Tenchu is known for its stealth gameplay and the eerie settings of feudal Japan. It was one of the first ninja games to incorporate stealth, a very crucial aspect of ninjutsu. However, aside from featuring traditional martial arts in battles, the game incorporates elements of fantasy and Japanese mythology.

The game takes place in feudal Japan, introducing a pair of ninja: Rikimaru and Ayame, members of the Azuma ninja clan since childhood. The two ninja serve the heroic Lord Gohda, and work for him as his secret spies to root out corruption and gather intelligence in his province. However, the evil demonic sorcerer Lord Mei-Oh seeks to destroy Lord Gohda, and using his demon warrior Onikage who wreaks havoc throughout Lord Gohda's province.

Rikimaru, armed with a single ninjato, is stronger than Ayame but relatively slower. Ayame carries a pair of tantos and is faster and has more combos than Rikimaru, but is the weaker of the two. All of the levels take place at night to compensate for the technical limitations of the PlayStation; the game's high rate of redraw is reduced by setting events at night and reducing the distance the player can see. Both characters are armed with a grappling hook which allows them to zip up to the tops of buildings and move freely across rooftops, which gave the game a sense of verticality that was rare among most action/adventure games of the time.

Alternative Titles

Rittai Ninja Katsugeki Tenchu

Platform

PlayStation 1

Developer(s)

Acquire

Publishers(s)

Activision

Genres(s)

NA Release Date

August 31, 1998

MVGL User Score

7.7 by 111 user(s)

MVGL Difficulty

2.0000

Composer(s)

-

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191 User(s)

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