Sentoki: The Strongest Warrior

Sentoki: The Strongest Warrior (戦闘機; fighter), known in Japan as Sentoki ~Global Martial Arts~ is a 3D fighting game developed and published by ACS. Released in 1997 for Arcades (ACS TGX2 Modeller System) and the PlayStation as an exclusive title. It is ACS' second 3D fighting game following the 1996 3D weapons-based fighting game Legendary Blades.

Gameplay
The game uses a clear-cut 4-button system, with each button corresponding to Punch, Kick, Guard and Hold, respectively. Punch, Kick and Guard, as their names indicate, allow the player to perform punches, kicks and block the opponent's attacks, respectively. Meanwhile, the Hold button acts as both a reversal button and a throw button, allowing the player to perform various grabs and throws.

The core gameplay of Sentoki is mostly similar to other 3D fighting games like Tekken and Dead or Alive, with a huge emphasis on juggling and various strings of punches and kicks. The game allows movement in the third axis, with characters being able to sidestep with a quick tap of the up or down buttons. Jumping is available, but kept to a minimum.

By tapping the Hold button slightly before the opponent's attack hits, the player can reverse the opponent's incoming attack, causing damage to the opponent. Reversing attacks is an essential defensive technique in the game, with standing reversals being able to counter high and mid attacks, while a crouching reversal can counter low attacks.

Sentoki’s primary mechanic is the “Combo Wheel”, a combo system that allows players to chain together a long, damaging combo. Players can start off the combo wheel by performing a “starter” attack, after which they can chain together up to six hits using a set of preset attacks consisting of either P, K, →+P, →+K, ↓+P or ↓+K, culminating in a special "finisher" attack to end the combo. With each hit, the timing window gets tighter, making longer combos more difficult to execute.

Stages in the game are classified into two types: Open and Closed. Closed stages feature walls that can be broken after hitting the opponent to the wall numerous times to reveal the edges of the ring, while Open stages have no walls, leaving the ring's edges wide open. Pushing the opponent off the edges of the ring will allow for an Out of Ring victory.

Each character in the game has a total of three outfits, with two available from the start, while the third one can be unlocked by finishing Arcade mode with said character.

Story
For years, the worldwide conglomerate known as Orion Corporation, renowned for both their innovations in the world of technology, as well as their many dubious experiments, has been secretly conducting a bunch of experiments regarding "fight data" and has since collected data from fighters all around the world for use in their bio-weapons, leaving them for dead once they are finished with them.

At the center of the story is Shin Ikushima, the only son of Shiho Ikushima, a renowned master of Kyokushin karate during her prime. He grew up under the guidance of his mother, with his father having left Shiho right before he was born. Realizing his potential, Shiho decided to teach Shin the art of Kyokushin karate.

Shin used to live a peaceful life with his mother until one day, a group of Orion soldiers barged in their house and tried to abduct Shiho. However, Shiho fought the soldiers until she was taken down, and ultimately killed, by a shot to the head fired by one of the soldiers. He has since grew to despise Orion and began to train himself in order to exact his revenge.

Years later, Orion announced the first Sentoki: Global Martial Arts tournament, where various martial artists gather around to prove who is the strongest of them all. Shin decides to join the tournament in order to destroy Orion.

However, what Shin did not realize is that the tournament was was actually a ruse for Orion to collect more fight data in order to unleash their ultimate weapon: Antares.

Characters

 * Shin Ikushima

Birthplace: 🇯🇵 Japan

Fighting Style: Karate

Voice Actor: Tomokazu Seki

Shin Ikushima is a martial artist hailing from Okinawa, Japan. One day, Shin witnessed the death of his mother Shiho in the hands of Orion's soldiers, and has since swore to avenge her death, putting himself through rigorus training in order to achieve strength. Upon finding out about the Sentoki tournament, Shin decides to enter it in order to seek vengeance.


 * Ralph Rollins

Birthplace: 🇺🇸 USA

Fighting Style: Martial Arts

Voice Actor: Ryo Horikawa

Ralph Rollins is a street fighter who comes from the Bronx, New York. A notorious face in the underground circuit, Ralph went undefeated in every match he fought in up until his encounter with Shin, where he suffered his first loss. After finding out that Shin was entering the Sentoki tournament, Ralph decides to enter as well for a rematch.


 * Huang Long

Birthplace: 🇭🇰 Hong Kong

Fighting Style: Jeet Kune Do

Voice Actor: Nobutoshi Hayashi

Huang Long is a martial artist and action star hailing from Hong Kong. One of the most popular action stars of today, Long has starred in many smash-hit action movies, but despite this, he still feels that his style is far from perfect. As he caught wind of the Sentoki tournament, Long decides to enter the tournament in order to perfect his style.


 * Joanna Spencer

Birthplace: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales

Fighting Style: Kuk Sool Won

Voice Actress: Rica Fukami

Joanna Spencer is an assassin who was born in Cardiff, Wales. Noted for her bone-breaking kuk sool won style, Joanna is part of a secretive organization of assassins, which conducts killings upon payment of a large sum of money. After being paid by a business rival, Joanna enters the Sentoki tournament in order to assassinate the CEO of Orion Corporation.


 * Bru Bronson

Birthplace: 🇬🇧 England

Fighting Style: Pro Wrestling

Voice Actor: Daisuke Gori

Brutus "Bru" Bronson is a professional wrestler billed from London, England. Also known amongst his fans as "Big Bru", Bru dedicated his life to wrestling, winning championships and entertaining his fans, especially kids, who see him as their hero. With the support of his many fans worldwide, Bru decides to join the Sentoki tournament for the pride of England.


 * Kagero

Birthplace: 🇯🇵 Japan

Fighting Style: Ninjutsu

Voice Actor: Kaneto Shiozawa

Kagero is a ninja who is attached to the mysterious Yatagarasu clan. Trained as a ninja ever since childhood, Kagero mastered the Yatagarasu's ninjustu technique at a young age, and eventually grew up to become one of their top shinobi. After recieving orders from the head of his clan, Kagero infiltrates the Sentoki tournament to gather intel about Orion.


 * Liang Meifen

Birthplace: 🇨🇳 China

Fighting Style: Baguazhang

Voice Actress: Michie Tomizawa

Liang Meifen is a martial artist from China. A master of baguazhang, Meifen and her father used to run a dojo up until her father was diagnosed with bronchitis, which eventually took his life, but not before telling Meifen to rebuild their dojo. Wanting to fulfill her father's dying wish, Meifen decides to enter the Sentoki tournament in order to restore her family dojo.


 * Ruslanovich

Birthplace: 🇷🇺 Russia

Fighting Style: Command Sambo

Voice Actors: Fumihiko Tachiki

Nikolai Ruslanovich is a mercenary from Russia. Originally serving for the military, Ruslanovich found his love of destruction in the battlefield, tearing through enemies one by one without a care about his allies. Growing tired of the same warzones, Ruslanovich enters the Sentoki tournament for the thrill of a new battlefield.


 * Sonchai Damrongsak

Birthplace: 🇹🇭 Thailand

Fighting Style: Muay Thai

Voice Actor: Mitsuaki Madono

Sonchai Damrongsak is a muay thai fighter from Thailand. While training in a forest one day, Sonchai came across a young elephant who was injured by hunters and took care of it, naming it Kham, and visiting it everyday, until one day, he realized that Kham was missing. Upon finding out that Kham was smuggled to Japan by Orion, Sonchai enters the Sentoki tournament in order to rescue Kham.


 * Chen Su

Birthplace: 🇨🇳 China

Fighting Style: Drunken Fist

Voice Actor: Takeshi Aono

Chen Su is a chef and semi-retired kung-fu teacher from China. After his dojo closed down, Chen decided to start a noodle shop business, but things aren't going well for him as he had failed to pay rent for the place after a period of losing customers. As his debts grow larger and larger, Chen decides to enter the tournament in order to pay the rent for his noodle shop.


 * Antares

Birthplace: Unknown

Fighting Style: Composite

Voice Actor: None

Antares is a bio-weapon created by Orion. Antares was once a geneticist working for Orion who grew horrified by the company's activities and attempted to escape, but was then captured and forcibly turned into a test subject for their fight data experiments. With all of Orion's fight data implanted within its mind, Antares was set to be unveiled to the world come the finals of the Sentoki tournament.

Stages

 * Plains - Open
 * Street - Closed
 * Temple - Open
 * Rooftop - Closed
 * Arena - Closed
 * Forest - Open
 * Raft - Open
 * Desert - Closed
 * Island - Open
 * Truck - Closed
 * Unknown - Closed

Game Modes

 * Arcade
 * Versus
 * Tournament
 * Survival
 * Practice
 * Options

Sequel
A sequel to the game, Sentoki 2, was released in 2000 for Arcades (NOVA System) and the PlayStation 2. It featured new characters as well as new gameplay mechanics and stages.

Trivia

 * The arcade release's intro is rendered using the in-game graphics, and includes glimpses of several “katas”, which feature the characters performing various martial arts exhibition routines. This was cut from the PlayStation port in order to make way for a pre-rendered cinematic intro instead.
 * The North American PlayStation release of Sentoki features English voices for Ralph, Joanna, Bru and Ruslanovich, provided by uncredited voice actors. However, the Japanese and European PlayStation releases retain all of the original Japanese voices.
 * This game marks Liang Meifen’s one and only playable appearance in the Sentoki series until her return in Sentoki 4: Unleashed, as she would be replaced by her daughter Meilin in the sequel for story reasons.
 * Alongside Blazin' Wheels III, Sentoki was the second game released for ACS’ TGX2 Modeller arcade board, an upgraded version of their previous TGX Modeller arcade board. Both system boards based on heavily-modified PlayStation hardware.
 * Notably, some of the earliest preview screenshots of Sentoki showcased a top-heavy Native American fighter named "Bullhawk". According to the developers, Bullhawk would end up being replaced by Ruslanovich in the final release.
 * Interestingly, several unused data for "Bullhawk" exists in the final version. By using MAME cheats, one can play as "Bullhawk", complete with an early character model as well as portraits. However, he does not have a moveset of his own, instead using Ralph’s.