Yōjūden

The Good
Yōjūden is a top-down Commando clone with a mythological setting that didn’t see the light of day in the West or any home system at the time of its release. The game was created by Irem, who would later introduce gamers to their popular R-Type franchise. In the game, you take control of Mule Warrior sent to rescue Minerva, the god of peace. To reach her, you have to navigate a series of stages, killing every enemy that stands in your way. Just like most games of its era, a boss needs to be defeated in order to proceed to the next area.

The game boasts a two-page flyer which starts off with a huge, but wonderful, illustration of your protagonist fighting a dragon. The accompanying text is written in both Japanese and English, and this is repeated on the second page where information is presented regarding the storyline, individual enemies and bosses, and power-ups. Given that there are English translations, either the Japanese could have spoken fluent English back in the day, or Irem predicted that English-speaking people would play the game through MAME many years later.

MW’s journey mostly takes him through ruins, but every second stage, he has to fly over large bodies of water. What is unique about these stages is MW’s ability to fire double shots, making it easier to take down most airborne enemies. The enemies that you encounter have their own choice of weapons (for instance, the viking-like creatures called “Blurris” throw fireballs).

The visuals are right up there with Commando, and most of the enemies have good animations. When you attack them with one of your arrows, they turn into tornadoes and disappear. I love the look of those cliffs in the flying sections and MW’s falling animation when you get killed. Sound-wise, the same background music plays throughout the stages, except when you have cleared a stage. The usual music, however, doesn’t get boring.

The game offers no continue option, but it boasts a high score table, giving you a perfect excuse to beat your previous score each time. I notice that the game does not throw your back to stage one after you defeat the final boss

The Bad
Nothing is bad about this game.

The Bottom Line
Yōjūden is the type of game that nobody really has heard of back in the day, probably because it was released in Japan only and it didn’t make its way on home systems. It plays similar to Commando in that you run around and shoot bad guys. One advantage over the Capcom game is the way you get to fly over water. The graphics and sound are good, and the gameplay never gets boring. Bottom line: If you like Commando or any run-and-shoot game for that matter, try out this game.