one-time Super Special Move attack,
bring the series up to date, along with
a colourful hand-drawn art style that
keeps the series’ visual character and
looks stunning on Xbox One.
SNK boasts a new AI system for the
game, which it’s calling Dojo Mode,
that learns from player attack patterns
and creates a ghost clone that youcan then fight against; you can also
take on the challenge of fighting
against the ghosts of top players.
Fights are tense, with one good
strike able to end a battle as quickly
as it began, so you’re always just one
strike away from death, or victory.Sho looks pretty
Fans of the series will be pleased
to see the return of series stalwarts
such as series protagonist, the ronin
Haohmaru and his rivals Ukyo and
Genjuro. French noblewoman Charlotte
also returns, along with fan favourite
Nakoruru, and her hawk Mamahaha,
and big fat bloater Earthquake. There
are 13 veteran fighters confirmed for
the new game, with three newcomers
adding to the starting roster of 16,
including the Amazonian-looking Darli
Dagger, who is described as a ‘kickass
sailor and shipwright’ and wields a
huge, saw-bladed weapon.
Many of the series’ main characters
are based on historical samurai,
but with more than a little artistic
licence to allow for sorcerers, sneaky
ninjas, non-Japanese characters and
demons to appear in the game. While
the new game is the 12th entry in the
series overall, it’s the first mainline
SamSho game since 2008’s Samurai
Shodown Sen on the 360. Its events
take place between the events of the
original game and Samurai Shodown V,
which was in fact a prequel. So it’s
sort of a sequel to the prequel, but a
prequel to the original. Got that? Right.
Certainly we’re loving what we’ve
seen of the game so far, and it looks
sure to continue the series’ legacy,
pleasing long-time fans and pulling a
new audience into its epic historical
blade-flashing conflict. QAnother page, another classic ’90s
arcade game rebooted for modern
consoles. This time it’s the turn of
SNK’s long-running fighting series
Samurai Shodown, that the Japanese
arcade masters began in 1993. Over
the years, only a couple of the series’
entries have ever cropped up on Xbox,
most notably Samurai Shodown V on
the original Xbox.
Like the SoulCalibur franchise that
followed later, Samurai Shodown is
a historical-fantasy sword-fighting
game. While it retains its 2D fighter
perspective, the gameplay mechanics
have been updated to feel smooth and
modern, but the core elements that
made the original so cool remain, such
as Rage Gauge, Rage Explosion and
Sword Clash. New moves, including aA few of the series’ characters like Earthquake, Nakoruru and Haohmaru also fought in SNK Vs Capcom games
BELOW French
noble Charlotte
is one of the
many returning
characters from
the original.
Samurai
Shodown
A fresh slice of SNK’s
sword-slinging series
Chris Burke
PUBLISHER ATHLON GAMES DEVELOPER SNK
ETA JUNE 2019“The gameplay
mechanics have
been updated
to feel smooth
and modern”
034 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE
PREVIEW