Hangzo Game Sample - Arcade (Prototype, Unreleased)
28"Hangzo" is quite the anomaly and a game with some interesting connections.
For one, it is an Arcade game that was never officially released and was found and dumped in a basically complete (albeit slightly unpolished) state, making it one of the more intriguing finds in the video game world when the conversation of lost media gets brought up. Next, the game has a bit of an identity crisis; whether its the exact nature of its development or release (which seems to be a toss-up between Hot-B and Data East with an estimated 1992 / 1993 release window), the clashing themes from an aesthetic standpoint, or the unusually generous nature of the gameplay (as the difficulty is actually quite low for an Arcade game), one has to wonder what happened here. It does not have the usual splendor of an Arcade game and feels much more like a lost console game, specifically one released for Sega's Mega Drive (more on this later), feeling like a lost cousin to "Shinobi" or "Ninja Warriors". This is not a bad thing, but as a coin-op title is meant to generate revenue through high difficulty and a larger-than-life first impression, "Hangzo" is much more reserved and would've been a better fit for a home console.
In the game, sometime in the year 200X, Japanese corporations have expanded into various parts of the world and saw remarkable progress and growth. However, those who truly boomed in this market were those willing to increase their profits through unparalleled malpractice, deception and greed. As such, the Japanese government was the perfect vehicle for corruption as a malicious enterprise that could not be reliably regulated and who sought to rule its citizens with an iron fist by investing in untold levels of black market activities fueled by modern technology and a group who controlled people from the shadows. To reclaim the integrity of Japan and bury the negative karma brought about by the government, a special squad was secretly formed, code-named "HANG-ZO", which was an elite fighting unit comprised of ancient Japanese ninja capability with modern technology with which to do battle. Their directive was to find and kill a primary target of the corruption, the owner of "Circle Mountain" who only goes by the name of "Mr. K".
The game has simple hacking and slashing with projectiles you can throw and charge, limited jutsu (bombs) to use, and the occasional mount you can acquire which can also be powered up. When riding these mounts, the platforming becomes a little more imprecise as they are longer than the player character and can get by through proper monitoring of their shadow. The player can also dash, grapple swing (and attack which has a few I-Frames) and negate certain attacks. Each character has EXTREMELY minor differences beyond their attack pattern: Hanzo is strong, Kasumi is balanced, and Kotaroh is the small, agile character... but their parameters are so similar that you really have to pay attention to notice and serve no real advantage to completing the game. Most bosses have simple patterns and go down easily and the game ends before long using the same city-scape view of the trio that the intro uses.
The game as a whole "plays" okay although collision doesn't feel precise, but the generous amount of item pickups make up for this. There are several insta-death pits where the game's grappling mechanic comes in handy, though a few spots are set up a little cheap so that you can't cross certain gaps without inching your way through or taking damage (and these spots are harder during co-op due to the fixed positioning from characters on the screen). There isn't a traditional timer like in some other Arcade titles; instead, lingering too long sends hordes of nasties your way. Aesthetically, the game is a bit of a mixed bag but never what one would deem "bad". The game has your typical staple of generic small-scale mooks, medium-sized baddies and large-scale honchos (most of which at least look a little intimidating) with a mostly 16-bit veneer ripe for consoles and the soundtrack has a decidedly Yamaha-synth sound to it... these things are not just by accident.
Kei Maruyama, who normally handles sound design, helped with graphics for the game (and much of their portfolio is with Whiteboard / Santos who worked mostly with Sega on titles such as "Mahjong Cop Ryuu" and "Battle Golfer Yui"). Kuniyoshi Takazawa is one of the main CG designers and is best known for his work with "Rusty" (PC-98), "Tower Dream" (SFC) and "Dekitate High School" (SFC). Atsushi Okiyama is credited in the special thanks and mainly known for graphics and dot drawing but is best known for his later work on "La Pucelle Tactics" (PS2), "Disgaea: Hour of Darkness" (PS2), "TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga" (PS2) and "Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny" (PS2). The point is that much of the development team has roots mainly tied to the home sector and took an odd turn with this Arcade venture.
This is a video of the game in action. Enjoy.