Warriors of Fate is a beat'em up with nine stages. Each contains large mobs including spearman, archers, strongmen, bomb-wielding opponents, and at least one Wei boss. There can be up to three players on-screen at the same time. Using two buttons, Attack and Jump, the characters all have standard moves typical of Capcom side-scrollers of the day. Common enemies including Wei soldiers such as bandits, privateers, wrestlers, fatties and thieves will keep popping up from everywhere. In the end of each stage there is a Wei general as stage bosses, e.g., Li Dian, Xiahou Dun, Xu Chu, Zhang Liao, Cao Ren, Xu Huang, and the infamous Lu Bu as the final boss. After defeating them all, there is also Cao Cao himself who would try to escape. The game also has two bonus stages that require rapid pressing of buttons. There is also a variety of weapons in the game which can be picked up. As with most side-scrollers, food is used to replenish health and can be found in various breakable containers in the game levels. One notable feature of the game is the ability to summon a warhorse which adds more attacks to the characters, generally involving pole-arms. Each character except Zhao Yun was given a special wrestling throw of their own. Unlike the first game, Dynasty Wars, Liu Bei is not playable. The playable characters are Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, four of the famous Five Tiger Generals, and Wei Yan.
Story
In the Japanese version, Tenchi wo Kurau II follows Liu Bei's plight in Jingzhou from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a history-based novel from China, set in the Three Kingdoms period as Cao Cao sets to invade his lands after the death of Dong Zhuo and recruiting his general Lu Bu to his army. In Warriors of Fate, Shu Han, led by Liu Bei, as in the novel, was everything "good" and "righteous", while Wei, led by the ever-suspicious and cunning Cao Cao, is portrayed as "evil" and "bad". Liu Bei's warriors begin by fighting Cao Cao's forces at the Battle of Bowang, then Battle of Changban, then finally join up with Sun Quan to fight at the Battle of Red Cliff. If the Five Tigers slay Cao Cao, Wu and Shu join forces, unite Wei, return the Han back to rule and restore peace, if not Cao Cao escapes and history continues as intended with the land in turmoil and the eventual demise of Shu. In the English adaptation, however, the Three Kingdoms theme was lost, and most names have been changed to names of Mongolian origin. The story takes place in a fictional realm where the evil overlord Akkila-Orkhan of Shang-Lo tries to conquer his neighbouring countries, converting them into ruin and despair. Kuan-Ti, with the aid of the five great warriors, stands up against the conquering shadow and fights to defend his people and lands.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Warriors of Fate on their December 15, 1992 issue as being the most-successful table arcade unit of the year, outperforming titles such as ' and '.
