Super FamiComplete #29: Shodan Morita Shogi (Redux)

Title: Shodan Morita Shogi

Release Date: 8/23/91

Developer: Seta Corporation

The ultimate "phone in" post. What a shame. Let's actually dig in this time and see what we can find. 

Background

This is a shogi game. Shogi is a game similar to chess. Shodan is the word for "master" or general. Morita is the man who developed this game. All together, the title translates to "Morita's First-Rank Shogi." This is a game meant to be a "serious" shogi simulator for high level play; many other Shogi, Go, or Hanafuda games would usually incorporate colorful characters, anime aesthetic, or something else to keep the eyes dancing during play. This game, though, is very bare bones and sparse. The game itself is meant to be the real draw.

The Morita in this case was Kazuro Morita (pictured as the left most gentleman on the attached image). He was a software developer at Seta and was considered a master level Shogi player. He developed other Shogi games for the NES, and usually put his name on the cart. Apparently, this game, aside from the music, was a one man show. Sadly, Morita passed in 2012 at the age of 57. 

What is Shogi?
Shogi, itself, is a Japanese variant of chess, and translates to the "Game of Generals." Like chess, Shogi is a one-on-one game "duel" style game. A shogi board is a 9 x 9 (81 square) board without much adornment; since the Japanese style of playing is usually sitting on tatami mats, the board is usually elevated to allow for ease of play. Attached on the side are usually a square boards called kodamai, which are used to hold captured pieces. These attachements are important, because in Shogi, a captured piece can "change allegiance" and be put to use by the capturing player.



This is also the typical arrangement of the Shogi board, as well. The pieces used in the board are as follows: you have a king, a bishop, a rook, two gold generals, two silver generals, two knights, two lancers, and nine pawns (these names have been adapted to fit the International Chess equivalents). The symbols on the front are kanji, and on the back of certain pieces, is a separate kanji written in red to for when the piece gets "promoted" (more on this later). When arranging the pieces, you arrange them depending on what part of the table you are sitting; you either arrange them in the "Ohashi" (front) or "Ito" (back) arrangement.

It basically boils down to, in the back row, is the king, flanked by his gold generals, who are flanked by the silver generals, flanked by the knights, who are flanked by the lancers. In the second row are the bishop and rook (each placed ahead of the knights); the third row is, of course, the pawns. 

To determine who plays first, the player will grab five pawns and toss them in the air (known as furigoma or, "piece toss"). If the tossing player ends up tossing more promoted pawns (the red side of their piece) than unpromoted pawns (the black side of their piece), then they will go first. In subsequent games, players will alternate who plays first. 

The goal of the game, like chess, is to capture or "checkmate" the opposing king, meaning that you have denied him any possible means of escape with your pieces. Also like chess, each piece has a distinct ability to where it can travel on the board. I won't bore you by describing each and every pieces movement abilities, but just know that they are, mostly similar to chess; the "wild card" pieces tend to the the gold and silver generals, who seem to advance in any direction except for their rear diagonal or sides (respectively). 

Another wrinkle is the idea of "promotion." If you can move a promoteable piece to the enemy's last three rows, then they immediately upgrade, which allows their movement options to open up. At that point, you would flip the piece over to show the red kanji symbol. For example, a pawn, lancer, knight, or silver general receive the same movement ability as the gold general (promotion of a pawn, lancer, and knight is required, but a silver general has the option to stay unpromoted). 

Another added wrinkle is the "drop" mechanic. Instead of moving a piece, the player can instead decide to "drop" a captured piece from the opponent onto their side instead. There are a few caveats: a piece can not be dropped into a position where there is no legal move for it, a pawn also can not be dropped into the same row as another "unpromoted" pawn, and finally you can't drop a piece into a checkmate position (though you can drop a pawn to put the opposing king in check). 

Overall, this seems to be a much more complex version of chess, and the skill ceiling seems incredibly high. I imagine the amount of strategy and variety of tactics, just through the sheer number and arrangement of possible moves, must be intense. 4D underwater backgammon indeed. 

Gameplay

The actual game itself, as mentioned before, is really spartan in its design. The game allows for novice play, all the way up to master. The game seems to want to teach you about this game through experience, so it encourages you to jump in and test yourself against the computer. The master, or "Morita" mode is obviously the highest level you can attain.

Music

The music is surprisingly not too shabby, if you enjoy SNES replicated Japanese instruments and style.

Final Verdict

Well unless you like to try a "World Cultures" seminar in board and brain games, I would recommend skipping this one. It is a neat curio, and I am excited to pick up and play the game itself with my normal chess buddy.