Sengoku 3 - A beat-em-up that rewards skillful play...

It's no secret that I enjoy arcade titles, specifically anything in the "beat-em-up" genre. As a person who manages to find some enjoyment in every title I play, the constant complaint of "repetition" and "button mashing" always seem to be lost on a guy like me. I do know one thing for sure though, those who don't enjoy "beat-em-up" style games surely have NEVER played Sengoku 3. It's quite possibly one of the best examples of what the genre has to offer.

Still in a punchy mood after playing Ninja Baseball Bat Man yesterday, I decided to fire up this game for the Neo Geo. Sengoku 3 is, obviously, the 3rd title in the "Sengoku" series but it's entirely unrelated to the first 2 games including the fighting system. The plot involves a recent resurrection of Japanese demons and it's up to a clan of Ninjas to stop the chaos. You originally start out with 4 playable characters, but as you play you'll unlock two of the bosses as playable characters before the final level. 6 playable characters is quite a healthy number for a 2 player beat-em-up.  Even better is that they all control differently with their own set of combos. 

What sets this apart from other beat-em-ups though is that it rewards you for playing the game WELL. You have two different attack buttons, one for your sword and one for punches. The special thing is that you can chain these attacks together and create combos. Simply button mashing your way won't get you very far as enemies will be quick to capitalize on your mistakes. Just learn to combo and you'll have way more fun and you'll soon be slaying demons left and right!

Also, this game is simply gorgeous. All the sprites are well animated and the attack animations are simply awesome. Neo Geo hardware was way ahead of it's time and this game shows off exactly why as this game was made in 2001! I love the character designs, they did a good job of making each character attractive to play and still give them their own unique combos!

If you're afraid of a challenge, then I guess you can go ahead and forget about playing this game you stupid baby. It simply demands that you must learn the game in order to be successful. But if you want a rewarding experience in a beat-em-up, then look no further. It's one of the best games out there, and the fact that it's not that well known outside certain gamer circles is simply criminal. Try it out, you won't be sorry.