"Sengoku Mahjong" - Turbografx-16/PC-Engine

I have a feeling I'm about to be disappointed because this sounds like the best thing.

Sengoku Mahjong was developed by Hudson (naturally), and the English Wikipedia doesn't have any information for it at all-- it doesn't even have a page, so I turned to the Japanese Wikipedia right away. It still doesn't really say that much: apparently the game was ported to Wii and PS3 in 2007 and 2009, respectively, and "PC Engine Fan" awarded the game a 21.16/30. That seems pretty good to me.

Apparently the idea of the game is to let you play mahjong against various 'daimyou' (lords) and other personalities from the Sengoku era (e.g. - Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Date Masamune). If you've played something like Samurai Warriors or Kessen you might have an interest in seeing how characters get portrayed in this old game, and I admit I fall into both of those crowds, so I'm excited to try it.

So let's try it already, jeez.

----- Playthrough -----

Sengoku Mahjong comes loaded up with two modes, a "normal" mode, and a "kassen" (合戦 - "battle/engagement") mode. For simplicity, we'll call the latter "battle mode" from here on out. That's also the mode we'll start with because it seems like the main mode of the game.

In battle mode, you're greeted with a map of Sengoku era Japan, and asked which of the prominent figures you'd like to play as. I won't list them all here (you can find them on the Japanese Wikipedia), but if you want to play and have a basic idea of who they are, you can look at this map for basic reference.

While playing around looking at who the various selectable characters were, I decided to pick "Nene," Hideyoshi's main wife. After her death, she was given the title 光の天使 ('Hikari no Tenshi,' or, "Angel of Light") which is an awesome title, so that's pretty much why I picked her.

Plus, she looks like a sensible woman. And she has the tiniest territory in the game, which is fun.

Whomever you pick, you'll be thrust into an intense four person round of mahjong with heavy stakes: ownership of all four of your territories. For instance, Nene's first battle is with Mouri Terumoto, Hideyoshi Toyotomi (her aforementioned husband...), and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

See if you can keep looking smug when I'm rubbing your moustache in my yakuman, buddy... I mean, husband.

I've explained very briefly how mahjong works before (though I'd recommend looking elsewhere for anything more than a very high level overview), so I won't do that again. But take it from me that this is a good rendition of the game and all the things you'd expect from a mahjong game are here without anything being left out.

When I first started playing, I thought I must be on easy mode or something, because I was being dealt great hands and even had a 5 round run at being the dealer at one point. I was doing so well I thought that surely the game must be cheating in my favor.

... I actually didn't even know three of the same run was a yaku...

And, as mahjong tends to do, I quickly got everything turned around on me and got removed from my place as top dog in the match-- and by the time the game ended I was in second place, which just got me yelled at by my advisor that I had to be the best or go home.

So, I headed into the next game ready to win. And I got last place, which got me kicked out of the mode completely and back to the main menu.

So I went in a third time!

Okay, I can't make a yakuman, but I can enter tenpai (one away from complete) with a worthless hand so step off.

And with some really terrible hands and defensive play I managed to claw my way to 1st place by the end of the game, and finally got to take their territories and move onto the second battle.

You guys are goin' DOW--

And I got last place and lost and got sent back to the menu. Apparently Shimazu Yoshihisa is a pretty aggressive player because within a few hands he had hit about 60,000 points and I had firmly cemented myself in the pathway of a slow crawl to the grave.

At that point I'd been playing for a couple hours so I decided to call it quits.

The other mode in the game is 'normal mode,' which is just selecting any three characters to play against and one for yourself, and playing a game. I'm not sure why you'd ever do that instead of battle mode, since the latter seems way more fun since you're playing for a reason, but to each their own.

By the way, the other main feature of the game is an options menu that allows you turn off/on common mahjong rules that you may or may not like.

My favorite is 'yakitori' which means "roasted bird," and is a punishment for not winning any hands during the game.
You're the roasted bird, for the record. You don't get one for a consolation prize.

----- Review -----

How long did I play?
2 hours.

How much did I beat?
I beat one round of battle mode.

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Intuitive Design: 

How easy is it to intuitively understand the game?

As usual, there's no tutorial for how to play mahjong so if you don't know how to play you're out of luck.

Assuming you do know how to play, the game is fairly intuitive. Some mashing on the d-pad and trying different buttons easily had me playing and performing all the various calls that I was looking for without too much confusion.

Gameplay / Difficulty: 

How rewarding does playing the game feel?

I don't know how to rate the game and not just be rating mahjong, but I will say that it seems various characters have different playstyles and it comes through when you're playing against them, so it feels satisfying when you beat one AI who plays a certain way by taking advantage of their strategy (though I'm only good enough at mahjong to do this in the most meaningless of ways).

I don't know if you ever get a checkpoint in battle mode, but having to win so many times in a row in such a luck based game sounds like a recipe for disaster. This doesn't seem like the kind of thing you'd be in a rush to beat, though.

Depth: 

How deep/long is the game?

I'm uncertain how many rounds it takes to unify Japan in battle mode, but I guess theoretically the game is infinitely replayable, if you like playing mahjong. There's not an absurd amount of content here, but if you're just looking for an excuse to play mahjong, you've got it here.

Sound / Graphics: 

How's the sound? How are the graphics?

These are easily the best mahjong tiles we've seen in a game so far, but the other two mahjong games I've played on this blog were on the Famicom, so that might not really be a fair comparison. Either way, they look nice and faux-3D, and the designs are detailed enough to easily see, so it's some real aces, Hudson.

They even made a separate set for when you push them down to reveal your hand, so you can enjoy styling on your enemies.

The music in this game is a lot of fun-- it has a traditional Japanese sound to it and it's pretty catchy. When I first started playing I was disappointed by a lack of sound at all, but I realized after playing for a few minutes that if you press start, there's a music menu with three options there. Here's my favorite one, but they're all catchy and hummable while you play the game.

Personal Chord: 

Does the game have that undefinable "something" for me?

Actually, kinda. I mean, I like mahjong, and the whole Sengoku theme is pretty fun. I like the concept of unifying Japan by just gambling for the areas instead of fighting, as well.

Should You Play: 

Is there a reason to even bother with this one?

I mean, if you like playing mahjong, there's always fun to be had. I kind of doubt that the battle mode is going to be a compelling narrative experience for anyone, but it gives you a reason to play against the AI, and it's cool how they have different playstyles. I think it's worth checking out, but I'd recommend that you be able to read the Japanese dialogue that characters shout out and taunt each-other with during the game, or it's a little less interesting.

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