Arcade Appreciation - Denjin Makai

Previously, as in like 20 years ago, I talked about Denjin Makai II: The Guardians. A classic beatemup that more than makes up for its relative lack of difficulty with an immense array of playable characters, excellent controls, and fun mechanics. Its fluidity allowed players to link special moves together, leading to all sorts of wild combos. I'd go so far to say that this was Winky Soft realizing their full potential in the belt-scroller genre, leaning into their strengths to craft something that has thrived for decades. When I say thrived, I mean people still play it, not that the developer is still around or- hang on a moment while I check Mobygames. Oh! They were the Super Robot Wars developer! That's really cool, very- I'm sorry. If you could see my face right now, it'd look like the face of a person who has never played a minute of Super Robot Wars. 

Anyway, let's jump backwards to 1994, the year of the first Denjin Makai. This is exactly what I expected from a developer with a lot of promise, yet hasn't quite found the direction they want to go in. The main point I want to get across is that this is an uncut gem, with just the right amount of grime. There are six playable characters, all with impressive though not always unique move-sets. Rather than choosing someone who suits your playstyle, I'd suggest going with whomever has all of the "right moves". To avoid further confusion, I'll go ahead and suggest Makai. He's the guy who's highlighted the instant you start the game.

I'm not suggesting that there's a tier-list or anything of the sort, but some fighters are easier to adapt to than others. Makai's special dash-attack is a projectile, his jumping down-attack is an elbow drop with a meaty hitbox, and his "super-joy" is a nice spin-kick/sweep combo. I'm just going to mention it now. While I will use common beatemup terms like super-joy and magic series, I can't really think of them as such. It's just a term used out of convenience, because there are limitations to these particular techniques that aren't commonly seen in other beatemups. More to the point, like its successor, each character has a separate gauge that drains whenever they perform special moves. The super-joy is considered a special move, so it doesn't cost health to use. However, it doesn't have invincibility, and you're not breaking out of a combo no matter how much you mash attack + jump. 

Also, I hate to put it like this, but the magic series isn't all that magical. At least as far as beatemups are concerned, the magic series is when you press the attack button a bunch of times, and the character does a little combo. Punch, punch, elbow, kick, whatever happens, it does some damage and knocks the opponent down. Basic stuff. Denjin Makai has this, but it's not something you can rely on in most situations. After the first couple of attacks in a series, your chosen hero is going to stop for a number of frames before resuming the rest. Now, let's replace the words "a number of" with just one, "enough". Enough time passes between the first couple attacks and the rest for an enemy to interrupt you and dish out some damage. If you want something resembling a guarantee that every strike will connect, then try hitting the enemy from behind or giving yourself a little distance.

Popcorn guy is just aghast at the weird sex acts going on nearby.

Whether or not that was intentional, Winky Soft was cooking something with a delightfully bitter taste. Limiting the effectiveness of the magic series forces players to operate out of the comfort zone, relying more on special moves and grabs to deal with the gobs of enemies that are regularly thrown at them. Of course, specials require meter management, and finding those moments to recharge can be quite difficult. Grabs aren't free either. Provided an enemy doesn't grab the player instead, there's a pretty high possibility that anything more than a simple toss will be interrupted. Basically, you have a lot of options, and none of them are amazing. It's far cry from Denjin Makai II, where everything you do is amazing. 

The griminess extends to pretty much every interaction with enemies. Beatemups, even the kind found in arcades, tend to operate under some guidelines, if only to keep players from feeling cheated. I'm not going to call this unfair, because after just a few attempts, I was able to make decent progress on 1 coin*. Mainly, what I'm saying is that you really can't take anything for granted. If an enemy is facing you, then you have to do whatever it takes to hit them or get out of the way. If you don't react before they walk up to you, then there's going to be trouble. Tells are practically nonexistent, even for attacks that you'd sincerely believe would have them. The lizard creatures have electricity attacks that are long-range, and they'll just perform them on a whim. No charge-up, no audio cues, just *ZAP*. L-Gigante is a tall dude with sunglasses. He loves dropkicks so much that he'll a big step backwards - which usually places him offscreen - only to make a humongous leap, nailing anyone distracted by the 5 or 7 other guys they're trying to fight. 

We were put here on this planet to suffer.

It never gets any easier, especially in the final stage. Killer Dolls and War Knights are common enemies who punishes any magic-series user with a full combo. They've also inherited Donovan's uppercut, so have fun jumping in on them. Grunts most mundane can't be allowed a moment's respite either. They have this hop kick that looks out of place, yet it's one of the most devastating moves in the game. Since I've got Streets of Rage 2 on my mind, I'll just the hop-kick is the equivalent of Galsia's knife. Me, you, and everyone else is going to be struck by it a hysterical number of times. 

And yet, it's all doable. A lot of what makes this uncut gem shine is that it gives players just enough agency to adapt. Yeah, fighting a whole crowd of devilishly capable minions is rough, but if you can keep momentum on your side, then it's not that hard to crush them. Use every technique to its fullest extent and focus on whomever is most likely to cause problems. Neptune, the 4th boss, has a lizard buddy that's more dangerous than he is. Don't write anyone off because of the size of the health meter. They're a problem as long as they're standing. If you can't keep everyone on the ground and sufficiently pummeled, then target anyone hopkicking or dropkicking. It makes a big difference.

Denjin Makai isn't as polished as its sequel, and that's fine. Some might even prefer that it emphasizes fundamentals over style points. There's much more of an incentive to play smart, but in a way that's akin to controlling the battlefield rather than finding a safe corner to spam special moves from. Not that such a thing would be possible anyway. Players are expected to master the entire moveset, taking advantage of whatever can give them the slightest edge. Something like a down-attack that hits more than once can play a big part in survival. There's a bit more chaos to every encounter, but I think that's part of the appeal.

One last thing. There's a scrappy upstart energy to this beatemup that's worth exploring. Even if you don't 100% vibe with how it plays, still take some time with it. I believe retro games made today are a little too interested in being throwbacks. A lot of people want to make tributes to the classics they grew up with. Cool. All I'm saying is that... Actually, just make whatever the heck you want. If this critic had anything meaningful to say, he'd have gotten a paycheck for it sometime in the past forever.  

*I say this like I can remember the last time I spent anything on an arcade machine.