Tengai Makyou 3: Namida - Playstation 2 (2005)

Japanese Cover	Artwork	Tengai Makyou 3

Tengai Makyou 3 has been a long time in the making. Initially conceived for NEC's PC-FX (the successor to the PC Engine), it was canned around 1995 due to the amazing failure of the console. Ten years later (and after a complete makeover), Hudson revived the series for the Playstation 2. After a huge bunch of detours into fighters, FMV games and parodies of American culture, Tengai Makyou is back with the true sequel to TM2: Manjimaru. And other than the 3D graphics, not a whole lot has changed. There's nothing particular new about the plot - Namida is a young man with amnesia, having washed ashore onto a small village when he was a little boy. When evil demons - known as Ami - kidnap his friend Ichiyo and destroy their town, it's up to him to save her. Naturally, Namida has "great power", and after rescuing his friend, sets off on a journey to free Jipang from the evil demon leader and his crew of villains. There are many more playable characters here than most of the other games in the series, although you can only have three in battle at a time. Here's a few of them: Namida The hero of the game. You can bet tragedy is about, considering his name means "tears". The not-so-subtle tattoos also drive the point home. Ichiyo Ichiyo is the cliched childhood friend, but while she starts off as a damsel-in-distress, she quickly becomes a member of your party. She also wields of the power of fire in this one. Ushibouzu A gigantic fellow who runs an orphanage. His name literally means "cow priest", which explains the nose ring and horns on the end of his staff. Tsugumi This dual-pistol wielding lady dresses in an absurd outfit and occasionally wears an equally ridiculous mask. Miya Amazingly cute cat-girl-thing. The structure is much like Manjimaru - there huge overworlds to explore at your leisure, and once again, you obtain magic spells by visiting Tengu hideaways. Some of it does come across as a bit aged, especially given the extreme amount of backtracking you'll need to do, but people bemoaning the linear, cinematic nature of modern RPGs will be pleased. Thankfully, the battle system has been given a huge overhaul, ditching the old-fashioned first-person combat. While most RPGs have you fighting three, maybe four bad guys at a time, TM3 routinely tosses between ten and thirty foes to battle against. Each attack by your character can knock out as many as a dozen enemies at once, so combat moves quickly, and it's pretty cool to see your characters plow through rows of enemies like a bowling ball, sending your worthless enemies flying aside. Each character has a certain number of attacks per round, and can vary between regular attacks or special abilities. There's also a power meter that builds up as you inflict or take damage, allowing you to do an special attack that can be turned into combos with your fellow party members. Your abilities gain experience the more you use them, giving incentive to make great use of the various abilities. The biggest problem, unfortunately, is the load time, which was also a problem with the PS2 version of Tengai Makyou 2. Every time you change a screen (including entering and exiting houses in towns), you're greeted by a load time of between three and seven seconds. Battles load quickly, but you still need to wait once you exit them. TM3 was initially planned for the Gamecube but later scrapped - it's too bad, as the system is known for quick load times and could have potentially fixed this issue. The graphics are pretty average for the most part, which is also something of a shame. Early trailers had anime-style graphics, but all of the cutscenes are done in CG barely better than the ingame engine. Also, early artwork seemed to showcase a cel-shaded style, although apparently this idea was dropped for the final version. On the other hand, the fully orchestrated musical score is superb. The vocal theme sung by Sarah Brightman isn't that great though, and it's odd to have an English song for such a distinctly Japanese game. While I personally am a little disappointed that Tengai Makyou returned to its PC Engine roots as opposed to continuing the madcap antics introduced in TM: The Apocalypse - it really does feel a bit conservative, both in its sense of humor and mechanics - but Tengai Makyou 3 is otherwise an enjoyable return to old-school RPG gaming. It was rumored at one point that Konami would bring this out in America, although that idea seems to have been scrapped. MP3s Main Theme Hurry to Kyushu - Overworld 1 Showdown! Ami - Boss Battle

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Spinoffs

Denden no Den - PC Engine Super CD (1993) Denden no Den wasn't anything entirely too special. It's simply Bomberman but entirely overrun by minature Kabukis. Apparently it was a limited (promotional?) release, so it's not too easy to come across.

Denden no Den

Far East of Eden: Kabuki Klash / Tengai Makyou Shinden - Neo Geo / Neo Geo CD (1995)

Japanese CD Cover	Kabuki Klash	Kabuki Klash

I could easily describe Kabuki Klash as "Samurai Shodown with Tengai Makyou characters" and just be done with it, but that would be lazy. But the comparisons are obvious, right down to the same awkward control scheme (I've never been too ken pressing two buttons at the same time to execute a strong attack) and items being tossed into the foreground that restore health, boost power and whatnot. The characters are all grabbed from TM: Ziria and TM 2: Manjimaru, so if you ever wanted to pit Kabuki against Tsunade to see who is more obnoxious, now is your chance. The roster is a little weak with only eight playable characters, alas. Overall, the game is a little simpler than Samurai Shodown, but it's fairly well executed and kind of fun. Notable for being the first (and so far, only) appearance of Tengai Makyou outside of Japan.

Kabuki Klash

Kabuki Ittoryoudan - PC Engine Arcade CD (1995)

Japanese Cover	Kabuki Ittoryoudan	Kabuki Ittoryoudan

Featuring characters from Fuun Kabuki-den, Kabuki Ittoryoudan isn't QUITE a sequel to Kabuki Klash - rather than apeing off of Samurai Shodown, Ittoryoudan more closely mimics Street Fighter II, right up necessitating the six button pad. (Well, not NECESSITATING, but you don't want to play this with a standard two button controller.) In addition to Kabuki, Okuni, Zeami and Push Fujiyama, other characters include Kikugorou (Kabuki's masked nemesis from TM2), Mikoshi (one of the ninja sisters, also from TM2), lovable ape Manto X, clay robot Jingorou, and foul nemesis Gulp. The graphics have taken a substantial hit from Kabuki Klash, with less stylized character sprites and mostly static backgrounds. In 1995 though, they were pretty impressive for the aging PC Engine. And considering that most 16-bit home fighting games were either subpar Neo Geo ports or outright terrible trash (Tuff E Nuff? Power Instinct? Strip Fighter?), Ittoryoudan actually holds up almost as well as Capcom's seminal fighter. So while it lacks the frills that we've come to expect nowadays, and even back then, was pretty much just a well-done clone, Kabuki Ittoryoudan is one of the better fighters of the era and certainly the best one the PC Engine.

Kabuki Ittoryoudan

Far East of Eden: Karakuri Kakutoden - PC FX (1995)

Japanese Cover	Tengai Makyou: Karakuri Kakutoden	Tengai Makyou: Karakuri Kakutoden

Made for NEC's ill fated PC-FX, Tengai Makyou: Karakuri Kakutoden is a "full motion video fighting game"- which essentially means you occasionally push buttons and watch footage of your character doing some special move. The characters of the first two games make up the good guy side, with the lineup of bad guys including Manto the monkey, Kabuki's rival Red Squirrel, and a S&M catwoman with tiny little kitten helpers. Not owning a PC-FX (or even intending to) I haven't played this game, but due to the universal rule of "FMV games = crap", I'm going to assume it's terrible. One would have to wonder why they didn't spend the budget for this game making an anime OVA. Check out more pictures and videos at PCEngineFX.com

Tengai Makyou: Karakuri Kakutoden

RPG fans that got their start during the 32-bit era might not find too much to like about Tengai Makyou, especially given their slow pacing. After all, voice acting and full screen cinemas are standard nowadays - Tengai Makyou's claim to fame isn't quite so special anymore. But those who have appreciation for the 16-bit style of gaming will find a world unlike any other. Thanks goes out to Justin Cheer, for his work on all of the FAQs used to make this article, as well as Johnny2x4 and KeeperBvK for translating the name of Kabukiden. Links Akimaru's Research Project - Ziria Bit of information/screenshots about the first game Marfisa.net Walkthroughs, character bios and item lists for the PC Engine games. RED Entertainment Quick history of the series It Came From Japan Gamespy's quick review of the PS2 Manjimaru DeJap Translations If you wanna play TM Zero on emulators, you'll need to go here. Tengai Makyou III Official Site Just as it says. Chinese Tengai Makyou Page From Taiwan History of Tengai Makyou In Japanese. Oriental Blue Official Site At Nintendo.co.jp