[Winkysoft] Denjin Makai series

As a note, this whole series(technically a duology, but whatever), never left Japan.

Denjin Makai:

Arcade (1994):
1-2 players



Characters(clockwise): Makai, Iyo, Belva, Kurokishi, Tarukusu, & Zeldia(the armored alien thing in the above image)

Controls:
Button 1: Attack (up to 4 hit combos)/pick up objects
Button 2: Jump

Final Fight style, you can combo into a throw, by pressing the reverse direction on the last strike, but more often than not, you'll probably turn your character around than actually pull this off, leaving them vulnerable to an undefeated enemies attack. Holding 1 guards. Away + 1 performs a reverse strike, for enemies that try to sneak up behind you. Away & 2 escapes backward. 2, then 1 = jump attack; 2, forward & 1 = alternate jump attack; & 2, Down & 1 = dive attack. 2+1 = special(drains the meter under your health bar, which refills much quicker if you stand still. If you run out, your character either struggles to do anything, or does a much weaker version of the move.), but it can also be done while running(double tap Left/Right and hold the direction the 2nd time). Since you're holding forward as you run, there's a 3rd jump attack with 2, then 1. 1 while running is an alternative strike, but an instant knockdown for little damage, compared to the full strike combo. Half circle, back to forward, & 1/2+1/2 then 1, will instantly perform one of hose attacks without running. Walk into enemies to grab, which then leads to: Striking with 1(up to 3 hit combo), throw with Left/Right + 1(pressing Up/Down with 1 just does the strikes. Each direction is a different throw for Iyo and Tarukusu), alternative throw with 2. Belva can double jump. Zeldia has a grab special(2+1) that can heal her, as long as the enemy is organic. She also has a jumping special. Everyone has an automatic attack when they get up.

Unfortunately, without any guides or anything, I know there are special moves that I haven't figured out yet. For example. Zeldia has a fire breath attack that has something with Up, Down(or Left, Right) & 1(possibly holding it, or even starting from a guard). She also has some multi-rocket attack that I haven't even begun to come close to figuring out(I think it's like a desperation attack when health is extremely low, but what do I know?). That's just what I know I haven't figured out for her.

2 players can double team by having one throw the other at the enemies. The thrown player can pull off their jump attacks. Alternatively, they can both risk half their special move meter, by having one throw the other with 2+1, for a super double team attack.

In MAME, there is a dipswitch setting for English, but all that happens is you can read the characters names on the character select screen. The story aspects only show up in the Japanese language.

On the whole it seems a very quarter eating experience, but it's still excellent for the first try of a company known for strategy RPG's involving anime robots(literally the giant mechs from licensed anime).




Ghost Chaser Densei:
Super Famicom (1994):
1-2 players


^Makai, the orange haired man. Also even though this is how the Super Famicom version looks(er.. at least the sprites, not so much the screwing up background...), this is a screen capture from a bootlegged attempt to port it to an arcade cabinet. Noticeable by the wide screen resolution that a Super Famicom/SNES would not have.



^Iyo, the one with the mace. This one is the actual Super Famicom version.

This is effectively a port of Denjin Makai, but with an entire stage, and 3 characters(Kurokishi, Zeldia, and Tarukusu) missing(though they show up as bosses, which shouldn't be surprising, as 2 of them had clones for bosses in the arcade game).

Controls(can be changed in the options menu):
Y: Attack/pick up objects
B: Jump
B+Y: Special

New special moves include guarding, then press either Down, Up; or away, forward; and let go of Y immediately after the second direction. A super special move is performed if you hold Y still after either combo, and then let go as the charge glows yellow. These moves may have been in the arcade version, but if they are, they're much trickier to pull off. Also, the super double team is now pulled off with B(jump) alone. Other than the Combo-into-throw move, which may be there, but it was difficult enough to pull off in the arcade version, every other move seems to be there, down to the half circle replacement for running, and Belva's double jump.

It pretty much is the arcade game, scaled down for the Super Famicom.

8/17 update:
Somehow I missed the release for the translation patch for this one:
http://www.romhacking.net/translations/3021/


Guardians/Denjin Makai II:
Arcade (1995):
1-2 player




Note: Not sure why it has 2 names, but you can change between them in the dipswitch settings in MAME.

Characters(Clockwise):
Zeldia(yes, the same one from the original game, in her final form now, which is clearly much more agile, and pictured in the upper right corner of the image), Jinrei, Skullbyule, Girulian(not sure if there's a connection, but he has the same exact name as the final boss of the previous game), Kurokishi, Rou, Tulks(supposed to be Tarukusu, whose name was supposed to have translated to Tulks anyway), and P. Belva(not sure how/if he relates to Belva in the original).

Controls:
Button 1: Attack
Button 2: Jump
Button 3: Special 1 (All specials, unless specified otherwise, use the Power meter. If the meter is drained as you try to use a special, it will cost a bar of health to refill the power meter, which can replenish quickly by standing still).

Holding any direction, except away, may change you strike combo. Away & 1 reverse attacks. Hold 1 to guard. Guard and tap toward an attacking enemy to counter attack. Guard and press away, forward for special 2(Rou's can be manipulated by either doing nothing, holding Up and away, or holding away). Guard and press up, down. 1+2 for special 3. 1+3 for special 4(costs life, instead of draining from the power meter). Double tap Up/Down to escape in that direction. Away & 2 escapes backward. 2, 1 jump attacks, 2, forward & 1 for an alternative jump attack. 2, Down & 1 to dive attack. Double tap Left/Right to run. While running, 1 for a knockdown attack, 2, 1 for another jump attack, 2+1 for a running special(Zeldia doesn't have this, and P. Belva can combo his with 1 a couple more times, Tulks' can be done from a running jump). Walk into an enemy to grab them. While grabbing, 1 strikes, Left/Right + 1 throws(different move for each direction with Tulks), 2 for an alternative throw, 1+2 for yet another alternative throw(drains the power meter a little).

Unlike the first game, you don't automatically attack when getting back up. Instead your options are either holding Up/Down to jump out of the way, or mash buttons & move the joystick to manually attack as your character is getting up.

Character specific attacks:
Zeldia:
Hold 2 until she begins to hover, then let go, and she'll arc backward, then fly forward. Press 1 when she's flying to attack with her claws.
2, then press 1+2 to dive bomb.
Run, hold 2 until she leaves a blue shadow, 1 to attack. It's very hard to aim this at anything though.
Hold 1, press Up, Down, Forward, for her ultimate, which should freeze enemies. Not easy to pull off, and requires at least half the Power meter.
Jinrei:
2 toward a wall, and as soon as he bounces into it, 2 & away to wall jump.
2, hold a direction & 1 around a jumping enemy to air throw.
2, diagonal Down & 2 near an enemy to bounce off their head (can be repeated across other enemies)
Hold 1, forward, forward, back, forward, for his ultimate, which sends out 3 elemental animals to attack his enemies.
P. Belva:
Can move with a grabbed enemy in hand, and can grab 2 at once.
2, 2 to double jump, even when running.
Run, press, and hold 1, back, forward(he should start making yellow shadow trails if done correctly)
Tulks:
Can walk around with grabbed enemy.
2, hold a direction & 1 around a jumping enemy to air throw.
Hold 1, forward, forward to run toward enemies and go for a grab, where he can then perform any of his grab moves if it connects.
Hold 1, Down, forward, for a kick that shoots a thunderball.
Grab, 1+2. Everyone has this, but his costs a lot of Power, and looks amazing when he hits it.
Hold 1, Up, Back, Down, Forward, for his ultimate. If done correctly, he kicks a target with shadow trails.
Skullbyule:
Can walk around with grabbed enemy.
Grab, 2, 1 to deliberately impale an enemy on his horn. Otherwise he'd just throw them high and let them land.
Hold 1, Down(up to 3 times). Single target move that will hit the target for as long as they're still alive as you press Down up to 3 times.
2, 1+3. A 2nd health draining special.
Hold 1, forward, forward, back, forward, for his ultimate. A charged extended elbow spike.
Rou:
2, 1+2.
Run, press, and hold 1, Down, Up (done correctly, he should leave green shadow trails)
Kurokishi:
2 toward a wall, and as soon as he bounces into it, 2 & away to wall jump.
2, hold a direction & 1 around a jumping enemy to air throw.
Hold 1, Start to taunt.
Hold 1, Down, Down.
2, 1+2.
Run, press, and hold 1, back, forward(she should leave purple shadow trails as kicks in mid air off the first kick)
Girulian:
Hold 2 the entire time and he descends slow-ish from his jumps. If you double tap while he is, he'll flip over to that side of the screen.
Hold 1, Down, Down.
Run, 1+2 when close to the enemy and he does a different move than when further away.
2, 1+2.
Hold 1, Up, Down, Forward for his ultimate. A series of kicks that leaves a purple shadow trail.  


Character specific weapon attacks(they can all do a running strike with their unique weapon):
Zeldia with a sword:
Run, then press 1+2.
Jinrei with a sword:
Hold 1, Down, Up.
P. Belva with a sword:
It becomes a knife with a powerful regular attack
Tulks with a bar:
1+2 to taunt
Skullbyule with a grenade:
His claw opens up, and his regular attack becomes an energy blade
Rou with a bar:
Hold 1, forward, forward
Rou with a sword:
Hold 1, forward, forward
Kurokishi with a sword:
Hold 1, back, forward
Girulian with a sword:
Hold 1, Down, Up


Bonus stages include:
Riding on top of a van while firing projectiles at enemies, or a scenery changing shooter section, depending on which stage 2 you choose.

Yeah, there happen to be stage choices between stages 2-4, but 1 and 5 are definite. It's a shorter game, but it makes up for that with 8 characters to choose from, with a massive move set, to which I gotta give credit to AnotherGamer and their guide at GameFAQs( http://www.gamefaqs.com/arcade/924620-denjin-makai-2-guardians/faqs/33859 ) because there's no way I would have thought of trying a good amount of those situations in that Guardians/Denjin Makai II move set.

So basically, I feel like the series is just a uphill curve in quality. It starts good, if a little rough around the edges(very quarter hungry, as the enemies knock your health bar down very quickly), feels smoother to control with the SNES port, and the 2nd game may just be the best pure(non-hack 'n slash, no RPG elements) 2D beat 'em up to have hit arcades.

Also, there may be some overall Bare Knuckle/Streets of Rage 3 influence with this series. I'm not sure which came first, as they both released the same year(despite MAMEs game list suggesting DM came out in '93, while the games title screen copyright says '94), but either way 1994 is the first year to see beat 'em ups use free special attacks, as far as I know. Then Streets of Rage 3 seems like the first time vertical escapes were a thing, which were added to Guardians/DM2 the next year.

Would be nice if you guys could add some screenshots and/or a video on the top post of each beat'em up!

Yeah, I just don't know the best way to add images on this particular forum yet(let alone in a way that would be permanent). At the same time, this is maybe the 5th or 6th revision of a Brawlers Avenue forum since I first signed on, and experience has taught me that videos are a very temporary thing. Within a year or 2 most are already down. Plus sometimes you're in a rush to get a video, and you end up with some slow footage of an outdated emulator, which doesn't do a great job of showing the game off.

That and, if a game sounds good to people, I figure they'd want to find out whatever they could(videos and all), and eventually try it for themselves.

That's also why for the most part I'm not necessarily reviewing anything. You never know what you'd like/hate that I wouldn't, and I don't want to throw my opinion around like it should be the objective truth(lord knows the internet does a good job of that in itself without me ).

Eidt: How's that? Luckily I took the time to do the screenshots thing in MAME, which especially worked out as someone tried to port the SFC version to an arcade cabinet.

gsaurus wrote:

Would be nice if you guys could add some screenshots and/or a video on the top post of each beat'em up!

I appreciate the fact that brawl posts this info to begin with and as quickly as he does. If you'd like to contribute some screens or a playthrough of some games you happen to enjoy playing that would be awesome.

As for me, I'm working on in-depth content for each game, which includes general info, screenshots, a playthrough, review of the game and it's series if necessary, character info and move list etc etc. All a lot of work which is why you won't see too many posts from me yet.

Just when I think your ambitions can't get any more batshit, you find new ways to prove me wrong

Brawl wrote:

Just when I think your ambitions can't get any more batshit, you find new ways to prove me wrong

My wife says the same thing

Hmm... Should that worry me? Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuPn7GTo10g&t=6m10s (for as long as that vid stays up, anyway)

I like the sound Belva makes when he does the dashing jump knee attack in the first one. I've taken a few screenshots, must take more as I progress through it:

Screenshots:

The video emulation hasn't been perfected yet, and so some backgrounds have a magenta canvas color.

The sequel isn't emulated perfectly either. When you're choosing between stages(Up/Down btw, figured that should be easy enough to figure out though) you don't see all the graphics for the difference in stage choice, or if it displays it, the stage titles. Either way though, you can play both games from start to finish. Plus, by the time I update MAME, I'm usually 4 revisions behind.

(Oh, and my failure to notice sound FX and music is also part of why I don't do reviews . Hell, half the time I'd rather mute games and play some hard rock/early metal)

beatiful screens regardless, by the way brawl your second screenshot is stretched for some odd reason.

It's actually from a bootleg arcade port of the Super Famicom game. I took it from the same set of .png files in the screenshots(or 'snap' to be more precise) directory of MAME, which I got from here: http://www.progettosnaps.net/snapshots/ (I believe the "snap" section should be in-game). What happens is I can then see what the genre the games appear to be within MAMEs game listing, provided the game works well enough for someone to have taken a good snapshot.

So yeah, SFC/SNES graphics, but an arcade port of sorts.

The new pic(taken from www.longplays.org however, hosted at imgserv(or whatever this forum uses), so as to not take from another sites bandwith) is the SFC versions, and as you can now see, the beauty of the MAME .png files is that they're much smaller, but still do just as good a job of showing the games off.

I did a playthrough of Denjin Makai 1: