Getsu Fūma Den (月風魔伝), is an action role-playing game developed and published by Konami for the Nintendo Famicom, released on July 7, 1987. The game is based on Fūma Kotarō, a member of a clan in Feudal Japan.
Story[]
In the year 14672 A.D., the demon lord Ryukotsuki manages to escape from hell and plans world domination on the surface world ruled by the Fuma clan. When the three Getsu brothers go out to fight him with each brother having a spirtual Pulse Blade, the two eldest brothers get killed and the youngest member, Getsu Fuma, barely makes out of the fight alive. With that being said, Fuma takes an oath to avenge his brothers, defeat the ultimate Ryukotsuki, and take back the three stolen Pulse Blades.
Gameplay[]
Playing as Fuma, the player would have to venture through Kyoki-to and its neighboring islands, with each one containing a Pulse Blade. To advance to the next island, the player would have to collect a seperate Devil Mask for each respective island before progressing.
Upon starting the game, the game's map is in an overhead view controlling Fuma throughout the islands and going into areas such as gates, shrines (where you are given advice and direction to by villagers), shops, etc. In battle, the game takes you to a side-scrolling adventure where you would have to fight off enemies for health and experience points and avoid pitfalls which cause instant death. In the game, experience points are used for purchasing weapons and other stuff to aid and defend yourself such as candles (to light up dungeon rooms) and powerups that make you invincible for a few seconds, and therefore, are required in order to beat the game.
In the dungeon areas, the game takes you to a 3D-esque maze where the view follows behind Fuma. In the dungeons, you would encounter things such as enemies, and at the end of each dungeon, there would be a boss each holding a Pulse Blade. During the regular boss and final boss confrontations (that would have to be beaten in exchange for a Devil Mask), the game switches back to a side-scrolling view.
The game includes a life system with infinite continues. Each time you run out of lives and continue, half of your experience points will be gone, but you respawn from the same area. It also includes a password system in Hiragana text, in case someone wants to play at a later time without having to play the game again from the beginning.
Trivia[]
- There were plans to make a PlayStation 2 video game called Shin Getsu Fuma Den (which could've been similar to Shin Contra), but the game was cancelled before it was developed completely.
- The only times that Getsu Fuma was mentioned in Western video games were in Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (as a DLC pack where you play as Fuma and has levels similar from the original Famicom game) and in Getsu Fuma Den: Undying Moon (an emulated version of the game that is left untranslated).