Hagane: The Final Conflict
A ninja cyborg seeks revenge in a futuristic feudal setting.
Hagane: The Final Conflict is a 1994 action-platform game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, developed by CAProduction and Red Entertainment and published by Hudson Soft. Players control a ninja cyborg named Hagane who seeks revenge against an opposing ninja faction, blending traditional Japanese aesthetics with a futuristic setting. The game was positively received and compared favorably to classic side-scrolling action titles.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- CAProduction; Red Entertainment
- Publisher
- Hudson Soft
- Platforms
- Super NES
- Released
- November 18, 1994 (JP)
- May 1995 (EU)
- June 1995 (NA)
- Genre
- Action, platform
- Modes
- Single-player
- Composer
- Takahito Abe
- Artist
- Keita Amemiya
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The game is a side-scrolling action-platformer that mixes traditional ninja and samurai elements with a futuristic setting. The player controls Hagane, a ninja cyborg, and can switch between four weapons: a sword, chain, shuriken, and grenades. Limited magic attacks clear the screen of enemies. Hagane can perform somersaults, flying jump kicks, wall-jumping, sliding, and charge attacks. The player dies after three hits, though health power-ups can increase the meter beyond that; these bonuses are lost upon death. All stages feature platforming except one, which uses a hovercraft in a Mode 7 sequence. Stages are short with few checkpoints. Running out of lives sends the player to the start of the chapter if they continue. There is no save feature, and the Japanese version allows only seven continues.
Plot
The Fuma and Koma ninja clans, who live in darkness, have mastered ninjutsu and black magic, possessing strength and spiritual power beyond normal humans. Each clan is divided into factions: the Fuma clan by the Chinese zodiac, and the Koma clan by color (white, gold, and red dragons). Fuma clan members know little of other factions, and their bloodlines are isolated and destined to decline. The Fuma clan protects the Holy Grail, which holds power to destroy the world. The evil Koma clan plots to use the Grail for destruction. The Koma clan attacks a Fuma faction and steals the Holy Grail, but fails to notice a survivor: Hagane, left severely wounded. On the verge of death, a mysterious old man named Momochi uses advanced cyber-technology to revive him, though only Hagane's brain survives. Now a powerful cyborg ninja, Hagane vows revenge on the Koma clan. After destroying their complex, he overlooks the scene from a cliff, satisfied. His purpose fulfilled, his glowing eyes fade to black and he passes on. As time passes, nature reclaims his seated form and rusts his katana while a tree grows nearby.
Reception
Nintendo Power praised the challenging gameplay, non-stop action, and controls, comparing the game to the Ninja Gaiden series, but criticized its lack of variation and sub-par graphics, likening them to a good NES game. GamePro's Lawrence Neves complimented the play control and variety of special moves, but criticized the music as techno Japanese rock at its most mundane. He found the graphics impressive but repetitive in enemies and environments, and considered Hagane comparable to classic side-scrolling action games but not a classic itself due to the waning 16-bit market, recommending it only as a rental. A Next Generation reviewer praised the dark, detailed graphics, enemy abundance and variety, and the wide set of attacks, but criticized the lack of originality, noting a resemblance to the Sega Genesis Shinobi series. In a retrospective, Kurt Kalata of Hardcore Gaming 101 called Hagane a cult classic and sleeper hit despite lost potential, finding the gameplay heavily influenced by Shinobi III and challenging, with frustrating platforming sequences. He liked the variety of mechanics but criticized the game design for not utilizing them, and found the environments too dark and boring with forgettable music. Kalata believed design flaws would have been alleviated by a more skilled developer. In 1995, Total! ranked the game 45th on their Top 100 SNES Games, writing that the graphics are moody and the gameplay fast and furious, calling it classically demanding shooting action.
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