Tenchu: Stealth Assassins

aka: Rittai Ninja Katsugeki Tenchū, Rittai Ninja Katsugeki Tenchū: Shinobi-Gaisen

Released

1998 on PlayStation

Publishers

Developers

Acquire Corp.

Moby Score

7.7

#4,523 of 155K

Critics

82% (15)

Players

(82)

Ranking

#170 on PlayStation

Collected By

125 players

Genre: Action
Perspective: 3rd-person (Other)
Gameplay: Stealth
Interface: Direct control
Setting: Fantasy
Japan (Ancient/Classical/Medieval)

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Description official descriptions

It is 16th century Japan and you are one of two ninja employed by Lord Gohda, an uniquely compassionate samurai lord. As either Rikimaru or Ayame, you must proceed through your assigned quests, at first dispatching the amoral and unsavory folk in your lord's domain. As the game progresses, you will come face to face with greater threats from tengu goblins and oni demons.

A full 3D game in the Tomb Raider spirit, Tenchu focuses on stealth and attacking unseen over straight action. Not being spotted leads to higher scores and better equipment. To aid in this, you can not only creep about and hug walls, but also use your grappling hook.

Scenery is diverse, from Japanese castles to mountain retreats, each with their own types of opponents and soundtrack. Game engine cutscenes push the story forward, which various slightly for each of the two ninja.

Spellings

天诛 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
立体忍者活劇天誅 - Japanese spelling
立体忍者活劇天誅忍凱旋 - Japanese re-release spelling

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Credits (PlayStation version)

137 People (118 developers, 19 thanks) · View all

Director	Takuma Endo
Product Supervisor	Bill Swartz
Producer	Larry Galka
Director and Creative Consultant	David Grijns
Translation and Dialogue	Nob Ogasawara Mieko Mochizuki Swartz Ryan Kamemoto
Quality Assurance Project Lead	Todd Quincey Jefferson
Quality Assurance Sr. Project Lead	Curtis Shenton
V.P. of Quality Assurance	Jim Summers
Quality Assurance Manager	David Arnspiger
Testers	David Baker Eric Lee Samantha Lee Jennifer O'Neal Edward Murphy
Director of Product Marketing	Marc Metis
Product Manager	Will Kassoy
Senior Publicist	Julia Roether
Creative Directors	Ron Gould Veronica Milito
Designer	James Bridges
Documentation	Michael Rivera Sylvia Orzel
Executive Producers	Hiroshi Gotō
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Trivia

German Index

Although originally rated "Ages 16 and up", on March 31, 1999 Tenchu was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS (as published in BAnz. Nr. 62 - Liste A). For more information about what this means and to see a list of games sharing the same fate, take a look at: BPjS/BPjM indexed games.

Involvement of Sho Kosugi

Japanese actor and martial artist Sho Kosugi is responsible for the main character Rikimarus motion capture, as well as providing all of his Japanese voice work. His son Kane Kosugi was also involved, but as to which capacity, official accounts vary: Shos official bio states that Kane provided the motion capture for the second main character Ayame, although in the games closing credits, he is only credited with providing the motion capture for the antagonist character Onikage.

While this fact is virtually unknown in the west - other than for astute readers of the games credits - it was heavily promoted in its native Japan, going so far as to even include a pretty rare "Making Of"-CD with snippets of the motion capture sessions as a special bonus to people who pre-ordered the original Japanese release in early 1998.

Awards

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins was voted #54 in the Top 100 Games of All Time poll published by Game Informer Magazine (Issue 100, August 2001).

Pirate release

Before the U.S. (text and voices in English) version was released, there were some pirate copies of the Japanese version circulating with the title 'Ninja Condemned By God' printed on the booklet cover. There are some differences between the U.S. and Japanese versions; one example is the animated sequence for the first boss and his bodyguard.