Introduce
President no Sentaku is a traditional Mahjong game for the NES, offering a familiar Mahjong experience with the basic rules of Riichi Mahjong, one of the most popular variations of the game in Japan. The primary objective for the player is to arrange Mahjong tiles to form a valid hand, also known as "agari" (going out), before their opponents.
The game proceeds in turns. Each player will sequentially draw a tile from the wall and then discard an unnecessary tile into the discard pile. This process continues until one player completes a valid hand. A valid hand typically consists of four sets (either three identical tiles - "kotsu", or three consecutive tiles of the same suit - "shunsu") and one pair (two identical tiles - "toitsu").
Players can perform special actions such as "Pon" (when they have two identical tiles and another player discards the third), "Chi" (when they have two consecutive tiles of the same suit and the player before them discards the third to form a consecutive set), or "Kan" (when they have three identical tiles and another player discards the fourth, or the player draws the fourth themselves). These actions help players quickly complete their hand but can also reveal their strategy.
Furthermore, a crucial element in President no Sentaku is "Riichi". When a player is one tile away from completing their hand (known as "tenpai"), they can declare Riichi. This locks their hand, preventing changes to discarded tiles, but significantly increases their score if they go out. The game also includes a complex scoring system based on "yakus" (special hand patterns) and "fu" (basic value of the hand), creating significant strategic depth. Players need to carefully consider each move, from choosing which tile to discard to deciding whether to call, to optimize their chances of winning and their score.