99. Reigen Doushi (Phantom Fighter) (Marionette, Famicom, 1988)

While Reigen Doushi is a fairly simple game, its backstory is comparatively long and convoluted. The game is based on the 1985 Hong Kong movie Mr. Vampire, the plot of which dealt with jiangshi, hopping corpses from Chinese folklore similar to vampires / zombies. Mr. Vampire was released in Japan as Reigen Doushi, which literally translates to "soul phantom Daoshi", and this game came out soon after. It was eventually released in 1990 in North America, rebranded as Phantom Fighter and with no movie tie-in.

The game itself has you taking the role of the titular Taoist priest, who has come to a town to help rid it of the jiangshi. The town is just a series of doorways you can enter, and in (almost) each one is one or more jiangshi to fight. The 2 controller buttons are reserved for a punch and kick, while jumping is accomplished with up on the d-pad. Since you are only fighting one opponent at a time, and both of your health bars are displayed on the sides of the screen, the game really feels like a fighting game, despite being single-player.

Since you have such a limited moveset, the game becomes all about spacing. All enemies can do it hop toward you, or turn around, and they only hurt you if their outstretched hands come into contact with you, so maintaining a safe kicking / punching distance is crucial. This is all a game about microdecisions, and in its best moments, I got the same feeling I do when I'm facing down a particularly challenging enemy in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.

Not that Reigen Doushi is perfect by any means. There is not much variety in enemy types. You can't attack while crouching (and attacking while jumping is dubious at best). Clearing one town of jiangshi is interesting, but the game has you do it 8 times to reach the ending.

4/5, a cool fighting / adventure hybrid