Tenchu  is a stealth game in medieval, dark fantasy version of Japan. You play the part of a ninja, Rekimaru the stronger male ninja or Ayame the faster kunoichi.  Both work for Lord Gedoh, an honorable master who uses you to silence corrupt officials, deliver secret messages, and other sneaky type activities  This game prizes stealth, and came out before Metal Gear Solid brought it mainstream. This game tries its hardest to be a ninja simulation, and it does a pretty good job of making that fun and challenging.

What I really like about Tenchu is it doesn't try to Americanize its music, story or the way the presentation is handled. The pace can be slow, but being a ninja is about being silent, creating and taking advantage of opportunities. Sometimes you have to hold your position for a bit, for the good of the assignment. Most times you will have a vague mission - kill the aberrant minister of taxes, but are no markers or helpful arrows to guide you. Its up to you to figure out where the minister is, and how to eliminate them. Its refreshing, giving you a task, and letting you first explore your surroundings, and then plan your strategy. Slain enemies stay down, they are not replaced with more guards. The types of opponents you face change with the plot. At first its the town watch, hired thugs, and some rogue ronin. Later missions have you against spanish pirates and dark demonic creatures twisted into man's shape.

The ninja's missions are largely solitary, you have no backup, and no one but your masters know where you are. If you run into trouble, you're on your own. The button to sneak is your best friend, and pressing against walls and peering over corners should become second nature after awhile. If you can sneak up behind an enemy unseen, you can do a one-hit kill, complete with a small fatality animation. If you get seen, however, you will have to fight any foe that arrives in a slug fest until you defeat them all or run away. Fortunately, Tenchu offers a wide assortment of items to help you complete your tasks.

Tools of the trade
As a ninja, its not all stepping into shadows and jumping on rooftops. You always have access to a grappling hook, and your choice of companion items:
Shuriken-Sting enemies from afar, and eventually kill. Can remove attack dogs in one hit.
Health potion-heals you, but has a slow animation - it can be knocked out of your hand in a fight.
Smoke bombs-Throw them down to temporarily confuse anyone who spots you.
Caltrops- You throw these down if you are being chased to injure pursuers. Be careful not to step on these!
Poisoned rice- enemies use video-game logic by eating food on ground. It will make them gag and be prone, allowing you to slip by or kill.
Colored rice- used to mark trails if you find the map layout confusing.
Mine- set a trap for patrolling guards, or lead them into its path. Also can trip it yourself, so be careful.
Bombs(grenade)- Super useful, knocking down opposition if not killing them outright. Good for bosses or to create an escape.

There is also a large range of secret items you can unlock and wear on any level you wish. These can be anything from body armor to a scroll to move very fast. My personal favorite is the dog whistle, which makes a different noise for each stage, and puts the guards at ease if they are suspicious. I will say there are some items I definitely didn't use in my campaign, but I'm sure someone found a use for them.


Graphics: 8
The graphics are blocky now, but in 1998 they were mostly on par with most Playstation games made at the same time. The sharply cut backgrounds, particularly the rendered caves are a bit of an eyesore today. The angles are too pointed, and it looks unnatural. The outdoor settings work a bit better, the interior settings are missing many details that make them look more lived in. Watching enemy patrol and use a Resident Evil wheel-like turn is laughable now. The draw distance is tolerable to good, depending on activity in the level.  The mood of the game works well as nearly every map is set at night, and you are aided by the shadows When someone is slain, the blood shoots up everywhere, making a gory mess. Only once or twice did I get any slowdown, it was rare.


Sound: 8
The original is moody, at times dark, and again, completely free of westernization. There are some modern sampples thrown into the songs but its the more ambient ones I really enjoy. The third mission "Free the Captive Ninja" has a long opening of dripping cave water, reedy bits of wind blowing through cracks, its very nice.  Some tracks have a bit of vocal recording, mostly some harmonizing, but I found it to be a bit distracting.


Addictivness: 9
Replaying the stages is a delight. You are rewarded for top grades for each stage, and the variety of enemy patterns per stage is more than I expected. I loved being the ninja, and that the game respected if you try to just barge into fights, you're probably going to get cut down.

Story: 7
The tale as a vassal of Lord Godha takes you into a dark cult, and this sets the framework for the end game. Demons walk these nights, and your ninja is eventually forced to do battle against them to protect your lord's most precious treasure. But one cannot battle dark powers and escape unscathed..

I did like the two player characters interact at certain missions, although they do no missions together (no 2player mode). Rekkimaru is definitely the more serious one, where as Ayame tends to be more playful and sarcastic towards those shes hunting.  They have a gruff alliance, perhaps friendship, that is not fully explored in the game.

Most of the missions make sense for a ninja to be on. There is a lot of assassinations, some incognito item retrieving. The only one that really stands out bad to me was to retake a captured castle. Honestly, this seemed something a siege would better accomplish. You merely find the one in power and remove them.


Depth: 8
To get used to the game, there is a training mission. And if you can complete it successfully, you get a special prize, so its worth trying. Overall there is about 10 stages, which might seem small, but each stage has actually 3 patterns for the enemy forces. Its chosen randomly, and help it become more natural to sneak cautiously, that just memorize enemy locations - who now may or may not be there.
Such armament! The total variety of secondary items is immense, and each gives the player their own way to play based on their combination of gear. I did like the grappling hook and the shuriken use the same interface. Some unlockable gear I question the inclusion of (fire breath anyone?), but that might just be someone's favorite item.

While the execution animations might impress some, I found them too long and unnecessary after awhile. Sometimes the sneak attack also put enemies on alert, as if they can sense what has happened. I found a more effective way just getting close to the foe and using a regular slash on their back. They will still die in one hit (as long as you are undetected) and you save yourself the tedious cutscene AND keep the enemy at neutral guard.

The open ended nature of your mission I enjoyed most of all. Each level has many paths you can take, some more guarded than others, and I took satisfaction in finding the path of least resistance all the way to the objective. Getting a grandmaster (top) grade at a end of a mission is quite rewarding.


Difficulty: 8
There are two difficulties really, the run right in and kill things non-ninja way, and doing the missions ninja fast and with no one seeing you. The first way is tedious, but not very hard in the beginning, due to lame enemy AI. The second way, sneaking around foes or stealth killing, memorize enemy placement and routes, and know the map and have scanned for possible shortcuts, is much more difficult, but at the end of the level you are rewarded with a unique item you can use on other stages. Of course the fact there are 3 different arrangement for the soldiers on a stage is something you have to deal with. Each completed stage is graded (and can be retaken), playing this like a fighting game will give you a terrible score, but sadly no lecture.

If you don't get the drop on your foe, even the regular enemies will take 4-6 blows from your katana in a straight up fight, and the noise and shouts can draw other enemies to engage you as well. Often if you draw a crowd, its best to flee and wait for them to go back to normal. And they usually return to their posts because the A.I. is weak. You can throw a shuriken at a guard, he will be alarmed for a bit, then turn around and go back to what he was doing. None of the regular enemies will pursue you for long if you make a decent attempt to hide. Its a shame the enemies are not as clever as the stages, which often offer an alternate path or three to take.

There are a handful of bosses, including Onikage, who becomes something of your nemesis for this game. I am glad the game did not overuse them in a game about sneakiness.


Overall: 8.4
While not perfect, hampered by the dull A.I., I appreciate all the tools, enemy layouts, and objectives Tenchu throws at us. At the end of the game, I of course wanted more, and played each stage to perfection. Some games take their concept to its limits, and while some might be put off by the mystic nature of some items and enemies, I found it added color to the mystery of the ninja. If you want to know more, play this game, and jump into the shadows.