The company SNK is most well-known for their wealth of fighting games.
Going hand-in-hand with this is their first video game console, the
Neo-Geo (both a game system and an arcade cabinet format), which was
saturated with fighters and shooters. Some notable examples include
Fatal Fury, known for its dual-plane fighting system, King of Fighters,
a product of the former, and Samurai Shodown, which set itself apart by
combining the zooming camera system of the earlier Art of Fighting and
its own weapon-based gameplay. Perhaps Samurai Shodown gained the best
footing of the three, being both easy to play and incredibly fun.
The game is set in the late 18th century, mainly in Japan. The
semi-fictional Amakusa has come back from the dead to destroy the
Tokugawa for killing him, and makes a deal with the devil in the
process. Although you eventually face him as the final combatant, your
main goal isn't always to destroy him. In fact, fighting him seems to
be incidental. Unlike many other fighting games where one has to win
some type of tournament and become the best fighter in all the land,
each character in this game has their own unique motivation, often
times not tied to becoming a better fighter at all. The ambiguous ninja
Hanzo, for example, merely wants to find his long lost son, while
Nakoruru, an Ainu girl from Japan, wishes to restore the tranquility of
nature, which seems to have been disturbed by Amakusa. The only
character that doesn't seem to fit into all of this is Earthquake, the
giant punk biker from Texas who seems like he'd fit in better in Hell's
Angels. And the translation doesn't seem to help convey the story
nicely. Amakusa will refer to his enemies as "crazy funsters" and his
cohort, the devil, is just referred to by the painfully simplistic
moniker of "the dark guy". Regardless, Samurai Shodown has a better
story than your average fighting game.
However, story is rarely the entire focus of a game, especially a
fighting game, where fast paced action and awesome special moves rule
the landscape. Fortunately, Samurai Shodown has this base covered as
well. Like just about every fighting game, you pick from a wide cast of
characters (yourself included) and fight against the other characters
in their respective homelands. You swipe at them with your weapons and
kick them until their life bar empties. As is the unspoken rule for
this genre, you can pull off special moves that vary from character to
character by inputting a short sequence or tapping a button rapidly,
often times more powerful or useful than your typical move-set. The
techniques often set themselves up for some fairly good combos, which
adds a bit of variety to the game and generally quickens the pace.
Speaking of variety, many of the game's features distinctly set itself
apart from the competition.
Perhaps the most famous of the features is the extensive use of
weapons, each character having their own specific weapon. However, this
feature does create a bit of imbalance between the characters, as the
ones with the longest reach will have a bit of an advantage. In fact,
the final boss, Amakusa, is incredibly overpowered, able to teleport
around the stage at will, launch attacks after said teleportation, and
generally dodge your attacks at the last minute. This advantage can be
taken away by a duel where each character tries to knock the other
character's weapon away from them, something that can heavily change
the tide of battle. Actually, much of the game has features which can
drastically alter the match quickly. A ninja in the back will randomly
throw items onto the battlefield, which can range from gold that
increases the frivolous point count, food that heals a fighter, and a
bomb that will deal some heavy damage. Suddenly, the winner will be on
their toes, or suddenly backed into a corner. The only major problem
with the gameplay is the hit detection, which can completely ignore
your hits from close up. This isn't a common occurrence, though, so
it's nothing to worry about.
The game's presentation is just as good as the gameplay, using the
Neo Geo to its fullest capabilities of the time. The graphics are
stellar, with detailed characters and backgrounds that are usually more
active than your typical fighting game. The game prides itself on the
small details, like how citizens will cheer you on, animals will scurry
about from time to time and elaborate waterfalls will run in the
background. But one feature in particular sets it apart from the droves
of Street Fighter clones. The camera zooms out to allow more battle
space (like Art of Fighting before it). The zoom transition is
seamless, the sprites shrinking fairly well. Overall, the game's
graphics are among the best on the platform (at least for 1993). The
music is just as good, ranging from traditional Japanese flute music to
more modern rock. None of it feels out of place or awkward, each
rendition fitting the theme the stages demands.
Overall, Samurai Shodown is a great game, and the Neo Geo version
is ultimately the best. Each port has something wrong with it, like the
Genesis's bad sound and compromised presentation, and the SNES
permanently zoomed out, but the Neo Geo feels exactly like the arcade
game (which isn't surprising, given that the Neo Geo has the same
makeup as the SNK arcade cabinets). With detailed graphics and an easy
to use fighting system, Samurai Shodown is easily among the best of
SNK's fighters.
