Software:Genkai Chōsen Distopia

Genkai Chōsen Distopia
File:Genkai Chōsen Distopia title screen.png Title screen
Developer(s)	Toaplan
Platform(s)	Arcade
Release	Unreleased
Genre(s)	Action, hack and slash, platform
Mode(s)	Single-player Co-op
Cabinet	Upright
Display	Raster (Horizontal)

Genkai Chōsen Distopia is an unreleased 1994 side-scrolling hack and slash action-platform arcade video game that was in development by Toaplan prior to their closure due to bankruptcy. Set in a post-apocalyptic setting, players assume the role of one of the four protagonists to fight against an assortment of enemies across multiple locations.

Gameplay

File:ARC Genkai Chōsen Distopia.png

Gameplay screenshot from the revealed beta build.

Genkai Chōsen Distopia is a side-scrolling hack and slash action-platform game similar to Rastan and Magician Lord, where players assume the role of one of the four playable characters through multiple stages on a post-apocalyptic setting to fight against enemies and bosses that must be fought before progressing any further as the main objective. Each of the four playable characters have their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as their own method of fighting enemies on-screen.

At the beginning, players have the choice of selecting between four paths, with each hosting their own set of stages to play through. Some of the stages featured are linear in nature, populated with obstacles and enemies, requiring the player to traverse them by running, jumping, climbing, shooting or dodging enemies, while other stages that are featured later in the game become more mazelike and exploratory, making the player take different routes to reach the end and if the player takes too long to complete the level, the time ends and results in losing a life stock. Running out of time will also result in losing a life and once all lives are lost, the game is over unless the players insert more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing.

Along the way, players can pick up items left from defeated enemies, ranging between money, food to restore health and time increasers. Similar to Out Zone, players can also change their main form of attack by picking up a "weapon change" icon after destorying a capsule-shaped carrier.

History

Genkai Chōsen Distopia was first showcased through multiple in-game screenshots on a 1996 arcade-focused book published exclusively in Japan by BrainBusters. Mangaka and Knuckle Bash designer Junya Inoue claimed in a 2002 interview that he was involved in the game's production, although he did not specify his role during development. According to former Toaplan composer Tatsuya Uemura in a 2009 interview with Japanese publication Floor 25, development on the title was nearly completed but left unreleased. In 1994, Toaplan declared bankruptcy and ceased operations. On July 16, 2019, the only known gameplay footage of the title was uploaded online on Twitter by a Japanese user. Despite rumors that it received a location test, no prototypes have surfaced to date.

External links

• Genkai Chōsen Distopia at Killer List of Videogames