Samurai Shodown

In early feudal Japan, a man named Shiro Tokisada Amakusa preaches a heretic religion. Little does anyone know that Amakusa is really a servant of the evil Ambrosia, who had possessed and taken over Amakusa’s body, as Ambrosia wishes to shroud the world into eternal darkness. Now, the player must select from out of 12 fierce warriors and plus 3 bonus characters in order to fight for the honor of defeating Amakusa once and for all, while fulfilling a specific mission for each and every warrior in the game.

The Genesis version of the game does not however include the Earthquake which has been removed due to its 16-bit memory capacity and technical size limitations.

Samurai Shodown (Game Boy) game description

The game is set in the late 18th century, and all the characters wield weapons. The game uses comparatively authentic music from the time period, rife with sounds of traditional Japanese instruments, such as the shakuhachi and shamisen. A refined version of the camera zoom first found in Art of Fighting is used in Samurai Shodown; true to its use of bladed weapons, the game also includes copious amounts of blood.

The game quickly became renowned for its fast pace. Focusing more on quick, powerful strikes than combos, slow motion was added to intensify damage dealt from hard hits. During a match, a referee holds flags representing each player (Player 1 is white; Player 2 is red). When a player lands a successful hit, the referee lifts the corresponding flag, indicating who dealt the blow.

A delivery man occasionally appears in the background and throws items such as bombs or health-restoring chicken, which can significantly change the outcome.

Play Samurai Shodown online!

You can play Samurai Shodown online here, in a web browser for free!