Sengoku 1 & 2 (Neo Geo)
Those poor demons never stood a chance against these warriors
We love beat ’em ups here at the LOCR, and we really wanted to do something special for Sengoku on the Neo Geo CD. Developed by SNK not long after Burning Fight, Sengoku has a special charm compared to its rival beat ’em ups of the era. SNK and the Neo Geo weren’t really well known for their ground-breaking beat ’em ups… And honestly, Sengoku won’t change your mind about that.
In the end, I decided to tackle both Sengoku 1 and 2 together, just because both games are incredibly similar and exist in the same universe. There was a Sengoku 3 for the Neo Geo AES and MVS. It was developed by an entirely separate team, Noise Factory, and released in 2001, a decade after both Sengoku and Sengoku 2.
It’s worth mentioning games like Sengoku were the reason I ended up getting the Neo Geo CD instead of the more expensive AES version. It only loads between stages briefly and I enjoyed using the Neo Geo CD’s standard game pad for this style of game. I wrote up an article about why I opted for the Neo Geo CD over the AES but ultimately, I now use my Neo Geo X for all my Sengoku needs (1, 2 & 3) on the go and at home. You can see my review on the Magic SD card adapter here that also talks about Sengoku 3.