Once upon a time a blue eyed boy from the old west learned one of life’s cruelest lessons...that evil was bigger than his gun. So he followed the footsteps of a mysterious master to the far east where he learned the secrets of the sword and came back home with the heart of a gunman and the soul of a samurai Johnny had a dream of being the biggest hero around. There wouldn’t be an enemy that he could not put down with his gun. Then one day Johnny met his match and turned his world around, he changed his name and learned the shogun way of the land of the rising sun. Rising ZAN Samurai Gunman Rising ZAN Johnny no more...
The above words are the lyrics to the game’s theme song. If that doesn’t give you some kind of clue as to what the game is, then you should read it again. Done? Good. Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman, was unfortunate to have it’s release towards the end of the PSone’s lifecycle, in which action/platformers were a dime a dozen, and many of them were indistinguishable. But Rising Zan, although it may have looked the same as everything else on the store shelves, was a wonderful treat to those adventurous enough to give it a try.
The idea of crossing Samurai and Spaghetti Western culture has been around ever since the Magnificent Seven was made in response to Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. Samurai and cowboys have always had a strange bond in cultural discussion, especially ronin, or masterless samurai. Always loners, always competent fighters, these two figures have received their share of glorification in their respective countries. But it was rare that a piece of media combined the two cultures, preferring to admire both from afar. Rising Zan was the first video game to do so, and with Katana in one hand and Six-Shooter in the other, the gamer took on the role of Johnny, taking out demon ninja in a wonderfully cross-cultural affair.
Rising Zan had all the potential to be a flop. The premise was cool, but at that point in the PSone’s lifecycle, there were so many action/platformers with extremely cool licenses that couldn’t have been saved because you were playing as a recognizable character. (Batman Beyond, anyone?) Instead, developers Uep Systems chose to make the game as quirky as possible, with a very twisted sense of humor that cast historical accuracy to the wind. The fact that Johnny, a blue-eyed American, managed to befriend a master of some obscure martial art that trained with guns and swords, should prove that. As funny as the premise was, the game still could’ve been a flop - and in the early stages of development, there wasn’t much to differentiate between it and any other platformer. But Uep Systems added several unique gameplay characteristics that made it much more fun to play. Aside from the devilishly odd/funny cutscenes spoken with high-pitched voices, one of the main features of the game was gaining hero points - by defeating enemies, rescuing hostages, and generally doing heroic acts, you gained hero points, which allowed you to enter a mode called hustle time. This was one of the most outlandish features of the game; Zan’s katana extends to three times the length, you can perform unlimited special attacks, and you move at incredible speeds. When I first encountered this, my jaw dropped - it was sheer, total madness, and I was playing it. Another feature was the A.B.E.’s - All Button Events. There was one in each stage, and in order to complete it, you had to mash on every button on the control pad in order to win a test of strength. It too was sheer madness, and if you were able to look up while these occurred, you would also see some of the weirdest, most entertaining graphics. My favorite was Johnny slapping palms with a giant sumo wrestler as each tried to push each other down a hallway. One could also perform fatalities on bosses after defeating them, and all of this was in your quest to become - get ready for it - the SUPER ULTRA SEXY HERO. Even playing the game now, after superior action titles have been released on every system, I still feel a bit hollow when a title doesn’t offer me the chance to become the Super Ultra Sexy Hero - although Devil May Cry did come close.
If you know Japanese culture at all, you’d recognize the origin of some of the humor - much of it is distinctly Japanese, and that’s probably why the title didn’t hit it huge in America, even if it had been released at a better time. It may have been too quirky for the mainstream - some people are too self-conscious to sit around on their couches and declare themselves a Super Ultra Sexy Hero. And by today’s standards set for action games, there are many better titles out there - with crisper controls and better graphics. But if you should happen to be browsing in your local video game store, and should stumble across a used copy of this game, don’t hesitate to pick it up. This is the game that brought style to your action games - long before Dante donned a red leather trench coat and spoke poorly written dialogue. This is one of the titled that dared U.S. publishers to import the quirkiest titles available in Japan, the effects of which are currently available from Eidos’ Fresh Games label. But most importantly, this game, packed with secrets and fun, showed that it was possible for a game to be humorous and play well at the same time. And that was a first.
