Hagane: The Final Conflict

About Hagane: The Final Conflict

Hagane: The Final Conflict (1994) is CAProduction and Red's SNES action-platformer starring a cyborg ninja on a mission of revenge, a demanding cult favourite compared with Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden.

Hagane: The Final Conflict in Depth

The game blends traditional ninja and samurai imagery with a futuristic setting. Hagane switches between four weapons, a sword, a chain, shuriken and grenades, and has a limited supply of magic attacks that clear the screen. His moves include somersaults, flying jump kicks, wall jumps, slides and charge attacks. Three hits kill him, though health power-ups extend his meter beyond three until he dies. All the stages are platforming, except one in which he rides a hovercraft through a Mode 7 sequence. The stages are short but have very few checkpoints, there is no save feature, and running out of lives returns the player to the start of the chapter; the Japanese version allows only seven continues.

The Fuma and Koma ninja clans have mastered ninjutsu and black magic. The Fuma guard the Holy Grail, said to be powerful enough to destroy the world, until the evil Koma attack one of their factions and steal it. One man, Hagane, survives on the brink of death and is rebuilt by a mysterious old man, Momochi, with cyber-technology, only his brain remaining of his body. He sets out for revenge on the Koma clan; at the end, his purpose fulfilled, his eyes fade to black and time and nature reclaim his seated body.

Making Hagane: The Final Conflict

CAProduction and Red Entertainment developed the game for Hudson Soft, which released it in Japan on 18 November 1994, in Europe in May 1995 and in North America in June 1995. Reviews were positive and compared it favourably with classic side-scrolling action games. Nintendo Power praised its challenge, non-stop action and controls, likening it to Ninja Gaiden, but faulted its lack of variety. GamePro liked the controls and the variety of special moves, recommending it to players wanting a nostalgic action game, but felt the repetitive enemies and settings and the waning 16-bit market stopped it being a classic. Next Generation praised its dark, detailed graphics and wide set of attacks while criticising its lack of originality. In a retrospective, Kurt Kalata found its play heavily influenced by Shinobi III and challenging, but thought its many mechanics underused and its environments too dark.