Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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A playthrough of Konami's 1987 horror-themed action-adventure game for the Nintendo Famicom, Getsu Fuuma Den (月風魔伝).

Since the game was a Japanese exclusive, I used a translation patch for this recording. You can find the patch at romhacking.net/translations/3482

Getsu Fuuma Den follows the story of Fuuma, the youngest of a trio of brothers who ruled over the surface kingdom. The demon Ryuukotuki rose from Hell to take over the world, and the three fought fiercely with their legendary pulse swords, but it was not enough. Fuuma, the lone survivor, now seeks to recover his fallen brothers' swords and wreak vengeance on the one who took everything from him.

That sounds a lot like the setup for Namco's Genpei Toumaden and its sequel, Samurai Ghost (youtu.be/bVQl-RvvMaY), don't you think?

And if Fuuma's name sounds familiar, that's probably because he's based on the fabled Sengoku-era badass Fuuma Koutaro, leader of the Fuuma ninja and rival of Hattori Hanzou. He has been the basis for many video game characters, including Fuuma from the World Heroes series and Koutaro from Onimusha 2. The Fuma shuriken from Final Fantasy IV was also named after him.

Getsu Fuuma Den sees Fuuma running across feudal Japan, hacking his way through hordes of nightmarish creatures in his quest for the blades that are needed to take on Ryuukotuki. The world is broken up into three primary areas, each with its own overworld map, substages, and boss dungeon.

Being a Konami game from the mid/late 80s, the gameplay is an amalgamation of several distinct styles. The overworld resembles that of an RPG, complete with shops and places to speak with NPCs for hints on where to go next. The action stages are hack-and-slash platforming fare, and by defeating enemies and consuming their spirits, you can level up the strength of your attacks. The dungeons, where you'll find the bosses who guard the weapons, play out as 3D mazes from an over-the-shoulder view and incorporate their own unique real-time battle system.

It's an ambitious design that yokes its elements together to create an unexpectedly grand sense of scale, and the variety in the graphics goes a long way in selling the scope of the world. It's an extraordinary looking game for a 1987 release. (I especially loved the trippy vaporwave backdrops you see in some of the outdoor areas, like at 1:53:26).

Getsu Fuuma Den is often likened to Castlevania, but the horror theme aside, they have little in common (though I did appreciate the hilariously named "Simon" enemy, who you can see in action at 9:31). While the game incorporates ideas from several other Konami titles, it doesn't neatly compare to any single one. The closest analog would probably be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (youtu.be/k4MjHpc25eg) - the platforming has a similar floaty feel and the overworlds are similarly structured - but broadly claiming broadly that they're alike would be stretching the truth a bit far.

However much it resists being pigeonholed, Getsu Fuuma Den is a quality game from Konami's golden 8-bit era, and for NES fans, that should be more than enough reason to give it a look. It's dark, stylish, innovative, challenging, and fun. What more could you want?
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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