Chakan: The Forever Man

Chakan: The Forever Man
Sega Mega Drive cover art
Developer(s)	Extended Play Productions
Publisher(s)	NA Sega EU Sega
Platform(s)	Sega Mega Drive Game Gear
Release date(s)	NA 1992 EU 1992
Genre(s)	2D action platformer
Mode(s)	Single-player
Media/distribution	16-bit cartridge

Chakan: The Forever Man is a Sega Mega Drive, Genesis video game published by Sega of America June 8, 1992. The game featured an uncommonly dark premise for the time of its release, which saw the home console market flooded with licensed (often from children's cartoons) platformers.

It is based upon a comic book by Robert A. Kraus and was produced by Ed Annunziata, who met Chakan's creator at a convention and was impressed.

Plot

The game follows the tale of Chakan, a warrior who was so confident in his martial abilities that he declared even Death couldn't best him in battle. Of course, Death appeared and challenged Chakan with a proposition. If Chakan could defeat him, he'd be granted eternal life. However, if Chakan was defeated, he'd become Death's eternal servant. The battle raged on for several days and the ultimate victor was very clear. Because he defeated Death eventually, he was granted his "reward":

“

You are a tactful swordsman, so I will not renege on our wager. I grant you the kiss of eternal life, but, for your arrogance and pride I will temper my gift with this curse. Each nightfall, evils will be shown to you, and the pain of their victims will be your pain. You will never know rest as you wander this world searching to slay the horrors that haunt your sleeping world. You will suffer grievous wounds, but you will not die, and as eternity rolls on, you will crave my touch. Your face will bear my visage, and your eyes will burn with hellfire. But...let it not be said that I am without mercy. There shall be an end to your curse. If all the beasts of the dark are slain, then you may find rest.

”

^[1]

Chakan will live forever until he destroys the four supernatural evils: Spider-Queen, Mantis, Elkenrod, and Dragonfly King.

No matter if Chakan slays them all, at the end of the game Death tells Chakan that when he said slay all evils, he meant all evil in the universe. Chakan cannot get off his own planet, essentially making his curse incurable.

Gameplay

The player, as Chakan, starts off in a central hub stage, from which he can select one of four elemental-based stages of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. The player advances through that stage until completion, whereupon Chakan is returned to the hub to choose a new stage, either the same or a different stage. Levels within an element must be completed in order, but that is the only restriction on the order the player may do levels. At the bottom of the screen, an hourglass indicates how much time the player has to complete the level. If time runs out, the player is returned to the hub. If killed, Chakan is returned to the hub. Chakan starts out with his characteristic twin swords, but acquires four new weapons in the first stage of each element, which have many uses.

Upon defeating the three stages of each elemental plane and the enemy bosses for each plane, he clears the "terrestrial plane" and embarks upon a quest to defeat four "elemental planes of evil," each consisting of another three stages and a boss each for fire, earth, wind and water. These levels are considerably harder than the initial four sets of planes, levels that are extremely challenging in their own right. The later levels feature far greater incidence of traps and enemies that cause instant death or level restart.

Upon defeating this second set of levels, Chakan is treated to an ending in which his curse is not lifted. After the credits roll for some time, he is allowed to fight an extremely difficult enemy boss (consisting of an H.R. Giger looking creature on a throne carried by what appear to be dwarfs). The player only gets one try. If the player succeeds at this task, they receive the "real ending" which consists of the hourglass background used in the plot exposition screens but without any text. After a wait of fifteen minutes, a single line of text appears saying "Not the end" and the screen fades out, returning to the title screen.^[2]

Reception

The game is well-known for its unusually high difficulty level, but still retains a dedicated, if small, fanbase. ^{[3] [4]}

Related games

A Game Gear game by the same name was published by Sega. It features very similar gameplay, but different level layouts and other changes to accommodate the weaker hardware.

A sequel was planned and developed somewhat by Ed Annunziata's studio AndNow, but no new information about the project has been released since 2001. It was planned to be released for as many current platforms as possible, according to Ed Annunziata himself in an interview with SegaFans during May 2001.

Much of the work on the Chakan sequel was later absorbed into the 2002 game Blood Omen 2, as discovered by fans of the series. [1]

References

1. ^ http://www.rakgraphics.com/chakan/chakbegin.asp
2. ^ "Chakan - Final "Good" Ending". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKKTW3Rv3p0. 
3. ^ http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/genesis/review/R117332.html
4. ^ http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/genesis/file/563316/19615

External links

• RAK Graphics' Chakan Site - Official website for the Chakan comic.
• Chakan (Genesis) at GameFAQs
• SegaFans - Direct link to May 2001 interview with Ed Annunziata.