Manufacturer: SNK
Developer: SNK
Year: 1991
Rom Size: 3.5 megs(1 parent, 1 clone)
No. of players: 2(simultaneously)
Hardware: Neo Geo MVS
Sound: YM2610 @ 8MHz
Resolution: 320X224
Played: Sengoku on MAME Plus 0.128u1
MAWS: Information, trivia and cheats!
All pics can be clicked on for a comparison shot from the Mega CD version. NOTE: PC IE users, once a new window has been opened, the gifs will no longer animate until the page has been refreshed.
Ok, I won't lie to you, I didn't understand what was going on in the Neo Geo CD, or Mega CD version(they were both in Japanese)...but here I finally got a look at the game's story, in English. Apparently a warlord from 400 years ago was defeated by a band of warriors, and vowed that he would return one day. Well, that day has come as a floating castle has appeared in the sky. Two guys(who were, most likely, getting drunk on the roof of their apt.) saw it....they decided to check it out...and all Hell breaks loose(literally).

What's it all about?
It's a side scrolling beat'em up with an extreme emphasis on fast hits, quick kills and pure action. Fighting takes place on various "planes" that you'll constantly be transported back and forth from. Travel a bit on the Earth, whoop some ass, then(all of the sudden) a portal opens up and you are either sucked up into the sky to fight on the island of the floating castle or are cast down into the pits of, what appears to be, Hell. Along the way, after successfully defeating hordes of enemies you'll come across power-ups that will equip you with a variety of swords or add projectiles to your normal attacks. Also, defeating certain enemies will unlock a spirit(of sorts) that will merge with your character. Once you have successfully released a spirit from its captor, you can morph into that spirit's form and continue to fight. This effectively raises the game's character total from two to five.

Graphics - Solid. Nicely detailed characters go well with the colorful and imaginative backgrounds. The animation, though a bit sparse on the actual levels, is quite good for your characters, various enemies and the bosses. The Neo Geo even gets a chance to show off some of its hardware scaling ability as enemies will approach from far in the background, running until they reach you as the hardware scales their sprites. It's a nice, little effect.

Sound - The music is odd mix of fast paced, rockin' "action" themes(for the Earth-based sections) and very cool, eastern-sounding(think the Samurai Shodown soundtrack) set of selections(for the upper and lower planes). The sound effects consist of your various grunts and power screams, usually followed by a slick sword swiping noise and some solid hit effects. All of this is nicely mixed with some great stereo effects.
Control - Smooth, but slow. Your characters do any and everything you tell them to, they just move at such a slow speed. I am assuming the added animation is what makes this game seem so much more sluggish than its Mega CD conversion.

AI - Well, it's a Neo Geo game...so it's pretty cheap at times...scratch that, it's cheap *all* the time. Unlike the Mega CD version, for some reason, your characters just don't move as fast which kills their ability to attack more than two or three times in the air(on the Mega CD version you could attack *seven* times in the air, which was a real blessing). For some reason, even on normal this game is just really cheap, with certain enemies that *guarantee* your death every time they show up(the blue/red samurais). It's unreal...EVERY TIME THEY SHOW UP YOU *WILL* DIE if you do not have some sort of weapon or projectile, and there's quite a few times you won't. It gets to be really annoying after about the first ten to fifteen times...
Replay value - High. It's an arcade-style fighter: Fast, furious...and most importantly, fun. Add to that the two player option that was missing in the Mega CD version, plus the fact that you have unlimited continues and you've got a game that you'll play forever!
Emulation Issues - None, runs perfectly.
Tips for better gaming experiences:
When you're not using one of your various spirit forms, their time limits actually recharge. If you switch out of your spirit personas before their time runs out, you can let it recharge and essentially keep them throughout the entire game.

Damn these wenches! Note: No comparison shot available.
 Bringing the Arcade Home:
If you're like me, you want to try to make these arcade games as console-like as possible. Here's a few tips to help Sengoku get there:
1. Once the rom has booted, hit the Service key. By default this is F2, but check your MAME options if you have issues.
2. In the Service Menu, select "Setting up the Soft Dip", then "Slot 1 - Sengoku".
3. In the Config menu, select "Continue" and change it to "Infinite".
4. Back in the Config menu, you can also choose set the number of lives you start out with(up to a whopping 99).
5. Once finished, be sure to manually exit out of all of the menus so that your changes will be saved.
Note: If you have Pugsy's MAME Cheats in your MAME folder, you can use it to convert the game in to the AES version. From there, that really *is* the console version. It contains different story sequences and always has unlimited continues turned on. All screenshots in this review are from the AES version.
My rating: 85(out of 100) - An awesome, fast-paced arcade-style beat'em up with a shitload of action and some nice graphics. It only looses points due to the viciously cheap AI...
GamePro gave it: 5.0(graphics), 4.0(sound), 3.0(gameplay), 3.0(funfactor), 5.0(challenge)(out of 5) Note: This score was originally for the AES version

Bad Cat says: I like turning in to the wolf! Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's great, a lotta fun, I like it a lot! Man, this catnip has me jacked up!!
Back, savages!
The samurai spirit.
The overly-flippy ninja.
Yeehaw....purple cowboy...?
MAME vs Console: The Winner is...
Believe it or not, I like the Mega CD version more. Here's the deal: Perhaps it's due to the lack of animation frames, perhaps the game just runs a little faster on the Mega CD, whatever the reason, your characters attack faster. I don't mean just a little bit either, we're talking *much* faster here. It's off the hook, and it REALLY helps with the cheap-ass AI. Those blue/red samurais are no longer an instant death for your character, bosses don't bend you over nearly as much and the game is just so much more fun because of it. Call me crazy...call me biased, but go out and try the Mega CD version sometime...