Title: 銀河英雄伝説 (Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu)
Platform: Nintendo Family Computer [Famicom]
Developer: KEMCO
Publisher: Tokuma Shoten
Release: 21 December 1988

Legend of the Galactic Heroes for the Nintendo Famicom was the first video game tie-in for the franchise, releasing the same year as My Conquest is the Sea of Stars. Though based on the film in setting, the game has little to do with the actual plot.

An endless war…and you fight to end it…

People continue to fight.
And they may never stop fighting.
However, in this vast galaxy, there were two men who, despite knowing this, tried to put an end to the war.
They are troubled by the inescapable contradiction of continuing to fight in order to end the war…
This is the story of such galactic heroes.

The Legend of the Galactic Heroes brought to you by Kemco, making full use of a wide variety of animations. You will become General Reinhard von Musel of the Galactic Empire and fight with all your wits and intelligence.
Will the war come to an end here and now?!

Here’s a scan of the instruction manual, which covers the basics.

The most interesting page to note is the final one, advertising a campaign for a free telephone card if you are one of the first 500 people to complete the game within 31 in-game days and send a photo of the victory screen to Kemco. There’s no photo of said card included, but my best guess is that it’s this one from an archived auction listing.

On to the game itself!

The title screen rotates between portraits of both the Empire and Alliance characters present in the game, set to an 8-bit rendition of the opening song from the film.

The game opens with Brünhild flying across the starry backdrop of a galaxy, cycling through the intro sequence until you press a button to begin.

Reinhard-sama!

The planet Minyas has been occupied, and our Galactic Empire’s entire fleet is assembled here.

Our mission is to capture the planet Heinessen, the home base of our longtime enemy, the Free Planets Alliance.

This is the “Cosmos Screen”, as the game will refer to it from here on. Each circle represents a planet, drawn with varied sizes to give the illusion of a 3D space. Those controlled by the Empire are blue, while the Alliance’s are red.

Upon your orders, Your Excellency, we are prepared to face any battle, no matter how difficult…

Your orders, please!

The gameplay loop is fairly straightforward, with each turn corresponding to a day in game. Each day you receive updates on each of your fleets, give them orders, and engage in combat if encountering an enemy.

Receiving a transmission from Commander Oberstein, commanding officer of the 1st Fleet.

1st Fleet <Oberstein>

Our 1st Fleet has arrived at the planet Minyas.

1st Fleet <Oberstein>

I would like to report on the capabilities and condition of our 1st Fleet.

Abilities and Condition

Movement: 16 light years
Energy: 100%
Food: 97%
Fleet Damage: 0%
Soldier Fatigue: 0%

Every fleet has five stats that change depending on the actions they take. Here’s a quick summary:

• Movement Ability: The distance and speed that can be moved in one turn
• Energy: Displays the remaining amount of energy, which is consumed every time the fleet moves. When energy reaches 0, the fleet cannot move until a supply unit arrives.
• Food: Food level decreases a little each day. When it reaches zero, soldier fatigue level increases. To replenish food, you must travel to a planet where it can be obtained.
• Fleet Damage: Occurs when the fleet engages in combat
• Soldier Fatigue Level: Fatigue level increases whenever a fleet moves or engages in battle. It affects performance and damage sustained while in combat.

In Minyas, where the 1st Fleet is currently located, you can replenish food and energy supplies and repair the fleet.

Your orders…

• Movement
• Scouting
• Rest
• Resupply

For this first choice, I’ll have Oberstein’s fleet travel to the planet “Rugpool”.

1st Fleet <Oberstein>

Which planet would you like us to travel to? Please specify on the Cosmos Screen.

The animation for this choice is a fleet of ships activating their engines and flying into space.

For the first turn, we also need to give orders to Reuenthal and Mittermeyer’s fleets. The process is the same, however you’ll notice their movement stats are slightly different.

Reuenthal’s movement is 20 light years as opposed to Oberstein’s 16, meaning he will arrive slightly faster if both fleets are instructed to travel to the same location on the same turn.

To show off another option, I’ll order him to resupply. Resupply replenishes the fleet’s energy and food. The animation for this is a ship slowly docking in a hangar.

Mittermeyer’s fleet has a movement stat of 30, the highest of all 11 playable fleets in the game.

I’ll order him to scout at Rugpool, the same planet Oberstein’s fleet is headed for.

3rd Fleet <Mittermeyer>

Please select the planet you wish to scout on the Cosmo Screen.

Scouting a planet gives you information about the travel distance, what actions can be performed there, and details about the occupying enemy fleet. The animation that plays is a Walküre speeding off into the distance.

The only option I haven’t mentioned yet on the order menu is to let soldiers rest, which I can’t do this turn as all of the fleets are at 0% fatigue. The animation for this is two people in front of a street corner with neon signs in the background.

With that, the first turn (and in game, the first day) ends.

One day has passed since the Imperial Army assembled at Minyas

At the end of every turn, you get a report on the status and condition of all 11 fleets. Fleets 4-7 are labeled as arriving and 8-11 are still in route to Minyas, hence why we couldn’t use them last turn.

The first column is the fleet number, second is the current action, and third is what planet they are located at or heading toward.

In the second table, the first column is again the fleet number, and the rest correspond to the stats mentioned previously. If a specific stat is too low or high, the game will highlight it in red.

Next turn begins with Mittermeyer providing intel from the scouting mission.

3rd Fleet <Mittermeyer>

Reconnaissance of the planet Rugpool has been completed.

It is estimated that it will take the 3rd Fleet roughly two days to travel from Minyas to Rugpool.

In Rugpool, you can replenish your energy supplies and repair your fleet.

The Alliance forces have stationed a garrison fleet at Rugpool.

Alliance Commander <Attenborough>

We have received information that the 2nd Fleet, led by Commander Attenborough, is heading for Rugpool.

At Rugpool, 11,000 Alliance ships are in number 4 formation.

Before we move on to combat, let’s take a quick look at our remaining fleets.

4-7 become available on turn 2.

The 4th fleet is commanded by Mariendorf (Hildegard), the first of quite a few characters in this game not actually present in the film. You’ll also notice in these cases the characters differ in appearance from their anime designs, which I assume did not exist at the time of this game’s development.

The 5th fleet, Mecklinger

The 6th fleet, Kesler

The 7th fleet, Wahlen

Fleets 8-11 become available on turn 4.

The 8th fleet, Bittenfeld

The 9th fleet, Eisenach

The 10th fleet, Fahrenheit

And finally the 11th fleet, commanded by Hauser, who I believe is a game original character.

Now that at least one of our fleets has arrived at Rugpool, combat begins.

Reinhard-sama!

We have engaged in battle at the planet Rugpool.

The military strength at Rugpool is one fleet of 11,000 ships. Ours is three fleets totaling 36,000 ships.

Please give the orders for which battle formation we should fight in.

The factors that affect combat are:

• Formation
• Fleet damage level
• Soldier fatigue level
• Number of fleets/ships present

You can choose between 7 formations. An advantage to scouting ahead would be to counter-pick the enemy formation, though I’m not sure which are strong against each other.

Once you select the formation, the battle begins.

This then cuts to a wider shot from Reinhard and Kircheis’s perspective, where you’ll get a vague idea of how well you did based on the number of ship sprites remaining.

The game also shows the results in block form as well, where you can see a bit more clearly how many of each side’s fleets remain relative to their formations.

Kircheis then gives a battle report.

The Alliance has been defeated in the battle at Rugpool.

At Rugpool, 5,000 ships in our fleet were destroyed, leaving 31,000 ships.

Our forces have successfully captured the planet Rugpool.

If a battle lasts more than one turn, the fleets involved will give a damage report at the start of the turn, as well as if they are out of energy and how many days they will continue fighting there.

2nd Fleet <Reunenthal>

Our 2nd fleet engaged in battle at Nepthys.
Fleet damage is at 11%.

We’re out of energy and can’t move.

Until the transport fleet arrives, our fleet will continue fighting on planet Nepthys for one more day.

If a fleet does run out, they can be replenished by an emergency transport, which has its own animation.

When in an unfavorable situation, a commander can ask for orders to retreat or to keep fighting. If a fleet is destroyed, they are gone for the rest of the playthrough.

Your orders…!

• Continue fighting
• Retreat

Likewise, you can eliminate enemy fleets completely too.

The 2nd Fleet, led by the Alliance commander Attenborough, was completely destroyed.

Speaking of the enemy, Yang’s fleet (essentially this game’s “final boss”) boosts the performance of all Alliance ships within range by 1.5x (source). Otherwise the enemy fleets only vary in their movement speed, much like the Empire’s.

If you do manage to defeat the Alliance’s defenses at Heinessen and capture the planet, here’s the ending sequence that plays. Screenshots are taken from this TAS (Tool Assisted Speedrun), which I also recommend checking out if you want to see a lighting-fast demonstration of this game in action.

-Kircheis-

…It’s finally over!
This war…

-Reinhard-

Indeed, it’s over…!

Reinhard, in command of the Imperial forces, finally eliminated the Alliance forces and achieved the day of glorious victory…

1st Fleet Commander Oberstein

Your calm strategizing has led us to victory in this war.

2nd Fleet Commander Reuenthal

Your brave and fearless fighting style is unmatched by anyone.

3rd Fleet Commander Mittermeyer

Your swift movement is the pride of our Imperial forces.

4th Fleet Commander Mariendorf

Although you are the youngest and a woman, you fought bravely.

5th Fleet Commander Mecklinger

Despite your age, you faced the battlefield with youthful vigor.

6th Fleet Commander Kesler

Your sharp analysis and judgment have saved us from difficult situations many times.

7th Fleet Commander Wahlen

Your fearless courage is truly admirable.

8th Fleet Commander Bittenfeld

You are truly worthy of being called a battle-hardened veteran.

9th Fleet Commander Eisenach

You have endured the enemy’s attacks to faithfully secure our supply route.

10th Fleet Commander Fahrenheit

Your steady fighting style led our fleet to victory.

11th Fleet Commander Hauser

I was amazed by your unique ideas and strategies to outwit the enemy.

Thus the war ended.

It was also a war between two geniuses, Reinhard of the Galactic Empire and Yang Wen-li of the Free Planets Alliance.

As longtime enemies, they appeared like comets on the rugged battlefield and fought using every tactic.

Fate has cruelly separated the two of them into a winner and a loser.

But today’s winner is not necessarily tomorrow’s winner. The next battle awaits them.

…Throughout the long history of humankind, there are people who shine brilliantly for a short time and then shatter. Such people are called heroes.

Reinhard and Yang Wen-li.

These two truly deserve to be called galactic heroes…

The End

Heinessen captured in 18 days