Samurai Shodown

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Note: This article is specifically about the original Samurai Shodown game. For information on the series as a whole, see Samurai Shodown series.

Samurai Shodown

Developer(s)	SNK
Publisher(s)	SNK
Designer(s)	Galapagos Team
Release date(s)	August 11, 1993
Genre(s)	Versus fighting
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players simultaneously
Platform(s)	Arcade, 3DO, Game Gear, Game Boy, Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Gear, Neo-Geo, Neo Geo CD, Mega/Sega-CD, Super Nintendo
Input	8-way Joystick, 4 Buttons
Arcade cabinet	Upright
Arcade system(s)	Neo-Geo (118 Mbit cartridge)
Arcade display	Raster, 304 x 224 pixels (Horizontal), 4096 colors

Samurai Shodown (サムライスピリッツ, Samurai Supirittsu^?) is the first game in SNK's popular series of fighting games. Its initial, primary distinction from its contemporaries (most significantly, Street Fighter II) was its time period, set in the late 18th century and all of its characters wielded weapons. It also bore comparatively authentic music from the time period, rife with sounds of traditional Japanese instruments, such as the shakuhachi and shamisen, and a refined version of the camera zoom first found in Art of Fighting. True to its use of bladed weapons, the game also included copious amounts of blood, though generally never as over-the-top as Mortal Kombat tended to be. Its overall aesthetic drew in the curious, and made SNK many fans.

The game quickly became renowned for its fast pace, focused more on quick, powerful strikes than the combos that SFII was known for.

1 Home version
2 Story
3 Cast
4 External links

[edit] Home version

When SNK released the game for the home console version of the Neo-Geo system, the AES, the fans bought it up in droves, and it still stands as the most successful run of home Neo cartridges ever produced.

However, the release incited controversy in the United States, as it was decided to censor the game for most platforms, by changing the blood from red to white and disabling all of the fatal attack animations. There was no code to re-enable it, and many US fans who bought the game were angry that the game they had paid for was not 100% true to the arcade experience, a notion which ran contrary to the professed point of the AES in the first place. The 3DO version, however, was ported almost a year later, and managed to reach the console with all blood and fatality graphics intact. As a result, some retailers didn't even carry this edition of the game.

SS1, as it is typically abbreviated, is justifiably considered the starting point for the wave of Neo*Geo console modifications, which would enable users to set the system's region to Japan, or play in arcade mode, which would in turn allow the game to be played with all of the blood and death animations intact, even on a U.S. console. It also marked the beginning of SNK's nebulous and much-discussed policy of censoring their games for release in the United States, which still persists (albeit sporadically) to this day.

The game was ported to multiple other platforms, including the Super Nintendo, Nintendo Gameboy, Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Sega CD, Sega Saturn, 3DO, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. All the ports vary in quality, given the individual capabilities of the systems it appeared on. All the 16-bit Sega versions of the game omitted one character (including the Sega CD version), and as a result of the controversy over Mortal Kombat, the ports frequently had the violence toned down. This carried over even to the win quotes of the SNES version, and references to death or blood were altered, occasionally in silly ways. One of Tam tam's quotes was changed from "My blood boils for battle" to "My sweat bubbles for battle," and the like.

[edit] Story

The official story, as given by SNK, is as follows:

"Plagues of unknown origin, strange phenomena, repeated outbreaks of war: these were enough to cause panic and plunge people into despair.

But one smiled as he surveyed the unfolding chaos rending the world asunder.

For this 'man,' once slain by the forces of the Tokugawa Shogunate, hate for the Shogunate is all he possesses along with newly acquired dark powers to bring it down.

This 'man,' Shiro Tokisada Amakusa, unleashes his unworldly forces and spreads his false creed in an attempt to lead the world to ruin.

But in the midst of such calamities, there were still warriors who put their beliefs to the test. These warriors spurred by different motives and beliefs converge as if drawn together, battle, and make their way to the source of the chaos."

[edit] Cast

Note: In the English versions of the video games, character names are in the Western order (given name, then family name). The character names here reflect the English version.

v • d • e

Samurai Shodown characters

Normal characters: Asura • Basara Kubikiri • Gaira Caffeine • Nicotine Caffeine • Cham Cham • Charlotte Christine Colde • Earthquake • Enja • Genjuro Kibagami • Kusaregedo • Haohmaru • Hanzo Hattori • Shizumaru Hisame • Yaci Izanagi • Kazuki Kazama • Sogetsu Kazama • Seishiro Kuki • Yumeji Kurokouchi • Mina Majikina • Mikoto • Taizan Morosumi • Nakoruru • Rera • Rinka Yoshino • Rimururu • Saya • Kyoshiro Senryo • Gen-an Shiranui • Neinhalt Sieger • Tam tam • Wan-Fu • Shiki • Suija • Ukyo Tachibana • Yoshitora Tokugawa • Galford D. Weller • Hanma Yagyu • Jubei Yagyu