Dynasty Wars is a beat’em up that Capcom released in 1989. It is loosely based on the Yellow Turban Rebellion and The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This game is a prequel to Warriors of Fate, another beat’em up from Capcom.
Both of these games take inspiration from a manga series that places Liu Bei as the hero of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is amazing how many things are based off this period of Chinese history. It isn’t just Koei; many companies have games based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
This game isn’t as good as the other beat’em ups from the late-1980s and 1990s. While it has some cool ideas in it, they don’t add up to a good game. It is fun to see something like this, but it isn’t going to be something I can go back to.
TLDR: A basic beat’em up that makes me wish I was playing Streets of Rage or Double Dragon.
Narrative
The story is loosely based on the Yellow Turban Rebellion and leads into the events of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. You play as one of four generals and fight against rebels who want to overthrow the Emperor. Once the rebels are dealt with, you go on to fight Dong Zhou.
If this sounds familiar, it is because the plot is similar to the Dynasty Warriors series. This one is a little different, based on a manga series, Tenchi wo Kurau. This is a fictional retelling of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and focuses on Liu Bei.
This story is very familiar to me. I love this period of history and enjoy video games based on it. I wish we had gotten all of these on the home console, but Destiny of an Emperor was the only one released on the NES.
Gameplay
I don’t like the gameplay in this beat’em up. It is a standard three-button game but lacks a jump or block button. This game has some interesting ideas, and I like how Capcom put an experience and level system in it.
There are four playable characters in Dynasty Wars. All of them are on horseback, which is more annoying than anything else. For the most part, they play the same. Here is the list:
- Shang Fei
- Liu Bei
- Kuan Yu
- Shao Yun
It is interesting to see how these names were translated. This spelling might be from the manga. I’m so used to seeing the spellings from Dynasty Warriors and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and these just seem odd to me.
The controls take a little time to get used to. There are three buttons, attack forward, attack backward, and a special attack. You can also charge your forward attack to do more damage.
There isn’t a jump button in the game, which is annoying. This can make getting out of sticky situations a little hard. Dynasty Wars throws a lot of enemies at you, and you can be beaten down very fast!
You have hit-points instead of a life bar. Your character also gains experience and levels during the game. This is a cool idea that Capcom would improve upon in other games like King of Dragons.
Dynasty Wars has eight stages, each ending in a boss fight. These are fairly difficult as a constant stream of enemies comes at you. Thankfully, I played on the Capcom Arcade Stadium and could keep pumping imaginary quarters into the game. The fights do have some strategy to them, but it can be hard to avoid all the crap on the screen.
I didn’t like the gameplay as much as I was hoping. Being on horseback the whole time sounded like a cool idea, but I didn’t like the execution. Having attacks for forward and backward being on dedicated buttons was more annoying than anything.
Visuals
This game looks good. The sprites aren’t as big as other games, but the levels look good, fire effects are nice, and the boss characters stand out. Dynasty Was has some beautiful looking levels and I like how it scrolls in a few places.
The screen can get extremely busy. There are a lot of enemies coming at you in some spots, and while it would’ve been impressive to see this in the arcade, it makes this too chaotic. Most beat’em ups limit the number of enemies you fight at any given time, but Dynasty Wars throws way too many at you.
The boss characters look different enough from the standard enemies to make them stand out. They aren’t any larger than the player character, which is a little disappointing. There is also something odd about the final boss.
The last general you fight looks like he is riding two horses. It looks very strange. You fight him across a few stages, and I kept staring at his horse wondering if I was looking at it wrong or if it was supposed to be a mutant.
Overall, I think this is a good looking game. There isn’t anything to really complain about, but there are a few curious things. The fire effects look very good in this game. The screens do get very chaotic, especially later in the game.
7/10. This one is fairly average. I had some issues with the controls, and the sprites weren’t as big and detailed as I had expected.
Pros
- Good Graphics
- Decent Gameplay
- Familiar Story
Cons
- Shorter (30-50 minutes)
- Cluttered Screen
- No jumping or Blocking buttons
Conclusion
Capcom did a better job with Final Fight. That game is simply better than Dynasty Wars. This isn’t a bad game, but it doesn’t hold up when you compare it to other beat’em ups such as Streets of Rage or Golden Axe.
This isn’t a bad beat’em up. Dynasty Wars has a lot going for it, but this isn’t something I would want to revisit again. I like Warriors of Fate much more than this game.
Dynasty Wars is a good first attempt at making a beat’em up. Capcom tried some things with the genre and I think most of them worked. The attacks are a little awkward, and I don’t think being on a horse the whole time was a good decision.
If you liked this post, please check out my other reviews of Warriors of Fate or Battle Circuit.