THE MAKING OF: TENCHU: STEALTH ASSASSINS
ORIGINAL
JAPANESE
RELEASE
QThis version, released
by Sony, includes eight
levels and only one enemy
layout per level. Each boss
character is subtly different,
and there is a slightly more refined combat system.
Also, as per all the Japanese iterations of Tenchu, the
decapitations are removed.TENCHU:
SHINOBI GAISEN
QReleased in Japan a year
later, this version updates
the original Japanese
release with much that was
included in the western
game. So in came the extra
missions (Cross The Checkpoint and Execute The Corrupt
Minister) and layouts, as well as a mission editor that
hugely increased the overall value of the package.TENCHU:
SHINOBI
HYAKUSEN
QAfter the success of
Gaisen’s level editor, Acquire
organised a competition in
order to assemble an elite
collection of user-generated
missions. The resulting expansion contains over 100
levels, which while unconnected by an overall stor yline,
offer bonus features as a reward for completion.Live by
Honor.
Kill by
Stealth.
The stealth classic saw a couple of
revisions and expansions over the yearsleaving the Azuma no choice but to confront Lord
Mei-Oh. Fortunately Rikimaru and Ayame have a
range of traditional and fantastical items to help
them. The former include caltrops for deterring
pursuers, rice paper for route-marking and
poisoned rice, alongside esoteric items such as
an animal horn – which instantly pacifies nearby
alerted foes – proving most useful to a ninja who
wishes to remain undiscovered.
With Sony planning to release Tenchu only in
Japan, the game’s development caught the eye
of an American publisher keen to produce titles
on the increasingly popular PlayStation console.
Working at Activision was producer David Grijns.
“I was in New York City in 1996 when I saw an ad
for a job in market research for a small company
that had gone bankrupt a few years earlier. They
called me, and I flew to Los Angeles, and a few
weeks later got offered the job.” David’s initial role
didn’t last long. “I convinced the management
team to fly me to Tokyo to look for PlayStation
titles and the rest begins with Tenchu.”
David spotted a small preview in Japanese
games magazine Famitsu, and was instantly
intrigued. “We contacted Sony and discovered
they had no plans to release the game outside
of Japan. At the time, they were shopping the
rights to another PlayStation title, but I said,
‘No, no. I want Tenchu!” Bill Swartz, boss
of Activision Japan, negotiated the rights to
publish Tenchu in other territories, with Larry
Galka acting as producer in the US and Masami
Yamamoto producer in Japan. Yet despite David’s
enthusiasm, it was a big step in the dark. “Tenchu
was a relatively big risk from the standpoint of
introducing gameplay that no one had ever seen
before,” he recalls. “And technically, it stood at
the dawn of full 3D games made possible by
PlayStation. It was also a full-on stealth game
that happened to be set in feudal Japan and
had absolutely nothing to do with the western
» [PlayStation] Ayame dispatches a foe with her dual wakizashi
blades. Hang on : aren’t ninjas supposed to leave no trace?perception of ninjas as superheroes.” While this
was the reason for Sony’s reticence to release
Tenchu outside Japan, Activision loved how the
game unapologetically represented ninja as they
actually were – pure stealth killers, better off
striking from darkness than in a straight fight.
Meanwhile, back in Japan, Endo and his team
were under pressure, not helped by the abrupt
change of setting. “We didn’t have so much
time to study when we decided to convert the
style,” he notes. “So knew we had to make the
game based on something we already knew.”
The Acquire founder himself took on a multitude
of roles as the developer worked overtime on
Tenchu. “My role was director, planner, writer,
sound editor and so on, and I also did game
tuning. There were no designers at the time; we
made it together.” There were several vital tenets
that the team insisted should remain. A male or
female ninja could be selected, each presenting
the story from a slightly different perspective,
and each armed with a grappling hook. While
authenticity was a plus for Acquire, the truth may
have been – ahem – stretched a bit with thisThe Definitive
Tenchu
RETRO GAMER | 85