First Samurai

Last updated
First Samurai
First Samurai cover.jpg
Home computer cover art
Developer(s) Vivid Image
Publisher(s) Image Works
Ubi Soft (MS-DOS)
Kemco (SNES)
Director(s) Mev Dinc [1]
Designer(s) John Twiddy [1]
Programmer(s) Raffaele Cecco [1]
Artist(s) Paul 'Dokk' Docherty [1]
Platform(s) Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Super NES, iOS
ReleaseSeptember 1991: Amiga, Atari ST [1]
1992: C64, MS-DOS
1993: SNES
2011: iOS
Genre(s) Platform, beat 'em up [2]
Mode(s) Single-player

First Samurai, alternatively titled The First Samurai, is a 1991 beat 'em up platform game developed by Vivid Image and published by Image Works. The First Samurai was originally released in September 1991 for the Amiga and Atari ST, [1] and was later ported to the Commodore 64, MS-DOS and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was followed by a sequel, Second Samurai , in 1994. In 2011 a port was released for iOS.

Contents

Plot

In The First Samurai, the protagonist undertakes a quest as the first samurai in the history of feudal Japan, and must compete against rival swordsmen.

Gameplay

Fighting some bats Firstsamurai ingame.png
Fighting some bats

Eating food and drinking sake will help the player get stronger, while fire and enemy contact will weaken the samurai. The main objective in a level is to collect a set of four items which must be used to get access to the area with the end of level boss. Magic pots serve as checkpoints and are activated with the energy of the player's sword. Killing a monster releases a portion of sword energy which the player then collects automatically. Using a bell at the right place removes an obstacle blocking the player's path. The player starts out as a hermit in an ancient forest, but he eventually becomes powerful enough to fight in the villages and towns, and eventually the dungeons.

Development

The First Samurai began development in July 1990, and was originally scheduled for a September 1991 release for Amiga and Atari ST, with an MS-DOS port stated to be 'unplanned' at the time. [1] In a December 1990 issue of British gaming magazine The One , The One interviewed team members from Vivid Image for information regarding The First Samurai's development in a pre-release interview. [1] The First Samurai's samurai theme was first conceived by graphic artist Paul 'Dokk' Docherty as a 'random thought' while watching the 1954 monster film Them! , and Docherty expresses that "At the time we were in the middle of designing another game but we weren't very happy with it." [1] The One purported that the title The First Samurai's correlation to The Last Ninja is "purely coincidental". [1] Docherty's proposal of a samurai theme was received by Vivid Image as "exactly what they were looking for", and Docherty states that "We wanted something fairly mystical so that we could put in lots of special effects. Samurai also have a very strong sense of honour - that fitted in with our plot." [1] Mev Dinc, The First Samurai's project manager, expressed that programmer Raffaele Cecco was invited to the project "because he's not only a very good programmer, he also comes up with lots of really good ideas. If I suggest one thing, he usually comes back with three." [1] The First Samurai's development was described by The One as "an ongoing creative process in which everyone is encouraged to participate", and Dinc expressed that "Deciding on sprites and backgrounds that everybody is happy with can be time-consuming. We don't argue, we just have constructive discussions." [1]

User-friendly controls were a priority in the game's development, and John Twiddy, The First Samurai's map editor, stated that "You have to be able to pick up the joystick and just play the game." [1] The balance between easy-to-learn controls and allowing the player an array of different attacks was an important factor in The First Samurai's design, and Twiddy stated that "The main thing is to get lots of manoeuvres in there. They're all effective so ultimately you don't actually need to know how you've done each one." [1] The animations in response to the player's inputs were partially inspired by arcade games, and Twiddy states that ”In some arcade games, when your opponent's in a certain position you end up grabbing them and throwing them over your shoulder. It looks like you're doing something spectacular but in fact it's the computer showing standard joystick moves in different ways on screen. That's a feature we'd like to include." [1] The First Samurai was the first 16-bit game that Raffaele Cecco worked on, and he spent the first two months on the project learning how to program for the Amiga, stating that "Obviously I couldn't use any old sprite handling or scrolling routines because I didn't have any. I've had to start everything from scratch." [1] The First Samurai was programmed on a 386 PC using the Programmer's Development System (PDS) developed by Fruad Katon. [1] Vivid Image deliberately chose a "fairly long" development period according to The One, and Cecco expressed that "We want to make certain there's plenty of time at the end for tweaking. This is the sort of game where it all comes down to how many enemies there are and where they're positioned." [1]

The First Samurai's environment is defined by white blocks superimposed over the game's graphics; these blocks determine attributes such as the edge of a platform, the spawn point of entities, whether a wall is climbable, and collision detection. [1] For the Atari ST port, all the blocks needed to be 'pre-shifted', and a Vivid Images team member expressed that "We need to know how many there are so we can calculate them in advance; the editor automatically keeps track of all the different types of blocks on screen." [1] John Twiddy created a custom map editor for The First Samurai which runs concurrently with Deluxe Paint and allows graphics to be loaded in, background graphics to be selected & positioned, and an object's depth to be defined relative to other objects. [1] More features were incorporated into The First Samurai's map editor over the course of the game's development, and Docherty stated that "Whenever we want a new feature we simply phone John up and ask him to include it." [1]

Prioritizing sound effect design over a soundtrack was a design decision made in part due to memory restrictions, as well as Vivid Images' belief that 'subtle' sound effects would 'add more atmosphere'. [1] Due to memory restrictions, the protagonist's sprites are separated into pieces, e.g. the limbs, torso, and legs are stored separately; this also allows animations to be made easier, as rather than create a new sprite for a different animation, it could be created from existing sprites 'pieced together'. [1] At the stage of development at which the interview was conducted, The First Samurai had 105 different limb sprites, and 30 different animations using those sprites. [1] A level taking place in a sewer was scrapped before release due to memory restrictions, particularly due to the level's 'running water' sprites, stated to take up 'almost as much memory' as the protagonist's sprite. [1] The First Samurai runs at 25 frames per second, as a Vivid Images team member expressed that "We decided not to go for 50 frames because it's got too many limitations. You can't have huge areas of sprites and animation if you want that kind of speed." [1]

The Amiga version of First Samurai cost 'around 84' Deutschmark in 1992, and was released on two floppy disks. [3]

Reception

ST Review's Dave Jones raved about the Atari ST version, "This is an undoubtedly classic and, despite it's[ sic ] age, it is a darn sight more entertaining than some of today's offerings!" [8]

Amiga Joker gave the Amiga version of First Samurai an overall score of 82%, comparing it to other similar games such as Shadow Dancer and The Last Ninja , and expressing that "If someone were to say that the game isn't really original, they would be correct. However, First Samurai impresses not so much with an innovative idea, but more with technical brilliance and excellent gameplay." Amiga Joker praises First Samurai's 'compelling' gameplay, noting the number of usable weapons, its "difficult" puzzles, and "crafty" level design, particularly praising the inclusion of hidden areas and items. The magazine praises First Samurai's graphics, calling them "gorgeously colourful" and noting the game to be "full of fantastic minute details (e.g. the sword sparkles!)", furthermore expressing that it has "great parallax-scrolling, fancifully animated sprites and a very impressive explosion when the hero dies." Further more it mentions First Samurai's "nifty" title screen music and "comical" sound effects, and concludes by stating that "It is clear that the programmers at Image Works have put care into the game and successfully created a masterpiece ... Anyone who wants to sell an Asia-themed beat 'em up after this game will have their work cut out for them." [3] Super Gamer reviewed the Super NES version and have an overall score of 79% stating: "A novel and pretty platformer, but later levels are disappointing." [9]

The Channel 4 video game programme GamesMaster gave the Amiga version a 90% rating. [7] Computer and Video Games magazine also said the game borrowed heavily from earlier slash 'em up games such as Strider , The Legend of Kage , and Shadow Dancer, but nevertheless gave First Samurai a positive review and called it a "brilliant" game. [2] In 1993, Commodore Force ranked the game at number nine on its list of the top 100 Commodore 64 games. [10]

Cancelled version

A revival of the game was announced in 1998 for the Nintendo 64, and it entered early planning stages of development, but was cancelled shortly after, and never released in any capacity. [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>Exile</i> (1988 video game) Single-player action-adventure video game first published in 1988

Exile is a single-player action-adventure video game originally published for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron in 1988 by Superior Software and later ported to the Commodore 64, Amiga, CD32 and Atari ST, all published by Audiogenic. The game was designed and programmed by Peter Irvin and Jeremy Smith. It is often cited as one of the earliest examples of a Metroidvania game and featured "realistic gravity, inertia and object mass years before players understood the concept of a physics engine... an astounding level of AI, stealth-based gameplay, a logical ecosystem governing the world's creatures and a teleportation mechanic that feels startlingly like a predecessor to Portal".

<i>Shoot-Em-Up Construction Kit</i> 1987 video game

Shoot-'Em-Up Construction Kit is a game creation system for the Commodore 64, Amiga and Atari ST created by Sensible Software and published by Outlaw in 1987. It allows the user to make simple shoot 'em ups by drawing sprites and backgrounds and editing attack patterns. The advertising promoted the Kit with the phrase "By the programmers of Wizball and Parallax".

<i>Xenon 2: Megablast</i> 1989 shoot em up video game

Xenon 2: Megablast is a 1989 shoot 'em up video game developed by The Bitmap Brothers and published by Image Works for the Amiga and Atari ST. It was later converted to the Master System, PC-98, X68000, Mega Drive, Commodore CDTV, Game Boy, Acorn Archimedes and Atari Jaguar platforms. The game is a sequel to Xenon and takes place a millennium after the previous title. The goal of the game is to destroy a series of bombs planted throughout history by the Xenites, the vengeful antagonists of the first game.

<i>Blood Money</i> (video game) 1989 video game

Blood Money is a 1989 side-scrolling shooter video game developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis. It was released for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS in 1989, and for the Commodore 64 in 1990. The game is set in four different locations on a planet, where the player must fight off enemies and bosses.

<i>Turrican II: The Final Fight</i> 1991 video game

Turrican II: The Final Fight is the second game of the Turrican series. The game, developed by Factor 5 was released in 1991 for the Commodore Amiga. This version was finished before the C64 version, but Manfred Trenz cites the C64 version as the original design. Turrican II was also released for the CDTV, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum, and later for DOS, and also for the Mega Drive/Genesis and Game Boy rebranded as Universal Soldier.

<i>Wrath of the Demon</i> 1991 video game

Wrath of the Demon is a 1991 hack and slash video game developed by Quebec-based developer Abstrax, and published by ReadySoft. Versions for Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore CDTV, and MS-DOS were released in early 1991. A Commodore 64 version was released later.

<i>CarVup</i> 1990 video game

CarVup is a platform game developed and published by Core Design in 1990. Based on Jaleco's 1985 arcade game City Connection, it was released for the Amiga and Atari ST.

<i>Cybernoid</i> 1988 video game

Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine is a shoot 'em up developed and published in 1988 by Hewson Consultants for the ZX Spectrum. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amiga, and Nintendo Entertainment System. It was programmed by Raffaele Cecco. The ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, and Atari ST versions have a main theme by Dave Rogers, while the Commodore C64 version has a different theme by Jeroen Tel.

<i>Barbarian</i> (1987 video game) 1987 video game

Barbarian is a 1987 platform game by Psygnosis. It was first developed for the Atari ST, and was ported to the Amiga, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. The Amiga port was released in 1987; the others were released in 1988. The cover artwork is by fantasy artist Roger Dean.

Raffaele Cecco is a British video games developer who has created numerous video games since 1984, including Cybernoid and Exolon. He grew up in Tottenham in North London. Spurred by an interest in computers, he received his first computer, a Sinclair ZX81, as a birthday gift from his parents in 1981 and began programming simple games in BASIC.

<i>Hammerfist</i> 1990 video game

Hammerfist is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game developed by Vivid Image and released in 1990 for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum.

<i>Last Ninja 3</i> 1991 video game

Last Ninja 3 is an action-adventure video game that was developed and published by System 3 for the Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST in 1991. It is a sequel to the 1988 game Last Ninja 2.

<i>Predator 2</i> (1990 video game) 1990 video game

Predator 2 is a 1990 rail shooter video game developed by Oxford Mobius and Arc Developments and published by Image Works, Konami and Mirrorsoft for MS-DOS, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and the ZX Spectrum. It is based on the film of the same title.

<i>The Real Ghostbusters</i> (1987 video game) 1987 video game

The Real Ghostbusters is a 1987 shoot 'em up arcade game developed and published by Data East. It is loosely based on Ghostbusters. In Japan, Data East released it as a non-Ghostbusters arcade game under the title Meikyuu Hunter G. In 1989, Activision published The Real Ghostbusters for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.

<i>Ninja</i> (1986 video game) 1986 video game

Ninja is a beat 'em up game developed by Sculptured Software and released by Mastertronic in 1986 for the Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum, then in 1987 for the Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS. An arcade version of the game was released in 1987 for Mastertronic's Arcadia Systems which is based on Amiga hardware. The Amiga, Atari ST, and Arcade versions were released as Ninja Mission. As a Ninja, the player attacks a fortress made of individual fixed screens which can be explored non-linearly.

<i>P-47: The Phantom Fighter</i> 1988 video game

P-47: The Phantom Fighter is a 1988 horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed by NMK and published by Jaleco. Set during World War II, players control a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft to face against the Nazis, who are occupying multiple countries around the world. Its gameplay involves destroying waves of enemies, picking up power-ups and new weapons, and destroying bosses. It ran on the Mega System 1 hardware.

<i>Terminator 2</i> (computer game) 1991 video game

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 action video game developed by Dementia and published by Ocean Software. It is based on the 1991 film of the same name, and was released in Europe for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, and ZX Spectrum. It is a sequel to The Terminator, itself based on the 1984 film of the same name. The game features several gameplay styles such as driving, fighting, and puzzle-solving.

<i>Judge Dredd</i> (1991 video game) 1991 video game

Judge Dredd is a 1991 platform shoot 'em up video game based on the character of the same name. It was developed by Random Access and published by Virgin Mastertronic. It was released in Europe in 1991, for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. Critics found the gameplay repetitive.

<i>Deathbringer</i> (1991 video game) 1991 video game

Deathbringer is a 1991 side scrolling action game developed by Oxford Digital Enterprises and published by Empire that was released for the Amiga, DOS, and Atari ST.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mev Dinc</span> Turkish-British video game designer

Mevlüt Dinç, better known as Mev Dinc, is a Turkish-British video game designer. Born and raised in Turkey, he moved to England in 1979 while finishing his studies, intending to pursue a master's degree there. Unable to pay the high tuition fees for international students, Dinc worked in a cable factory in Southampton, where a colleague introduced him to video games and got him a ZX Spectrum when it was released in 1982. Dinc taught himself to program via magazines and began working in the video game industry in 1983, starting with assisting on the Commodore 64 conversion of Ant Attack, released in 1984. After his first original game, Gerry the Germ Goes Body Poppin', in 1985, he worked with Electric Dreams Software on another original game, Prodigy, the Amstrad CPC port of Enduro Racer, and various tie-ins with films and TV series.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Hamza, Kati (December 1990). "Turning Japanese". The One. No. 27. emap Images. pp. 165–166.
  2. 1 2 3 "First Samurai". Computer and Video Games . No. 121 (December 1991). 15 November 1991. pp. 28–30.
  3. 1 2 3 Borgmeier, Carsten (January 1992). "First Samurai Amiga Review". Amiga Joker. Joker Verlag. p. 28.
  4. Noah, Jonathan (September 1993). "First Samurai". Game Zone . No. 11. pp. 50–52. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  5. "Screen Scene VFM (Issue 31, October 1994, page 54)". ST Review.
  6. Zzap!64 review, Newsfield Publications, issue 91, page 12
  7. 1 2 "GamesMaster Season 1 Episode 2". 14 January 1992. 24:06. Channel 4. 6:05-6:50.
  8. "Screen Scene VFM (Issue 31, October 1994, page 54)". ST Review.
  9. "First Samurai SNES Review". Super Gamer (2). United Kingdom: Paragon Publishing: 122. May 1994. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  10. "Top Ton!". Commodore Force. Autumn 1993. p. 33. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  11. "First Samurai 64 - IGN".