Tenchu

Every platformer has to feature some kind of challenge, otherwise it gets boring in a rush. Original ideas are desired, but even old concepts can be polished and dressed up to be more exciting. It’s important for the controls to be snappy and responsive, because platformers usually require players to act quickly and perform daring stunts with great precision.

Tenchu is a 2D platformer with basic mechanics and not many original ideas. In fact, it’s about as classic as it gets, given the fact that the only things you need to do are jump over gaps, avoid enemies and collect coins. There’s barely any story to keep track of, and the level design is as dull as it is simple.

The coins you collect only increase your overall score, since they do not seem to have any other purpose, which is a bit of a bummer. Your character’s only ability is to jump, so there’s no way to attack enemies or use special skills to avoid them. You can kill some enemies by jumping on top of them, but even that only works in rare cases.

It’s easy to see why the game gets repetitive and boring in a matter of minutes, given the fact that nothing really changes as you move through the levels. New enemies appear every now and again, but then again the only difference between them is a matter of looks, because you can only avoid them. The lack of character abilities becomes even more annoying later on, since it feels like you are not making any progress.

Lastly, the level design is particularly disappointing, because it barely features any variety when it comes to textures or object design. Since the mechanics are so simple, it’s difficult not to ask yourself where the actual effort went in, because there’s no particular area in which the game shines. The sound effects are nothing to write home about either, but then again those can be disabled with ease.

In the end, Tenchu is not the kind of game that revolutionizes the genre, since it doesn’t bring anything new to the table. On the other hand, it’s simple enough to keep your hands busy for a few minutes while your mind wanders.