C64 Longplay [090] Samurai Warrior - The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo

www.recordedc64games.org/modul...
Played by: Ironclaw
Usagi Yojimbo (which translates into "Rabbit Bodyguard")
Samurai Warrior is an adventure beat-em-up by Beam Software and published by Firebird that follows Miyamoto Usagi on an ominous quest along the rice fields and mountains of 17th century Japan. The roads are riddled with ninjas, peasants, traveling monks and monsters and your goal is to survive with honor intact. The young panda daimyo Noriyuki has been kidnapped by Lord Hikiji, the very same man responsible for the death of Usagi's father and the scarring over his left eye. Hikiji has also put out a bounty for the head of Usagi, enticing other ronin and bandits with their lust for money to hunt down the lonesome rabbit. Not everyone is out to take him down however and along the way Usagi meets many honorable characters and friendly villagers that offer their advice or services.
The game is played strictly left to right with the screen push scrolling once Usagi's sprite is centered on the screen. While no backtracking is possible, it is an open ended adventure which allows for multiple trails to be ventured and a rather large freedom of action for a game released in 1988. These trails show up in forms of an intersection with Usagi walking into the horizon if the player chooses it as his path. The roads are filled with characters of different nature, some mere peasants begging for ryo (a traditional Japanese coin currency) or murderous ninjas hiding in the trees or bushes. Dialogue is shown at the top of the screen.
Usagi has 2 main play modes that can be activated, the "Peaceful Mode" and "Fighting Mode".
It's interesting how this game uses the 2 different modes to create a different kind of adventure. Samurai Warrior revolves around karma, making the player always conscious of his approach and decisions. When you start the game, you have virtually no karma and are in dire need to raise it. To raise it Usagi must do good deeds, be it giving money to poor peasants or bowing at wandering characters of different status. It can also be raised by killing ninjas or winning first blood duels, where other samurais challenge you to a first strike showdown.
But your karma can drop as quickly as it rises. Failing duels or ignoring them will make other samurais look down on you, accidentally killing peasants or villagers will take a good chunk of karma away and even simply drawing the sword around innocent bystanders in friendly zones will cause panic and affect your stats. Once you reach zero karma, Usagi will perform seppuku, a suicide ritual used by samurais to die with honor. The game's cuteness is sharply contrasted by its brutality with decapitations and corpses being detailed viciously. When people are killed in Samurai Warrior, their spirits escape their bodies as depicted in the comic book. It's interesting to see that a game released in 1988 was capable of properly bringing consciousness and social responsibilities into a game in such a way. In some ways, the karma system can be seen as a precursor to the depression meter found in Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) which was released in 2004.
(text written by Audun Sorlie, 12/31/10, and it's a small part of the total text)

[@aykutguven237]

I remembered my childhood and my commodore 64. I am 45 now, as time goes by :(

[@brotherjames1623]

Me too my brother, c.64 👍🏻 Born 1977, times goes fast

[@CloneShockTrooper]

I feel the same and we are almost the same age now.. im 49.. glad im not the only who feels this longing now.

[@juhaolkkonen8390]

Me too. I'm 47. It just blasts me that how in earth somebody can do this kind of game only with 64 kilobytes of memory. Now finally I saw the ending the player almost dies on his journeys.

[@FourBlackRabbits]

Honestly, with its long history, a sizable cast of characters and multiple guest appearances on TMNT, I'm surprised that Usagi Yojimbo doesn't have more games based on it

[@bazzjedimaster]

Too violent for kids, too cartoony for adults, most likely why there is little media outside the comics and the turtles cameos. Even that recent netflix show had to change settings to make it more kid friendly.

[@RasVoja]

@@bazzjedimaster And too good to be true! Really deserves some modernized adventure, unlike Android bad retake on this game

[@kirgan1000]

They was a franchises Howard the Duck???? that was "mature" and was based on a anthropomorphic animal that bombed economical. That did make the ground radioactive for not already established anthropomorphic animals.

[@Wesuwius]

Damn after 25 years this suddenly came into my mind and had to start looking. Best game i've ever played on c64. Beats even Rambo and Stunt Car Racer.

[@ozgurkarter4368]

Well all these games are of different genres. :) Could be more fun than any of these. I quite liked the game in 1988 I guess?

[@collectivesartori]

Absolute classic

[@Jackoe69]

@@collectivesartori your mums breets are classic

[@RasVoja]

I wish only it had multiple loading adventures, a longer game!

[@Zett76]

"Best game i've ever played on c64." For me: Pirates. :) Way of the Exploding Fist II has been pretty similar, I played that a lot. And then there was International Karate II...

[@BlokeOzzie]

Loved this game back in the day. The fact that you could be passive towards those who were not immediately your enemy and benefit from that, and it had the early elements of real-time RPGs, made it a favorite for me. Loved the Bhuddist quotes as well. Player screwed up on this playthrough with the boar who challenged him to first blood; as long as you swing first then sheathe your sword, he allows you to pass unharmed, and you gain more karma for not killing him.

[@bigfairy321]

This game is an absolute work of art. Its simplicity, yet so deep.Its absolutely unique.

[@quint3570]

Loved this game back in the day, I bowed to everyone lol

[@PrimitiveBaroque]

This game is surprisingly well made. High production value for C64.

[@Zett76]

Have you played any Cinemaware games? ;)

[@Dukefazon]

One of my favorite on the c64. I remember humming it's music in my spare time. Great game.

[@ANDI2091]

Dukefazon play it free on Vizzed

[@redemptiongoes6030]

Gotta say, this game has a surprising amount of detail put into it.

[@ggerely]

4:45 that first blood went south quickly

[@arturoaguilar6002]

Yeah... you were supposed to sheath your sword right after the first swing (or ignore him, and have your karma be lowered).

[@ram_lov_8896]

Moja najlepsza gra na commodore 😊😍

[@Endru85x]

Kolega z dawnych lat pocinał w to namiętnie, przez lata nie mogłem jej odnaleźć, a niedawno dowiedziałem sie że bohater tej gry to postać z mangi :).

[@00Skyfox]

I love the background scenery in this game. It's really well designed.

[@emils7749]

Skyfox True, resemble a lot the feudal Japan 👍

[@00Skyfox]

@Epoch plus5 Who are you referring to, and why? I complimented the graphics, and Emils agreed. Did you intend your comment for some other thread?

[@00Skyfox]

@Epoch plus5 You do realize we're talking about the graphics capabilities of a system that was designed and started being sold nearly 40 years ago, right? Or are you really that oblivious to the context? If you're in the mindset of comparing this to modern systems then you really have no idea what you're talking about. In either case you're just bloviating in an attempt to make yourself look better than others.

[@soulsteela01]

The whole game is.

[@mr.silver7651]

Skyfox was a pretty cool game too on the c64 !!!!!!!!!💪👍

[@danandersson7768]

My soul is empty, I must atone for my shame..

[@chrisguzman1978]

The first time I saw that my jaw dropped. Seppuku in a kids game? Back then it was unheard of.

[@BieN0]

Ghost's and goblins on c64 was my Dark Souls..this was my Sekiro: shadows die twice ;] Love it!

[@YudaHnK]

great comparisons, concur

[@DrBigt]

Visually this game is really amazing on C64 standards, has numerous colors and everyone is extremely recognizable and the music is actually very good and catchy. This was the high peak of graphical achievement and relaying visual information at that time. Compare this to say, The Last Ninja or the Batman game and you'll see a huge difference in the graphical levels. Of course these videos make this game look super simple but it was complex for its time.

[@RasVoja]

@Rooflesoft Games No, pallette is good, sprites are clean, SID music is great, its not extremely linear and I cant say that for many C64 games

[@shon76]

One of my favorite classics I had. This is before he was with the Turtles.

[@pj3679]

I have an action figure of him I bought back in the 90s.

[@letMeSayThatInIrish]

Before enlightenment chop wood carry water. After enlightenment chop wood carry water.

[@urazsoktay5275]

I was playing this game on my Commodore 64. It was early 90s. Ah memories, nostalgia.

[@soulsteela01]

One of the best games, I've ever played. And listened.

[@sasapetrovic2556]

I will never forget this game 😊

[@hurricane7puertorican582]

Zamisli danas da ovim mozgovi koji su radili ovakve igre koriste na taj način resurse modernih računara. UH !

[@sasapetrovic2556]

@@hurricane7puertorican582 ne znam zasto ne prave rimejkove ovih legendarnih igara sa c64.?

[@hurricane7puertorican582]

@@sasapetrovic2556 Prave samo to ninasta ne lici. Isto ko novi filmovi i serije. Potonuli smo u mracni srednji vijek nazalost. Ima usagi na steamu novi samo mi ne pada na pamet da to uzmem.

[@kcchapman8067]

This was my childhood right here. Loved this game!! ❤

[@adyfish40]

This was one of my first c64 games I had and played but never understood it as was very young when I had it. I loved the graphics so used to just admire them and then move on to another game once I got stuck

[@Rakiarmas]

This was a one of those things, that got me excited about samurais. These days I have studied history of samurai, watched & read many samurai stories & movies and even build a little spirit & mind of these legendary warriors. Thank you Usagi Yojimbo for showing me the way of an honorable samurai.

[@D4n83]

26 years ago I was playing for the first time to Usagi , Butasan & International Karate . Even now I am among my favorite games

[@OneRoomShed]

My favorite C64 game. A true classic.

[@Aresmar]

I watched Trey to Yomi trailer and this game came out of my childhood memories.

[@connor25]

Loved this game, spent hours playing it in '88 and great to see it on here

[@MerlinsMagic]

Brings back memories. I often think about this game, then I thought, I'll look it up. Cheers for the memories

[@mr.silver7651]

Cool game!!!! one of my first games on floppy disk!!!! Good old times, nice memories when i was in the 7th grade,changed school, everything was gettin´better from that point !!!! Good to see that on youtube!!! Thanx for uploading !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@atakanuslu495]

Legendary theme music

[@truearea53]

THERE'S A VIDEO GAME OF USAGI YOJIMBO?!?! Dammit! why haven't I heard of it before?! im ashamed of myself..

[@sikecar534]

One of my favs on C64.

[@ViktorVrska]

Mine too.

[@DerDude1977]

I bought this game and loved the technical aspects and the love to details in it. But sadly I never really knew what exactly I had to do. This game was something special in a good way.

[@JFK1180]

Used to play this game ALL the time. Great soundtrack. Spent much time betting i seem to recall

[@Lara__]

I used to play that in the 80's on a monochrome green screen

[@brianharrington5353]

Ha ha, me too! It looked great even in green.

[@JKalee-jf9yz]

Nothing but good memories here. Loved the gameplay, colourful graphics and soundtrack. Got pretty good at it too after hours of practice. I miss my c64. Thanks for the video 👍🏻

[@RasVoja]

Seen CPC and ZX48 versions and C64 nails it with mighty SID tune!

[@nash6662]

ive literally been looking for this for almost 8 years

[@Jayce_Alexander]

Your eyes must be tired.

[@light18pl]

I remember playing this game as a young kid. I was way too young to understand anything and I just runned around murdering everything. Eventually I would reach the seppuku (always in the same spot). Now that I know there's more to this game I'm tempted to play it again.

[@snotspat]

When I was a kid, I learned that if you donated to the first beggar, you gained enough karma to offset killing him.

[@NadrianATRS]

Cool game and music especially

[@jarmovaskilampi6522]

This game is AWESOME!!!

[@michaeljensen501]

Masterpiece you can tell alot of love from the devs went into it

[@AlexOjideagu2]

Who else used to start fights with people for fun and get their arse kicked?

[@RasVoja]

And lost a lot of karma until ... sepukku!

[@ShinoSarna]

I think I played this as a kid but totally forgot about this until now. To be fair I was probably like 4 or something when we had a C64.

[@ivanski28]

I'll admit this way better on the C64, so much more to it compared to the Speccy version I played and I still loved it. Wish they'd dome a 128k version so it was closer to this one.

[@t4washere384]

Great music.

[@MrVibeless]

I forgot this game existed.

[@MetalD1e]

i love this game, one of the best of c64 :)

[@josuepereira9782]

Start of the game, 3 Ryo End of the game, 2 Ryo Feels vagabond ronin, man

[@brandonreina5461]

Usagi Yojimbo definitely appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) as a loyal friend to Leonardo However, the evil Shredder wants the lonesome rabbit for himself, turning against the Turtles, as instructed by Krang after Donatello brought the rabbit warrior here to New York during a incident with Dimension X

[@remusmasterplaydohmakersbe8545]

Yeah I watch a ready🙋🏻‍♂️

[@ArttuTheCat]

I had this game for the Commodore 64, until i made a bad mistake and sold it at a flea market in 2015. Luckily i'm still reading Stan Sakai's comic books because i'm about to learn drawing the comic books. Which also means - back to school in october 2021. =)

[@pj3679]

Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.

[@dascabinetdesdoktorcaligar4714]

One of the first I ever played...

[@andrzejdymek5563]

c64 to był super komputer i piękne gry.

[@Dukefazon]

AMAZING GAME!!!! I simply loved it as a kid!

[@tetsujin_144]

I had no idea this game existed. This is amazing!

[@JamesAlexanderinternet]

++ the way of the ronin is long and sad ++

[@HarryCallahan-tf3qr]

I loved this for my 64 in 1988 i was 14.

[@ozgurkarter4368]

I Was in a summer camp in 1988 to get some more English education for a month. When I returned home, mom gave me money to buy some games. I bought this one with rimrunner (and ATF - I got 8 games in total that I know but which ones I am not sure). And played Usagi Yojimbo all through the summer.

[@bobankrsmanovic9398]

I've succeed to beat this game by eating enormous amount of food. Even your health is full (displayed on screen), when you eat ,, it actually grows, and that way I made my character almost like unlimited energy. I am not sure if that was a bug, or programmers intention. Anyway, I doubt I could beat the game if that was impossible, because my skills was much worse then shown in this video. Nice play bro.

[@robertanic7799]

I played this game as a kid, and I could not get far as I remember :-) Boy, I wish I could go back to those days

[@houseoftheted637]

I remember doing that. Discovered it by accident. I'd forgotten how short this game is.

[@Dragondave17real]

Same here, I gambled until I had over 20 coins and then ate a lot. I also discovered that if you ate too much, then the next attack killed you in one hit.

[@sasapetrovic2556]

I did the same thing. Won money on gambling then eat🤑

[@jarmovaskilampi6522]

Same thing.

[@jptpoker]

pretty good graphics for c64

[@s727r]

This game was so addictive, the ability to interact with characters was a novelty. Such good memories. Anyone else ever accidently whip out their sword when offering money to folk? 😂

[@gcomi1977]

Fantastic game one of my favourites

[@Tenraiden]

The first game I ever played on the C64.

[@cochisecarter6298]

The Rabbit from Ninja Turtles had a game??? LOL wow 👏

[@Faceplant-hl5yn]

This blew my mind as a kid

[@user-io8gh4yi4s]

Greetings to everyone from the 80's

[@f3k]

hellya, back in the days..., i confess i woz addicted to that game

[@hannusuoniemi5716]

This game is really weird. Still remember playing it a lot back in the day.

[@RasVoja]

Try reading the comic, you ll get it way more

[@rafahuminiak4142]

That was super sweet.super win with last heart:)Commodore magick

[@xxxBURSTANGELxxx]

Wow... Looks outstanding 4 C64 game

[@tobiasreaper3873]

awesome game, gfx and audio, wow and I always was just slaughtering everyone just for the fun of it

[@markduchey8785]

Reminds me of fist 2 for some reason

[@executivelifehacks6747]

One game I actually finished. Great game.

[@nenadvulic8936]

I remember that you could eat well after your health bar gets full and your energy doesn't get depleted😊

[@sikecar534]

If you give money to a peasent, you get 10 karma. If you give money to a brown monk, you get 20 karma. And if you give money to a purple monk, you get 30 karma.

[@sikecar534]

@The Gray Ghost if you pull a sword on a peasent and don't have enough karma, yes. But if you have enough karma, you can scare or even kill a peasent. If you pull a sword on monks, you're in trouble as they fight you and they're tough to beat.

[@sikecar534]

@The Gray Ghost not a problem.....

[@christiaanjellesma1851]

Loved this game

[@Taarnafeather]

I looved this game >:)

[@dusanmilojevicstenastena]

Samurai warrior with no master

[@CraigLim-oc3vi]

I remember imagining there being two usagi yojimbo games one for snes and possibly the other for sega. One where you play as usagi and Gen as well as fight the goblin of Agachigahara, while the other you play also Usagi but Jei instead of Gen and fight the Nue.

[@dusanmilojevicstenastena]

Najbolja !!!!

[@FingerBreakerWu]

Until now, I never realized Usagi was a crossover to TMNT.

[@Zereniti77]

"I challenge you to a duel to first blood", *decapitates the opponent.*

[@krisbjj3985]

It was my Favourite game on c64

[@hurricane7puertorican582]

Beside Last Ninja My favorite C64 music theme.

[@tehdii]

The bow was something totally mind blowing for me 25 years ago :) Aaaaaand kill the wabit ;)

[@richallenxbox1976]

Actually, unless they attack you first, you lost Karma for attacking the Wabbits!

[@marcinl4396]

uschido miyamoto

[@nervaaugustus7089]

Do enemies react if you sheathe your blade while they're in a surrendering pose? Like for instance, when that first swordsman offered to duel "to first blood" at 4:43 he stopped and bowed to you after you both missed your first swings. A bounty hunter crouched and attempted to surrender later, at 7:02, and several of your swings didn't connect until that animation finished. I also noticed that you lost karma for fighting the monks at the end. I'm guessing that they don't attack you if you don't have your sword out.

[@johnq.public3302]

I could never even make it to two minutes. This was a HARD game.

[@TheMandalorianFanChannel]

This looks Awesome wish I could play this game right now !!! I probably would rather play this instead of any New game that is out right now.

[@michelvanderlinden8363]

man I remember only one thing from this game; god have mercy on your soul if you forgot to sheethe your sword because those guys with walking sticks will not

[@piotrnachel8719]

Kocham tę muzyczkę ❤

[@richallenxbox1976]

I had this on the Spectrum, the C64 version has better music and graphics though.

[@goksunv]

I loved to hit the shurikens with my sword.

[@bbenjoe]

Who developped this game? I heard it was a Hungarian group.

[@snotspat]

You killed the dude who challenged you to first blood. Bad karma!

[@DJToneRI]

I like it

[@Zilli1Zilli]

Good old Times hahaha

[@shaolinpunkFTW]

Usagi!

[@maverickkanon660]

Bello

[@marcinl4396]

cinema ronin hehe

[@marcinl4396]

roni kurwa