A game I found absolutely fascinating as a kid. The lack of the usual heavy-handed localization offered so much to see and learn about, especially the fantastic monster designs and music.
Also one of the few games to keep the original Japanese title, thus further emphasizing the setting. Even though "Legend of the Sword Master" would have translated fairly neatly into English.
As far as Sega Visions saying nothing about Kenseiden... Some tips for Kenseiden are mentioned in the "Sega Secrets" section of the April 1989 issue of the Team Sega Newsletter. Kenseiden also is one of the 10 games featured on the "Games Preview II" VHS only available through the newsletter - it was advertised in the Fall 1988 and January 1989 issues. And Kenseiden was mentioned with a screenshot in the "coming soon" section under the Summer 1988 issue's Software Checklist. This is scant marketing, certainly, but it's at least something, I suppose.
11:07 That's where I live, Iga :) 伊賀 home of the ninja. If you like this recently a spiritual fan sequel was made, Hayato's Journey, it's pretty good, check it out.
Even though you only mention it in passing, I'm glad you take a moment to highlight how absolutely ridiculous the concept of playing Metroid on Playchoice-10 is. Can you imagine having to make sure that you set aside enough of your remaining time to die on purpose so that you can scribble down the password (with the notebook and pencil that you brought to the arcade), or wasting time on your next session farming health before proceeding? It's like the most hostile environment that I can imagine to play that game. I want to know if there's anybody on the planet who actually bothered to beat that game in arcades but not at home for some reason.
Maybe if someone had access to a machine on free play? PC10 wasn't meant to be the place you played games to complete them, it was really just a for-pay demo unit to check out games that seemed interesting.
@@JeremyParish Yeah it's something that makes sense once you just sit back and think about what the system's purpose is, but as a kid who didn't know any better I just remember being extremely perplexed at having my Mario 3 run cut short even before I ran out of lives. Felt like I was being double punished in a way I didn't really have the experience to articulate yet.
@@jasonblalock4429 You're thinking of the VS System, not the Playchoice. The former was a proper arcade platform where the games ported to/from the NES were adjusted to behave more in line with the expectations of arcade games. The latter was a glorified NES with a pay-per-minute system.
I remember playing Castlevania on the sit down VS System at the Pizza Hut a number of times as a kid. And it worked perfectly as a demo sort of thing, even if you didn't think of it like that. It's not like I was getting that far in Castlevania to begin with. I didn't want to sit there for an hour playing a game. I just wanted something fun to play for a bit while waiting.
Kenseiden was one of my favorite SMS games as a kid. I picked up a copy last year and revisited it and was delighted at how well it held up. The non-linear quest and optional training stages really open the game up and add replay options as I learned the optimal path for gathering upgrades, lives and continues. I managed to get through all but the very last training stage, which are as brutal as Jeremy describes. I never did beat that last one as a kid either. Maybe some day. The controls have a very particular feel, but once mastered Kenseiden feels great, with a high degree of precision. Mastering when to use the various moves during the final stages and plowing through them feels very much like the culmination of a journey where all the pieces come together in the end. I used to replay this every few Saturdays and plan to revisit it regularly again. Very much a hidden gem.
Could not of said it better myself. The option of path to victory etc was great. Choose to speed run, add challenge by not completing some levels or challenge stages or scrape every corner of every level gor max power up to wipe the floor with the bosses and levels. The fm sound of the soundtrack is exceptional as well.
From the way he said it, I got the sense that the "I don't have friends" thing was by choice rather than happenstance. Though if anything can soften his cold stone heart, it's Heiankyo Alien.
"When you focus on a single group of cutsomers, you eventually drain their allowances" It's fascinating how that still applies today to live service games, which have been flopping in bulk lately due to an oversaturated market and recent economic problems giving consumers less money to throw away.
I have fond memories of this game, including that the first time I reached the final boss, it was bedtime on a school night. I had to leave the game paused with the TV off all night and through school the next day. Anyone who grew up in that era knows what a stressful crapshoot that was. Got home the next day, lo and behold, the game was still working and paused, and wonder of wonders, I beat the boss on my first attempt!….at least, that’s how I remember it. Anyway, nice to hear Kenseiden reflected in a pretty positive manner. Certainly a much more level-headed assessment than some of your Retronauts guests back in the day, and for that, I salute you.
One of my favorite SMS games. When you get the skill to run while slashing your sword around you instantly feel more dangerous. Sometimes I'd go back to the beginning after all the pickups and check out just how easier the levels would be. And the training rooms were very hard, but you felt accomplished when you finished them. Can not wait a week for a trip to Algo.
It's gonna be more than a week, sorry. I don't have the time I need to give PS its due at the moment, so I'm kicking it down the road until my schedule has a little slack in it.
8:00 - Getsu Fuuma Den as well, all these games hitting around the same time. It's like that "twin films" thing in Hollywood where the same kind of movie is in production from two different studios, but it's 3-5 games lol.
Kenseiden is one of the most unique games on Master System, I'm glad to have it in my collection. Yeah, I spent much more time in the training rooms than in regular stages, but it's very rewarding to have permanent upgrades. This game needs much more love
Phantasy Star up next, yeahhhhh buddy! That series is the first thing I think of when I think Sega. Well, that and Altered Beast. Got PS2 with my Genesis and immediately fell in love.
Why does Sega spend so much energy celebrating the Genesis/Mega Drive, while the Master System is virtually forgotten. I had no idea Sega had an NES competitor for the first 3 decades of my life (born in '88, grew up in the US). There has to be some great games worth collecting/celebrating besides the first Phantasy Star.
Definitely going into a pretty good stretch of Segaiden. Phantasy Star should definitely be worth it too (of course I can see why you'd want to space that out. It is a fantastic intro to a very good RPG series). And NES fans get to feel like they're not forgotten in the Works series, win-win.
The observation that Sega was first and foremost an arcade game company resonates with a thought I often had about them at the end of their existence in the console market- the greatest strength of the Dreamcast was always that it was the ultimate console for getting great arcade game conversions. It was THE console for fighting games (the original release of Dead or Alive 2, Virtua Fighter 3, Power Stone 1 & 2, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Rival Schools 2: Project Justice, Fighting Vipers II, Capcom vs SNK and, most notably, Soul Calibur, which wasn't just arcade-perfect but arcade-SUPERIOR, as well as many more), a gamut of racing games, as well as an abundance of other arcade classics like Crazy Taxi and House of the Dead 2. Unfortuately this may have been what doomed the console in the end, as arcades were starting to be on the way out, in favour of console games with more depth and scope, which were becoming more the standard with the increasing power of the 6th generation.
There is a fairly elaborate fan-made sequel to this game on the Mega Drive called Kenseiden: Hayato's Journey which might be worth checking out for fans of the original
Nothing to do with anything but the "Never Tear Us Apart" video planted the seed in my head that I had to go visit Prague sometime and it was absolutely worth it
11:19 As a kid, I hated the fact that they put a Alex Kidd head in the background of this level because I thought for sure there was some secret hidden there, but no, nothing.
Kenseiden is a true favorite game of mine on the SMS, but not exactly because of its gameplay and overall presentation, but because of its soundtrack. Either being in PCM or in FM chip, I think it's a truly brilliant work on the system. I wish we could know who are the creators or the soundtrack composer of this game...
This was one of my favourite SMS games when it came out, its not too hard and its gets better as you power up with all of the different sword attacks. The music in this game is amazing, especially the FM version. I still play through this game once or twice a year. Check out the homebrew sequel thats out for Sega genesis, it’s incredible!
As a kid, I ended up buying Lord Of The Sword (which I expect will be appearing here soon) rather than this. I think I made the wrong choice; I never did get very far in LOTS. Either way, looking forward to Phantasy Star next week!
I thought for a moment you were going to end the Genpei Toumaden comparison with something along the lines of "Unlike that game it's fair it doesn't suck." And the Algol system? As the kids today would put it, LFG!
Interesting that you mention Castlevania, but not Getsu Fuuma Den (a game with an aesthetic and gameplay similar to Kenseiden that released the previous year.)
"because apparently, sega's marketing and sega's developers weren't on the same page yet" now there's a double entendre also the way you talk about maze hunter 3-d in these videos makes it sound like you've taken to playing it in your free time and makes me imagine you in a dimly lit room with a set master system 3d glasses on, controller in hand, plucking away at maze hunter 3-d in solemn solitude, almost like some sort of popularized cyberpunk dystopia imagery of a man trying to escape the post-modern nightmare hellscape i know i'm wrong, but still, that's the feeling it evokes
I think you mean cyberpunk _utopia_ of a man luxuriating in the virtual world and shedding his worthless old flesh for the new post-modern digital paradise.
I was thinking the same thing. Sensing some similar vibes in this one, except seeming far, far more interesting, with more varied levels and actual character progression, whereas Lord of the Sword is pretty much the same monotonic slog from start to finish.
My neighbors had both carts and they did.have a similar vibe and feel. The asian aesthetics set KenSeiDen apart and it did have the new moves that you learned which gave it the feel of the more complex game
As a child, I thought this game was too easy: it actually gets easier and easier (from beginning to end) because of the extra attacks that become enabled as the game progresses. I'm not joking: if you learn how to use the new moves, level 1 is the hardest stage of the game.
Solid action game, even if I wish it played a bit faster. At the time, there really weren't 'that' many heavily Japanese games like this in terms of setting, monsters and so on available in the West... definitely must have been a fairly unique game, had you owned MS back then. Nice to know one of the most important games on the system will be covered next...
Interestingly enough, both Revenge of Shinobi & GG Shinobi 1 would feature some references to Kenseiden. Namely, the first stage of Revenge is effectively a straight copy of the look of one of Kenseiden's early stages, while one of the stages in GG takes place in a pagoda that features a very similar aesthetic as the pagoda stage in Kenseiden. There definitely must have been some Kenseiden staff who later worked on the Shinobi franchise.
When are you going to do some top x (100 would be nice but I'll gladly take ten as well) lists for various systems? You wouldn't have to get too detailed into history and just give a minute or 2 for each game and why its on the list. Plus list videos do well, you deserve more view$
"Samurai Slodown" is the exact kind of quality content I'm here for
@@Faction.Paradox Follows nicely the tone of this channel: slo is also a type of gin.
EXECUTE ORDER 66
A game I found absolutely fascinating as a kid. The lack of the usual heavy-handed localization offered so much to see and learn about, especially the fantastic monster designs and music.
Also one of the few games to keep the original Japanese title, thus further emphasizing the setting. Even though "Legend of the Sword Master" would have translated fairly neatly into English.
As far as Sega Visions saying nothing about Kenseiden...
Some tips for Kenseiden are mentioned in the "Sega Secrets" section of the April 1989 issue of the Team Sega Newsletter.
Kenseiden also is one of the 10 games featured on the "Games Preview II" VHS only available through the newsletter - it was advertised in the Fall 1988 and January 1989 issues.
And Kenseiden was mentioned with a screenshot in the "coming soon" section under the Summer 1988 issue's Software Checklist.
This is scant marketing, certainly, but it's at least something, I suppose.
well, i'm glad SOMEONE is holding parish accountable
@@tsvtsvtsv his reign of misinformation must be stopped
Kenseiden is definitely one of the more noteworthy Master System titles. Would be nice to see it get a little more love amongst the retro fanbase.
11:07 That's where I live, Iga :) 伊賀 home of the ninja. If you like this recently a spiritual fan sequel was made, Hayato's Journey, it's pretty good, check it out.
Even though you only mention it in passing, I'm glad you take a moment to highlight how absolutely ridiculous the concept of playing Metroid on Playchoice-10 is. Can you imagine having to make sure that you set aside enough of your remaining time to die on purpose so that you can scribble down the password (with the notebook and pencil that you brought to the arcade), or wasting time on your next session farming health before proceeding? It's like the most hostile environment that I can imagine to play that game. I want to know if there's anybody on the planet who actually bothered to beat that game in arcades but not at home for some reason.
Maybe if someone had access to a machine on free play? PC10 wasn't meant to be the place you played games to complete them, it was really just a for-pay demo unit to check out games that seemed interesting.
@@JeremyParish Yeah it's something that makes sense once you just sit back and think about what the system's purpose is, but as a kid who didn't know any better I just remember being extremely perplexed at having my Mario 3 run cut short even before I ran out of lives. Felt like I was being double punished in a way I didn't really have the experience to articulate yet.
@@jasonblalock4429 You're thinking of the VS System, not the Playchoice. The former was a proper arcade platform where the games ported to/from the NES were adjusted to behave more in line with the expectations of arcade games. The latter was a glorified NES with a pay-per-minute system.
@@Sixfortyfive oooh, right. Duh.
I remember playing Castlevania on the sit down VS System at the Pizza Hut a number of times as a kid. And it worked perfectly as a demo sort of thing, even if you didn't think of it like that. It's not like I was getting that far in Castlevania to begin with. I didn't want to sit there for an hour playing a game. I just wanted something fun to play for a bit while waiting.
Kenseiden was one of my favorite SMS games as a kid. I picked up a copy last year and revisited it and was delighted at how well it held up. The non-linear quest and optional training stages really open the game up and add replay options as I learned the optimal path for gathering upgrades, lives and continues. I managed to get through all but the very last training stage, which are as brutal as Jeremy describes. I never did beat that last one as a kid either. Maybe some day.
The controls have a very particular feel, but once mastered Kenseiden feels great, with a high degree of precision. Mastering when to use the various moves during the final stages and plowing through them feels very much like the culmination of a journey where all the pieces come together in the end. I used to replay this every few Saturdays and plan to revisit it regularly again. Very much a hidden gem.
Could not of said it better myself. The option of path to victory etc was great. Choose to speed run, add challenge by not completing some levels or challenge stages or scrape every corner of every level gor max power up to wipe the floor with the bosses and levels. The fm sound of the soundtrack is exceptional as well.
I'll be your friend Jeremy. We could play long multiplayer rounds of Heinkyo Alien then
From the way he said it, I got the sense that the "I don't have friends" thing was by choice rather than happenstance. Though if anything can soften his cold stone heart, it's Heiankyo Alien.
“I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member”
Kenseiden was really memorable to me as a child
13:07 Nice, looking forward to Phantasy Starful of Secrets
Set the Algol for the heart of the sun.
" Wonder in Alis land"
I'll be adding this title to my "must play" SMS list. Thanks for covering Jeremy
“Strange behind the scenes choices” Something that will never effect Sega as a player in the console game again.
affect*
"When you focus on a single group of cutsomers, you eventually drain their allowances"
It's fascinating how that still applies today to live service games, which have been flopping in bulk lately due to an oversaturated market and recent economic problems giving consumers less money to throw away.
Really? I heard it’s because there was a fat girl character because of DEI /s
I have fond memories of this game, including that the first time I reached the final boss, it was bedtime on a school night. I had to leave the game paused with the TV off all night and through school the next day. Anyone who grew up in that era knows what a stressful crapshoot that was.
Got home the next day, lo and behold, the game was still working and paused, and wonder of wonders, I beat the boss on my first attempt!….at least, that’s how I remember it.
Anyway, nice to hear Kenseiden reflected in a pretty positive manner. Certainly a much more level-headed assessment than some of your Retronauts guests back in the day, and for that, I salute you.
One of my favorite SMS games. When you get the skill to run while slashing your sword around you instantly feel more dangerous. Sometimes I'd go back to the beginning after all the pickups and check out just how easier the levels would be. And the training rooms were very hard, but you felt accomplished when you finished them.
Can not wait a week for a trip to Algo.
It's gonna be more than a week, sorry. I don't have the time I need to give PS its due at the moment, so I'm kicking it down the road until my schedule has a little slack in it.
That sword slashing upgrade is phenomenal! This game was mind-blowing in 1989, and it's still fun to play now 😊
This was a breath of fresh air for the SMS back in 88. Still one of my favs. The soundtrack is amazing as well.
I never played Castlevania as a kid, but I sure played a ton of 8-Eyes so I appreciate it whenever someone mentions it.
Sega Challenge seems to not know about half these games!! They gotta pay some more attention!
This game had its own vibe and flow…. I certainly miss the old school Sega.
Great video! Never tried this one, but I need to check it out. Keep up the great work!
8:00 - Getsu Fuuma Den as well, all these games hitting around the same time. It's like that "twin films" thing in Hollywood where the same kind of movie is in production from two different studios, but it's 3-5 games lol.
Looks really good for SMS
(also A+ on the title)
Kenseiden is one of the most unique games on Master System, I'm glad to have it in my collection. Yeah, I spent much more time in the training rooms than in regular stages, but it's very rewarding to have permanent upgrades. This game needs much more love
I bought Kensaiden at a swap meet and loved it.
Phantasy Star is next! I've been waiting for this one for quite awhile.
_It has been _*_0_*_ Days since Penguin Land was last referenced._
And he slipped a Druaga reference in there too - like we wouldn't notice! 😉
The preamble expertly underscores why Sega will always be #1 for me.
Phantasy Star up next, yeahhhhh buddy! That series is the first thing I think of when I think Sega. Well, that and Altered Beast. Got PS2 with my Genesis and immediately fell in love.
Why does Sega spend so much energy celebrating the Genesis/Mega Drive, while the Master System is virtually forgotten. I had no idea Sega had an NES competitor for the first 3 decades of my life (born in '88, grew up in the US). There has to be some great games worth collecting/celebrating besides the first Phantasy Star.
Definitely going into a pretty good stretch of Segaiden. Phantasy Star should definitely be worth it too (of course I can see why you'd want to space that out. It is a fantastic intro to a very good RPG series). And NES fans get to feel like they're not forgotten in the Works series, win-win.
11:18 Alex Kidd, take a shot!
The observation that Sega was first and foremost an arcade game company resonates with a thought I often had about them at the end of their existence in the console market- the greatest strength of the Dreamcast was always that it was the ultimate console for getting great arcade game conversions. It was THE console for fighting games (the original release of Dead or Alive 2, Virtua Fighter 3, Power Stone 1 & 2, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Rival Schools 2: Project Justice, Fighting Vipers II, Capcom vs SNK and, most notably, Soul Calibur, which wasn't just arcade-perfect but arcade-SUPERIOR, as well as many more), a gamut of racing games, as well as an abundance of other arcade classics like Crazy Taxi and House of the Dead 2. Unfortuately this may have been what doomed the console in the end, as arcades were starting to be on the way out, in favour of console games with more depth and scope, which were becoming more the standard with the increasing power of the 6th generation.
There is a fairly elaborate fan-made sequel to this game on the Mega Drive called Kenseiden: Hayato's Journey which might be worth checking out for fans of the original
Another great video, but, NGL, I totally forgot what it was about halfway through it, before the review began.
Wow, I never heard of this game before but I really want to give it a shot now
11:18 Alex Kidd easter egg!
Nothing to do with anything but the "Never Tear Us Apart" video planted the seed in my head that I had to go visit Prague sometime and it was absolutely worth it
11:19 As a kid, I hated the fact that they put a Alex Kidd head in the background of this level because I thought for sure there was some secret hidden there, but no, nothing.
Love this game. Barely beating it as a teen once before my friend broke my sms was why i bought another sms a few years back and a copy of Kenseiden
I loved this game but no one knew about it in 1988 only one kid in my school knew about this game.
Aleays a treat, Jeremy. Fascinating as always.
Looking forward to Spellcaster getting covered. I could never figure out how to progress in that game
Ooooh wow, this is right up my alley! Can't believe I haven't heard of it before. I'll be on the lookout for a copy!
Kenseiden is a true favorite game of mine on the SMS, but not exactly because of its gameplay and overall presentation, but because of its soundtrack. Either being in PCM or in FM chip, I think it's a truly brilliant work on the system. I wish we could know who are the creators or the soundtrack composer of this game...
ALGOL
ALGOL
ALGOL
1:09 not until they invented horse armour anyway
A special kind of "Sord" and sorcery game.
There is also a homebrew sequel on genesis which is really good.
Yeah and it was released like a month ago
Never heard of this game but it looks really interesting
Ahh, Algol. Algo. Parma. Palma. Prama?
Dezolis
Kenseiden with FM sound can almost pass as an early Genesis game.
this game looks gnarly. might give it a go
Holy shit I'm so excited for the next one
This was one of my favourite SMS games when it came out, its not too hard and its gets better as you power up with all of the different sword attacks. The music in this game is amazing, especially the FM version. I still play through this game once or twice a year. Check out the homebrew sequel thats out for Sega genesis, it’s incredible!
Heart of Algol!
I love My Hero, could never get really far, but still love it.
I have zero envy for the people who had to port Double Dragon to an early Atari console
I got Bomber Raid for Christmas one year
(It could have been so much worse)
11:21 is that Alex Kid in the corner just decorative?
As a kid, I ended up buying Lord Of The Sword (which I expect will be appearing here soon) rather than this. I think I made the wrong choice; I never did get very far in LOTS. Either way, looking forward to Phantasy Star next week!
Oh hey there having-no-friends buddy, hi-five
_[is left hanging]_
…game recognize game, welp
Kenseiden got 150% graphics and it's excellent. 😀👍🎮
I thought for a moment you were going to end the Genpei Toumaden comparison with something along the lines of "Unlike that game it's fair it doesn't suck."
And the Algol system? As the kids today would put it, LFG!
I think this and Lord of the Sword were the last two games I bought for SMS. Both solid, but Kenseiden is the better game.
Interesting that you mention Castlevania, but not Getsu Fuuma Den (a game with an aesthetic and gameplay similar to Kenseiden that released the previous year.)
Not including the drums and bass coming in on "never tear us apart" is the worst thing I've ever experienced. Great video otherwise!
This game did stick with me. Maybe its my rose tinted glasses.
"because apparently, sega's marketing and sega's developers weren't on the same page yet" now there's a double entendre
also the way you talk about maze hunter 3-d in these videos makes it sound like you've taken to playing it in your free time and makes me imagine you in a dimly lit room with a set master system 3d glasses on, controller in hand, plucking away at maze hunter 3-d in solemn solitude, almost like some sort of popularized cyberpunk dystopia imagery of a man trying to escape the post-modern nightmare hellscape
i know i'm wrong, but still, that's the feeling it evokes
I think you mean cyberpunk _utopia_ of a man luxuriating in the virtual world and shedding his worthless old flesh for the new post-modern digital paradise.
Haohmaru approves of this video
Does it remind of Lord of the Sword a bit? Never got to play Kenseiden but reminds of that game style wise
I was thinking the same thing. Sensing some similar vibes in this one, except seeming far, far more interesting, with more varied levels and actual character progression, whereas Lord of the Sword is pretty much the same monotonic slog from start to finish.
My neighbors had both carts and they did.have a similar vibe and feel. The asian aesthetics set KenSeiDen apart and it did have the new moves that you learned which gave it the feel of the more complex game
As a child, I thought this game was too easy: it actually gets easier and easier (from beginning to end) because of the extra attacks that become enabled as the game progresses. I'm not joking: if you learn how to use the new moves, level 1 is the hardest stage of the game.
Solid action game, even if I wish it played a bit faster. At the time, there really weren't 'that' many heavily Japanese games like this in terms of setting, monsters and so on available in the West... definitely must have been a fairly unique game, had you owned MS back then. Nice to know one of the most important games on the system will be covered next...
Phantasy star next??
Interestingly enough, both Revenge of Shinobi & GG Shinobi 1 would feature some references to Kenseiden. Namely, the first stage of Revenge is effectively a straight copy of the look of one of Kenseiden's early stages, while one of the stages in GG takes place in a pagoda that features a very similar aesthetic as the pagoda stage in Kenseiden. There definitely must have been some Kenseiden staff who later worked on the Shinobi franchise.
Yeah it does look really similar to first stage of revenge of Shinobi
When are you going to do some top x (100 would be nice but I'll gladly take ten as well) lists for various systems? You wouldn't have to get too detailed into history and just give a minute or 2 for each game and why its on the list. Plus list videos do well, you deserve more view$
I just did a best/worst of Master System video, dude
@@JeremyParish short term memory loss ftw
It is almost a waste to spend Jeremy's charisma, eloquence and wit on the topic of retro video games
I get the impression this is where he wants to be. Im.glad hes putting his talents to use for us here