The earliest predecessor of the game, chaturanga, originated in India in the 6th century, and spread from China to Japan, where it spawned a number of variants. Shogi in its present form was played as early as the 16th century, while a direct ancestor without the "drop rule" was recorded from 1210 in a historical document Nichureki, which is an edited copy of Shochureki and Kaichureki from the late Heian period (ca 1120).
According to ChessVariants.com, "Perhaps the enduring popularity of Shogi can be attributed to its 'drop rule'; it was the first chess variant wherein captured pieces could be returned to the board to be used as one's own. David Pritchard credits the drop rule to the practice of 16th century mercenaries who switched loyalties when captured - no doubt as an alternative to execution."
Kakinoki Shogi II is a shogi game (the second one in the series for the Playstation One console) that features different difficulty levels that allows novice to expert to enjoy shogi simulation. The game features also japanese voice acting.
Manufacturer's description:
"Kakinoki Shogi 2" software chess a game that has been developed to the ideal environment to enjoy chess appeared on the PS. You can combine the powerful and rich features thought, from beginners to practice for a game of senior, widely used. We are equipped with, such as "Specifying Joseki" and "learning", a useful feature.
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Totally Spies! Totally Party
Totally Spies! Totally Party is a video game based on the French-Canadian-American anime-influenced animated television series Totally Spies!.
Sam, Alex and Clover decide to room together in their "dream house." Life couldn't get cooler, until they've unwittingly made their home right above an Underground Secret Services Center. To prevent a catastrophic security leak, Jerry, the Center Chief has no choice but to take on them as special agents.
Unlike traditional party video games, the ten stages in this game are boss battle stages, each having a villain (the tenth chapter has 2) the spies previously fought in the series, the objective of which is to deplete that villain's life gauge by winning mini-games and laying traps on mini-game spaces. Each villain has a special skill specific to that stage as explained below.
Special Skill: None. This chapter acts as a tutorial.
Special Skill: Danny recovers 1 life point when he passes his starting space.
Special Skill: There is a chance that gadgets that are picked up are booby-trapped, causing damage to players.
Special Skill: Once Max's life gauge is reduced to 1 life point, he can only be defeated by a level 4 spy trap.
Special Skill: Myrna lays level 2 boss traps.
Special Skill: Marco lays invisible traps.
Special Skill: Mandy can avoid spy traps, if she gets an exact roll. This skill can only be deactivated by the Hologram Projecting Mood Ring, but only on spy traps laid up to the point of that gadget's use.
Special Skill: Terence can turn a spy trap (particularly the ones with the highest damage level) into a boss trap when he passes his starting space.
Special Skill: Pommy can lay zone traps on mini-game spaces adjacent to the mini-game space she lands on.
Special Skill: Shirley takes damage as normal, but once she is defeated and swaps with Yin Yang, damage done to him after that is reduced by 1 (level 2 traps do the damage of level 1 traps, level 3 does level 2, and so on).
Itadaki Street: Gorgeous King
Itadaki Street: Gorgeous King is a Miscellaneous game, developed by Tomcat System and published by Enix Corporation, which was released in Japan in 1998.
The games are similar to Monopoly: players roll one die to advance around a board, purchase unowned property they land on and earn money when opponents land on the player's property, and draw cards when they land on certain spaces. The games' also differ from Monopoly in that players can buy and sell stocks of a block, affecting the value of block's stock by buying or selling that block's stock or by developing a player owned property of that block which increases the value per share of stock for that block.
It is not necessary to own the entire block to develop a property, though controlling more than one property of a block allows the player to develop their properties to larger buildings and collect more from opponents. Players must collect a set of four suits to level up and collect additional gold when the pass the starting position/bank. In most versions, up to four players can compete to win each board. To win a player must make it back to the bank with the board's required amount, which includes the total value of the player's stocks, property value, and gold on hand.
After Enix bought the license of the Itadaki SS games for NES & SNES this one was the first (and the only) release of the saga for PlayStation.
Itadaki Street is a computer board game series originally created by Dragon Quest designer Yuji Horii. The first game was released in Japan on Nintendo's Famicom in 1991. Since then, sequels have been released for the Super Famicom and Sony's PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and the Nintendo DS. They are all exclusive to Japan.
Itadaki Street: Gorgeous King was released on the PlayStation in 1998. It was published by Enix. As of December 2004, the game has sold over 281,000 copies.
Manufacturer's description:
Itadaki Street board game that we have been very popular home is a gorgeous! Leave traditional fun of a variety of upgrade points! Recorded a total of 22 maps, new modes "Parcheesi Town" also doubles the fun element! Maneuvering, cornering the market, make money! Dice 1 Ri Gare in one program!
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Nekketsu Oyako
Nekketsu Oyako (熱血親子) is a Beat 'em up video game developed and published by TechnoSoft released on December 3, 1994 for the Sony PlayStation. In Sega Saturn version It was developed by TechnoSoft published by Sega released on July 21, 1995 for the Sega Saturn. In PlayStation Network was released on September 27, 2017 with console.
Nekketsu Oyako (roughly translated as Thermal blooded parent and child) is a side scrolling beat 'em up like Final Fight that was one of the original launch titles for the PlayStation in Japan back in December 1994. It was later ported to the Sega Saturn several months later with a few minor changes.
The game was basically a technical demo to show how the PlayStation could handle an arcade style 2D game filled with many on-screen sprites and some 3D sprite scaling. It was never released outside of Japan, and is considered to be on the rare side for both consoles, as the game was never reprinted.
In the not to distant future, a conglomerate known as the Big Black Corporation is up to no good, and the Hibino family venture on a journey to the Big Black Tower to rescue Rando's wife, who has been kidnappned by Mr. Herograw (the head of the company, and the main villan).
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PLAYSTATION & SATURN VERSIONS:
- The Sega Saturn version does not use translucent textures for see-through effects. This is due to the fact that the Saturn does not have built in hardware support for translucency. Instead, you see a cross hatch pattern effect that looks somewhat grainy, but does the job.
- In the PlayStation version, it is possible to gain more health than 100%. This appears to have been removed in the Saturn game, altering the difficulty to a degree.
- The loading times are slightly longer on the Saturn, causing a 'Now Loading' screen between scenery. However, the difference in time is only a few seconds more.
- The soundtrack on the Sega Saturn version is slightly remixed and sounds like it was remastered on a Midi synthesizer, and it can be played back by putting the disc in an Audio CD player. The original PlayStation version appears to be played through the PlayStation's internal audio mixer, and the music does not restart when the game is paused, as is the case on the Saturn.