[As practice, I've decided to try my hand out at making character specific pages for Sakura Taisen. Unfortunately, I'm too lazy to do everything completely, so I'll just put up the links here instead of making a dedicated ST section. Click on the character pictures to go to their respective pages ^_^]

One of the most popular games for the Sega Saturn gets a face lift for its Dreamcast release. This two-disc game comes with an extra omake disc which contains trailers and previews for other Sakura Taisen games (ST2, ST3, Hanagumi Columns, Oogami Ichiro Funtouki). No playable versions for them, though (with the exception of the ST1 game this disc came with, of course ^_^).

The game occurs within a different take of the 1920s era. Demons are rampant in this world. The last Demon War had just ended and humanity is only beginning to recover from the devastation. The steam engine is the pinnacle of technology here, and the capital of Tokyo is experiencing a renaissance of sorts. The city is bustling with life.

Unfortunately, things being what they are, evil is making a gradual comeback. Demons are beginning to reappear all over the place. Knowing that it is vital to nip this evil in the bud, the Teikoku Kagekidan is formed to spearhead the human resistance.

Enter Ensign Oogami Ichiro (the player). Fresh from the Imperial Naval Academy, Oogami is assigned to take command of the special Hanagumi troops. His arrival into the Teikoku Kagekidan is very low key and the people there don't even seem like the soldier types at all. In fact, his headquarters is situated in a huge, new theatre hall right in the middle of the city. Needless to say, the eager young man is devastated to find that his assignment isn't going to be as glamorously exciting as he first thought.

However, since we wouldn't have much of a game if this were true...

Oogami discovers soon enough that the Teikoku Kagekidan is only using the theatre as a front for all their operations -- perhaps they reason that the best place to remain hidden is in plain view. (In fact, 'Teikoku Kagekidan' itself is a play on words. Written in a certain way, it reads as the 'Imperial Assault Team'. Change the kanji a little, and you get the 'Imperial Theatre Group'.) Under his command, and with the new koubu spirit armour machines, the Hanagumi present a formidable challenge to the evil forces who seek to disrupt the peaceful lives of everyone in the capital.

The whole game is presented in ten chapters, and basic gameplay can easily be divided into two parts: the story/episode setup, and battle. In the former, the player has the chance to move Oogami around the Teigeki hall and interact with the other characters. This interaction basically fleshes out the different people who work along with Oogami, as well as setting up the plot for each respective episode. Many times, when speaking with the Hanagumi members, Oogami is given some multiple choice replies. Choosing the correct response from the list can effect his relationship with a particular girl.

For instance, if the girl's portrait is shown on screen, an icon is given where Oogami can either get a general look at her, initiate a conversation, or -- if the player is feeling particularly cheeky -- stare at her chest :) Prudes don't have to worry, though; there's nothing too hentai-ish about this game. Believe me, the girls will often let you know when you're doing something that they don't like.

Interrelationships within the team play a pretty important role here. What you have Oogami do with the girls will affect their opinion of him. Saying the right things, helping them with their tasks and so on will make them very happy, and they'll respond better to your commands. On the flipside, though, tick them off enough and you'll find that they're not all that motivated to help you out. Girls who are placed highly on Oogami's affection list perform significantly better in battle, so it's a worthwhile endeavour to create good working conditions for everyone (unless, of course, you want to play through as the utter bastard ^_^).

The battle scenarios in Sakura Taisen are very reminiscent to the likes of Vandal Hearts, but wihout the joyous level-ups that the latter game posesses. Pity, that :) Each unit awaits its turn (the Hanagumi team will always have the initiative). Action commands are the usual: Move, Attack, Defense, Misc, End, and (only in Oogami's case) Protect.

Move and End are self-explanatory. The Attack option has a couple more choices: regular attacks and specials (which use up spirit powers). The Attack options expand if Oogami is very much liked by a certain girl. Standing next to that girl in the battlefield will give the player a chance at invoking a super special attack. Defense gives the unit the chance to either heal itself, go into a guard position, or regenerate spirit powers. Misc enables you to call up the mission objectives, peruse a tactical map of the area, or just chack up on a unit's stats.

For Oogami, the Protect option is important. He has the opportunity to protect any member of his team up to eight times in one battle. Wise players can use this tactic to make sure that any vital units are not lost in a fight. Protecting someone will also cause that girl's opinion of Oogami to go up, so the player can also do this to bring up their affection points for her.

Yes, the girls' affection for Oogami does influence the kind of ending the player will get. Well, the actual game ending itself is pretty much unchangeable, but what you can get is a choice of six different ending cutscenes, depending on who's at the top of Oogami's list o' love.

Sakura Taisen tries hard to tempt the player back again and again to this game by giving some nice, miscellaneous stuff: allowing access to viewing a library of anime and CG cutscenes outside of the game, listening to the jukebox of musical pieces gained from playing through... and mini-games.

Each girl has her own mini-game that Oogami can participate in. Some types of games are typical, like Kohran's Hanafuda card game, while others can be... a little odd. Sumire's mine-filled swimming pool mini-game, for example. Getting top scores for each game will garner the player some prizes, usually in the form of new pictures (or bromides) of the girls. The mini-games are pretty fun and can be an interesting way to pass the time.

Of course, all this interacting, fighting and romancing doesn't amount to much if the story itself isn't good. This is where some opinions will differ. If the idea of playing the only guy among a team of girls, and defending the capital Tokyo by piloting big robots against demonic forces in an alternate 1920s appeals to you, then you'll love this.

There's no denying that some parts of the game have a 'been there, done that' kind of feel to it. There're a lot of things in here that are reminiscent of other games and some anime -- especially the one guy surrounded by girls type of scenario (damned Tenchi) -- but what makes Sakura Taisen a worthwhile experience is that the pace of storytelling and its overall presentation are expertly done. The pictures on the screen are relatively simple compared to the graphical wonders you can get from most games nowadays, but they are just so pleasing to the eyes that you won't even waste precious energy worrying about it.

All the characters here are likeable in their own ways. Most of the focus will, of course, be on the Hanagumi girls and rightly so! They're some of the best darned cast of imaginary people I've ever been introduced to. The naive, clumsy yet winsome girl in pink, Sakura; volatile and arrogant aristocrat, Sumire; Maria, the brooding and mysterious gun-wielding Russian; the sweet and insanely powerful child, Iris of France; Kohran, Chinese inventor and (accidental) demolitions expert extraordinaire; and finally, the good-natured and towering martial artist, Kanna. To be honest, each girl is an archetypical character at the basic level, but with the deft handling and writing, you'll be too busy being charmed by them to notice the stereotypes.

I was surprised to find myself actually liking Oogami, as well. I usually have little tolerance for characters that seem to exist only to fulfil the role of 'general love interest'. However, Oogami is carried off well, and I have no real complaints about him from here, so I'd guess that this is a good thing :)

The whole merry group is nicely rounded off with the inclusion of characters like the sake-guzzling Colonel Yoneda and all-round classy lady, Ayame (the Hanagumi's command staff), and the three members of the Kazegumi (otherwise known as the 'daughters of the Teigeki'), Kasumi, Yuri and Tsubaki.

Since the Hanagumi are all working under the cover of a theatre troupe, they're naturally expected to be able to perform on stage. While I do regret that there are no complete plays that're shown in the game, I can at least console myself with the fact that we do get a couple of great songs here. The opening theme to Sakura Taisen is excellent! It's the type of song that can put its listener into the appropriate Evil-Smiting mood.

Not surprisingly, the developers know just how good the music is, so there're plenty of Sakura Taisen music CDs in the market. Have fun getting 'em all. They'll wear down a hole in your wallets worse than Pokemon :)

The voice actors and actresses here are wonderful. They manage to infuse their characters with life and emotion. Even if most of the conversation went over my head, it was still a treat to listen to them. (I enjoyed listening to Takano Urara, though it was a bit of a turn to see her in a role so completely different from the sexadoll, Edge, of Saber Marionette R...)

Anyone who's ever even glanced at some parts of my page can easily see that I'm a fan of the Sakura Taisen anime. So, my opinion of Sakura Taisen 1 itself is likely to be skewed in favour of the game. Heh, I won't bother protesting my innocence. I'll even be the first person to say that I'm not unbiased in this regard :) Hopefully, my obvious favouritism doesn't turn anyone off from trying this game out.

More information on Sakura Taisen can be found at the following sites :
    - Ming's Sakura Wars page
    - Lando's ST Encyclopedia