Samurai Shodown, called Samurai Spirits in Japan, is a fighting game series created by SNK. The series started in 1993 and is famous for being one of the first games in its genre to focus mainly on combat with weapons.
Plot
The stories in the series take place in 18th-century Japan during the Sakoku, or seclusion, period (the first four games cover the years 1788 and 1789). The series uses creative freedom to include characters from places that did not exist in 1788 and fictional monsters. While each game has a different plot, they all involve a group of characters and a region in Japan.
Samurai Shodown shows parts of Japanese culture and language to people around the world with few changes. Unlike many Japanese fighting games, the characters (including the announcer) mostly speak Japanese. Their speech includes different dialects, from old-fashioned formal speech to modern slang, and this has stayed the same in international versions. Dialogue and scenes include subtitles in several languages, such as English, Portuguese, and German. The music often uses traditional Japanese instruments, like the shakuhachi, shamisen, koto, and taiko, and later includes enka. Some characters are loosely based on real people from Japanese history.
Development
Two main artists created the character designs and illustrations for the Samurai Shodown games. For the first four games, Eiji Shiroi designed and illustrated the characters. His work used a unique style that resembled traditional Japanese writing. Although he continued to design characters for some later games, Senri Kita illustrated them starting from the fifth game onward.
The Samurai Shodown games are well known for their "Rage" (怒) gauge, a meter that fills up only when a player takes damage. When the meter is full, it causes different effects in each game. Earlier versions of the games also included a referee in the background who watched over the match.
Characters
Over many years since the first game was released, the Samurai Shodown games (excluding spin-offs) now include more than 80 playable characters. The most well-known characters are Haohmaru and Nakoruru, who are the main characters of the series. Other characters are based on real historical figures and use their real names, such as Hattori Hanzō and Yagyū Jūbei.
Adaptations
A television special inspired by the first game, titled Samurai Shodown: The Motion Picture (Samurai Spirits: Haten Gōma no Shō), was shown in Japan in 1994. An English version was made by ADV Films and released on VHS in 1995 and on DVD in 2005. The story is a changed version of the original Samurai Shodown, with differences such as Amakusa being female instead of male and the addition of the "Seven Holy Warriors," warriors brought back to life to fight Ambrosia. These characters were not in any other Samurai Shodown story.
Several manga adaptations of Samurai Spirits were created in Japan. One, called Makai Bukei Jō Samurai Spirits (Samurai Spirits: Scrolls of the Demonic Arts), was written by Kyoichi Nanatsuki and drawn by Yuki Miyoshi. It was published in the weekly magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday in 1994. Later, Viz Media released an English version titled Samurai Shodown in 1996, which was published in Game On! USA magazine and finished in Animerica. This story is meant to be a prequel to Samurai Shodown II and introduces a new character, Yui Minbunosuke Shosetsu, as the main villain. Characters from the game, such as Haohmaru, Nakoruru, Hanzo, Charlotte, and Genan, remain central to the plot. They often interact with new characters, including Nagiri, a Koga kunoichi who believes Haohmaru killed her father and seeks revenge.
The first anime OVA, Spirits 2: Asura Zanmaeden, is a preface to Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage. Character designs were done by Aoi Nanase, a fan of SNK. Unlike most anime based on games, the voices were performed by the same actors as in the game. This OVA is not widely available in the U.S., and it is unlikely to be licensed for release because it assumes viewers already know the characters and story. The plot focuses on Nakoruru and her belief that anyone with a heart deserves to live peacefully. Nakoruru tries to protect Shiki, who is seen as a threat to the sorcerer's return, from pursuers like Haohmaru, Galford, and Asura. Despite her peaceful nature, Nakoruru eventually fights to protect others. After a final battle, Asura wounds Shiki, and both fall into a portal to the underworld. Nakoruru leaves Kamui Kotan, having made peace with her violent alter ego.
The second OVA, Nakoruru ~Ano hito kara no okurimono~, is based on the Nakoruru ADV game and centers on Nakoruru as the main character. Character designs were done by Yasuomi Umetsu, known for Mezzo Forte and Kite. The story takes place during the time of peace between the first and second games. It introduces Nakoruru’s childhood friends, Yamtamu and Manari, her younger sister Rimururu, and the mysterious character Rera. Nakoruru feels uneasy about the peace and has visions of future destruction. The story’s climax shows Nakoruru saving a deer from a rock slide, which is implied to be caused by evil forces. The OVA was not released again, and the story remains unfinished.
In 2006, Sabertooth Games released a Samurai Shodown V collectible card game alongside The King of Fighters 2006 for its Universal Fighting System (UFS) card game. Starter decks featuring Haohmaru and Ukyo Tachibana were also released. Staff members at Sabertooth Games often prefer characters Nakoruru and Hanzo Hattori from Samurai Shodown.