SNK breathes new life into “Samurai Shodown”

By: Samuel Donato

Staff Writer

Brief History:

“Samurai Shodown”, a new, yet old classic was released this year for Xbox, PS4 and Nintendo Switch. SNK, a Japanese video game hardware and software company, has done justice to the series with this installment. 

First made for the Neo Geo in 1993, SNK has made the 12 game “Samurai Shodown” series flourish with incredible graphics, an intense fighting system and dynamic characters for anybody to pick up and play. 

The game heavily bases itself in 18th century Japan, and each character wields a weapon of some kind. 

The music of this series also derives from Japanese culture. While the new game has many other elements within the music, there are authentic instruments featured in the many tracks, such as the shakuhachi, a long, wooden flute, or the shamisen, a three-string traditional instrument that is plucked with a bachi, or shell pick. 

Characters and Story: T

This game, because of the time period, does contain weapons and with weapons comes copious amounts of gore. However, there is an option on the newer installments that allows you to turn off the gore, for players with weaker stomachs. 

The many characters of this game really bring it to life, from the crazy kabuki dancer Kyoshiro Senryo, to the “Superhero of Justice,” Galford. Each fighter has different weapons, and thus special techniques.

 My personal favorite is Kyoshiro, whose mix of kabuki dance-like moves and long, oppressive naginata, makes his fighting style one I enjoy very much. One move I find myself using is his special move, Frog Summon, where he summons a large frog to eat the opponent up and then spit them out, dealing damage. 

The main story mode, while rather short, is what you would expect from a fighting game. You beat up some people, then fight the final boss, whose identity I will not reveal for those who wish to play. 

It is frankly a little boring, but I mostly play the versus mode. Versus mode lets you play against either your friends or a CPU, but fighting another player is really the best way to experience the full game. 

Mechanics: 

The game functions on timing and punishing. Which translates to either waiting for your opponent to strike, then blocking them and hitting them back (punishing), or catching you opponent off guard with a quick strike. 

The block is very useful in this game. If a heavy attack is blocked, the opponent staggers, allowing for a brutal counterattack. There are four different basic attack commands. These are  light attacks, medium attacks, the aforementioned heavy attack and the quick, and often very useful, kick attack.

 Each move can be used in different scenarios, either as a counterattack or as you face them down. Each player interacts differently, while some may throw attacks wildly, which often results in brutal retaliation, others have a patient, defensive-like waiting game, throwing attacks out when necessary to ensure victory. 

There are also special inputs you can press to activate special moves, whether they are projectiles, powerful strikes or even super special techniques that, while somewhat difficult to input, do devastating damage and can be the turn around for a match if landed without interruption. 

“Samurai Shodown” is still in its early days, with new DLC characters being released week after week, including a new one just two days ago.

 “Samurai Shodown” is a great game, and while many players may not like the slower pace of the fight, it is certainly a worthwhile game to add to your collection.