Shien's Revenge

Shien's Revenge[lower-alpha 1] is a 1994 rail shooter video game developed by Almanic Corporation and originally published by Dynamic Planning for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan and later in North America by Vic Tokai. In the game, players assume the role of the titular ninja to fight against monsters coming from a time portal in order to face against an entity known as Undertaker and rescue his companion Aska. Co-designed by Takashi Shichijo and mangaka Go Nagai, the title was created by most of the same team that worked on previous projects at Almanic such as E.V.O.: Search for Eden. It was met with mixed reception from critics since its release.

Shien's Revenge
Developer(s)Almanic Corporation
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Go Nagai
Takashi Shichijo
Programmer(s)Hiromitsu Shioya
Toshiyuki Mori
Artist(s)Hidetoshi Fujioka
Ken Ishikawa
Nanako Geya
Writer(s)Tatsuhiko Dan
Composer(s)Akihiko Mori
Michiya Hirasawa
Tsukushi Sasaki
Platform(s)Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Release
Genre(s)Rail shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay
Gameplay screenshot.

Shien's Revenge is a rail shooter game played from a first-person where movement is automatically controlled horizontally or vertically, as players assume the role of the titular ninja through six stages, each with a boss at the end stage that must be fought before progressing any further, in an effort to defeat an evil entity known as Undertaker and rescue his companion Aska as the main objective.[1][2] Prior to the main game, players can practice their skills by choosing "training mode" at the title screen.[1][2] During gameplay, use long-range shurikens or a close-range kunai as weapons to fight various enemies or block incoming attacks that appear on the playfield.[1][2] Players can also pick up power-ups like rapid fire and magic scrolls when enemies are defeated; the use of scrolls produces a powerful attack that damages everything onscreen.[1][2] A set of candles represents Shien's life meter and the game is over once it is depleted, though players have the option to continue playing a limited number of times.[2] The SNES Mouse or the Super Scope can be used as optional controllers and players can resume progress via a password system.[1][2]

Synopsis

Shien and Aska are a pair of highly skilled ninjas fighting in a bloody civil war. After killing hundreds of enemies and emerging victorius, monsters suddenly appeared from a time portal and kidnap Aska. The mastermind is a mysterious force only known as the Undertaker and Shien, now alone, must travel through the time portal to defeat the unknown evil entity and rescue his companion Aska, while facing monsters on his way that emerge from portal.[1][2]

Development and release

Shien's Revenge was developed, with additional support from Bee Media and Shuna, by most of the same team that worked on previous projects at Almanic Corporation such as E.V.O.: Search for Eden, with both Takashi Shichijo and mangaka Go Nagai acting as co-designers, serving as the debut of Nagai in the video game industry creating bosses.[3][4][5] Hiromitsu Shioya and Toshiyuki Mori served as programmers, while Hidetoshi Fujioka, Ken Ishikawa and Nanako Geya acted as artists.[3] The plot was written by Tatsuhiko Dan, with composers Akihiko Mori, Michiya Hirasawa and Tsukushi "Tukushi" Sasaki scoring the soundtrack.[3] Other members also collaborated in its making.[3] The game was first released by Dynamic Planning in Japan on April 8, 1994 and later in North America by Vic Tokai on October of the same year.[6][7]

Reception

Shien's Revenge was rated the score of 74% by Game Players.[13] According to Electronic Gaming Monthly, the game has "a great concept and the mouse interface is totally cool", but it "can get repetitive after few levels of the same action".[1] GamePro remarked that the gameplay concept is unique, but suffers from poor design and difficult controls, even when using the SNES mouse. They concluded that "you want to like SR because it throws something fresh into the hack-n-slash ring. Vic Tokai gets credit for a good try. Unfortunately, the game play problems put up too much of a wall, and ultimately Shien doesn't get around it."[10]

Notes
  1. Also known as Shien: The Blade Chaser (Japanese: 紫炎 ～ザ・ブレイドチェイサー～, Hepburn: Shien: Za Bureido Cheisā) in Japan.

References
  1. "Fact-Files - Shien's Revenge". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 59. Sendai Publishing. June 1994. pp. 148–149. Archived from the original on 2019-01-05. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  2. Shien's Revenge instruction booklet (Super Nintendo Entertainment System, US)
  3. Almanic Corporation (8 April 1994). 紫炎 ～ザ・ブレイドチェイサー～ (Shien: The Blade Chaser) (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Dynamic Planning. Level/area: 制作スタッフ (Production Staff).
  4. "International Outlook - Shien the Blade Chaser". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 53. Sendai Publishing. December 1993. p. 98. Archived from the original on 2019-01-05. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  5. "Le Japon En Direct - Reportage: Shien". Consoles + (in French). No. 28. M.E.R.7. January 1994. pp. 28–30.
  6. "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: 紫炎 〜ザ・ブレードチェイサー〜". Famitsu (in Japanese). ASCII Corporation. 1994. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  7. "Super NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2008-09-20. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  8. "Shien's Revenge for Super Nintendo". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  9. Marriott, Scott Alan (1998). "Shien's Revenge - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 2014-11-14. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  10. LaMancha, Manny (September 1994). "ProReview: Shien's Revenge". GamePro. No. 62. IDG. p. 98.
  11. "Now Playing - Shien's Revenge". Nintendo Power. No. 64. Nintendo of America. September 1994. p. 104.
  12. Menier, Marc; Huyghues-Lacour, Alain (June 1994). "Super Famicom Review - Shien the Blade Chaser". Consoles + (in French). No. 33. M.E.R.7. pp. 122–123. Archived from the original on 2017-10-02. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  13. "Review - Shien's Revenge". Game Players. No. 62. Signal Research. August 1994.
  14. Nini, Nourdine (June 1994). "Import Super Famicom (Version Japonaise): The Blade Chaser". Joypad (in French). No. 32. Yellow Media. p. 51.
  15. Karels, Ralph (June 1995). "Klinge vor der Nase - Shien's Revenge". Video Games (in German). No. 43. Future-Verlag. p. 105.
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