Samurai Shodown

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Japan based hardware and software firm SNK released their trademark effort Samurai Shodown in 1993. A true classic and timeless gem to shine both as prime originator of weapon based 2D deconstruction and proprietor of an exquisitely strong and authentic atmosphere, the game takes us to an 17th century Japan to spill some precious rivers of pixelblood via fast paced, quality punishment which remains extremely easy to timelessly appreciate.

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Samurai Shodown introduces quite a few neat touches to the VS Type Fighter genre, clever, cunning traits that have significant impacts on the gameplay experience. The piece's flow is quite eventful and intense, it is extremely easy to get into a near-death situation once you risked a reckless attack, exposing yourself and eating in a tremendous counterstrike. Attack forms are laid out in a quite intuitive manner by which you have a Weak Punch and a Weak Kick, supported by the Strong Punch and the Strong Kick. Tapping these buttons simultaneously throughout all the combinations you can conceive will yield you the different attack forms your chosen character is able to perform, yet it's certainly worth noting that some of the moves are distance-dependents, meaning the same button combination might yield a different maneuver based on the enemy's distance to you. Special moves are also accessible though the general gameplay is not as much reliant on the utilization of those as the Mortal Kombat games, for example.

The flow relies more massively on the quick selection-and execution of the proper defense/attack against an unleashed maneuver or opposing block attempt. Block happens by pulling your character away from the opponent, while you can execute quick dodge movements by double-tapping the away direction, or you can even charge up to your victim by double-tapping the direction the enemy is facing. This method lets you unleash rampant attacks and usually results in blatant holes in your defense, something your rival might benefit from considerably.



A nice thing about Samurai Shodown is its superlow tolerance level for irresponsible hothead gameplay: once you fail with an ambitious attack you can be almost 100% sure that ruthless punishment is imminent, thus the game usually boils down to a heavily concentrated, focused experiencefoam in which you are to choose all, absolutely all your actions very soberly and carefully.

This special flow and flavor of the gameplay delivers immersive moments and makes comfy place for memorable flashes of lightning fast action, oftentimes characterized by highly significant feeling-out periods to support the effort with a colorful rhythmic structure. By these tense moments you try to guess what the opposition will attempt to do, thus correct prediction and knowledge of what, how and when to reply for an attack and when you should attempt to deliver punishment yourself are elements and aspects of primal importance.

Interestingly enough, Samurai Shodown knows and interprets the concept of rage or, as we hinted at, even recklessness: while your safety gameplay at the end of a lifeline will probably lead to a defeat, the AI sometimes exhibits a funny personality trait, growing so rampant to finish you off that it offers huge holes in its defense temporarily, tiny moments you can forge staggering strikes of stopping power by if you are willing to risk them.

The respective Strong Attacks you can invoke by tapping the button combinations result in excessive damage, but funnily enough: the more a character gets hurt, the more she/he gets enraged, scoring more and more when connecting finally with an attack. This state is represented by the POW meter in the corners. Connecting with your POW meter at maximum delivers good old fatal damage.

Each character has a couple of cool looking throws that are heavily dependent on the exact situation the fighters are relating to each other by the moment these moves get utilized, while there are cool little additional options accessible both to disarm your opponent or even to break the enemy's weapon. Some funny, intense minigame is included as well in which you have to tap the button repeatedly to disarm the opponent after weapons do collide.

Samurai Shodown introduces a whole array of superb characters that are quite easy to like, while differences between them are extremely well tuned both regarding their fighting styles and the artistic originality they possess.



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related recommendation:
Samurai Shodown Guide