Night

Developed as the only game by a small studio called TG Entertainment at a time when sidescrolling beat-em-ups were considered dead and 2D games in general considered dying by the mainstream, and for DOS no less, Eojjeonji...Jeonyeok was never released outside of South Korea.

The saddest part about all this: In many respects, it may well be one of the best 2D beat-em-ups ever made. It beats about every one of its significantly more famous "competitors" in terms of variety, dynamics and complexity. Not quite so in balancing, but more about that later. Much more important to point out is the lack of a coop mode. This big design mistake is really the sole factor that denies the game its exclusive place on the genre throne. Sure, the game is story-heavy for a brawler, and the requirements of the license probably didn't allow the inclusion of a permanent companion in it, but was it really so hard to include a story-free mode as an extra? Quite tragic, just as much as the game's incredibly obscure status.

The music tunes are just great. The arrangements are quite typical for 90s synthie CD soundtracks, but most tracks do a very good job to get you hyped up for the action. The sound effects deliver their message, as well, though they are plagued by that genre-typical illness of becoming extremely repetitive over the course of the game.

Eojjeonji...Jeonyeok is the kind of game the expression "it's a shame" was made for. It's a shame that most of the gaming world didn't even hear of its existence, it's a shame that one of the potentially best beat 'em up games was refused a multiplayer mode, and it's a crying shame that its underwhelming commercial success should cause TG Entertainment to fold, leaving the developers to produce its successor under sub-optimal conditions. But more of that in the following chapter...