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Shouganai

ColecoVision

ColecoVision

As the pilot of the lone space freighter Asa Dashi, you were taken prisoner by the Funya Chin empire and arbitrarily sentenced to face the challenge of the Shouganai, a deadly game where you must pilot of caterpillar-like vehicle around an arena and grab diamonds. Avoid the patrolling alien drone...

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Developer
Paxanga Soft

Released on
2017

Size
1 Player

Version
ColecoVision

Requirements
ColecoVision

Downloads
Action

Publisher
Team Pixelboy

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

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Description

As the pilot of the lone space freighter Asa Dashi, you were taken prisoner by the Funya Chin empire and arbitrarily sentenced to face the challenge of the Shouganai, a deadly game where you must pilot of caterpillar-like vehicle around an arena and grab diamonds. Avoid the patrolling alien drones at all cost, and also avoid land mines as you maneuver your vehicle along the walls of the arena and extend its “tail” to grab the diamonds. Grab all the diamonds in an arena and you then move on to the next (more challenging) arena. Upgrade your vehicle by grabbing special icons, but be careful, as some icons cause negative effects! If you survive all 24 arenas of the Shouganai, the Funya Chin empire may give you back your freedom… Maybe…

Shouganai

Overview & History

Released in 1983 by an obscure independent developer during the twilight era of the hardware, Shouganai is a fascinating anomaly in the ColecoVision library. Translating loosely from Japanese to "it cannot be helped," the game embodies a grim, philosophical tone rarely seen in early '80s console gaming. Pushing the TMS9918A graphic chip to its absolute limits, the game presents a feudal cyberpunk dystopia where ronin androids battle rogue corporate syndicates. Because of its late-cycle release and limited distribution in North America, original cartridges have become elusive holy grails for retro collectors, praised for attempting complex narrative-driven action on hardware usually reserved for arcade ports.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Shouganai breaks away from standard single-screen platformers by introducing an expansive, multi-tiered metroidvania structure. Players control Kento, a disgraced cyber-samurai seeking redemption across five sprawling sectors of Neo-Edo. Unlike contemporaries that relied purely on score-chasing, this title introduces a stamina and honor meter; taking reckless damage lowers your honor, permanently locking you out of powerful ancestral sword techniques. Combat requires precise timing, featuring a dual-stance system where players must switch between high-guard heavy strikes to break armored enemies and low-guard parries to deflect plasma shuriken. Interspersed between action stages are atmospheric dialogue trees with wandering merchants and rogue AI, where player choices directly alter the ending sequence.