release and subsequent re-releases. The game received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. It was ranked as the 54th-top game of all time by the staff of Game Informer in 2001: "Tenchu: Stealth Assassins showed the gaming world that it takes more than just dark clothes and pointy throwing objects to make it as a ninja. Forcing players to learn and utilize stealth techniques to not only excel, but merely survive, Tenchu is a challenging, nerve-wracking game that leaves you screaming in frustration, then crawling back for more." Next Generation reviewed the game, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "The complicated and involving nature of the various missions makes Tenchu a highly engrossing, one-player adventure—the sort of thing long nights are made of." Next Generation later reviewed the U.S. version, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "Activision has made significant changes in the conversion, but it feels as if the developers have jury-rigged bug fixes and added filler material rather than improved the game." Legacy Tenchu was one of a number of titles released in the late 1990s that codified the stealth game genre, alongside Thief: The Dark Project and Metal Gear Solid. The success of Tenchu helped establish Acquire as a company, though it would also limit their titles to a Japanese aesthetic for some time. Activision demanded a sequel for Western players, which Acquire developed under the title Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins. The title released in 2000, with Acquire acting as its Japanese publisher. Following Tenchu 2, Activision acquired the Tenchu IP and gave development of the next title Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven to K2. Acquire would not return to the series until 2008's Tenchu: Shadow Assassins. References External links 1998 video games Activision games Cancelled Nintendo 64 games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation (console)-only games Single-player video games Stealth video games Tenchu games Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring protagonists of selectable gender Video games scored by Noriyuki Asakura Video games set in feudal Japan Video games with expansion packs Acquire (company) games