So, fantastic news...an English translation patch is out now! stargood.org/trans/tenma.php www.romhacking.net/translations/7123/ It looks good--praise Jipang! And thank you to the dedicated fans who made it happen.
I woke up today and did NOT expect to see that, was an amazing surprise! The only problem is I was right in the middle of picking Lunar 2 back up after a small hiatus, and this is tempting me to drop it again lol
Just wanted to inform you about it, and the first I saw the news from other outlet Im instantly remember Jimmy Happa would be very happy for this game finally able to be enjoyed by many more people... Kudos for the translation teams,they did once thought impossible to do due to the thick japanese nuance on each of the game
What a great work you did on this video dear buddy Jimmy!! So glad it pays off even more after de MOST IMPORTANT TRANSLATION OF THE DECADE! Neddles to say that it was my most anticipated translation. And it came as such a great surprise for me! Torajirou Tsujino ( the nice gentleman you did a great and so inspiring interview with) is even to this day. My favorite artist off all-time! I can assure to all of you folks out there. That the translation is ON POINT! I beat Khamen Khamen just about now and the dialogues are very captivating. Tsunade is such a charismatic partner. So many times she jumps out in the screen to adds even more narrative flavor and character development to the well flashed out story. Playing the game blind I can assure you that the programmer's of this fantastic endeavour work a lot to guarantee the best pacing you can find in those years. So underrated despite being so ahead of its time! Run button, bank system (which helps a LOT believe me), very affordable items to cure MP, very inteligent minigames, KOGAMAS WARP ABILITY!!!, the game's natural pacing is made in such a way that it is hard to run out your money. I always have the resources to buy whichever equipment that I want. Grinding for levels is just part to the course. But only in the beginning. If you face every enemy encounter ( which is VERY HIGH) Rarely You will have the need to stop to grinding for levels . In 89 this game was an work of art and it is still to this day. It is very story driven. And you will face the hurdles that the game provides just see the interesting events to come. Thanks to everyone responsible for this translation and also to you Jimmy who is alongside Jhony Millennium the biggest advocate to this amazing series! I'd be glad if you could authorize me to use some footage to make a review in Portuguese after beating this masterpiece ( which I do not think will you take to long as I am devouring this game kkkk)
I'm forever grateful for you helping getting things moving, including your advice and never-ending persistence/insistence when it came to asking about when I would finally start working on this video.
@@yadigzzyeah, as a person who wants to see the history of JRPGs, it’s unfortunate that whole systems are ignored to be translated like the PC Engine. Even me personally. I hadn’t heard about the Turbo-Graphix 16 until Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. At least the Super Famicom RPGs that are worth playing are almost finished, except for ironically Shin Momotaro Densetsu, which is an entry in a big franchise. so maybe people will start doing PC Engine or Genesis RPGs. But knowing them they’ll do PS1 RPGs that no one cares about first.
Jimmy, excellent documentary. I admire the dedication and detail in your videos. I hope this project is shared. For years I have been waiting for at least one fan translation of Tengai Makyou, its art, imagination and ambition attract a lot of attention.
Very much appreciated--I only do this because I like it. I'm surprised there hasn't been a localization at this point, official or otherwise, but I think we're close...just a feeling, though.
I was only able to watch the video now, but I'll keep it on my watchlist because I already want to watch it again. All the research, trivia, and interviews shown are fascinating and further enrich the Tengai Makyou universe. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, Jimmy, for this video and all the dedicated work.
Man, Jimmy, you really outdid yourself with this one! SOOOO happy to an in-depth video on a Tengai Makyou game here on CZcams finally, and you couldn't have done a better job. Your usual quality of video is always great, giving a lot of context to the impact a game had on Japanese pop culture at the time, but getting interviews with Mr Tsujino and having Happy Console Gamer read out other quotes is really above-and-beyond! When this vid came out, I was so hyped to watch it but was busy working and didn't get around to watching it until now, and man, it did not disappoint. AMAZING WORK!
Well, I do appreciate all the kind words you usually throw around here, but I'm especially happy you enjoyed this video so much. Thank you for watching, glad you got work out of the way before you did!
I feel that's because their greatest hits didn't come out in the West, and they also came out on unpopular (in the West) consoles (PCE/Saturn) initially. That's why RED is well-known in Japan, but not nearly as well-known in the West.
Such a unique collective of people with great ideas and concepts--it's my pleasure putting out this video and for publishing the interview with Mr. Tsujino!
It's damn cool that when this video came out we didn't have fan translations for Tengai Makyou or Linda Cube and now we have both!! Really feels like an important part of Japanese role playing video game history has been opened up to us.
Long time watcher, first time commenter. I've been fascinated by this series for years and I'm hyped that you're finally discussing it. It's one of those uniquely Japanese series like Goemon that I always love, but never get enough attention.
I appreciate the first comment and you sticking around the channel for a while. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and I do agree about the parallels with something like the Goemon series!
Hey! I remember you hyping up this series of videos a while ago. Great job! Glad you mentioned the oft forgotten Momotarō Densetsu connection. I can’t wait to see you tackle Manjimaru.
Momotaro Densetsu is like one of the only worthwhile Super Famicom RPGs not translated funnily enough. It’s like any game with a PC Engine connection won’t be translated.
The quality of this retrospective is really extraordinary. I'd heard of this series before, but now I'm interested in checking it out. Incredible work!
I've always known that the Far East of Eden series was very much the best game series for the PC Engine, but to see how much ambition shown by the devs, just makes me want an English version of both Ziria and Manjimaru.
Absolutely amazing video. A true documentary that left me feeling nostalgic for a by gone age I grew up in, but also strangely nostalgic for a system and a franchise I never got to touch back then, with me now at the age of 42 just getting to understand it's magic and true awesomeness. This is the Japan I grew up with and loved. Thanks for putting this together, learnt a lot.
Thank you, it's comments like yours that make it worth putting together a video like this. And I agree, this era of Japan will always be "the Japan I grew up with and loved."
Always been interested in this series but since I haven't studied as much Japanese as I probably should I've also been one waiting for a translation. Hopefully this series will shed light on a very influential yet unknown series!
Looking forward to the next part. Red Company has such an interesting development history. I really wish some of their half-joking PC Genjin concepts would have taken off; the RPG one especially would have been very interesting to see.
I know about the RPC Genjin (I think that's what they called it, I have a magazine talking about it), but what were the other joke concepts? A shame we didn't get more of that series!
@@ImportGamingFTW According to Unseen64, many concepts were half-jokingly pitched in Gekkan PC-Engine Magazine, including a strategy game, and that many were "just funny gags never intended to be fully developed," but that "a few of them got more attention, some mockups were produced and even playable prototypes," but in general it seems like it's hard to know which ones got the full prototype treatment vs simple mockups vs gag pitches. I'd love to see into Red's archives to sort through what was "real" and what was a gag.
@@AfroRyan Thanks for the info--I'll have to look through a few of the other Gekkan PC Engine magazines I have and see if those gags/mockups were mentioned!
Thanks a lot for giving this game series more visibility! I long for the day I can play the main entries in English, specially Manjimaru and the IV Apocalypse. I'll look forward to the next video, about TM2.
Those two would be probably the most well-received of the games, and I hope they get translations--but don't sleep on Kabuki-den! One of the most unique, funny and fun RPGs I've ever played.
@@ImportGamingFTW Fuun Kabuki-den? Yes, that one looks pretty good too, and the battle system resembles to the one from the Lunar series a little. I'm specially fond of the 16-bit pixel-art style of the pce-engine TM games, as well as other ones released by the same publisher, like Gulliver Boy or the Momotaro Densetsu series.
Always good to see a new IGFTW video. You should join Historic Nerds Stream again, you're the A Lister dude 😁 This games package is great. An entire generation of gamers will never know the joy of physical copies like this. Made with love and creating a legacy for the game and the medium. 😢
Thanks, and I'd love to join another one of Ian's streams in the near future! I also agree 100% about what you say about physical copies--it's at the point that I feel like a game coming with an instruction manual...or even just some kind of paper insert--is like Christmas.
All these years later we are STILL waiting for a Fan Translation of this title. I've heard that it's even better than the 2nd game in the series, aka the one that we actually got in English.
I think you may be mistaking it for Cosmic Fantasy. We got CF 2, but not Tengai Makyou Manjimaru. I think we got one Tengai Makyou game, but it was Kabuki Clash (a fighting game) instead.
Yeah, I think you might be referring to Cosmic Fantasy as well--Tengai Makyou II MANJIMARU is a phenomenal step up from its predecessor, in my opinion.
It's very frustrating that the genesis of RPGs is still barely understood in the west, so scholarly videos like this are an utmost necessity. The production value and editing are through the roof on this one though, this is downright professional quality!
What a bizarre statement. The "genesis of RPGs" is in the West, not Japan. Furthermore by 1989 both the overarching RPG genre and the JRPG subgenre had been firmly established, Tengai Makyou has nothing to do with the origins of the genre and it's only real significance is the novelty of being the first Dragon Quest clone to be made on CD-rom.
Firstly no, RPGs began in Japan. The ultimas, wizardry, and the black onyx are all terrible games that have rightfully been forgotten in all contexts save for being the garbage that Yuji Horii improved upon to make the first real RPG, hence the continued success of Dragon Quest where the three aforementioned series are dead and forgotten.
@@trenthoward6800that is factually false. Wizardry was one of the most popular RPGs in Japan. Not to mention that all JRPGs from the 80s take so much from Ultima 3. Also Ultima 4 and Ultima 7 are the blueprint for western RPGs which weren’t at all inspired by Dragon Quest.
@@thomasffrench3639 I find it both funny and sad how you creatures crawl out of the woodwork whenever someone with good taste rightfully chucks ancient crpgs into the trash. Listen, I can only imagine how much it must suck to carry a torch for a dead franchise, but wizardry died the very moment that Dragon Quest was created, never sold as many copies as Dragon Quest, and as for ultima 3 that game has more in common with a a strategy game than a real rpg. Just admit you're a racist who hates Japanese people.
@@trenthoward6800"RPGs began in Japan because i don't like any of the western games that actually started RPGs" A statement as ridiculous as it is wrong. Never mind the hilarious sentiment that those games suck. You're entitled to your awful taste, but let's not pretend it's in any way objective.
Hey Paul, sorry for the late reply, I didn't see this post until now. Thank you very much for the generous tip, and for watching the video a second time! I hope many more people can now enjoy this game (and from here on, SERIES) thanks to the fan translation.
I've been interested in these games for a while. Since there's no way to play them in English yet I'm basically reliant on others to tell me about the games. This video was fantastic. Thank you.
One of the best CZcams videos I’ve seen recently… up there with Super Splash Wave in terms of quality but for an obscure (at least to the West) JRPG as opposed to a mainstream game. Can’t wait to watch the next episode covering its sequel!
Thank you, kindly, and you're too kind--my writing, editing, narration, visuals, etc. are nowhere near the level of Splash Wave, but this is the best I could do, for now, and I'm glad you enjoyed it enough to make that comparison.
Tengai Makyou series is defiantly the top game id like to see get some sort of Translation/Remaster (Although just a fan translation would be enough) in the west. I know there was like a PSP collection that had most of the games. And the sega satrun one that takes place in America also had a PSP port. Most of my experience in the series comes from playing a Neo Geo fighting game.
This franchise in general looks awesome, and yet I've never heard of it until now due to its Japan-only status. Will see what fan-translated material I can seek out!
Unfortunately only Tengai Makyō Zero (SFC) has received a fan translation. Tengai Makyō and especially the series apex Tengai Makyō II would be huge undertakings for a fan translation.
As mentioned, Tengai Makyou Zero has a fan translation, as well as the Game Boy Advance title Oriental Blue (I think). Still hoping to get localizations of the original PCE titles and more, fingers crossed it happens sometime soon.
I've love to see earlier footage of the game, much less own an old prototype. BTW, thank you for archiving so much on your channel, lots of interesting things there!
@@ImportGamingFTW Aw, you're welcome! If you ever have the time, go speak with LuigiBlood about recent Satellaview 8M dumps - he has been in contact with people who are willing to distribute dumps for a price, and one of them happens to be something I REALLY wanted for the Hudson fans. Not sure how much I can spill myself here though.
Just stumbled upon this and after watching it i realise i recognise the axe girl from somewhere else. And lo and behold, i remember there was a fighting game in the neo geo where she was in it. A nice vid! 👍
Thank you--and good on you for making the connection! I think a lot of people played the Neo Geo fighting game and had no idea the characters were from an RPG series.
Of all the RPGs on PC-Engine that were never localized (there are a LOT of them), this one is my number 1 wish for a fan translation. The console has picked up some steam in recent years among romhacking scenes, so I hope this game is in the pipeline somewhere.
Apparently there has been a fan translation in the works for quite a few years now, not sure what the status is but hopefully it will pick up steam again.
Fantastic look at a series I had only heard in name- it's a shame none of these came to west even as rereleases (officially of course- there are english patches?)
There are two Tengai Makyou games that got to be fantranslated. "Tengai Makyou Zero" for the snes, and "Oriental Blue: Ao no Tengai" for the Gameboy Advance. The first one is kind of a reboot of the series, and the second one is an open world spin-off.
@@locloudanerpg I would like to, but I'm unsure if I could ever get around to it or do each title justice. For the time being, I'd like to finish up the PC Engine titles and maybe do III and The Apocalypse IV.
That was a real good watch. I only have knowledge of this game series via you and have no idea about the sequels so can't wait to see what the deal is with them.
This is so cool, i own Translated copies of Tengai Makyou Zero and Oriental Blue. I also own the Japanese release of Tengai Makyou 4 on Saturn. This series is so awsome, its such a shame we never got official localizations of any of the games in the west
Amazing video for an amazing game. Longtime Pc Engine fan here. I've owned the games for years now. However, my japanese is pretty basic. However, thanks to the unofficial translation, I'm finally enjoying it, a lot I must say. I pray to any competent deity for the translation of the other two games...
Thank you, putting this video together was something that simultaneously got me very motivated and intimidated at the same time, which is why it took so long for me to finally get the ball rolling. I'm happy that people seem to be enjoying it.
This makes me feel like a fool for never having played any of the Tengai Makyo games. I can only put so much time into turn based RPGs in my old age, but I'm absolutely going to give this a try at some point.
I think you'd like the second game in particular, since its pace is faster and the character interactions are much more frequent and interesting than ZIRIA's.
Thank you so much for this video. Very professional a lot of information and well put together. I know this franchise from the Kabuki Klash game for Neo-Geo and every discovery It makes me jealous of people that could play this games back then. I hope someday in any way, will be a translation to a language that I can understand
Thank you for watching, I am glad you got something from the video. If I had the time, money and brains, I'd translate this game! Unfortunately, I'm busy, broke and am kind of dumb.
Interesting, never heard of the Franchise. The Art Style looks like it's from American Cartoons. Kaneto Shiozawa was also Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid and Takeshi Aono is Roy Campbell also from Metal Gear Solid and the original Piccolo Daimon and Kami from Dragon Ball.
What an Amazing Watch and rely interesting just a shame we never got to see any of the Tengai Makyou games here in west. I know that one of the games for snes as a fan translation. But I would love to be able to play all the Tengai Makyou games because it´s a series that interested me allot over the years but language barrier has been holding me back.
The GBA spinoff (with a very different art style), Oriental Blue, also has a fan translation. I'm guessing people are just more into Nintendo releases, but I'm still hoping for the PCE translations someday, and I feel pretty positive that it will happen eventually.
Looks like him and Ziria (or maybe Jiraiya) go back like babies and pacifiers 4:44 :p What great work, again, though... It's practically a crime that Jimmy doesn't do this, or work in the gaming industry as a career.
.... I truly do not understand why they don't allow ppl to buy all of these old games that they used to have available for systems such as the PSP and PS3 via the digital storefront. Would it really be THAT hard to develop Emulators to run these games on the PS5? It would be amazing if we had access to these back catalogs, & it's a real shame that we don't. Retro content is now more scarce than ever which is just downright strange to me. It felt like they were headed in the right direction with it in previous console generations, but it's only gotten worse, with far fewer old selections to purchase now.
I have no confidence in my translation skills, but if I had a lot of free time, I would love to try to translate a game someday. For now, I leave it to much more capable and talented--and perhaps free--people!
I was looking at their offices and was like " wait they used PC9801s to develop their games?" and was immediately hit with a "OH YEAH. PFFFT OF COURSE"
I remember reading about these games in magazines but never got to play it myself! (outside of I think a rom of the Kabuki Klash fighting game over on NEOGEO) as for this one I'm debating on looking it up although I haven't found an english translation for it yet. :(
I'll wait for it to come out and probably do a review type video on it, just because...well, just because! I'm sure it has been or will be talked to death on Switch/bigger channels, so the word will be out there.
@@ImportGamingFTW Well, I for one assure you that I'm more interested in a true Goemon fan opinion than any bigger channels. The feel of it and how it compares is something only Goemon fans can tell.
There are TWO! In addition to the later NeoGeo title, there was also Tengai Makyō: Kabuki Itōryuden that was released as an Arcade CD-ROM². It doesn't get nearly as much attention as SFII on the platform, but it's nonetheless a quite competent fighter if you'd like to explore the setting a bit more!
So, fantastic news...an English translation patch is out now!
stargood.org/trans/tenma.php
www.romhacking.net/translations/7123/
It looks good--praise Jipang! And thank you to the dedicated fans who made it happen.
I woke up today and did NOT expect to see that, was an amazing surprise! The only problem is I was right in the middle of picking Lunar 2 back up after a small hiatus, and this is tempting me to drop it again lol
I stopped every other game i was playing to get onto this one. It is a special event, that only happens once in a lifetime.
Just wanted to inform you about it, and the first I saw the news from other outlet Im instantly remember Jimmy Happa would be very happy for this game finally able to be enjoyed by many more people... Kudos for the translation teams,they did once thought impossible to do due to the thick japanese nuance on each of the game
@@Rihcterwilker same. Literally been grinding the past two days and haven’t touched another game 😂
What a great work you did on this video dear buddy Jimmy!! So glad it pays off even more after de MOST IMPORTANT TRANSLATION OF THE DECADE! Neddles to say that it was my most anticipated translation. And it came as such a great surprise for me! Torajirou Tsujino ( the nice gentleman you did a great and so inspiring interview with) is even to this day. My favorite artist off all-time! I can assure to all of you folks out there. That the translation is ON POINT! I beat Khamen Khamen just about now and the dialogues are very captivating. Tsunade is such a charismatic partner. So many times she jumps out in the screen to adds even more narrative flavor and character development to the well flashed out story. Playing the game blind I can assure you that the programmer's of this fantastic endeavour work a lot to guarantee the best pacing you can find in those years. So underrated despite being so ahead of its time! Run button, bank system (which helps a LOT believe me), very affordable items to cure MP, very inteligent minigames, KOGAMAS WARP ABILITY!!!, the game's natural pacing is made in such a way that it is hard to run out your money. I always have the resources to buy whichever equipment that I want. Grinding for levels is just part to the course. But only in the beginning. If you face every enemy encounter ( which is VERY HIGH) Rarely You will have the need to stop to grinding for levels . In 89 this game was an work of art and it is still to this day. It is very story driven. And you will face the hurdles that the game provides just see the interesting events to come. Thanks to everyone responsible for this translation and also to you Jimmy who is alongside Jhony Millennium the biggest advocate to this amazing series! I'd be glad if you could authorize me to use some footage to make a review in Portuguese after beating this masterpiece ( which I do not think will you take to long as I am devouring this game kkkk)
Such an amazing video! Proud to be a part of it!
I'm forever grateful for you helping getting things moving, including your advice and never-ending persistence/insistence when it came to asking about when I would finally start working on this video.
Eyyy!
Johnny Millienium is such a poser.
@@JohnSleazylol posing as what?? 😂
@@jessicarabbit6620 He doesn't even play the games he talks about and he hoards them.
Okay everyone share this video everywhere and maybe we get translations
Been wanting translations so badly! Especially for Far East 2
It’s strange that the spin off got one, just because it was on the Super Famicom. People are way too biased and miss other RPGs in Japan.
@@thomasffrench3639yeah Zero is a good game but I think it got translations because of it being on the Super Famicom.
@@yadigzzyeah, as a person who wants to see the history of JRPGs, it’s unfortunate that whole systems are ignored to be translated like the PC Engine. Even me personally. I hadn’t heard about the Turbo-Graphix 16 until Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. At least the Super Famicom RPGs that are worth playing are almost finished, except for ironically Shin Momotaro Densetsu, which is an entry in a big franchise. so maybe people will start doing PC Engine or Genesis RPGs. But knowing them they’ll do PS1 RPGs that no one cares about first.
It's out now
The “fan” translation is like - PRO. Oh my god it’s incredible. I have wanted to play this since I was 12. Very excited.
Jimmy, excellent documentary. I admire the dedication and detail in your videos. I hope this project is shared. For years I have been waiting for at least one fan translation of Tengai Makyou, its art, imagination and ambition attract a lot of attention.
Very much appreciated--I only do this because I like it. I'm surprised there hasn't been a localization at this point, official or otherwise, but I think we're close...just a feeling, though.
when you told me about ten guys macking you, I was expecting more of a bro session than a JRPG, but sometimes life surprises us. Solid video, my boy.
I swear the next game has more scenes like a certain Honey Bee Inn scene from the original Final Fantasy VII...but actually not, sadly.
I was only able to watch the video now, but I'll keep it on my watchlist because I already want to watch it again. All the research, trivia, and interviews shown are fascinating and further enrich the Tengai Makyou universe. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, Jimmy, for this video and all the dedicated work.
Well, thank you, I appreciate the watch...now and in the future!
Man, Jimmy, you really outdid yourself with this one! SOOOO happy to an in-depth video on a Tengai Makyou game here on CZcams finally, and you couldn't have done a better job. Your usual quality of video is always great, giving a lot of context to the impact a game had on Japanese pop culture at the time, but getting interviews with Mr Tsujino and having Happy Console Gamer read out other quotes is really above-and-beyond! When this vid came out, I was so hyped to watch it but was busy working and didn't get around to watching it until now, and man, it did not disappoint. AMAZING WORK!
Well, I do appreciate all the kind words you usually throw around here, but I'm especially happy you enjoyed this video so much. Thank you for watching, glad you got work out of the way before you did!
damn dude, this video is amazing! Excellent work Jimmy! :D
Thanks St1ka! Hope you noticed that Wizardry footage you gave me being put to good use.
Tengai Makyou and RED are an incredibly underappreciated part of gaming history. Thank you for your work and the interview.
I feel that's because their greatest hits didn't come out in the West, and they also came out on unpopular (in the West) consoles (PCE/Saturn) initially. That's why RED is well-known in Japan, but not nearly as well-known in the West.
Such a unique collective of people with great ideas and concepts--it's my pleasure putting out this video and for publishing the interview with Mr. Tsujino!
Wow, you really stepped up the production quality on this one, very much more of a big-time documentary feel. Great job!
Thanks for noticing, I consider this an "almost documentary." I tried, I tried.
It's damn cool that when this video came out we didn't have fan translations for Tengai Makyou or Linda Cube and now we have both!! Really feels like an important part of Japanese role playing video game history has been opened up to us.
Long time watcher, first time commenter. I've been fascinated by this series for years and I'm hyped that you're finally discussing it. It's one of those uniquely Japanese series like Goemon that I always love, but never get enough attention.
I appreciate the first comment and you sticking around the channel for a while. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and I do agree about the parallels with something like the Goemon series!
Thank you for shining a spotlight on this RPG. Nice production values and excellent content creation there 👍🏻
Thanks very much!
Oh, c'mon... It hurts to be reminded that this game exists and there's no translation yet. My dream translation is Manjimaru.
So is mine.
there is a translation for Ziria now
Fantastic work. I've never heard about this game before but seeing how many talented people worked on it really sold it for me.
Glad to hear it, thank you!
Hey! I remember you hyping up this series of videos a while ago. Great job! Glad you mentioned the oft forgotten Momotarō Densetsu connection. I can’t wait to see you tackle Manjimaru.
Much appreciated--I'm hoping to get in another interview before working on Manjimaru, so it might be a while!
Momotaro Densetsu is like one of the only worthwhile Super Famicom RPGs not translated funnily enough. It’s like any game with a PC Engine connection won’t be translated.
What an excellent video…..such great work! Nostalgia flowing through me right now…THANK YOU!
I appreciate that! THE NOSTALGIA IS REAL!
The quality of this retrospective is really extraordinary. I'd heard of this series before, but now I'm interested in checking it out. Incredible work!
thank u for this inspiring video.
You're welcome, thank you for watching and commenting.
I've always known that the Far East of Eden series was very much the best game series for the PC Engine, but to see how much ambition shown by the devs, just makes me want an English version of both Ziria and Manjimaru.
ZIRIA is a great game, but MANJIMARU is incredible.
Absolutely amazing video. A true documentary that left me feeling nostalgic for a by gone age I grew up in, but also strangely nostalgic for a system and a franchise I never got to touch back then, with me now at the age of 42 just getting to understand it's magic and true awesomeness.
This is the Japan I grew up with and loved.
Thanks for putting this together, learnt a lot.
Thank you, it's comments like yours that make it worth putting together a video like this. And I agree, this era of Japan will always be "the Japan I grew up with and loved."
Always been interested in this series but since I haven't studied as much Japanese as I probably should I've also been one waiting for a translation. Hopefully this series will shed light on a very influential yet unknown series!
You should use these games as a way to study.
This, I believe, is your magnum opus. Excellent work, my friend.
I appreciate that, Jimbo!
I woulda waited an eternity for this!!! This video rules!! And it gave me an even greated appreciation for Tengai Makyou.
Well, thank you! And happy to hear about your greater appreciation for the series.
This video deserves to be on a blu-ray to be treasured for all time!
Ha ha, well, I don't know about all that, but it would be cool! Thanks!
This was an amazing watch, Jimmy. Also, hearing Johnny as Ouji Hiroi was awesome 😃 Hope all is well in your world 😊
Thanks, DJ! I knew a lot of people, especially PCE/Tengai Makyou fans would recognize the voice immediately.
@@ImportGamingFTWCan you ask DJ why he has such a potty mouth? czcams.com/video/Dmk1RRBYn90/video.htmlsi=fGO_pMf9I1Cuw09K
Supper did way more for the Turbo Grafx-16 community in 3 years than you, Rover, Arkhan, Nightwolve did in 2 decades!
"19 sounds naughty! I think 18 is even naughtier! Barely legal 🤤" - Sarumaru at a Nagoya motel.
Hey DJ you have a boy cat and a girl cat? You're gonna ruin who's Tokyo now? 🤣
Looking forward to the next part. Red Company has such an interesting development history. I really wish some of their half-joking PC Genjin concepts would have taken off; the RPG one especially would have been very interesting to see.
I know about the RPC Genjin (I think that's what they called it, I have a magazine talking about it), but what were the other joke concepts? A shame we didn't get more of that series!
@@ImportGamingFTW According to Unseen64, many concepts were half-jokingly pitched in Gekkan PC-Engine Magazine, including a strategy game, and that many were "just funny gags never intended to be fully developed," but that "a few of them got more attention, some mockups were produced and even playable prototypes," but in general it seems like it's hard to know which ones got the full prototype treatment vs simple mockups vs gag pitches. I'd love to see into Red's archives to sort through what was "real" and what was a gag.
@@AfroRyan Thanks for the info--I'll have to look through a few of the other Gekkan PC Engine magazines I have and see if those gags/mockups were mentioned!
Thanks a lot for giving this game series more visibility! I long for the day I can play the main entries in English, specially Manjimaru and the IV Apocalypse.
I'll look forward to the next video, about TM2.
Those two would be probably the most well-received of the games, and I hope they get translations--but don't sleep on Kabuki-den! One of the most unique, funny and fun RPGs I've ever played.
@@ImportGamingFTW Fuun Kabuki-den? Yes, that one looks pretty good too, and the battle system resembles to the one from the Lunar series a little. I'm specially fond of the 16-bit pixel-art style of the pce-engine TM games, as well as other ones released by the same publisher, like Gulliver Boy or the Momotaro Densetsu series.
Always good to see a new IGFTW video. You should join Historic Nerds Stream again, you're the A Lister dude 😁
This games package is great. An entire generation of gamers will never know the joy of physical copies like this. Made with love and creating a legacy for the game and the medium. 😢
Thanks, and I'd love to join another one of Ian's streams in the near future! I also agree 100% about what you say about physical copies--it's at the point that I feel like a game coming with an instruction manual...or even just some kind of paper insert--is like Christmas.
All these years later we are STILL waiting for a Fan Translation of this title. I've heard that it's even better than the 2nd game in the series, aka the one that we actually got in English.
I think you may be mistaking it for Cosmic Fantasy. We got CF 2, but not Tengai Makyou Manjimaru. I think we got one Tengai Makyou game, but it was Kabuki Clash (a fighting game) instead.
@@mariusamber3237 Ah you might be right.... we def need these fan translated either way. Hope it happens one day! Heard these games were great!
Yeah, I think you might be referring to Cosmic Fantasy as well--Tengai Makyou II MANJIMARU is a phenomenal step up from its predecessor, in my opinion.
It's very frustrating that the genesis of RPGs is still barely understood in the west, so scholarly videos like this are an utmost necessity. The production value and editing are through the roof on this one though, this is downright professional quality!
What a bizarre statement. The "genesis of RPGs" is in the West, not Japan. Furthermore by 1989 both the overarching RPG genre and the JRPG subgenre had been firmly established, Tengai Makyou has nothing to do with the origins of the genre and it's only real significance is the novelty of being the first Dragon Quest clone to be made on CD-rom.
Firstly no, RPGs began in Japan. The ultimas, wizardry, and the black onyx are all terrible games that have rightfully been forgotten in all contexts save for being the garbage that Yuji Horii improved upon to make the first real RPG, hence the continued success of Dragon Quest where the three aforementioned series are dead and forgotten.
@@trenthoward6800that is factually false. Wizardry was one of the most popular RPGs in Japan. Not to mention that all JRPGs from the 80s take so much from Ultima 3. Also Ultima 4 and Ultima 7 are the blueprint for western RPGs which weren’t at all inspired by Dragon Quest.
@@thomasffrench3639 I find it both funny and sad how you creatures crawl out of the woodwork whenever someone with good taste rightfully chucks ancient crpgs into the trash. Listen, I can only imagine how much it must suck to carry a torch for a dead franchise, but wizardry died the very moment that Dragon Quest was created, never sold as many copies as Dragon Quest, and as for ultima 3 that game has more in common with a a strategy game than a real rpg. Just admit you're a racist who hates Japanese people.
@@trenthoward6800"RPGs began in Japan because i don't like any of the western games that actually started RPGs"
A statement as ridiculous as it is wrong. Never mind the hilarious sentiment that those games suck. You're entitled to your awful taste, but let's not pretend it's in any way objective.
the game has been translated to english by fans!!!! holy cow guys!! i'm super excited :D
This was a great watch. I was glued to the screen. The artwork to the game looked great. Sad that they were no English release of the game.
Thanks, I'm happy to hear it kept you invested, and man, I love the artwork in this game/series!
Thanks. With the recent translation, I had to watch this again. You did a wonderful job on it.
Hey Paul, sorry for the late reply, I didn't see this post until now. Thank you very much for the generous tip, and for watching the video a second time! I hope many more people can now enjoy this game (and from here on, SERIES) thanks to the fan translation.
I've been interested in these games for a while. Since there's no way to play them in English yet I'm basically reliant on others to tell me about the games. This video was fantastic. Thank you.
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment, I'm glad you enjoyed it and hope you can play the games someday.
It's interesting how much the PC-Engine CD-ROM module looked like a Sega Saturn. Convergent evolution, I guess...
One of the best CZcams videos I’ve seen recently… up there with Super Splash Wave in terms of quality but for an obscure (at least to the West) JRPG as opposed to a mainstream game.
Can’t wait to watch the next episode covering its sequel!
Thank you, kindly, and you're too kind--my writing, editing, narration, visuals, etc. are nowhere near the level of Splash Wave, but this is the best I could do, for now, and I'm glad you enjoyed it enough to make that comparison.
This was excellent! Glad to see HCG narrating a bit too 👏👏👏 Can't wait for Manjimaru's (although I'm more curious about Namida though!)
Glad you liked the HCG cameo--I'm curious about Namida, too, since I've barely even played it but owned it for many years now!
Thanks for making this. Your passion about this series makes me hope for a remaster/remake/compilation in the future with English translations.
Thank you, and let's keep the dream alive!
Tengai Makyou series is defiantly the top game id like to see get some sort of Translation/Remaster (Although just a fan translation would be enough) in the west.
I know there was like a PSP collection that had most of the games. And the sega satrun one that takes place in America also had a PSP port.
Most of my experience in the series comes from playing a Neo Geo fighting game.
So glad to finally be able to play this in English!
This franchise in general looks awesome, and yet I've never heard of it until now due to its Japan-only status. Will see what fan-translated material I can seek out!
Unfortunately only Tengai Makyō Zero (SFC) has received a fan translation. Tengai Makyō and especially the series apex Tengai Makyō II would be huge undertakings for a fan translation.
Well, if Tengai Makyou Zero got a translation I still have hope
As mentioned, Tengai Makyou Zero has a fan translation, as well as the Game Boy Advance title Oriental Blue (I think). Still hoping to get localizations of the original PCE titles and more, fingers crossed it happens sometime soon.
@@ImportGamingFTWunfortunately JRPG fans in the west don’t care about PCE because they are Nintendo fanboys.
The early demo of Ziria sounds like it wiuld be a golden grail for prototype preservationists.
I've love to see earlier footage of the game, much less own an old prototype. BTW, thank you for archiving so much on your channel, lots of interesting things there!
@@ImportGamingFTW Aw, you're welcome! If you ever have the time, go speak with LuigiBlood about recent Satellaview 8M dumps - he has been in contact with people who are willing to distribute dumps for a price, and one of them happens to be something I REALLY wanted for the Hudson fans. Not sure how much I can spill myself here though.
We love ya Jimmy!
The feeling is mutual!
Wish you'd love transgender people just as much.
Excellent work Jimmy, you really knocked this one out of the park. This is the spark of interest this series needs in the West!
Thanks for coming by, as always!
I'm freaking delighted with the not-Spaniard and his not-aztec-maia-Jomun robot.
The editing is always clutch. 👌Looking forward to the Sequel for part 2!
Thanks! Hopefully I can pull together something special for MANJIMARU.
Thank God the blobfish rides again ! Great video as usual Jimmy !
Thanks, Kevin!
I can imagine that i would be completely in love with it if i had played it on the time of it's release.
I'm sure you would have--I know I would have! Well, if I could understand how to play an RPG back in '89, anyway!
Great video as always Jimmy, it was worth the wait too.
Thank you!
Just stumbled upon this and after watching it i realise i recognise the axe girl from somewhere else.
And lo and behold, i remember there was a fighting game in the neo geo where she was in it.
A nice vid! 👍
Thank you--and good on you for making the connection! I think a lot of people played the Neo Geo fighting game and had no idea the characters were from an RPG series.
Of all the RPGs on PC-Engine that were never localized (there are a LOT of them), this one is my number 1 wish for a fan translation. The console has picked up some steam in recent years among romhacking scenes, so I hope this game is in the pipeline somewhere.
Apparently there has been a fan translation in the works for quite a few years now, not sure what the status is but hopefully it will pick up steam again.
One of my all time favorite series!
Fantastic look at a series I had only heard in name- it's a shame none of these came to west even as rereleases (officially of course- there are english patches?)
There are two Tengai Makyou games that got to be fantranslated. "Tengai Makyou Zero" for the snes, and "Oriental Blue: Ao no Tengai" for the Gameboy Advance. The first one is kind of a reboot of the series, and the second one is an open world spin-off.
Solid video. I’ve wanted to play apocalypse my entire life. Still praying for that English translation
That's one that HAS to have a fan translation being worked on, given all the Saturn love and translations these days.
@@ImportGamingFTW seriously. Are you planning on covering every title in the series like this?
@@locloudanerpg I would like to, but I'm unsure if I could ever get around to it or do each title justice. For the time being, I'd like to finish up the PC Engine titles and maybe do III and The Apocalypse IV.
@@ImportGamingFTW I hear you. This is some major high quality content. I imagine it's days of work to complete. Well, I'll be following. Good luck!
Great video Jim . Great editing. Everything is perfecto . Take care and keep rocking !
Thank you, take care yourself, too.
Great documentary! It's a shame that the game as originally intended was scrapped, because that first version looks amazing.
Thanks, and I agree--it's an interesting "what if," one of so many when it comes to games from the era.
Great video as always, you do deserve so many more views and followers
Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed this video (it was a labor of love, as some would say).
That was a real good watch. I only have knowledge of this game series via you and have no idea about the sequels so can't wait to see what the deal is with them.
Things only get bigger and better from here on...well, for a short period of time, anyway.
Wow! This is best of CZcams content for retro gaming. This makes me want to get that game. Very well done and thank you for highlighting this game.
Thank you, I'm happy to hear you and quite a few others have enjoyed the video so much!
This is so cool, i own Translated copies of Tengai Makyou Zero and Oriental Blue. I also own the Japanese release of Tengai Makyou 4 on Saturn. This series is so awsome, its such a shame we never got official localizations of any of the games in the west
Really great video! Thank you! Coincidentally for curiosity sake I was researching first CD-Rom games too few days ago, funny that.
Well, the video delivered just in time, then! Thanks for watching!
Totally worth the wait!
Thanks, and I appreciate you helping me out with the camera selection, I think it made the "live action" shots much nicer.
I need one of these for the second game real fucking bad
I do, too!
That accent at 34:28 sounds very Canadian and Happy.
Amazing video for an amazing game. Longtime Pc Engine fan here. I've owned the games for years now. However, my japanese is pretty basic. However, thanks to the unofficial translation, I'm finally enjoying it, a lot I must say. I pray to any competent deity for the translation of the other two games...
Tengai Makyou: Ziria in English is now a thing!
This is just as good on a second watch as it was on my first!
Thanks, man! I appreciate the first view, and really appreciate the second!
Amazing presentation as always. Such an ambitious project.
Thank you, putting this video together was something that simultaneously got me very motivated and intimidated at the same time, which is why it took so long for me to finally get the ball rolling. I'm happy that people seem to be enjoying it.
You did a great job. I was sad at Sakamoto's passing. I listen to Thousand Knives a lot which I think is his first solo album.
This is an incredibly in depth deep dive. Subscribed instantly.
Exceptional quality! congrats Jimmy!
Thanks very much!
I don't know how I didn't see this yet, but great work as always Jimmy
Would love for the rest of the series to covered in a similar manner
Yess!! More Japanese goodness.
Love the edits man
Love the man
EDIT: it's true.
@@ImportGamingFTW that's also true
This makes me feel like a fool for never having played any of the Tengai Makyo games. I can only put so much time into turn based RPGs in my old age, but I'm absolutely going to give this a try at some point.
I think you'd like the second game in particular, since its pace is faster and the character interactions are much more frequent and interesting than ZIRIA's.
Phenomenal video, dude!
Thank you!
I hope you do the next half of the Tengai Makyou retrospective
It's going to be a while, since I have some big plans/ideas I want to explore for it, but it's something I think I will do in the next year.
Thank you so much for this video. Very professional a lot of information and well put together.
I know this franchise from the Kabuki Klash game for Neo-Geo and every discovery It makes me jealous of people that could play this games back then. I hope someday in any way, will be a translation to a language that I can understand
Thank you for watching, I am glad you got something from the video. If I had the time, money and brains, I'd translate this game! Unfortunately, I'm busy, broke and am kind of dumb.
every non japanese knew about Tengai Makyou for the fighting game
And this JRPG franchise did it before Persona and Granblue Fantasy, wow
Nice!
Guarantee Happy Console Gamer Johnny M has enjoyed this!
I can can guarantee that!
@@HappyConsoleGamerAn English patch for Ziria is out. FX Unit Yuki sucks.
19:14 Street Fighter 2 for PC-Engine also came in Double CD Disc case and HuCard game, not CD Game.
That's true, biggest HuCard ever produced, I believe.
Excellent retrospective!!
I would love a collection of all these games translated for the USA
Yes, for the USA...AND THE WORLD!
Interesting, never heard of the Franchise.
The Art Style looks like it's from American Cartoons.
Kaneto Shiozawa was also Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid and Takeshi Aono is Roy Campbell also from Metal Gear Solid and the original Piccolo Daimon and Kami from Dragon Ball.
Yes, very prolific voice actors, both of whom are no longer with us.
@@ImportGamingFTW That is unfortunate. 😔
I'm a Fan of Shiozawa for Gray Fox's voice.
What an Amazing Watch and rely interesting just a shame we never got to see any of the Tengai Makyou games here in west. I know that one of the games for snes as a fan translation. But I would love to be able to play all the Tengai Makyou games because it´s a series that interested me allot over the years but language barrier has been holding me back.
The GBA spinoff (with a very different art style), Oriental Blue, also has a fan translation. I'm guessing people are just more into Nintendo releases, but I'm still hoping for the PCE translations someday, and I feel pretty positive that it will happen eventually.
Looks like him and Ziria (or maybe Jiraiya) go back like babies and pacifiers 4:44 :p
What great work, again, though... It's practically a crime that Jimmy doesn't do this, or work in the gaming industry as a career.
BROOKLYN ZOO! Also, you're too kind. I would love to make videos for a living or work in gaming, but sadly neither are feasible. Probably.
.... I truly do not understand why they don't allow ppl to buy all of these old games that they used to have available for systems such as the PSP and PS3 via the digital storefront. Would it really be THAT hard to develop Emulators to run these games on the PS5? It would be amazing if we had access to these back catalogs, & it's a real shame that we don't.
Retro content is now more scarce than ever which is just downright strange to me. It felt like they were headed in the right direction with it in previous console generations, but it's only gotten worse, with far fewer old selections to purchase now.
Hey, Jimmy! You should lend your skills to a fan translation group to get the other Tengai Makyou games english translated.
I have no confidence in my translation skills, but if I had a lot of free time, I would love to try to translate a game someday. For now, I leave it to much more capable and talented--and perhaps free--people!
I was looking at their offices and was like " wait they used PC9801s to develop their games?" and was immediately hit with a "OH YEAH. PFFFT OF COURSE"
Jimmy don’t miss
Well, I do, and often...but I'm glad it seems like I didn't miss with this one! Thanks a lot for watching!
I remember reading about these games in magazines but never got to play it myself! (outside of I think a rom of the Kabuki Klash fighting game over on NEOGEO) as for this one I'm debating on looking it up although I haven't found an english translation for it yet. :(
Apparently a translation was in the works and it might be being worked on again...so soon, I hope!
@@ImportGamingFTW yeah from looking into it I didn't see one finished, hopefully someday that's definitely a series I've been curious about!
Weren't this characters on a SNES RPG and also on the NeoGeo game Kabuki Clash?
I believe I'm missing something big here
These characters were playable in Kabuki Clash, but the ones in Tengai Makyou ZERO for SFC/SNES are completely different.
Hoping maybe this can drive enough interest in it to get it translated (since my chances of learning Japanese are about zero).
I wish I had the kind of audience or sway to affect something like that! Fingers crossed it happens either way.
@@ImportGamingFTW It happened!
I think you should start talking about Mameda no Bakeru. Or are you waiting for its release?
I'll wait for it to come out and probably do a review type video on it, just because...well, just because! I'm sure it has been or will be talked to death on Switch/bigger channels, so the word will be out there.
@@ImportGamingFTW Well, I for one assure you that I'm more interested in a true Goemon fan opinion than any bigger channels. The feel of it and how it compares is something only Goemon fans can tell.
12:32
Could you share which music track is that? I'm sorry but I could not find them from credits at the end
Sure, that's the tutorial theme from Final Fantasy Tactics on PS1.
@@ImportGamingFTW bless you, kind sir 💜
Starting the video off sad!! 😭😭
It's a celebration of life!
I want that 360 remake in English.
Same here!
@@ImportGamingFTW Hey! Thanks for the reply, I love your channel.
Isnt there a fighting game with these characters?
Yeah, there is a fighting game spin-off of the series. It was Far East of Eden: KABUKI KLASH for the Neo Geo arcade system.
And that's the only thing related to Tengai Makyou that ever got an official localization.
@@pocket-pin YES! That’s it. It’s been so long. I had a rom for it.
There are TWO!
In addition to the later NeoGeo title, there was also Tengai Makyō: Kabuki Itōryuden that was released as an Arcade CD-ROM². It doesn't get nearly as much attention as SFII on the platform, but it's nonetheless a quite competent fighter if you'd like to explore the setting a bit more!