Samurai Shodown

"Samurai Gold"

SNK. This is the name of what many people say is ''Capcom's Shadow''. True, they borrow ideas form Capcom's Street Fighter but that's no excuse to call SNK it's shadow. Most of time their games are mediocre and aren't as good as Street Fighter, but this is definitely an exception. At it's time this was unlike any other of fighter. It's sad that when I mention Samurai Shodown or even SNK people respond with a ''What's that?''. A highly underated fighter, thy name is Samurai Shodown.

Hundreds of years ago....

It was in the late 1700s when Amakusa aka ''The child of god'' was planning to destroy Tokogawa Shogunate with a very powerful demon stone. It is your job to stop him by choosing 1 of 11 fighters. As you can see, each character has their own personality and background.

Haohmaru - A master-less samurai who wanders Japan to perfect his sword technique
Gen-an - He resembles one of those Japanese goblins, the bakemono
Galford - With his Ninja dog Poppy at his side, Galford leaves San Francisco fight evil demons that are possessing weak hearted men to be evil
Ukyo - A young man who is famous among the girls because of his good looks
Charlotte - A young lady from France
Tamtam - A young aborigine man from South America
Nakoruru - An Ainu maiden and a priestess
Wan-Fu - An extremely intelligent person, with a vast knowledge in politics. He's also a great military genius.
Jubei - An invincible swordsman who is completely devoted to KenDou
Hanzo - The heroic leader of the Iga Ninja group
Kiyoshiro - An excellent Kabuki actor who is always looking for the ultimate aesthetic

No hard button?!?!? What the @#^@! - My friend

This is a simple four button configuration. You've got the weak slash, medium slash, weak kick, and medium kick. NO hard button. You can perform a hard attack however. You just need to press both the weak and medium attack buttons. This is used to cut down on the hard attack usage. Also, once you do perform a hard attack, it's incredibly slow and easy to dodge. So, you'd probably just stay away from the hard attacks all together. This was the first fighter to have weapons. If your enemy knocks you down real hard then your weapon falls out of your hand all the way across the screen. You have to retrieve it or else the only thing you can do is kick. As you fight your way through the game you come across and mini-game. Remember in Street Fighter II when you had to destroy the car or demolish the barrels? Well, in this game you cut straw polls in half. The first time, they pop up slowly making it easy to cut. The second time, they pop up faster making it harder to cut. The third time, they pop really fast making it impossible to cut. Something interesting is that after a while the CPU learns the attacks you use most and learns to block and/or use them against you. No endless lines of hodukens here. After you defeat the last guy you get a specific ending depending on what character you're using.

Am I Playing a Game or Watching an Anime?

Seriously, these graphics are great, especially for it's time. The backgrounds are amazing. They're so colorful and lush. The people in the background cheer for you, and when you're winning they cheer even more. The grass moves with the wind. There are even thing on the stage that you can destroy, such as trees or signs. The characters are all detailed and by their appearance, you can tell what kind of personality they have.

They sound is great too. All of the music is memorable and sounds very Japanese. In most fighters the music is very tense and fast. Not this one. The music is very slow and flows with the surrounding areas. During a fight, I want to relax so I'll be able to think and use strategy. If the tense music is there, then I'm tense and I just mash the buttons. *cough* The voices sound very realistic and well done. Basically, all of the sound is very Japanese except for maybe Glaford's English. Well, that sounds Japanese too. *cough*

Can anyone get tired of this?

Definitely not me. I could play this for hours and not get tired of it. Try to get complete the game with everyone without losing. This way, you'll get their extended ending. It's worth it.

Here are some scores if you need them:

Story: 7/10
Characters: 10/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Replay Value: 9/10
Over all: 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/10/03, Updated 06/10/03