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Shinrei Jusatsushi Taromaru, also translated as "Psychic Killer Taromaru" or "Spiritual Assassin Taromaru", or any combination of those words, has a reputation for being one of the rarest and most sought after titles on the Saturn. It was one of the only game designed by Time Warner's Interactive Japanese branch, which closed right after it was published. It's rumored that there are only about 7,500 copies on the market.

This rarity, combined with the fact that it's kind of a good game, results in after market prices that run anywhere from $200 to $400, making it even more infamous than Radiant Silvergun or Panzer Dragoon Saga. However, while Radiant Silvergun may be ludicrously expensive, most shooter fans can at least agree that it's an outstanding game. On the other hand, Shinrei Jusatsushi Taromaru sits next to other expensive rarities like Kaze Kiri and Sapphire for the PC Engine - both decent enough titles, but burdened with excessive expectations due its absurdly high price tag.


Shinrei Jusatsushi Taromaru is a sidescrolling 2.5D action game featuring sprites for the main characters and polygons for the backgrounds, similar to Klonoa. You can play as one of two characters - the ninja Taroumaru and his buddy Enkai, who wears a huge straw hat and looks very similar to Sokazku Mochizuki from Fatal Fury. Other than some minor discrepancies with attack ranges, they're mostly indentical. The setting is vaguely similar to Sega's old Mystic Defender / Kujaku Ou series, in that you're fighting mythical bad guys in a medieval Japanese setting. It also tends to draw comparisons to classic Konami and Treasure games, mostly due to its level structure, featuring tightly designed set pieces and a ton of amazing boss encounters. The only real relation to Treasure is that one of the graphical designers was Hiroshi Iuchi, who worked on visuals in earlier titles like Gunstar Heroes, then later returned to Treasure to direct Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga.


Like other Treasure games, Shinrei Jusatsushi Taromaru uses an atypical combat system. As the title implies, both attack enemies with their psychic powers. Floating in front of them is a targeting cursor, which will automatically lock onto the closest enemy, so all you need to do is jam the fire button to attack them with streams of energy. This is somewhat handy, because it allows you to attack enemies above or below you without having to jump to their level. On the other hand, the targeting cursor is extremely finicky. It has limited range, and it's not always entirely clear when something is too far away to attack. Additionally, you don't have any real control over which enemy is targeted. Most of the time, the screen is cluttered with bad guys, and since you can only attack a single enemy at a time, it makes certain areas feel pretty overwhelming. Many bosses also have multiple body parts that can be targeted, requiring that you cycle through them with the shoulder buttons.

Samurai Warriors: State of War is a hand-held port of the Samurai Warriors series and a continuation of the Dynasty Warriors series. The player takes control of one of 19 legendary Japanese warriors from Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors Xtreme Legends, fighting in the Sengoku-era of feudal Japan, the most violent period in Japanese history in wide-open battlefields and massive castles filled with deadly traps.

There are many classic weapons to choose, from swords and crossbows to longbows and sickles Players can also use magical spells to destroy massive amounts of enemies and unlock more special abilities by finding hidden scrolls. There are also 230 individual officers to fight against and alongside, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, with the highest-rank officers being the strongest and harder to kill. There are 37 stages over 22 maps designed exclusively for the PSP.

There are also two modes that can be played wirelessly using the Ad-Hoc. One is called Vanguard, where the goal is to destroy five enemy captains to win or Bandit, where players kill their enemies to pick up their opponents gold to win.