Arcade Archives The Genji and the Heike Clans

Genre: Action-Platformer / Top-Down Action

Players: 1-2 Alternating (Local), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

The Genji and the Heike Clans, elsewhere called Genpei Tōma Den, is a game that shifts between two different kinds of Action-Platformer and a Top-Down Action game, depending on the stage you’re in. It was released in 1986 in Japanese arcades, with the first Western release being as a part of Namco Museum Vol. 4 in 1997 on the original PlayStation. This modern release sees the game coming to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in 2021.

The Genji and Heike Clans is certainly an ambitious game for its time, with three types of gameplay. The Action-Platformer featuring a larger and more articulate version of the protagonist puts the focus on careful targeting of sword attacks, while a different style of Action-Platformer play zooms out the action, with occasional Top-Down Action stages too. All of these feel pretty janky to play, with your character not always responsive, and with hit detection seeming a bit iffy. I can’t help but feel that instead of designing three different types of gameplay, perhaps they should have focused on polishing up one of them, because all three types are kinda’ janky and not especially fun.

This release of the game includes a new “Hi-Score Mode” that challenges players to score as much as they can in one run before seeing a game over screen. There is also a new “Caravan Mode” that does much the same, but with the limit being five minutes. In addition, this release of the game includes various display options, sound options, challenge modifiers, button mapping, and online leaderboards.

Overall, while I appreciate how ambitious The Genji and the Heike Clans is, I kinda’ feel like the result was a game that bit off more than it could chew. I do appreciate what this game was aiming for, but that doesn’t make it any more playable, and I don’t recommend playing it.

tl;dr – The Genji and the Heike Clans blends two different types of Action-Platformer with Top-Down Action, but none of these types of gameplay feels especially well-done, and they’re all pretty unpolished. While I appreciate this game’s ambition, I don’t recommend you play it.

Grade: D+

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