''Sengoku Ace'' (), fully titled ''Sengoku Ace: Tengai Episode I'' and also known as ''Samurai Aces'' in the English version, is a

vertically scrolling shooter A vertically scrolling video game or vertical scroller is a video game in which the player views the field of play principally from a top-down perspective, while the background scrolls from the top of the screen to the bottom (or, less often, from ...

released in the arcades by

Psikyo Psikyo was a Japanese video game developer and publisher known for its shoot 'em ups and undressing mahjong games. It was founded in 1992 by former Video System staff who worked on the ''Aero Fighters'' series. Psikyo was mainly an arcade game de ...

in 1993. The first game by Psikyo, ''Sengoku Ace'' was designed by Shin Nakamura, the creator of ''

Aero Fighters ''Aero Fighters'', known as in Japan, is a vertically scrolling shooter originally released in arcades in 1992 by ''Video System'' and was also released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. It was the first in the ''Aero Fighter ...

'' (''Sonic Wings'') and the company's founder.

Gameplay

Plot

The

science fantasy Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scientif ...

story of ''Sengoku Ace'' resolves around the six

Feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inve ...

(

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

) characters sent on a mission to stop an evil cult and rescue the Shogun's kidnapped daughter, princess Tsukihime (Moon Princess), before she can be used as a sacrifice to resurrect their demon god. The game features 21 endings, different for various characters and two-player pairings.

Characters

* Flush (Flash) / Ayin / Aine (閃光のアイン) - A 25-year-old, one-eyed, blonde

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 ...

flying a J7W, who is looking for his sister Asuka. He is voiced by

Hisao Egawa is a Japanese voice actor from Tokyo who works for Aoni Production. Egawa is most known for the roles of Shin'ichi Maki in ''Slam Dunk'', Geki Kuroiwa in '' Brave Command Dagwon'', Geki Hyūma and Goldymarg in '' The King of Braves GaoGaiGar'', ...

. * Gen / Gennai (からくり屋源内) - A 77-year-old scientist with a small robot assistant named Ranmaru, who flies a small, agile "Super Fighter" plane that resembles an

X-wing The X-wing starfighter is a name applied to a family of fictional spacecraft manufactured by the Incom Corporation from the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Named for the distinctive shape made when its s-foils (wings) are in attack position, the X-win ...

starfighter from ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

''. He is voiced by

Daisuke Gōri was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Kōtō, Tokyo. Throughout his life, he was attached to TV Talent Center Tokyo, Yoshizawa Theatre School and then Mausu Promotion; he was attached to Aoni Production at the time of his death. ...

. * Jane Hayate (はやてのジェーン) - A 21-year-old blonde and blue-eyed beautiful female

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

who flies a

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

. She is voiced by

Hiroko Emori is a Japanese voice actress who works for Aoni Production. Filmography Television animation *''Saint Seiya'' (1986), Seiya (Young), Kiki *''Dragon Ball'' (1987), Chiaotzu *'' Dragon Ball Z'' (1989), Chiaotzu, Bulma's Mother, Idasa's Mother *'' ...

. * Kenno (Kenno Maru) / Kenoumaru / Ohmaru (犬王丸) - A "super genius dog" flying a high-tech

YF-23 The Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23 is an American single-seat, twin-engine stealth fighter aircraft technology demonstrator designed for the United States Air Force (USAF). The design was a finalist in the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (A ...

aircraft (according to some of his team play endings, really a young man sealed in a dog form). * Miko / Koyori (Koyori Togashi) (富樫こより) - A 17-year-old

miko A , or shrine maiden,Groemer, 28. is a young priestess who works at a Shinto shrine. were once likely seen as shamans,Picken, 140. but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized role in daily life, trained to perfor ...

with a fascination for money, who flies a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

. In ''Sengoku Ace'', Koyori is still very young and tomboyish. She is also voiced by Hiroko Emori. * Tengai (Tengai Kano) (ターボ坊主天外) - A 50-year-old

Japanese Buddhist Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had ...

wandering monk who flies a bizarre bird-like plane. He is also voiced by Daisuke Gōri.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Samurai Aces'' on their June 1, 1993 issue as being the fourth most-successful table arcade unit of the month. Brazilian magazine Ação Games gave it 9/10.

Legacy

The original and arranged

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for the game (GCD-1) was released by Shinseisha on January 22, 1994. The game's manga adaptation titled ''Sengoku Ace - Ataru Kadiba'' (戦国エース - かぢばあたる) () was published by Shinseisha in the ''Gamest Comics'' series on December 25, 1994. In December 2004, the game was released for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

as part of the ''Psikyo Shooting Collection Vol. 2: Sengoku Ace & Sengoku Blade'' by

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It b ...

and

505 Games 505 Games S.p.A. is an Italian video game publisher based in Milan. It was founded in 2006 as a subsidiary of Milan-based Digital Bros. History 505 Games was founded in 2006 in Milan as a subsidiary of Digital Bros. The company found its earl ...

. It also was re-released one year later as a budget-range title. In 2018, it was also released for the

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 computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

. In 2022, the original arcade version will be included as part of the Sega Astro City Mini V, a vertically-oriented variant of the Sega Astro City mini console. ''Sengoku Ace'' was followed by two sequels, '' Sengoku Blade: Sengoku Ace Episode II'' in 1996 and '' Sengoku Cannon: Sengoku Ace Episode III'' in 2004. The ''Sengoku'' series characters, along with the ones from Psikyo's ''

Gunbird is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up developed by Psikyo and released in Arcade game, arcades in 1994. In the US, it was published by Jaleco. It has been re-released multiple times, including on the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Steam (service), ...

'' series, later joined up with several

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' ...

characters (especially from the ''

Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...

'' fame) in the

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

game '' Taisen Net Gimmick: Capcom & Psikyo All Stars'', released for the

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, N ...

in 2001.

References

Sources

Official website (characters page)

External links

Official website (Nintendo)

(

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

) *{{in lang, ja}
Official website (Taito)
(Internet Archive)

1993 video games 505 Games games Android (operating system) games Arcade video games Banpresto games City Connection franchises Cooperative video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo Switch games Psikyo games Science fantasy video games Sengoku video games Taito arcade games Vertically scrolling shooters Video games about cults Video games about ninja Video games about samurai Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists Video games set in feudal Japan