Get ready for what is sure to be the year's most polarizing Nintendo Switch Online update. Just in time for spring, Nintendo will be adding a bunch of war-themed strategy games to their subscription service on March 28th. I'm talking about Nobunaga's Ambition, Lord of Darkness, New Horizons and Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire. That's a whole lot of Koei, but the question remains: Are any of these games worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Nintendo Power, GamePro, Fusion and more classic magazines to see what the critics said back when these games first came out. I sure hope you're planning three steps ahead, because this is going to be a very strategic episode of Nintendo Switch Online Review Crew!


When you hear the name Koei, the first thing you probably picture is an endlessly complicated screen representing some of Japan and China's greatest battles. And while that certainly made up a lot of their releases in the early days, there were a few that bucked that trend and looked West for story ideas. One of the most popular examples of this is Uncharted Waters, the 1990 role-playing game where 15th century explorers set sail for adventure in an attempt to create trade routes and discover unconquered lands far from home. Three years after dipping their toes in the Uncharted Waters, Koei released New Horizons, a sequel that takes us to the early part of the 16th century with a new cast of characters, including the son of Duke Leon Franco from the first game. Of the two, it's definitely easier to get into this sequel, but what did the critics say?

With no reviews from Electronic Gaming Monthly, we really are in Uncharted Waters for this episode. In that case, let's go ahead and start at the bottom of the scale and work our way up. The lowest score comes from Game Players, a magazine that had something of a love/hate relationship with Koei. Giving it a 35%, they argued that “the problem is that the game isn't much fun. The game's premise is set up automatically. When you set sail, an auto sail option does it for you. The dialogue between the characters is long and drawn out, and when it tries to be funny, it isn't. An RPG doesn't need good graphics to be a good game, but these graphics are atrocious. Don't stow away on this ship. Stay home and suck on a lime.”

For what it's worth, Game Players was the outlier here, with all of the other magazines giving the game much higher scores. The second-lowest mark came from Super Play, who gave it a far more acceptable 62%. Nintendo Power went a big higher, going with a 3.8 out of 5 and praising the “high seas adventure, riches and piracy – great theme!” They liked the “battery backed-up memory RPG and strategy gaming,” and called it “very deep (and we're not just talking about the ocean here).” However, they argued that “some dialogue sequences seem endless. Graphics leave something to be desired [and the] menu control is not always intuitive, making patience and the manual a must.”

There's a real battle when it comes to the highest score, with GamePro giving the role-playing game a strong score of 4 out of 5. However, it's the rebooted version of Electronic Games that went the highest, which makes sense, given that it was targeting a slightly older audience. Giving it a B+, John Wesley Hardin explained that “graphically, New Horizons doesn't break any new ground. Everything is serviceable, and in a game like this, graphics aren't the point anyway. The music gets tedious after a while and there's no way to turn it off, save turning the volume down. Apart from the sometimes opaque interface and a bit of repetitive dialog, New Horizons is a deep game that offers many hours of challenging gameplay. Cast off, landlubbers, and head for ... New Horizons.”

While it may be easier to get into New Horizons than some of Koei's other long-running games, that didn't make it less polarizing. With an overall average score of 68%, the reviews suggest that this won't be for everybody. I say give it a try, but keep in mind that these high seas are filled with nothing but long conversations.

At a time when video games were largely seen as kids' toys, Koei dared to target a much older audience. From the moment it hit store shelves, gamers could tell there was something different about Nobunaga's Ambition. It didn't over-simplify dense history by turning some of Japan's most iconic wars into simple platforming action games, but rather embraced the complexity and strategy, forcing players to think and plan and pay attention to a whole lot of numbers. This was a tough sell in an era where even Final Fantasy was a bridge too far for many gamers, but Koei didn't care, and they found an audience that liked this specific style of strategy game. Let's see where the critics landed.

Unfortunately, there aren't a whole lot of reviews for the Super NES version of Nobunaga's Ambition, or any version, for that matter. Because the game was so outside the norm, magazines had a bad habit of ignoring it, opting to cover games their audience would be more interested in. Because of this, I'm going to include Sega Power's review of the Genesis version, which they gave a low score of 34%. “The sad fact is that Koei made this game six years ago. It's wrinkled and looks in need of a pension and a good lie-down. If Nobunaga really had an ambition to be a cart lurking on a dusty shelf, he'd be more than happy with this. Nobunaga's Ambition is a tiresome strategy game which plays bad and looks even worse.”

Speaking of “power,” let's jump from Sega Power to Nintendo Power, who liked the game a bit more, giving it a 3.8 out of 5. That's not far off from our highest score, which comes from none other than GamePro magazine. Once again giving the game a 4 out of 5, they noted that “the graphics and sounds are in the Koei tradition: Sparse but sharp. However, Nobunaga's contains even less animation and fewer graphics than usual. The sounds are similarly lean, dominated by crystal clear but repetitive Asian-sounding music. Nobunaga's Ambition is another entertaining Koei recounting of Japanese history played by the numbers.”

That's right, it might look like crap, but at least it has that “Asian-sounding music.” Look, this is a game for a very specific type of player, and Sega Power wasn't wrong when they pointed out that it's long in the tooth. Maybe things will be different for the sequel.

Not even a full years after Nobunaga's Ambition hit Super NES, Lord of Darkness joined the battle. While that may be good news for fans hooked on the complicated strategy series, it's yet another reminder that video game magazines really ignored this entire franchise. In fact, things are even more dire this time around, because only two English-language magazines bothered to cover the game back in 1994, and they didn't exactly see eye-to-eye.

Let's start with Game Players, who, I might add, has a real love/hate relationship with Koei. They gave the game a 38%, stating the obvious: “Koei games are Koei games – you know when you buy one that you're in for strategy-filled gaming sessions. But Nobunaga's Revenge is incredibly frustrating because you can give only one command per turn, even though you may be invaded two or three times between commands. And before you can train your army, you must recruit men, sell grain to raise money to pay them, invest in farmland to grow grain ... you get the point. The only cool thing about Nobunaga's Revenge is that you get ninjas – sneaky little guys you can use to start rebellions, destroy dams or set fire to enemy buildings. Destructive, but still a lot of fun. And this game needs an invasion of fun.”

Now, I wouldn't go as far as to say that Nintendo Power loved Lord of Darkness, but they did go as high as a 3.3 out of 5, which is certainly better than 38%. They made the point that “Nobunaga games aren't for the impatient or action-minded player, but fans will enjoy the depth of this game.” That said, they did complain that that the “icons aren't always clear, but they are quite a bit better than in previous Nobunaga games.”

From a gameplay perspective, it may be easier to start with Lord of Darkness over the original Nobunaga's Ambition, but there aren't a lot of reviews recommending it. The truth is, you've likely already made up your mind based on the gameplay, so let's move onto something completely different. Well, a little different. Let's not oversell the next game.

While the critics may have largely ignored the Nobunaga franchise, the same cannot be said about Romance of the Three Kingdoms. With several installments under its wing, Koei really focused its attention on making Wall of Fire a more accessible experience that could draw in a whole new generation of players. They saw that gamers around the world were slowly warming up to the strategy genre, and with its lurid story and more compelling battles, Romance of the Three Kingdoms was poised to break through. This was not a game that you could just ignore. Wall of Fire was a Koei game that people were talking about. But does that mean that it's Koei's best Super NES game?

If we're going simply based on reviews, then the answer is a resounding “yes!” It is not just the best-reviewed of any of Koei's strategy games, but it also managed to drum up coverage in a lot of different magazines. We're going to once again start at the bottom, which sees Next Generation give the game a solid 3 out of 5. “This style of game deserves every devotee it has, but the form hasn't changed much since Nobunaga's Ambition 1. Aside from the tremendously gorgeous graphics and sound, the only real additions to this chapter just make the game even more complex – there are perhaps a dozen new command options, plus some 450 special officers for you to try to enlist, and they've added 24 skills in which each officer can become proficient. It's beautiful, it's deep and it's absorbing, but it's also just a lot more of the same thing.”

Next Generation's 3 out of 5 is in line with a lot of magazines at the time, including Nintendo Power, who gave it a 3.3 out of 5, and the 68% it received from Super Play in their 37th issue. The incredibly boastful Video Games: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine gave Wall of Fire a 7 out of 10, but it's Game Informer that I want to zero in on. Giving it an average score of 7.4, Rick, the Video Ranger, summed it up perfectly: “As a relative newcomer to the war sim genre, I found Romance IV to be everything I hoped and feared it to be. Its manual is a novel that has to be read before you dare begin. The game does give you advisors to help you, but the majority of the game is trial and error, looking for commands and plans that work. This is the most complex game that I have ever seen and will not disappoint the dedicated fans of Koei sims.”

Moving up the list, we see that GamePro has been incredibly consistent this episode, once again offering up a 4 out of 5. That is their go-to for Koei games, it seems. Game Players, who you may recall has a love/hate relationship with the company, went from hating Nobunaga's Ambition to loving Romance of the Three Kingdoms. They gave Wall of Fire a score of 81%. And then there's Fusion, a magazine that is making its Review Crew debut by giving Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV the highest score of the bunch – B+. “The graphics are improved over previous versions. The maps are brighter, the text is clearer and the on-screen animations provide tid-bits of ambience that helps bring the simulation to life. Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire provides intrigue and history, in a struggle that continues its high standards.”

I will admit that these four Koei games are more on the niche side, though, they certainly have a loyal following. If you have ever considered getting into this style of strategy game, these Super NES ports on the Switch are a simple and relatively risk-free way to try them out. They won't be for everybody, but these four games go a long way to fill in some holes in the Nintendo Switch Online library.