Difference between revisions of "Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru"

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{{sub-stub}}'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' (心霊呪殺師 太郎丸) is a beat-'em-up game for the [[Sega Saturn]].
+
'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' (心霊呪殺師 太郎丸) is an action game, released by [[Time Warner Interactive]] for the [[Sega Saturn]] in 1997. The title translates to "Psychic Assassin Taromaru." It was only released in Japan.
 +
 
 +
==Story==
 +
Two psychic ninjas, Taromaru and Enkai, battle an assortment of demons in feudal Japan to rescue a kidnapped girl.
 +
 
 +
==Gameplay==
 +
The game is a side-scrolling action game set in a version of feudal Japan filled with mythological creatures. The player assumes the role of Taromaru or Enkai, psychic ninjas who fight their enemies with psychic powers and play nearly identically outside of minor differences in their attack ranges. The game uses 2D overlaid upon 3D backgrounds, with the perspective occasionally pivoting at predetermined points in the stages. Boss fights make up a significant portion of the gameplay and include an assortment of supernatural beasts and demons including large spiders and frogs. Interspersed between these boss fights are platforming sections with many lesser enemies.
 +
 
 +
The ninjas walk with {{left}} and {{right}}, run with {{left}}{{left}} and {{right}}{{right}}, and crouch with {{down}}. They jump with {{C}}, jump off platforms with {{down}}+{{C}}, and slide along the ground with {{down}}+{{C}}. They can raise a magical shield with {{Y}} that pushes back enemies and absorbs projectiles. This shield cannot be invoked when walking but can be used at any other time, including while in midair.
 +
 
 +
The ninjas can fire a quick burst of psychic energy with {{B}} or charge up their energy for a more destructive attack by holding and releasing {{B}}. Most enemies require multiple hits to be defeated. The charged attack is slower to use but more powerful and can hit multiple enemies. Similar to ''[[Alisia Dragoon]]'', nearby enemies are targeted automatically. A reticle indicates which enemy is going to be attacked, and the player can cycle through possible targets with {{L}} and {{R}}. Bosses often have multiple possible spots to attack, with some taking more damage than others (and some not taking any damage at all). The ninjas can fire while crouching or jumping but not while moving (though the psychic attack can be charged while moving).
 +
 
 +
In addition to the main attack, the ninjas can hypnotize certain types of enemies into fighting alongside them with {{A}}. This ability is targeted in the same manner as the psychic attack and can be charged up. Like the psychic attack, it takes multiple hits to hypnotize an enemy. Only one enemy can be hypnotized at a time. Hypnotized enemies last until they run out of life, but the player can also cause them to explode, which damages everything on the screen, with {{X}} or {{Z}}.
 +
 
 +
Each ninja has a health bar, depicted as a burning scroll on the top of the screen. The bar reduces in size as the ninja is injured by enemies. The ninja loses a life if the health bar is emptied but revives momentarily if the player has lives remaining. The game ends if a player runs out of lives but can be continued. The number of remaining lives is shown as a Chinese numeral rather than an Arabic numeral (for example, 一 for one and 二 for two). Characters have a brief period of invulnerability after taking damage or being revived. Bosses have their own health bars that appear on the bottom of the screen, again looking like a scroll, and hypnotized enemies have their health shown as a number in between the players' health bars.
 +
 
 +
The game has a two-player cooperative mode where both ninjas fight together. The second player can join the game at any point during gameplay by pressing {{Start}}.
 +
 
 +
===Items===
 +
{{InfoTable|imagewidths=50|
 +
{{InfoRow
 +
| title=
 +
| sprite={{sprite | Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Items.png | 2 | crop_width=32 | crop_height=32 | crop_x=0 | crop_y=0}}
 +
| desc=Restores a quarter of the ninja's health.
 +
}}
 +
{{InfoRow
 +
| title=
 +
| sprite={{sprite | Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Items.png | 2 | crop_width=32 | crop_height=32 | crop_x=32 | crop_y=0}}
 +
| desc=Restores half of the ninja's health.
 +
}}
 +
}}
 +
 
 +
===Stages===
 +
Though the game is broken down into stages, which are marked by text overlays, there is no break between stages, so the game plays out as one long, continuous journey.
 +
{{InfoTable|imagewidths=320|
 +
{{InfoRow
 +
| title=子ノ刻 (Hour of the Rat)
 +
| screenshot=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 1 Boss 1.png
 +
| screenshot2=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 1 Boss 2.png
 +
| screenshot3=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 1 Boss 3.png
 +
| screenshot4=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 1 Boss 4.png
 +
| tabs=yes
 +
| desc=
 +
}}
 +
{{InfoRow
 +
| title=卯ノ刻 (Hour of the Rabbit)
 +
| screenshot=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 2 Boss 1.png
 +
| screenshot2=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 2 Boss 2.png
 +
| screenshot3=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 2 Boss 3.png
 +
| screenshot4=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 2 Boss 4.png
 +
| tabs=yes
 +
| desc=
 +
}}
 +
{{InfoRow
 +
| title=辰ノ刻 (Hour of the Dragon)
 +
| screenshot=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 3 Boss 1.png
 +
| screenshot2=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 3 Boss 2.png
 +
| screenshot3=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 3 Boss 3.png
 +
| tabs=yes
 +
| desc=
 +
}}
 +
{{InfoRow
 +
| title=巳ノ刻 (Hour of the Snake)
 +
| screenshot=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 4 Boss 1.png
 +
| screenshot2=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 4 Boss 2.png
 +
| screenshot3=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 4 Boss 3.png
 +
| tabs=yes
 +
| desc=
 +
}}
 +
{{InfoRow
 +
| title=申ノ刻 (Hour of the Monkey)
 +
| screenshot=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 5 Boss 1.png
 +
| screenshot2=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 5 Boss 2.png
 +
| screenshot3=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 5 Boss 3.png
 +
| tabs=yes
 +
| desc=
 +
}}
 +
{{InfoRow
 +
| title=戌ノ刻 (Hour of the Dog)
 +
| screenshot=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 6 Boss 1.png
 +
| screenshot2=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 6 Boss 2.png
 +
| tabs=yes
 +
| desc=
 +
}}
 +
{{InfoRow
 +
| title=亥ノ刻 (Hour of the Pig)
 +
| screenshot=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 1.png
 +
| screenshot2=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 2.png
 +
| screenshot3=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 3.png
 +
| screenshot4=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 4.png
 +
| screenshot5=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 5.png
 +
| screenshot6=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 6.png
 +
| screenshot7=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 7.png
 +
| screenshot8=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 8.png
 +
| tabs=yes
 +
| desc=
 +
}}
 +
}}
 +
 
 +
==History==
 +
===Development===
 +
The game was developed by [[Time Warner Interactive]]'s Japanese studios. [[Hiroshi Iuchi]], known for his work with [[Treasure]], did some of the art design. Characters were designed by [[Kenichi Nemoto]].
 +
 
 +
Reportedly, only 7,500 copies of the game were made since Time Warner Interactive was in the process of closing operations when it was published.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20120204152626/http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9094256}} As a result, it is one of the rarest and most expensive Saturn games on the aftermarket.
 +
 
 +
==Production credits==
 +
{{multicol|
 +
{{creditstable|
 +
*'''{{rolloverText|企画|Planner}}:''' 岡野 道生
 +
*'''{{rolloverText|プログラム|Programmers}}:''' 山本 修, 布留川 和也
 +
*'''{{rolloverText|キャラクター|Characters}}:''' 根本 健一
 +
*'''{{rolloverText|背景|Backgrounds}}:''' 井内 洋, 岡野 道生, 川端 康子
 +
*'''{{rolloverText|音楽|Music}}:''' 横山 賢司, 塙 俊一
 +
*'''{{rolloverText|マニュアル|Manual}}:''' 吉岡 瑞穂
 +
*'''{{rolloverText|題字|Title}}:''' 柳 操
 +
*'''{{rolloverText|声の出演|Voice Acting}}:''' 松竹 貴之, 守屋 雄一郎, 工藤 ゆき子, 平澤 佳子
 +
*'''{{rolloverText|営業|Sales}}:''' 北原 唯史
 +
*'''{{rolloverText|広報|Public Relations}}:''' 小野寺 千枝, 倉下 かおり, 梅田 直子
 +
*'''{{rolloverText|協力|Cooperation}}:''' 土屋 直樹, 大窪 智典, 小松 健祐, 七条 泰弘, 吉岡 文彦, 横瀬 さとみ, 野口 貴志, 山崎 陽, 山崎 浩, 松永 一夫, 順不同
 +
:Presented by [[Time Warner Interactive]]
 +
| source=In-game credits
 +
| pdf=Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru Saturn credits.pdf
 +
| console=SAT
 +
}}
 +
}}
  
 
==Magazine articles==
 
==Magazine articles==
Line 41: Line 165:
  
 
==Technical information==
 
==Technical information==
−
===ROM dump status===
+
{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Technical information}}
−
{{romtable|
 
−
{{rom|SAT|sha1= |md5= |crc32= |size=522,080,496|date=1996-11-20|source=CD-ROM (JP)|comments=T-4804G V1.004|quality=good|prototype=}}
 
−
}}
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 +
 +
{{ShinreiJusatsushiTaroumaruOmni}}

Revision as of 04:29, 3 April 2024

n/a

Taroumaru Saturn JP SStitle.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Time Warner Interactive
Developer:
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (18 tracks)
Genre: Psychic Action (サイキックアクション)[1], Action[2]

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Saturn
JP 		¥5,8005,800 T-4804G
Sega Rating: All Ages

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru (心霊呪殺師 太郎丸) is an action game, released by Time Warner Interactive for the Sega Saturn in 1997. The title translates to "Psychic Assassin Taromaru." It was only released in Japan.

Story

Two psychic ninjas, Taromaru and Enkai, battle an assortment of demons in feudal Japan to rescue a kidnapped girl.

Gameplay

The game is a side-scrolling action game set in a version of feudal Japan filled with mythological creatures. The player assumes the role of Taromaru or Enkai, psychic ninjas who fight their enemies with psychic powers and play nearly identically outside of minor differences in their attack ranges. The game uses 2D overlaid upon 3D backgrounds, with the perspective occasionally pivoting at predetermined points in the stages. Boss fights make up a significant portion of the gameplay and include an assortment of supernatural beasts and demons including large spiders and frogs. Interspersed between these boss fights are platforming sections with many lesser enemies.

The ninjas walk with Left and Right, run with LeftLeft and RightRight, and crouch with Down. They jump with C, jump off platforms with Down+C, and slide along the ground with Down+C. They can raise a magical shield with Y that pushes back enemies and absorbs projectiles. This shield cannot be invoked when walking but can be used at any other time, including while in midair.

The ninjas can fire a quick burst of psychic energy with B or charge up their energy for a more destructive attack by holding and releasing B. Most enemies require multiple hits to be defeated. The charged attack is slower to use but more powerful and can hit multiple enemies. Similar to Alisia Dragoon, nearby enemies are targeted automatically. A reticle indicates which enemy is going to be attacked, and the player can cycle through possible targets with L and R. Bosses often have multiple possible spots to attack, with some taking more damage than others (and some not taking any damage at all). The ninjas can fire while crouching or jumping but not while moving (though the psychic attack can be charged while moving).

In addition to the main attack, the ninjas can hypnotize certain types of enemies into fighting alongside them with A. This ability is targeted in the same manner as the psychic attack and can be charged up. Like the psychic attack, it takes multiple hits to hypnotize an enemy. Only one enemy can be hypnotized at a time. Hypnotized enemies last until they run out of life, but the player can also cause them to explode, which damages everything on the screen, with X or Z.

Each ninja has a health bar, depicted as a burning scroll on the top of the screen. The bar reduces in size as the ninja is injured by enemies. The ninja loses a life if the health bar is emptied but revives momentarily if the player has lives remaining. The game ends if a player runs out of lives but can be continued. The number of remaining lives is shown as a Chinese numeral rather than an Arabic numeral (for example, 一 for one and 二 for two). Characters have a brief period of invulnerability after taking damage or being revived. Bosses have their own health bars that appear on the bottom of the screen, again looking like a scroll, and hypnotized enemies have their health shown as a number in between the players' health bars.

The game has a two-player cooperative mode where both ninjas fight together. The second player can join the game at any point during gameplay by pressing  START .

Items

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Items.png
Restores a quarter of the ninja's health.
Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Items.png
Restores half of the ninja's health.

Stages

Though the game is broken down into stages, which are marked by text overlays, there is no break between stages, so the game plays out as one long, continuous journey.

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 1 Boss 1.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 1 Boss 2.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 1 Boss 3.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 1 Boss 4.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 1 Boss 1.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 1 Boss 2.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 1 Boss 3.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 1 Boss 4.png

子ノ刻 (Hour of the Rat)

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 2 Boss 1.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 2 Boss 2.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 2 Boss 3.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 2 Boss 4.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 2 Boss 1.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 2 Boss 2.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 2 Boss 3.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 2 Boss 4.png

卯ノ刻 (Hour of the Rabbit)

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 3 Boss 1.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 3 Boss 2.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 3 Boss 3.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 3 Boss 1.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 3 Boss 2.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 3 Boss 3.png

辰ノ刻 (Hour of the Dragon)

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 4 Boss 1.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 4 Boss 2.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 4 Boss 3.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 4 Boss 1.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 4 Boss 2.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 4 Boss 3.png

巳ノ刻 (Hour of the Snake)

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 5 Boss 1.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 5 Boss 2.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 5 Boss 3.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 5 Boss 1.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 5 Boss 2.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 5 Boss 3.png

申ノ刻 (Hour of the Monkey)

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 6 Boss 1.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 6 Boss 2.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 6 Boss 1.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 6 Boss 2.png

戌ノ刻 (Hour of the Dog)

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 1.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 2.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 3.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 4.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 5.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 6.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 7.png

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 8.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 1.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 2.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 3.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 4.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 5.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 6.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 7.png

  • Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru, Stage 7 Boss 8.png

亥ノ刻 (Hour of the Pig)

History

Development

The game was developed by Time Warner Interactive's Japanese studios. Hiroshi Iuchi, known for his work with Treasure, did some of the art design. Characters were designed by Kenichi Nemoto.

Reportedly, only 7,500 copies of the game were made since Time Warner Interactive was in the process of closing operations when it was published.[3] As a result, it is one of the rarest and most expensive Saturn games on the aftermarket.

Production credits

  • 企画: 岡野 道生
  • プログラム: 山本 修, 布留川 和也
  • キャラクター: 根本 健一
  • 背景: 井内 洋, 岡野 道生, 川端 康子
  • 音楽: 横山 賢司, 塙 俊一
  • マニュアル: 吉岡 瑞穂
  • 題字: 柳 操
  • 声の出演: 松竹 貴之, 守屋 雄一郎, 工藤 ゆき子, 平澤 佳子
  • 営業: 北原 唯史
  • 広報: 小野寺 千枝, 倉下 かおり, 梅田 直子
  • 協力: 土屋 直樹, 大窪 智典, 小松 健祐, 七条 泰弘, 吉岡 文彦, 横瀬 さとみ, 野口 貴志, 山崎 陽, 山崎 浩, 松永 一夫, 順不同
Presented by Time Warner Interactive
Source:
In-game credits
Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru Saturn credits.pdf
[4]

Magazine articles

Main article: Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1996-06: "1996-06 (1996-04-12)" (1996-03-22)
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1996-08: "1996-08 (1996-05-10,24)" (1996-04-26)
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1996-10: "1996-10 (1996-06-28)" (1996-06-14)
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1996-12: "1996-12 (1996-07-26)" (1996-07-12)
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
55
[5]
Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J
56
[6]
Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J
68
[7]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
73
[8]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
82
[9]
Sega Saturn
 67
Based on
5 reviews

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru

Saturn, JP
SJT Saturn JP Box Back.jpgSJT Saturn JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
Taroumaru Saturn JP Spinecard.jpg
Spinecard
Taroumaru Saturn JP Disc.jpg
Disc

Technical information

Main article: Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru/Technical information.

References

  1. ↑ File:SJT Saturn JP Box Back.jpg
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://sega.jp/fb/segahard/ss/soft_licensee3.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-03-20 23:05)
  3. ↑ [ ]
  4. ↑ File:Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru Saturn credits.pdf
  5. ↑ Famitsu, "1997-01-24" (JP; 1997-01-10), page 1
  6. ↑ Saturn Fan, "1997 No. 1" (JP; 1996-12-27), page 201
  7. ↑ Saturn Fan, "1997 No. 5" (JP; 1997-02-28), page 98
  8. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "1997-01 (1997-01-17)" (JP; 1996-12-27), page 234
  9. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "Readers rating final data" (JP; 2000-03), page 12


Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru

Taroumaru Saturn JP SStitle.png

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