Samurai Shodown (Neo Geo AES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of SNK's versus-fighting game for the Neo Geo AES, Samurai Shodown.
Played through as Yagyuu Juubei on the normal difficulty level.
Samurai Showdown was a fairly early release for the Neo Geo hardware, but it was one of the first one-on-one fighting games truly highlighted SNK's ability to craft a top-tier fighting game that could pose serious competition to Capcom's efforts.
However, instead of playing follow the leader, the Samurai Shodown team changed things up quite a bit, and thus was able to differentiate the game from all of the Street Fighter clones (including SNK's own Fatal Fury) on the market.
Instead of participating in hand-to-hand combat, each character carries a weapon - some weapons are short and fast, others are huge and slow, but they all can do enormous damage when used correctly. Slow, powerful strikes can chop down a life bar within a couple of hits, but since these attacks leave you vulnerable if you miss, you have to be extremely cautious when considering your moves. If someone runs at you with a katana overhead, you'd best do whatever you can to not take that blade to the head or the torso unless you want to see the fight end with your fighter being cut in half as blood jets several feet into the air.
The other major shift from the SF2-style Samurai Shodown makes is in its setting. It doesn't take place in the 1990s, and there are no parking lots, bar interiors, or shopping plazas to fight in. The game is set in the late 19th century, and this is reflected in every aspect of the game - you get samurai, ninja, and knights all fighting in places like temples, palaces, and bamboo groves. It makes a huge difference to the tone of the game, and it looks great - the quality of the art is far better than most fighters you'll find from the time period, and Art of Fighting's scaling zoom-in feature is reused to far better effect here. The sound is also very well done - a lot of the tracks use traditional Japanese instruments to excellent effect.
And who can forget the announcer's famous, "Jinjou ni ipponme, shoubu!"
The characters are all fairly well balanced, and the slow, deliberate gameplay means that skill will trump button mashing everytime.
Samurai Shodown is rightfully hailed as one of the Neo Geo's classic titles, and it marked the beginning of one of SNK's most prominent and beloved franchises. It's accessible even to newcomers, the game play is intense, and it has got style to spare - everything you could want in a early 90s competitive fighting game.
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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[@NintendoComplete]

Samurai Shodown was an excellent alternative to the hyper-frenetic pace of typical 90s fighters, and the whole thing oozes class. Samurai Shodown is one of SNK's most respected franchises, and even in the first entry, it's easy to see why.

[@NintendoComplete]

@Peck Man Yeah, I'll upload it at some point :)

[@David315842]

It was nice that SNK wanted to thank us for our playing. :)

[@codmott286]

Even as a kid I recognized the sophisticated engine with its scaling abilities

[@Googlesucksballs]

This was the game that got me into SNK fighters in general. Good Times. My local doughnut shop I went to as a kid had a 2 slot MVS with this and Bust a move on it.

[@Peter_Morris]

I always loved watching this game in the arcades. I was never very good at it, but I thought the colors and the animations were fantastic. The character designs were all so unique. Like you said, I never thought of it as a Street Fighter clone. It had established itself as something wholly different right from the first screen.

[@Theshadowcar]

The first time I owned this game was in 1994. I loved the 2D way you get closer and the picture goes away at playtime. I sold it on 1995 and I bought my first PS1 that time... Up to this day I still have my first PS1 in box plus PS3 in box US version for both.

[@TheChoujinVirus]

Fun Fact: Out of all the samurai in the game, Jubei is a historical (and real) samurai

[@KingggHOUFO]

Hanzo as well

[@TheChoujinVirus]

@@KingggHOUFO Technically Hanzo's been viewed as a ninja than samurai in some stories

[@pattystarr]

Amakusa Shiro Tokisada is real too.

[@rcblazer]

This is one of my favorite fighting game series! I was hooked the first time I landed a killing blow and my opponent got sliced in half! Great stuff!

[@Bloodreign1]

The amazing story of 12 samurai, ok a ninja, a native Japanese woman (I forget her people's name), a French fencer, and some samurai on a quest to make each other bleed milk. Gotta love SNK censorship, and how hit and miss it could be.

[@NintendoComplete]

Yeah their censorship could be super random at times. And did you mean Ainu? They're mainly from Hokkaido and iirc, they have some Russian in their heritage

[@Bloodreign1]

Also censored in the home versions, here Nakoruru depends on the great mountain gods to protect her, but in the SNES and Genesis versions, those gods took a vacation, and she only had the great moutains to protect her, like that would do any good.

[@jessragan6714]

"Have at you, smelly!" Man, I miss SNK's old localizations.

[@Xboxeffect1]

samurai showdown is a master peace the music the carácter the game play I like everything about this game

[@silversablinova299]

Brings back so many memories when I was trying to learn how to fight as Kyoshiro

[@Krjdjdjr]

I loved that game my dad showed me it and I instantly loved it

[@megatron8461]

Definitely, my favorite arcade game of all time! Of all time!!

[@Dorelaxen]

Boy oh boy, the hours on this one. Gen-An for the win!

[@deckofcards87]

Back in the day I like this game waaaay more than Street Fighter II. Samurai Shodown forces you to rely on using tactics, and it's overall beautifully polished in just every way.

[@jakebello7988]

"No, I'm not related to that guy in Fatal Fury!"

[@lady_keren]

I just love Jubei ❤

[@MultiVince95]

Great video dude

[@NintendoComplete]

Thanks!

[@MultiVince95]

You’re welcome dude

[@malmal2148]

CONGRATURATION!!

[@RodrigoGeraldo]

Cara amo esse jogo, só joguei no fliperama, 3DO e nos 16bits, Top demais parabéns pelo vídeo 👏👏👏

[@josexsacul]

no me avia dado cuenta que buena banda sonora que tiene

[@rickicazarez1790]

They need to make a movie about this game😢

[@icekokoro2708]

So does it depend on the last attack you hit your opponent with that determines whether they’re on their knees in defeat or being carried away in a straw “body bag”?

[@icekokoro2708]

Austin Reed I know that my question was is doing that or using a less devastating attack the difference between what I posted originally.

[@austinreed7343]

Ice Kokoro It does. Bladed Attacks result in the enemy on a stretcher. Others do not.

[@darklagoon7]

@@austinreed7343 nope, it's random afaik.

[@chazzsilva7060]

Suddenly I want to go eat Pizza Hut after watching this.

[@sammyyo461]

AWESOME!!! One of the few 2D fighters which (in my humble opinion) I thought that stood out from the crowd next to Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, etc. Also I must say, compare to other well known weapon-based fighters I've seen so far, the strikes of yer blades and other attacks looks quite painful.. ..can't help but think of "OUCH!!" Gotta Love the diversity of weapon-based fighter characters despite the title's namesake, right?? Played this on Wii via "SNK Arcade Classics" compilation disc.. ..need to try out the sequels sometime.. … 7:29 Aww, yer sure a gentleman for sparing the lady from certain death!! (^_^)

[@Bloodreign1]

When you can make me abandon Mortal Kombat machines in those days, literallygrabbing my attention, then you had something special. Sure later on Lethal Enforcers and Sunset Riders did the same thing, but I'd say Samurai Shodown was that gateway that finally pried me off those MK machines I seemed glued to. MK 2 and UMK3 were no longer getting my coins, Samurai Shodown was getting them instead, and later on, thanks to Neo Geo, I discovered Metal Slug (at a Wal-Mart of all places, same place I found Pit Fighter years earlier, and had an MK2 machine as well later on). My love for SNK didn't grow bigger until a few years ago, where my love for MK shrank considerably, and I started to love Street Fighter Alpha games, and I remembered Samurai Shodown, and started finally getting to play other SNK fighters, like more World Heroes, more Fatal Fury, and Last Blade eventually. I also grew a fondness for the KoF games later on (probably around 2009), had seen them in EGM magazines, but no arcades in my area carried a single one of them. That eventually led me to try and like Garou MotW, and these days, I have pretty much all the SNK compilations (other than SNK Arcade Classics, though I have that on PSP), outside of the expensive ADK Tamashii, and the Sunsoft Collection (seriously, those command about 200 bucks these days). No more MK for me these days, if I play fighting games, it's SNK's stuff, because it all has aged gracefully, other than the original Fatal Fury, which I still dislike, but even that started a great legendary series starting with the second game. Can't say I hate Art of Fighting, it playing on those HUGE monitors in mall arcades back in the day was quite the spectacle to see, even if the games play extremely stiff.

[@thefifthdoctor6780]

I’ve got it next! 😎

[@sainttan]

I'm still waiting for SNK to make a new Samurai Showdown.

[@Selnathorn]

Well, they are at it. It just will take some time o3o

[@Bloodreign1]

They did, and it's out now. I'm sure you already know this though, looks like a ton of fun too.

[@CryingZombie666]

Will you do the rest of the series?

[@TheRealDustinNunn]

Ever played the 2019 Samurai Shodown reboot?

[@diegomelendez9918]

Oh yeah now this was the game

[@eugenehills8371]

22:47 Earthquake sword ⚔️ blood

[@marianoaleman7581]

Siempre me gustó el intro de Neo Geo

[@vakasPastando]

so you need 8gb memory as minimum request?

[@stan2998]

La puissance de la 2d super jeu avec art of, fighting et fatal fury

[@brujoesoterico666]

Me acuerdo que cuando estudiaba secundaria yo juegue este juego😅

[@danalong1237]

“Ipponme, Shoubu!” What does that mean in English?

[@NintendoComplete]

Ipponme means first. Shoubu is duel. So basically the same as Round 1.

[@NintendoComplete]

And what he says before that, "jinjouni" means to do it excellently, like giving it your all.

[@BobakHaEri]

Positives: (1) Good Audio (2) Good pacing (3) The real Neo Geo version (4) No obtrusive watermark (5) Set to English and not some gibberish Negatives: (1) Set to the USA English version (rather than unibios) so it shows "sweat" instead of blood (something SNK got a lot of rightful heat about) Overall: = Thumbs up

[@NintendoComplete]

Well thanks :) Much appreciated, I'm glad you approve :D

[@RubenEMarin]

I remember I played this game when I was a kid I love this game in Grandma farmacy

[@brujoesoterico666]

Tiene un error el juego y es que el jefe oponente último descuida la guardia queda sin defensa y tiene protección eso sería desventaja

[@poloonthegod110]

Classic

[@jamesmoss3424]

Haohmaru is the best samurai in the game of all time. 😀👍🎮

[@thecowboy2]

Hai!!

[@sammyyo461]

Oh, Hai!! \(^_^)

[@josexsacul]

very easy

[@thunhu1870]

0:22xx

[@dangunheadachron1603]

No way in hell anyone can beat this without continuing 100 times. Gen-An is a cheap SOB and overpowered Amakusa was designed to eat coins.