with melee-based weapons (such as swords or blades). They may also feature projectile-based weapons as well (such as ...

video game released by

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

for the

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC, NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth genera ...

. It is the sequel to ''

Genpei Tōma Den is a side-scrolling hack and slash produced by Namco that was released as a coin-operated video game in 1986 in Japan. It runs on Namco System 86 hardware. Over a decade later, the game was released in America and Europe in the video game compil ...

''. It was released on the

Wii Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

in North America on October 29, 2007, and in Europe on November 2, 2007.

Gameplay

As with the previous game, the player controls the resurrected

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

Taira no Kagekiyo Taira no Kagekiyo (平景清) (died 1196), also known as Kazusa no Shichirō (上総七郎), was a samurai of the Taira clan who took part in the Genpei War of Japan, against the Minamoto clan. The son by birth of Fujiwara no Tadakiyo. His ori ...

, defeating demons and monsters across several levels. Given his

undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by super ...

nature, Kagekiyo has access to

supernatural powers Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multi ...

such as levitation and the ability to cast energy projectiles. ''Samurai-Ghost'' has a similar plot to its predecessor, in that Kagekiyo fights against

Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a military commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles which toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-brother Yoritomo conso ...

Saitō Musashibō Benkei , popularly known as simply Benkei, was a Japanese warrior monk (''sōhei'') who lived in the latter years of the Heian Period (794–1185) .html" ;"title="/sup>">/sup>. Benkei led a varied life, first becoming a monk, then a mountain ascetic, ...

, and his arch enemy

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...

. Kagekiyo now also faces

Minamoto no Yoshinaka , , or Lord Kiso was a general from the late Heian period of Japanese history. A member of the Minamoto clan, Minamoto no Yoritomo was his cousin and rival during the Genpei War between the Minamoto and the Taira clans. Yoshinaka was born in Musas ...

(also known as Kiso no Yoshinaka), who commits

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

when defeated.

Development and release

Reception

''Samurai-Ghost'' was met with mixed reception from critics. However, fan reception was positive: readers of ''

PC Engine Fan PC Engine Fan was a Japanese magazine dedicated to the PC Engine, published by Tokuma Shoten. It ran from 1988 to 1996. History The first issue of ''PC Engine Fan'' was published in late 1988. The magazine originated as a section in ''Family Compu ...

'' voted to give the game a 20.28 out of 30 score, ranking at the number 328 spot in a poll, indicating a popular following.

Notes

References

External links

''Samurai-Ghost''
at

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''Samurai-Ghost''
at

Giant Bomb ''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news, and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by ''Time'' mag ...

''Samurai-Ghost''
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

1992 video games Namco games Now Production games Single-player video games Turbo Technologies games TurboGrafx-16 games Video game sequels Video games about samurai Video games developed in Japan Video games set in feudal Japan Virtual Console games {{Action-videogame-stub