Samurai Shodown

Samurai Shodown is a competitive fighting game developed and published by SNK for their Neo Geo arcade and home platform. Released in 1993, it is the first installment in the Samurai Shodown series. In contrast to other fighting games at the time, which were set in modern times and focused primarily on hand-to-hand combat, Samurai Shodown is set in feudal-era Japan (similar to Kaneko's Shogun Warriors) and was SNK's first arcade fighting game to focus primarily on weapon-based combat.

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.

Shiro Tokisada Amakusa, slain in Japan of 1638 by the forces of the non-fictional shogun dictator Tokugawa Shogunate for his part in the Shimabara tax revolt, is an actual person and Japan's most famous Japanese Roman Catholic martyr. In 1788, Amakusa is resurrected as an akuma from making a deal with the dark god Ambrosia by bringing the evil entity into the world by using the Palenke stone and its energy. Driven by hatred for the Shogunate and having a nihilistic streak towards the world, he unleashes his dark powers to bring chaos to all of existence. An assortment of warriors—some historic, some fictional—converge upon the source of the chaos, each driven by their own reasons and those warriors are: Haohmaru - the main hero; a ronin who travels to sharpen his swordsmanship and his sense of bushido. Nakoruru - an Ainu miko who fights to protect Mother Nature. Ukyo Tachibana - an ailing swordsman who searches for the perfect flower for his loved one, Kei. Wan-fu - a power general from the Qing dynasty seeking to recruit powerful warriors for the unification of China. Tam Tam - renowned hero from the fictional city Greenhell; he fights to retrieve the sacred artifact, the Palenke Stone. Charlotte Christine Colde - a noblewoman fencer from Versailles who fights to save her country from Amakusa. Galford D. Weiler - American surfer turned ninja who fights in the name of justice. Kyoshiro Senryo - famed kabuki performer who wishes to strengthen his dances through swordplay. Earthquake - American ninja flunkie turned bandit, he wants to steal all the world's treasure. Hanzo Hattori - ninja serving Ieyasu Tokugawa. In this fictional account, he fights to save his son, Shinzo. Jubei Yagyu - similar to other fictional accounts, he is a ronin hired by the Shogonate to execute a demon. Gen-an Shiranui - an eccentric member of the Shiranui clan, he strives to make himself more evil.