Tenchi Muyo! Rensa Hitsuyou - Sega Saturn Strategy
Written by Magnus Andersson, in August 2002
E-mail: rubens.barrichello@swipnet.se
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/8867
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Contents:

I. About this strategy
II. General game rules
III. Game characters and their special moves
IV. Game Modes
V. Hints and secrets

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I. About this strategy
----------------------

This document is an unofficial guide through Tenchi Muyo!
Rensa Hitsuyou, for the Sega Saturn system. This guide includes
the game rules, game characters, game modes and some hints and
secrets. I just speak a tiny bit of Japanese so some things
mentioned in this guide may also be written in the game manual.
Everything in this guide has been written through trial and error.
English is not my homelanguage, so I apologize about grammar
and spelling mistakes.

You may spread and copy this guide in any way you like, and
you may also upload it anywhere on Internet without my
permission. But you are not allowed to make any changes to
the guide, and you may not sell it for own profit.

This great puzzle game was only released in Japan, so if
you want to have a copy of this game, you have to import
it (I suggest you to get it over www.ebay.com, thats where
I got my copy). Just be careful so that you don't import
the wrong Tenchi Muyo game, since there are several games
for the Saturn available (I have played the most of the
others, and IMHO they are not all that great, since this is
the only game you really can "play" through. It is a bit
hard to explain, but if you check out the other games,
you'll understand what I mean.

A great *thank you* goes to my girlfriend, Maringa Mikic,
who lead me into the Tenchi Muyo universe. :)


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II. General game rules
----------------------

As written above, Tenchi Muyo! Rensa Hitsuyou is a puzzle game.
It is very much a combination of Tetris and the Puyo Puyo games,
and it is very easy to get into the game without any
closer instructions. But anyways, here are all the game rules...

In your chamber, you are supposed to puzzle blocks (that are
falling in traditional Tetris/Puyo Puyo style), and match
several blocks (3 or more) of the same kind to make them
vanish. The cobination may the straight, diagonal, or any
other line up, just as long as 3 blocks or more are
combinated together. You are puzzling against an
opponent (the computer or 2P mode), and the goal is, needless
to say, to make the opponent losing by having his/her
chamber completely filled with blocks, as in Tetris and
Puyo Puyo.

Your chamber is in fact a water chamber, and when a round
begin, the chamber contains no water. But, the water level
may raise during the game, which usually causes a lot of
trouble. If the water level increases, blocks that are laid
over the surface will float, and will not fall down as
far as possible as during normal circumstances without water
(this will prevent the blocks to react with the blocks in
the water). Another "bad" thing with the water is, that
the blocks in the water can't react with the blocks above
the surface, even if they are grouped together. If there
would be three blocks matched together under the surface,
they will not react, and if one or two blocks is under
the surface, and and one or two is over the surface
(so that they match together), they will still not go
away. All blocks have to be over the surface in order
to dissapear.

Now you may wonder, what is controlling the water level,
and how you drain the water from your chamber. First of all,
if a block which is located below another block with another
colour will vanish, the other block falls down, which could
lead into chain-reactions, which leads into a pleasant
score bonus, and the water level will raise a bit in
the opponent's chamber, as a reward. The more chain
reactions you get, the more water into the opponent's
chamber. The water level may also raise a bit if you
match four blocks of a same kind together, or if you
simply puzzle faster than your opponent and get rid of
blocks faster than your opponent.

The blocks are falling in pairs, two and two, and they
are falling in colours green, yellow, blue and red.
There are also another three kinds of blocks falling
from time to time. These are hearts, anchors, and
Ryo-Ohki blocks (blocks that look similar to Ryo-Ohki,
the ultra-cute cabbit (cat-rabbit)). If you match three
or more hearts in your chamber, some of the water in your
chamber will be drained. If you have no water in your
chamber, then nothing in praticular will happen. But if
there is no water, and you get a three heart reaction, AND
that your opponent just a second later get a chain attack
or do something to make the water raise in your chamber,
you will be slightly protected against this water attack
(the water will fill your chamber, but may be drained
again at the same time). If you have plenty of blocks
under the surface in your chamber, and you drain the
water, you may get plenty of chain-reactions if you are
lucky, that could put your opponent into an awful lot
of trouble. :) But of course the same thing could
happen to you, when the opponent drains the water
(and this happens often, so be careful).

The anchors are working as normal colours, and will
vanish as usual when they are group three or more, but
they also have another function. If there is water in
your chamber, and you place an anchor on the surface,
if will fall down to the bottom, through the water
even so. And if there are blocks floating on the water,
and an anchor is placed above them, they will all be
pushed down into the water.

Ryo-Ohki blocks are another kinds of blocks, that also
work like standard clolours, but the too have a
special function, like the hearts and anchors. When
you place three or more Ryo-Ohki blocks together,
you will get a "Ryo-Ohki point" (I don't know if this
is the proper name of it, but I call it like that, to make it
easy to understand), which will be visible next to the
chamber (a Ryo-Ohki block will appear next to the chamber).
When you have gotten three Ryo-Ohki points, your character
will make a special move (draining water from your chamber,
raising water in the opponents chamber drastically, or
something else, this will be described just below).

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III. Game characters and their special moves
-------------------------------------------

All characters in the game have their special moves,
and some of the characters may be more useful than
others. But generally they are all useful in their
own way, so it is very much a matter of taste about
which player to chose. I take for granted that you
know who is who, but in case you don't know, send
me a mail, and I'll explain further). When you have
beaten the character's main rival, there will be a
small cutscene.

Ayeka - A princess from the planet Jurai, who loves
Tenchi dearly (Tenchi has no particular role in this
game, he is more or less a side character in cut-scenes
and stuff). Her special move is that she will be
protected against some of the opponents chain-reactions
(She is the only character where the special move
doesn't take place right away, when she has gotten
three Ryo-Ohki points). Her main rival in the game is
Ryoko. Well, you didn't expect anything else, did you? :)

Ryoko - A space pirate, who also loves Tenchi, and who wouldn't
mind to get a bit naughty with him from time to time... ;; She
is often quarreling with Ayeka about Tenchi, who is her main
rival in the game. Her special attack is that she fills the
opponent's character with penty of water (she is really a
fighter. She has a hard attack, but has no defense at all).

Kiyone - Officer of the Galaxy Police, and has Mihoshi as her
hopeless and brain-dead partner (who also is her main rival).
Her special move is that she fills the opponent's chamber
with some water (not as much as Ryoko though). She also
removes all Ryo-Ohki blocks from the opponents chamber. This
is usually a bad thing, since the Ryo-Ohki points are
important, but when they vanish, there may also be
chain-reactions.

Mihoshi - Another officer of the Galaxy Police. A hopeless
and brain-dead whiner with an annoying baby-voice. She is
very fond of sweets and her main rival is Kiyone.
Mihoshi's special move is that she locks up the opponent's
blocks for a while, so that he/she can't turn the blocks
around as they are falling. The opponent can not increase
the falling speed either. 

Washu - The top scientific genious of the universe! And it
appears that she the main reason behind this game somehow.
She wouldn't mind dressing up as a nurse for Tenchi's sake
(don't ask...!). Her special move is that she drains some
water from her own chamber and fills the opponent's chamber
with some water. Her main rival is Sasami and Ryo-Ohki
(teamed up).

Ryo-Ohki (separate player) - Only available in the vs mode.
She is a cabbit (combination of cat-rabbit). She is Ryokos
pet, and she has the ability to transform herself into
a spaceship. This ultra-cute cabbit *loves* carrots, and
is a very close friend to Sasami. She is only available in
the vs mode, where there are no main rivals.

Sasami and Ryo-Oki (teamed up) - Sasami is Ayeka's younger
sister, she is a princess from Jurai as well. She too has
some deep feelings for Tenchi though she isn't expressing
them in the same way as Ayeka and Ryoko (she wouldn't
hesitate to throw a bottle at Tenchi if she saw him
drooling over Ayeka in a swimming-suit...). Her
special move is that she drains *ALL* water from her
own chamber. Sometimes some water is also added to the
opponent. (She is my favourite character to play).

Grandfather Masaki, Yosho (secret player) - He is Tenchi's
grandfather and sensei. He is extremely dangerous:
He fills the opponent's chamber with some water and
*removes* your eventual Ryo-Ohki points!

Lady Achika (secret player) - Tenchi's mother and
Grandfather Yosho's daughter, who actually died
10-15 years earlier. You may believe that she is a
quiet nice lady. Think again, because she really is an
evil woman. She fills your chamber with water to an
insane level...

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IV. Game Modes
--------------

When you play the game for the first time on your Saturn,
after pressing START on the title screen, you will reach
a Game Mode select screen (completely in Japanese). There
are five modes to chose from (I just made th names up,
they made be different in Japanese):

Standard one-player mode - In this game mode you puzzle
against all characters excpet for Ryo-Ohki and Lady
Achika. There will be an ending sequence when all
opponents are beaten, and the endings and cutscenes
will be different for each character.

Single match - Here you play a single round against
the computer. You set the difficulty level, and also
a default water level for you and your opponent.
A rather boring mode, IMHO.

VS modes - Here you challenge all characters in the
game, but you can't challenge Grandfather Yosho,
if you haven't completed the standard one-player mode.
There are two VS modes, easy and hard. In the first
mode, all water is drained in both chambers, but on
the hard mode, your chamber is already half-filled
with water by default, which gives the computer a huge
advantage. You select which character you want to play,
and what opponent to challenge. When you have beaten
a specific opponent, a carrot will appear next to
him/her, which indicates that you have already beaten
him/her. When all opponents have been beaten on the
easy mode, there will be a tiny cutscene (you must have
beaten Grandfather Yosho to see this, which also
requires that you have beaten the standard
one-player mode). When all opponents are beaten
on the hard mode, Lady Achika appears and you will
challenge her. When she is beaten (she is insanely
hard to beat), there will be a special ending with a
goofy soundtrack, and plenty of scenes from
the game). Lady Achika will now be available
in the VS mode.

2P Vs - Plain and simple. :)

Character Gallery - You can read here about the
characters and listen to soundclips. All characters
are available (Tenchi included), except for Yosho
and Lady Achika. They will have access to them when
they have been defeated.

Secret mode - This option appears when you have
completed the game on the standard one player-mode.
Some funny picture/sound stuff to look at (this is
not a game mode). There are four things to watch in
this section, and a fifth will be unlocked when you
have beaten Lady Achika.

--------------------
V. Hints and secrets
--------------------

NOTE: Some things may already have been written above.
I am aware of this, but I wanted to group all hints
and secrets together.

Unlimited Continues - When the continue countdown is
going on, press A-button to continue where you failed.
If you press the START button, the game will start
all over. If you use this continue option, you can not
change character.

Secret mode - The last option with some funny stuff.
It will be unlocked when the game has been
completed on the standard one player-mode.

Grandfather Yosho (Secret player) - He will be unlocked in
the VS mode when the game has been completed on the
standard one player-mode. He will also be unlocked in
the Character Gallery. 

Lady Achika (Secret Player) - She will be unlocked in the
VS mode, when the game has been completed on the hard
VS mode. Note that you must have completed the standard
one player-mode before you do this. She will also be
unlocked in the Character Gallery, and she will
also unlock a fifth option in the secret mode.

HINTS:

When you are puzzling, be sure to place the Ryo-Ohki
blocks and the hearts as high as possible in the
chamber, in case the water level would raise in
your chamber. It is extremely important to get rid
of these blocks.

When you or your opponent gets a chain-reaction, there will
be some sort of animation. Don't let it distract you too
much, that could lead into a disaster... ;; There are up
to five different animations for the chain-reactions.
If you or the opponent makes a 6 chain reaction, or even
higher, there won't be any further animations. There will
also be an animation when the player makes the special move.

Don't let your guard down even for a split-second. The game
is not over before the game *really* is over, and things
could change much faster than you think. Even if your
opponent's chamber is almost completely filled with water
and blocks, keep puzzling as fast as you can, because
your opponent could very well get a chain-reaction
or three hearts combinated, and if he/she does, you
could get into a lot of trouble. Relax when your
opponent is beaten instead. :)

If there is water in your chamber, it is a good idea to
try to push down some blocks under the water with help
of anchors, if you are short of space. If you manage
to push down three blocks of the same kind together
under the surface, and if you manage to drain the
water, you will get a pleasant chain-reaction. :)

-----------------------------------------

I hope that this guide has been able to
help you a little bit.
Other walkthroughs/strategies I have written are:

(Sega Saturn)
* Guardian Heroes
* Mystaria - The Realms of Lore
* Shining Wisdom
* Sea Bass Fishing 1
* Sea Bass Fishing 2
* Tenchi Muyo! Rensa Hitsuyou
* Tenchi Muyo! Ryoukouki Gokuraku


(Sega Dreamcast)
* Who wants to be a millionaire?

(Sega Arcade)
* Emergency Call Ambulance

(Sega Mega CD)
* Prince of Persia

(Sega Game Gear)
* Tails Adventure

If you are interested in reading any of these,
just e-mail me. :) Or if there is anything that
isn't clear enough, send an e-mail, and I´ll help
you out. :)

Good luck with Tenchi Muyo! Rensa Hitsuyou, and many
thanks for reading this guide. :)

Maringa, I love you! Suki desu! :)

Magnus Andersson
rubens.barrichello@swipnet.se
August 2002