Chakan: The Forever Man

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Chakan: The Forever Man
Developer(s) Sega
Publisher(s) Sega
Platform(s) Sega Mega Drive, Game Gear, Genesis
Release date June 8, 1992
Genre(s) Platform game
Mode(s) Single player
Media Cartridge
Input methods Game controller

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. Although the game sold poorly, Ed Annunziata has no regrets.

Contents

[edit] 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; 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. While he defeated Death eventually, he was granted his "reward": Chakan was then shackled to an endless existence of eliminating all supernatural evil. Chakan won't be granted rest until this task is finished.

[edit] Gameplay

The player, as Chakan, starts off in a central hub stage, from which he can select one of four elemental-based stages (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. 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: a scythe which can chop through spider webs, a battering mallet which can smash through fake walls, a battle axe that deals massive damage but has very slow handling and a grappling hook to aid on reaching higher places. 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. Scattered throughout each level are elemental potions (in four colors: blue, green, red and "clear"), which can be combined to provide a variety of spells. The game was known (and loathed) by many for its unusually high difficulty level but still retains a dedicated (if not small) fanbase.

[edit] 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 of 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]

[edit] External links

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