Chakan: The Forever Man
Encyclopedia
Chakan: The Forever Man is a Sega Mega Drive
, Genesis video game published by Sega of America June 8, 1992. The game featured an uncommonly dark premise for the time of its release, which saw the home console market flooded with licensed (often from children's cartoons) platformers.
It is based upon a comic book
by Robert A. Kraus and was produced by Ed Annunziata
, who met Chakan's creator at a convention and was impressed.
. If Chakan could defeat him, he'd be granted eternal life. However, if Chakan was defeated, he'd become Death's eternal servant. The battle raged on for several days and the ultimate victor was very clear. Because he defeated Death eventually, he was granted his "reward":
Chakan will live forever until he destroys the four supernatural evils: Spider-Queen, Mantis, Elkenrod, and Dragonfly King.
No matter if Chakan slays them all, at the end of the game Death tells Chakan that when he said slay all evils, he meant all evil in the universe. Chakan cannot get off his own planet, essentially making his curse incurable.
-based stages of Earth
, Air, Fire
, and Water
. The player advances through that stage until completion, whereupon Chakan is returned to the hub to choose a new stage, either the same or a different stage. Levels within an element must be completed in order, but that is the only restriction
on the order the player may do levels. At the bottom of the screen, an hourglass
indicates how much time the player has to complete the level. If time runs out, the player is returned to the hub. If killed, Chakan is returned to the hub. Chakan starts out with his characteristic twin swords, but acquires four new weapons in the first stage of each element, which have many uses.
Upon defeating the three stages of each elemental plane and the enemy bosses for each plane, he clears the "terrestrial plane" and embarks upon a quest to defeat four "elemental planes of evil," each consisting of another three stages and a boss each for fire, earth, wind and water. These levels are considerably harder than the initial four sets of planes, levels that are extremely challenging in their own right. The later levels feature far greater incidence of traps and enemies that cause instant death or level restart.
Upon defeating this second set of levels, Chakan is treated to an ending in which his curse is not lifted. After the credits roll for some time, he is allowed to fight an extremely difficult enemy boss (consisting of an H.R. Giger looking creature on a throne carried by what appear to be dwarfs
). The player only gets one try. If the player succeeds at this task, they receive the "real ending" which consists of the hourglass background used in the plot exposition screens but without any text. After a wait of fifteen minutes, a single line of text appears saying "Not the end" and the screen fades out, returning to the title screen.
A sequel was planned and developed somewhat by Ed Annunziata's studio AndNow, but no new information about the project has been released since 2001. It was planned to be released for as many current platforms as possible, according to Ed Annunziata himself in an interview with SegaFans during May 2001.
Much of the work on the Chakan sequel was later absorbed into the 2002 game Blood Omen 2, as discovered by fans of the series. http://www.thelostworlds.net/BO2/Chakan_and_Sirens.html
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
, Genesis video game published by Sega of America June 8, 1992. The game featured an uncommonly dark premise for the time of its release, which saw the home console market flooded with licensed (often from children's cartoons) platformers.
It is based upon a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
by Robert A. Kraus and was produced by Ed Annunziata
Ed Annunziata
Ed Annunziata, also known as E. Ettore Annunziata, is President and CCO of Playchemy, Inc. Developer of games on the iOS platform for the iPad. Founded in September 2011 with co-founder Dave Dohrmann, CEO of Playchemy, Inc. Playchemy is the art, science and magic of games. The companies goal is...
, who met Chakan's creator at a convention and was impressed.
Plot
The game follows the tale of Chakan, a warrior who was so confident in his martial abilities that he declared even Death couldn't best him in battle. Of course, Death appeared and challenged Chakan with a propositionProposition bet
In gambling, the term "proposition bet" has two definitions.-Primary definition:...
. If Chakan could defeat him, he'd be granted eternal life. However, if Chakan was defeated, he'd become Death's eternal servant. The battle raged on for several days and the ultimate victor was very clear. Because he defeated Death eventually, he was granted his "reward":
Chakan will live forever until he destroys the four supernatural evils: Spider-Queen, Mantis, Elkenrod, and Dragonfly King.
No matter if Chakan slays them all, at the end of the game Death tells Chakan that when he said slay all evils, he meant all evil in the universe. Chakan cannot get off his own planet, essentially making his curse incurable.
Gameplay
The player, as Chakan, starts off in a central hub stage, from which he can select one of four elementalElemental
An elemental is a mythological being first appearing in the alchemical works of Paracelsus in the 16th century. Traditionally, there are four types:*gnomes, earth elementals*undines , water elementals*sylphs, air elementals...
-based stages of Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, Air, Fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
, and Water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
. The player advances through that stage until completion, whereupon Chakan is returned to the hub to choose a new stage, either the same or a different stage. Levels within an element must be completed in order, but that is the only restriction
Regulation
Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...
on the order the player may do levels. At the bottom of the screen, an hourglass
Hourglass
An hourglass measures the passage of a few minutes or an hour of time. It has two connected vertical glass bulbs allowing a regulated trickle of material from the top to the bottom. Once the top bulb is empty, it can be inverted to begin timing again. The name hourglass comes from historically...
indicates how much time the player has to complete the level. If time runs out, the player is returned to the hub. If killed, Chakan is returned to the hub. Chakan starts out with his characteristic twin swords, but acquires four new weapons in the first stage of each element, which have many uses.
Upon defeating the three stages of each elemental plane and the enemy bosses for each plane, he clears the "terrestrial plane" and embarks upon a quest to defeat four "elemental planes of evil," each consisting of another three stages and a boss each for fire, earth, wind and water. These levels are considerably harder than the initial four sets of planes, levels that are extremely challenging in their own right. The later levels feature far greater incidence of traps and enemies that cause instant death or level restart.
Upon defeating this second set of levels, Chakan is treated to an ending in which his curse is not lifted. After the credits roll for some time, he is allowed to fight an extremely difficult enemy boss (consisting of an H.R. Giger looking creature on a throne carried by what appear to be dwarfs
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
). The player only gets one try. If the player succeeds at this task, they receive the "real ending" which consists of the hourglass background used in the plot exposition screens but without any text. After a wait of fifteen minutes, a single line of text appears saying "Not the end" and the screen fades out, returning to the title screen.
Reception
The game is well-known for its unusually high difficulty level, but still retains a dedicated, if small, fanbase.Related games
A Game Gear game by the same name was published by Sega. It features very similar gameplay, but different level layouts and other changes to accommodate the weaker hardware.A sequel was planned and developed somewhat by Ed Annunziata's studio AndNow, but no new information about the project has been released since 2001. It was planned to be released for as many current platforms as possible, according to Ed Annunziata himself in an interview with SegaFans during May 2001.
Much of the work on the Chakan sequel was later absorbed into the 2002 game Blood Omen 2, as discovered by fans of the series. http://www.thelostworlds.net/BO2/Chakan_and_Sirens.html
External links
- RAK Graphics' Chakan Site - Official website for the Chakan comic.
- SegaFans - Direct link to May 2001 interview with Ed Annunziata.