Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
1998 · Stealth / Action · PlayStation
Overview
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (1998) is Acquire's ninja game set in Sengoku-era Japan, which helped define the stealth genre alongside Metal Gear Solid and Thief.
Deep Dive
The ninja Rikimaru and the kunoichi Ayame serve Lord Gohda, and the player picks one of them for eleven open-ended missions. The aim is to stay unseen, slipping past guards or killing them quietly, with the Ki meter showing how alert nearby enemies are and how close they stand. The grappling hook is the only item kept between missions, and each mission is ranked from "Thug" to "Grand Master".
Developer Story
Takuma Endo directed it and wrote the scenario. Sony Music Entertainment Japan released it on 26 February 1998, and Activision published it in North America in September. It sold more than 1.4 million copies worldwide by 2003, and Tenchu 2 followed in 2000.
Did You Know?
- The Western release added two levels and alternate mission layouts, and was later released in Japan as Tenchu: Shinobi Gaisen.
- It was Acquire's first project.
Sources & further reading
- Tenchu: Stealth Assassins — Wikipedia
