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Warriors of Fate (Tenchi wo Kurau II: Battle of Red Cliffs in Japan​ (天地を喰らう2・赤壁の戦い, lit. "The Devouring of Heaven and Earth II: Battle of Red Cliffs"?) is a side-scrolling beat 'em up produced by Capcom, first released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1992 and later ported to the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation. It is Capcom's third game based on the Tenchi wo Kurau manga, following Dynasty Wars and Destiny of an Emperor. The game was ported to the Sega Saturn and the original PlayStation consoles, and later included in Capcom Beat ’Em Up Bundle in September 2018.

Gameplay[]

WoF-KeyArt

Key Artwork

Warriors of Fate leaves the role-playing game genre the previous installment followed in favor of returning to the original installment's beat 'em up gameplay. The game features nine stages, in each of which there are large mobs including spearmen, archers, strongmen, bomb-wielding opponents, and at least one Wei boss. There can be up to three players on-screen at the same time. Using two buttons, Attack and Jump, the characters all have standard moves typical of Capcom side-scrollers of the day. Common enemies including Wei soldiers such as bandits, privatees, wrestlers, fatties and thieves will keep appearing everywhere. At the end of each stage there is a Wei general as a boss; Li Dian, Xiahou Dun, Xu Chu, Zhang Liao, Cao Ren, Chunyu Dao, Xiahou Jie, Yan Ming, Xu Huang, and the infamous Lu Bu as the final boss. After defeating them all, there is also Cao Cao himself (in this game called Akkila Orkhan).

There is a variety of weapons in the game which can be picked up. As with most side-scrollers, food is used to replenish health and can be found in various breakable containers in the game level. One notable feature of the game is the ability to summon a warhorse which adds more attacks to the characters, generally involving pole-arms (except long bow for Huang Zhong). Each character except Zhao Yun is given a special wrestling throw of their own, like in Final Fight and The Punisher.

Even in the US release, the game was particularly gory for its time. Slash weapons and special moves would have an additional maiming effect on enemies when used for the final blow and the enemy boss can be blown up, decapitated, or have their bodies severed. Notably, even while using bare fists, certain characters could still cleave enemies in half, exposing vital organs, and leaving a terrible mess. This tactic even works on some bosses and coincidentally ends up showing more gory detail since the bosses are larger.

The game included two bonus stages in the middle where the characters compete in an eating contest which required rapid pressing of buttons and rotations of the joystick, and another is where the characters practice their skills on the practice dummies of the final boss. If there are multiple players, the second bonus stage has the players spar with each other for gaining massive bonus points, afterwards, both characters continue as if nothing had occurred.

Like Final Fight, Warriors of Fate featured a notorious continue screen. Once the player loses all lives, the screen changes to a graphically violent image of the player character on his knees unable to get back up while two Wei soldiers move in for the kill. If the player does not insert a coin within the twenty second countdown, it is implied that the soldiers kills the character.

Characters[]

Unlike the first game, Dynasty Wars, Liu Bei is not playable. The playable characters were Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, four of the famous Five Tiger Generals, and Wei Yan. Although in the novel Huang Zhong and Wei Yan had not joined Liu Bei before the Battle of Red Cliffs, they are available as playable characters in this game because of pleadings from fans of the Three Kingdoms.

Character Name in game (Japanese ver.) Name in game (English ver.) Weapon (Melee) Weapon (Mounted) Special Abilities Dash Attack Special Throw
Guan Yu 関羽 (Kan-U) Portor bare hand Green Dragon Crescent Blade flying elbow head butt jumping backbreaker
Dressed in blue and white-garbed, bare-handed fighter known for his strong, staid and clever. Average and balanced in attack speed. Low speed and powerful force.
Zhang Fei 張飛 (Chō-Hi) Kassar bare hand viper halberd crushing punch sliding shoulder strike - jumping vertical suplex
- pile driver
Yellow and red-garbed, bare-handed fighter known for his drinking and occasional biting attack. High damage and low speed. Most instruction.
Zhao Yun 趙雲 (Chō-Un) Subutai sword spear uppercuting slash rushing shoulder strike none
A large fighter dressed in blue. Agile, long reach and low damage. Cannot do piledriver (will kick foe in the face instead). Can do air grab.
Huang Zhong 黄忠 (Kō-Chū) Kadan bow and arrow, daggerRope dart bow and arrow, daggerRope dart triple shot, uppercutting slash somersault over the shoulder powerbomb
An elderly man who, at nearly seventy, is still an accomplished archer. Ranged attacks and vulnerable in melee but still possesses incredible strength and agile speed.
Wei Yan 魏延 (Gi-En) Abaka saber saber flash kick sliding elbow helicopter power slam
The "headcrusher", a green-garbed bald man with a beard. Combos and shorter reach. The attack power is between Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun.

Stage bosses[]

Stage Stage name Bosses (Japanese ver.) Bosses (English ver.) Weapon (Melee or mounted)
1st Battle of Bowang 1
博望坡の戦い 一
Ri-Ten (Li Dian)
李典
Gaidu spear
2nd Battle of Bowang 2
博望坡の戦い 二
Kakō-Ton (Xiahou Dun)
夏侯惇
Lhaze bare hand (melee), yanyuedao (mounted), bomb
3rd Xinye
新野城
Kyo-Cho (Xu Chu)
許褚
Taranis hammer
Mei-Mei, Mei-Ya, Mei-Ling
美美, 美冴, 美鈴
Izia, Arika, San-Jin dagger
4th White River
白河
Sō-Jin (Cao Ren)
曹仁
Atika sword and meteor hammer
5th Battle of Changban
長坂坡の戦い
Jun'u-Dō (Chunyu Dao)
淳于導
Baidu crescent shovel
6th Changban Bridge
長坂橋
An-Mei (Yan Ming), Kakō-Ketsu (Xiahou Jie)
晏明, 夏侯傑
Jerreck, Dasadas yanyuedao (glaive), spear
7th Battle of Red Cliff 1
赤壁の戦い 一
Chō-Ryō (Zhang Liao)
張遼
Kublai-Dakan mace, spiked shield (shield), dagger
8th Battle of Red Cliff 2
赤壁の戦い 二
Jo-Kō (Xu Huang)
徐晃
Kai'Bataar axe (halberd)
9th Huarong Trail
華容道
Ryo-Fu (Lü Bu)
呂布
Temujin-Khan sword, whip
Sō-Sō (Cao Cao)
曹操
Akkila-Orkhan bomb

Credits[]

Arcade Version[]

Planner: Poo, Kin
Programmer: Domesan, XOR, Tsu~zy, 34-Sakontz
Character: Fukumoyan, Kyo-Chan, Tenman, Tama Chan, Tanuki, Ballboy, Mizuho, Yuusuke, Nonsuch, Youjiro, Saotome, Kurata-N, Ume
Onnanoko Design: Akiman
Sound: T'Yomage, Bull
Sound Program: Oyabun, Inu
Special Thanks: Nin, D.James, Alex J., Saddy & Tommy, Mountain Master Hattari
Presented by: Capcom

Trivia[]

  • The US version omitted a cutscene (Stage 6, the historical Battle of Changban) which involved Liu Bei's wife turning her son Liu Shan to the player (in the novel she actually turned him to Zhao Yun), then throwing herself down a well.
  • In homage to Capcom's earlier 1991 hit Street Fighter II, several character moves seem very similar to the Street Fighter characters' special moves; Zhao Yun's special move is an uppercut slash that resembles Ryu's "Shoryuken", Wei Yan's special resembles Guile's "Flash Kick", Xiahou Dun's special resembles Dhalsim's "Yoga Flame", Xu Chu' special resembles Blanka's "Rolling Attack" and Zhang Fei's throw resembles Zangief's "Screw Piledriver".
    • There is a special ending credits sequence (if completed with one credit) with two figures dressed up and fighting like Ryu and Ken while a comical rendition of Ken's theme is playing.
  • There are three special chests in the game, containing three legendary weapons:
    • In Stage 7, a secret chest before entering the boss' room, the player will find the secret weapon ""Excalibur"", by going to the left of the stage, and do a jumping punch, a secret chest will drop.
    • In Stage 8, a secret chest in the boss room can be either empty or bring out the Hiryu, (lit. Flying Dragon) a Japanese katana. It may be a reference to the protagonist of Capcom's hit action video game Strider, Strider Hiryu.
    • In Stage 9, a secret chest midway of the stage contains the Kusanagi (Ame no Murakumo), a blue flaming sword and the game's most powerful weapon.
  • Special weapons - There are three enemies who carry special weaponry. Two carry unique swords, and one carries, an iron hammer a unique mace:
    • In Stage 6, a man on horseback named Xiahou En (Sugisugi in US version) appears on screen briefly. Killing him on screen earns the sword Qin Gong (Seikou in US version). This is a reference to the plot described in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where Xiahou En was killed by Zhao Yun, and the latter got the sword.
    • In the end of the same stage, there is a black wrestler with the 6th boss. However, he can either drop the rainbow Shichisei (Seven Star Sword) or a barbecue.
    • In Stage 8, there is a huge hall with a huge mob of wrestlers, if the player kills the dark-skinned wrestler, he will randomly drop the Kai club, a decorated mace.
    • At the 7 stage appears an iron hammer, this hammer trip the opponent, hitting him repeatedly and allowing every shot is just watching ducks or stars by the blow.

Gallery[]

Character artwork[]

Covers[]

Miscellaneous artwork[]

Videos[]

External links[]

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