Play Tanigawa Kouji no Shougi Shinan 2 (Japan) Online

You fumble through shogi with Tanigawa’s surprisingly helpful tutorials, then immediately get wrecked by AI that punishes every clumsy piece drop. Those pixelated boards make losing feel educational.

Genre: Board Game

Released: 1987

File size: 128 bytes

Game Overview

Ever tried shogi? It's like chess, but with way more ways to mess up—pieces promote, drop rules are weird, and the board feels like a minefield. Tanigawa Kouji no Shougi Shinan 2 on the NES is the best way to learn without someone sighing at you across the table.

The tutorials are shockingly good for an 8-bit game—Tanigawa (a fictional pro) breaks things down without making you feel dumb. At first, I kept forgetting which pieces could promote and when, but the game throws little drills at you until it sticks. The AI doesn’t go easy, though. Lose a rook early and you’ll spend the next 20 moves sweating.

It’s Japan-only, so you’ll need a translation patch or patience for menus, but the pixelated shogi pieces have this weird charm. The sequel’s a big step up from the first one—cleaner sprites, smarter opponents, and way more "oh crap" moments when the AI pulls some sneaky drop move. If you’ve got a thing for retro strategy, this one’s worth digging up.