Genpei Tōma Den — stories left

The arcade version placed 6th in the grand prize category on a reader vote at the "1st Gamest Grand Prize" (fiscal 1987), a feature of the magazine Gamest.

According to Norio Nakagata, who wrote the scenario and the music for the game, Nakagata had handled the music for many Family Computer titles. Out of a wish to make a game he had planned himself, he decided to bring together Ryoichi Okubo and Yukio Takahashi and form a project of 3 people.

In the "1st Gamest Awards" (1987) run by the magazine Gamest, it placed 6th in the grand prize category by reader vote.

In addition, it took 3rd for the Best Ending award, 1st for the Best Voice Synthesis award, 3rd for the Best Graphics award, and for the Best Character award the hero of the game, Taira no Kagekiyo, took 3rd.

In the Gamest Mook The Best Game, published in 1991, a reader poll covering every arcade game up to that point placed it 12th. The magazine wrote: "Genpei Toma Den is a purely Japanese-style action game from Namco, made on the basis of the ningyo joruri play Shusse Kagekiyo.

In the Cross Review feature of the magazine Famitsu, the four reviewers gave 7, 6, 8, and 6, for a total of 27. Reviewers commented that "the game progresses in a businesslike, monotonous way" and that "it is quite enjoyable if you play with two or more people".

In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by the magazine Family Computer Magazine,it scored 21.90 out of 30, as shown below.

In other game magazines, Gekkan PC Engine gave 85, 90, 90, 95, and 90, for an average of 90, and Marukatsu PC Engine gave 9, 8, 8, and 8, for a total of 33 out of 40. In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by PC Engine FAN, it scored 24.57 out of 30, as shown below.

This score also placed it 24th among all PC Engine titles (485 titles in total, as of 1993).

At first, development was carried out unofficially inside Namco. The staff each worked on other titles and developed the game outside working hours.

It was the first Namco title to cast professional voice actors for the character voices.

Outlines of these stages appear in the strategy articles on Genpei Toma Den in the mook All About Namco II, published by Dempa Shimbunsha, and in namco Meisaku Game Shu, which re-edited those books.