''Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge'' is the fourth in

SNK is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...

's flagship ''

Samurai Shodown ''Samurai Shodown'', known in Japan as is a fighting game series by SNK. The series began in 1993 and is known for being one of the earliest in the genre with a primary focus on weapon-based combat. Plot The stories in the series take place in ...

'' series of

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...

s. Chronologically, it is the second and final chapter of a story between ''

'' and '' Samurai Shodown II'', with ''

Samurai Shodown III ''Samurai Shodown III: Blades of Blood'' is an arcade game developed by SNK and released on November 15, 1995. It is the third game in SNK's ''Samurai Shodown'' series of fighting games. While it is the third game in the main series, it is the ...

'' being the first chapter. ''Samurai Shodown!'' on the Neo Geo Pocket is a monochrome adaptation of this game, and it was followed by ''Samurai Shodown! 2'' on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, which is a 2D adaptation of '' Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage''.

Gameplay

Among other series changes, aerial blocking was removed entirely. One can also no longer charge one's own "pow" gauge. The off-screen delivery man was omitted entirely from the game. The "CD combo" was added, wherein a player can press the C and D buttons together, triggering a strike that can be followed up by a sequence of button taps. SNK also added a "suicide" move, wherein one's character forfeits the round. The bonus to this is that the one committing suicide will start the next round with a full "POW" gauge. Certain finishes also enable a "

fatality Fatality may refer to: * Fatality (''Mortal Kombat''), a finishing move, originated in the ''Mortal Kombat'' series of fighting games * Fatality (comics), a character published by DC Comics * Fatal1ty, the screen name of professional electronic s ...

" move in the vein of ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The development of the first game was originally based on an idea that Ed Boon and John Tobias had of making a v ...

''.

Characters

Some of the older characters were restored, such as

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

Tam Tam The tamtam, sometimes spelled tam-tam, is a type of gong. TamTam, Tam-Tam, tamtam, or tam-tam may also refer to: * ''Tam-Tam'' (album), a 1983 album by Amanda Lear * Tam Tam (''Samurai Shodown''), a character from the fighting game ''Samurai Sh ...

and Jubei Yagyu. The entire cast of the previous game also returns, though some have been retouched to further enhance the cartoonish look. Joining the cast are the two

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

brothers: *Kazuki Kazama - member of the Kazama ninja clan specializing in fire jutsu, he deserts to rescue his younger sister, Hazuki, from Amakusa's clutches. *Sogetsu Kazama - older brother to Kazuki and Hazuki who uses water jutsu; unlike Kazuki, he stays with the clan and is ordered to assassinate his brother for leaving. Cham Cham from '' Samurai Shodown II'' also makes a playable appearance, exclusively for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

port of the game known in Japan as ''Samurai Spirits: Amakusa's Descent Special''.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Samurai Shodown IV'' on their December 1, 1996 issue as being the most-popular arcade game at the time. According to ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'', the AES version sold over 9,253 copies in its first week on the market. Reviewing the arcade version in ''

GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...

'', The Union Buster commented that ''Samurai Shodown IV'' lacks the depth of contemporaries such as ''

Street Fighter Alpha 2 ''Street Fighter Alpha 2'', known as in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 1996 in video gaming, 1996 fighting game originally released for the CP System II, CPS II arcade hardware by Capcom. The game is a Video game remake, remake to ...

'' and ''

Soul Edge is a fighting game developed by the Namco team Project Soul and published by Namco as the first installment in the ''Soulcalibur'' series of 3D fighting games. Originally released as an arcade game in December 1995, an upgraded and expanded versi ...

'', but for the same reason offers an easier pick-up-and-play experience. He was unimpressed with the two new characters but pleased with the return of those which had been dropped from the roster in ''Samurai Shodown III''. He particularly praised the visuals, remarking that "The fighters have superb animation; several fighting stages are outright beautiful; and the special moves look awesome." The four reviewers of ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

'' gave the Neo Geo home version a unanimous score of 8 out of 10, praising the high number of characters and the size of the character sprites. In a review of the Virtual Console release, ''Nintendo Life'' also gave the game an 8 out of 10, but their praise focused more on the animations, heavy challenge, and the thrilling pacing of battles, commenting, "a single slash scapable of turning the tide against any opponent."

Notes

References

External links

*
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Killer List of Videogames Killer List of Videogames (KLOV) is a website featuring an online encyclopedia devoted to cataloging arcade games past and present. It is the video game department of the International Arcade Museum, and has been referred to as "the IMDb for pla ...

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