Samurai Shodown

"Test of Wits."

Before Jubei Yagyu hit the big-time with box-office sensations ''Tenchu 2'' and ''Onimusha 2'', he starred in a quietly successful game called Samurai Shodown. Made in just a few short weeks in a low-budget studio, Jubei was happy to have finally crawled out of his ditch and be recognised as the one-eyed warrior. This of course, was back when I could talk to the guy. Nowadays, I knock on his trailer door and he wants nothing to do with me. ''Hey mate, you wanna spar?'' I ask. To which he replies by laughing, adding the words ''Hey, I'm in Onimusha 2. I have no time for peasants such as yourself. Get me Ian Thorpe's autograph and I may reconsider.''

Pfft. Sell-out.

Cleverly named ''Shodown'', this Takara-developed SNK title stars a bunch of weapon-wielding characters in typical one-on-one fighter style. Guys like Kyoshiro and that big-shot Jubei base themselves on real-life legendary Japanese figures, and although a few of the personalities stray from what history portrays them to be, this is purposely done so. There's Haohmaru, the would-be likeable star of the game, whose fondness is lost only to his arrogance. His credibility as a samurai suffers beyond repair with those cocky post-match smirking remarks, and in doing so emits a sign that Shodown is trying too hard to be like Street Fighter 2. As usual, there's the fatty: very powerful, but can't move to save his own behind (which admittedly would take a lot of saving). Making things worse for the fatty, other, more agile guys like Haoh and Nakoruru have attacks just as strong, rendering the aptly-titled Earthquake useless.

Then there's Hanzo and Galford (shocking name, I know) -- the Ryu and Ken of Shodown who feature similar personas and non-special moves. Funny how they're also Japanese and American. A graceful member named Ukyo saves the samurai's reputation with his class, and while the title may be deceiving, don't think that samurai are the only warriors. The Brazilian savage Tam Tam and the French narcissistic fencer Charlotte add...more countries to the list, at least. Touché. Among the 12 to choose from, most are unbalanced and only a couple stand out as worthy fighters. As a cheap way of making up for this, hopeless characters like Gen-An are given foolishly good special moves which not only take off a good dose of health even when blocked, but they also cannot be countered. Getting attacked results in just a small circle of blood (this was during Nintendo's ''shock-horror no-violence'' days) as your ''POW'' meter on the lower-left side of screen slowly creeps up. It raises your attack so enormously that the match can turn with a single swipe, and had me literally gaping at the site of my unlikely defeat as my opponent made full use of his new-found strength.

Shodown is not about special moves though -- many of them are sluggish, hard to pull-off, ineffective and leave you wide open for a counter. After mastering the specials, the slashes and the kicks - which also come in three different strengths - what you'll eventually realise is that Shodown comes down to a test of wits. Counterattacking is what's at heart; simply striking with a heavy blade will have you beaten faster than Erin Everly. By testing out the quick stabs and sharp lunges, Shodown ends up not unlike a duel of fencing on many occasions. With both myself and the computer being as stubborn as we are, rounds can go on for minutes, with long pauses in between hits occurring frequently. The clock can be slowed (but not stopped) so as not to decide my battles for me, leaving my foe and I to gaze at each other in uncomfortable silence save for the howling breeze of Hanzo's stage. The most agile striker will always come out on top.

So small are the characters that their size does not give their menacing close-up shots justice. Haohmaru opens his bout by spitting water onto his gleaming blade, while man's best friend licks the broken Galford in comfort; each figure animates decently. With observing the Grand Canyon-type locale that accompanies Earthquake, I noticed another two rocky mountains each increasing in distance -- so naturally I assumed I would experience parallax. Didn't happen. In fact the majority of the stages are very serene if not for the 3 or 4 frames of animation that repeat every half-second. Some of the scenes are hideous, while others are ravishingly beautiful. Whilst fighting Haohmaru we are treated to the sound of the ocean as we watch the waves splash against eroding cliffs. Painted mountains and skies of azure so fitting to a clash of samurai. Then there's Hanzo's -- the redness of the sky caused by the deep-setting sun. An abandoned shack appears as a shadow, not far from where a raven can be seen perched atop a crumbled stone statue (or are they tombstones?). This is truly wasteland, and the howling wolves just sealed it.

Finally worth of note is the encounter with Jubei. Ascending scales of...whatever instrument it may be is heard to the sound of birds chirping. He stands there waiting in the bamboo forest, ready to battle outside his stick-roofed hut. The music is strange, to say the least. The instruments, most of which I cannot name, create a level of annoyance so high in some parts, and non-existent in others. The beating of unusual drums and the Japanese-style wind and plucked instruments do however manage to create the feel of feudal Japan. An unrelenting organ and what may be an electric guitar refuses to leave me alone in some cases. Other fights take place to the sound of exquisite percussion and echoing drums, which perfectly suit the atmosphere of ocean, forest and wasteland. Easily the worst music plays during Tam Tam's encounter, which sounds as if some sort of tribal ceremony is taking place.

The referee follows you and your opponent, raising his flag where he sees a registered attack. His voice, which sounds as if he's making fun of the way the Japanese speak English, is not easily understood. Other speech is similarly garbled, with our ninja saying God-knows-what before sending his worm-of-fire crawling towards you. The bonus rounds create a new level of pointlessness. Pitting you in a dojo, you're given thirty seconds to slice your way through packs of hay. Achieving this goal (which is a valiant effort as the hay sometimes simply refuses to show) earns you points, normally to the amount of 600 or so. 600 points can be earned by kicking your opponent maybe twice. These rounds cannot be skipped, nor can the dreadfully-long post-battle quotes and cut-scenes. I have no idea what the boss, Amakusa, rambles about during these cut-scenes, either. Amakusa was also supposedly a real-life person, and the story of Samurai Shodown, for those who understand it, is said to be excellent and fairly close to the legends. But to those who aren't familiar with the tales...there may as well not be a story.

I appreciate the effort SNK went to for doing their research on these historic people and designing a game so high in Japanese authenticity. It's too bad though that the reputations of Jubei and the like are seemingly made fun of with quotes so head-shaking as ''I'm too fast, right? No? Then why's your leg on the ground?'' and ''For wimps like you, using my full power is a no-no''. One thing I've noticed a few times is that the Japanese can never understand why there is an ''s'' at the end of ''congratulations''. With only the arcade, two-player and ''countdown'' modes, Shodown is one to be enjoyed in short bursts only. While it won't captivate you for months or even weeks at a time, the challenge has sustained my interest on and off for years. It's flawed, but it's good.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/19/02, Updated 01/06/03