Genjū Sōseiki (lost build of cancelled Famicom strategy game; 1990)

Title screen

Status: Lost

Genjū Sōseiki (幻獣創世紀, also translated as Phantom Beast Creation Century or Genesis of the Mythical Beasts) is a strategy game for Famicom that was planned to be developed by Make Software and published by Nihon Bussan. The catchphrase for this game is "プレイヤーは神様です。" (The Player is God.)^[1]

It was also exhibited at Nintendo Space World in November 1989, and a promotional video was distributed, but the game system was too innovative and complex, and its release was cancelled.

On June 15, 2008, a promotional video was uploaded onto YouTube by user nar nar.

Plot

4.5 billion years ago... When the earth was just born, Latius, the original god who created the world, called Roses, Sauros, and Ars to the heavenly realm. Latius, the original god, promised the three that he would grant the right to rule the earth to the creator of the "Phantom beast" that would survive the competition for survival in all ten habitats that would eventually appear on the earth. Thus begins the "Phantom Beast Creation Century," the epic battle of the gods.

Gameplay

The player starts the game as Ars. The first step is to create a phantom beast. To create a phantom beast, the player assigns the parameters of touch, perception, sight, sensation, and hearing for the head of the phantom beast, and the parameters of aggressiveness, speciality, behavior, durability, and adaptability for its upper and lower body. The first phantom beast created will be the main phantom beast that must survive the race for survival. There are approximately 27,000 species of phantom beasts that can be created. The player starts at the lowest rank and must become the highest rank in all the "Ocean," "Desert," "Plain," "Forest" and "Jungle" areas that exist in the East and West respectively.

Preparation for war is done by turnability. There is a power that God possesses called "Divine power," and the amount used in a year is limited. Once it is used up, nothing can be done, so at that time, let Roses and Sauros take turns preparing for battle and wait for the power to recover.

Once the divine power is restored, the power must be used to strengthen the phantom beast using the "Grow" command. If the phantom is not suited to the environment and cannot grow properly, the "Create" command can be used to re-create the phantom beast. To battle the other phantom beasts, use the "Team" command to team up with your phantom beast's alter egos and have them fight together.

The "Terrain" command allows you to see the habitat zone of your phantom beast and create a team suited to this zone, which will give you an advantage in battle. The "Data" command gives you information about your opponent's phantom beasts.

When you are ready for war, use the "Attack" command to select your team for battle. The main phantom beasts and their team pieces are placed on the terrain map. Moving the pieces will consume "Mobility" and time will elapse every 30 minutes for each move. When you have finished placing your phantom beast pieces, the other side will place its phantom beast pieces as well. When the placement of a piece of your phantom beast is next to a piece of the opponent's placed phantom beast, the battle begins.

When fighting, first check the physical strength of your and your opponent's phantom beasts. The basic method of attack is to hit the body, and each time it is your turn, you must change your formation and repeat the attack and defense. The "ESP" command during battle can be used to activate the supernatural abilities possessed by the phantom beasts. Phantom beasts evolve by winning battles. If they lose the battle, they will become extinct.

If you win the battle and your phantom beasts becomes the highest rank in the zone, a new land area will be created in the zone. Occasionally, volcanic eruptions and severe cold waves may occur.

Availability

Currently, the ROM for this game has not been dumped and no prototype ROM is known to exist. At the very least, one of the former developers may be in possession of the ROM.