Tenchu
Tenchu | |
---|---|
Microsoft Game Studios, Ubisoft | |
Creator(s) | Takuma Endo |
Platform(s) | PlayStation PlayStation 2 Xbox PlayStation Portable Nintendo DS Xbox 360 Wii |
First release | Tenchu: Stealth Assassins February 26, 1998 |
Latest release | Tenchu: Shadow Assassins February 2009 |
Tenchu[a] is an action-adventure stealth video game series, originally developed by Japanese developer Acquire, where the player assumes the role of a ninja in 16th-century Japan. The title in Japanese literally translates in English as "Divine Retribution", with 天 (ten) meaning heaven and 誅 (chū) meaning death penalty (another translation of this phrase, Wrath of Heaven, is the title of the first PlayStation 2 entry in the series).
Plot
The series takes place in 16th-century
Gameplay
The game perspective is
Characters
The main characters of the Tenchu series are Rikimaru, Ayame, Tesshu and Rin. Rikimaru is a tall, white-haired
Games
1998 | Tenchu: Stealth Assassins |
---|---|
1999 | |
2000 | Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins |
2001–2002 | |
2003 | Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven |
2004 | Tenchu: Fatal Shadows |
2005 | Tenchu: Time of the Assassins |
2006 | Tenchu: Dark Secret |
Tenchu Z | |
2007 | |
2008 | Shadow Assault: Tenchu |
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins |
Game | Metacritic |
---|---|
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins | (PS1) 87[1] |
Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins | (PS1) 77[2] |
Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven | (PS2) 79[3] (Xbox) 70[4] |
Tenchu: Fatal Shadows | (PS2) 58[5] |
Tenchu: Time of the Assassins | (PSP) 51%[6][b] |
Tenchu: Dark Secret | (NDS) 37[7] |
Tenchu Z | (X360) 56[8] |
Shadow Assault: Tenchu | (X360) 46[9] |
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins | (Wii) 70[10] (PSP) 68[11] |
There is an additional Japan-exclusive release for Tenchu on the PlayStation. One hundred of the best competing levels designed with the level editor of Tenchu: Shinobi Gaisen (an expanded version of Tenchu re-released in Japan) were put together to form a stand-alone, non-story based expansion set called Tenchu: Shinobi Hyakusen. The engine and game fundamentals remained unchanged. Shinobi Hyakusen is famous for the hardest level settings among Tenchu fans, especially because of the tight time limits and the overall lack of the items, excluding the caltrops and the throwing stars. No North American or European versions were released however.
Several games were also ported to mobile phones with graphic changes. These include Tenchu: Ayame's Tale 3D which was released for the Sony Ericsson mobile phone series and Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven by TKO-Software and Digital Bridges which was released for mobile phones in 2005, although it used two-dimensional graphics. A stage play adaptation Tenchu Butai was performed in 2014.[12] A Game Boy Advance version of the franchise was attempted by Classified Games in 2000, but it was scrapped due to the publisher's problems.[13]
It's estimated that the whole series sales are at 10 million games sold worldwide as of 2018.[citation needed]
See also
- List of ninja video games
- Shinobido: Way of the Ninja – a 2006 PS2 game with similar gameplay and stealth/action principals, also developed by Acquire.
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – a 2019 title developed by FromSoftware and published by Activision which was initially conceived as a new Tenchu game.[14]
References
- ^ Japanese: 天誅, Hepburn: Tenchū, lit. Divine Retribution
- ^ GameRankings score
- ^ "Tenchu: Stealth Assassins Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Tenchu: Return From Darkness Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Tenchu: Fatal Shadows Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Tenchu: Time of the Assassins Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Tenchu: Dark Secret Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Tenchu Z Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Shadow Assault: Tenchu Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Tenchu Ninja Action Games Get Stage Play Next Month - News". Anime News Network. April 6, 2014. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
- ^ I. G. N. Staff (August 3, 2000). "Activision's GBA Plans". IGN. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
- Gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Tenchu at MobyGames