Ikki (video game)

Did You Know?

• Japanese essayist Jun Miura coined the term "kusoge" after playing the Famicom version of Ikki.
• The game still sold reasonably well and was one of Sunsoft's most popular products at the time.

Gameplay

Set in medieval Japan, the game follows a poor farming village planning an insurrection against a feudal overlord, with only the player character Gonbe and optional second player Tago participating. The player battles an army of ninjas rather than samurai or foot soldiers. Text is displayed vertically, an unusual choice for the period, and all in-game messages use speech reminiscent of jidaigeki films. Movement is controlled with an 8-way joystick, and a single button throws a sickle that automatically targets the nearest enemy, forcing the player to emphasize evasion over aggression. The right side of the screen shows points and a level map indicating koban coin locations, though players must navigate around walls to reach them; this map is absent from the Famicom version. Enemies include black or red ninjas, bomber ninjas, and wild boars, with some absent from the Famicom port. Red ninjas move faster and are harder to hit but yield double points. Contact with any enemy or projectile costs a life, and the game ends when no lives remain. A ghost (yōkai) occasionally appears, preventing sickle throws until the player touches a jizō or komainu statue. A grotesque handmaiden may appear, immobilizing the player briefly while still allowing attacks, making progress difficult; this character does not appear in the i-appli mobile version.

Legacy

Gonbe, the main character of Ikki, appears as a cameo in the Sunsoft title Atlantis no Nazo. The arcade original saw multiple re-releases: on Virtual Console for the Wii in 2007, the Nintendo 3DS in 2013, and the Wii U later that same year. Hamster Corporation brought it to the PlayStation 4 in 2016 and the Nintendo Switch in 2018 as part of their Arcade Archives series. A Windows version was included in the Ultra2000 Sunsoft Classic games compilation from June 2001. The game was also bundled with Tōkaidō Gojūsan-tsugi and Yūyū Sunsoft kessaku-sen 2 in July 2004, and paired with Super Arabian for the PlayStation compilation Memorial Series Sunsoft Vol. 1, which later became available on the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3. An updated version called Ikki Online, supporting up to 12 players, launched on the PlayStation 3 in June 2010 and was shut down in November 2022. A mobile version, Ikki Mobile, arrived in July 2006 for SoftBank Mobile and EZweb networks. It kept the core content but added minigames and a trading card series bought with in-game coins, across seven levels with updated graphics and characters. The handmaiden returned from an earlier i-appli version, the bamboo spear now deflects projectiles, ghosts are no longer invincible, and ninjas and handmaidens evolve into kunoichi and princesses as the game progresses.