Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits Bushidō Retsuden

Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits
Bushidō Retsuden
Developer(s) SNK/Asatsu/Fuji Television
Publisher(s) SNK
Designer(s) Shirou Ono (main illustrator)
Platform(s) Neo Geo CD, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
Release date(s) June 27, 1997
Genre(s) Role-playing video game
Mode(s) Single-player

Samurai Shodown RPG, known as Samurai Spirits, a True Story: Bushido Biographies (真説サムライスピリッツ武士道烈伝 Shinsetsu Samurai Supirittsu: Bushidō Retsuden) in Japan, is a role-playing video game for SNK's Neo Geo CD system, and was also ported to the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation. It was never released outside Japan.

As the original title does not translate smoothly to English, it is commonly referred to simply as Samurai Shodown RPG. Alternatively, it has also been referred to as Samurai Spirits: True Legends of Furious Bushido RPG.[1]

Gameplay

The basic setup of the game is very similar to most console RPGs, such as Final Fantasy. The characters roam an overworld, enter towns and dungeons, and get into battles, which occur on a separate screen. The menu options enable equipping of armor and accessories, as well as use of items.

At the outset, the player is given the option to choose from six characters to be the "main" character of the story.[2] The basic outline of the plot does not diverge greatly for any of them, but each had different dialogue ingame, and each also had unique special scenes which would go into greater detail of the character.[3] In addition, to better adjust to character continuity, certain stories were modified slightly based on the selected chapter. Over the course of the game, two other characters can also join the party (unless the hero is Genjuro, who only gains a partner in his second story).[4] In addition, the second chapter also introduces a new character, a warrior by the name of Shippuu no Reon (疾風の鈴音), whose name translates roughly to "The Ringing of the Gale Winds."[5] All characters from the first two Samurai Shodown games make an appearance, either as a temporary helper, plot device, or enemy.[6]

From a game-mechanics standpoint, combat is not unlike Final Fantasy in most respects. Its most significant deviation from the formula is the an which enables the player to input the joystick motions for the various special moves manually, as in the arcade games, rather than simply selecting the moves from a list.[7] This, combined with the overall speed of combat, makes for fairly engaging gameplay, as it requires one to remember the motions for a character's moves.

Tactically, the game ranges wildly in overall difficulty. The second chapter is notably more difficult than the first, and the standard "attack" command is rarely useful in comparison to the ubiquitous special moves.

While armor and accessories can be bought and equipped, there are no weapons for sale anywhere in the game. Each character has the same weapon throughout the game, and players can visit blacksmiths to temper and strengthen their weapons. These smiths can also infuse the weapons with one of the game's various elements, which make the weapon's normal strikes and select special moves more effective against certain enemies.[8]

The various dungeons and overworld maps tended to be small in size, which compensates for the extremely high encounter rate. On average, in a dungeon/overworld, fights begin every three to five seconds of movement (slightly more frequent while running). By playing through both chapters with a single character (not including load times), total game length is roughly 20–25 hours.

Characters

Playable characters:

Other characters:

Development

The development history of the game is fairly storied. It was announced for development at the height of the Samurai Shodown series' popularity in 1995, and underwent many delays in the process, finally being released a few years later. For some time, rumors abounded that it was never going to come out.

As originally envisioned, the game was to be split into three episodes: one for each of the three games in the series. For a while, it was to be a Neo Geo CD exclusive, but developmental and financial pressures caused SNK to also release it for the other two current systems. SNK decided that each version was to contain only two of the three episodes, thereby necessitating a player to buy two copies of the game in order to get the whole story. This plan resulted in a significant backlash from fans, and was discarded.

Eventually, as development ground on, the executive decision was made to scrap the third chapter entirely, and focus solely on the first two, so as to allow the game to be released sooner.

Release

While the core gameplay is largely similar between the versions, there are aesthetic and gameplay differences between the Neo Geo CD and PlayStation/Saturn versions.

The most obvious differences between the three versions are the bonus modes which are unlocked after beating the game.[9]

There have been a few attempts at translating the game into English, but so far none have been completed or even partially released. The translation by video game translator "Deuce" has been in development for several years and has not, as of 2014, been released. Save for a YouTube video showing a partial translation hack in action and a few screenshots of the game menu in English, nothing has ever materialized.

References

  1. ↑ IGN Staff. "Samurai Bosses Revealed". IGN. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
  2. ↑ SNK, ed. (1997). Samurai Spirits Bushido Rensetsuden Sega Saturn instruction manual (in Japanese). SNK, FujiTV, Asatsu. pp. 26–31. T-3112G.
  3. ↑ Famitsu, ed. (1997). Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits Bushidoretsuden Official Guide Book (in Japanese). ASCII. pp. 54, 58, 60–63, 68. ISBN 4-89366-789-0.
  4. ↑ SNK, ed. (1997). Samurai Spirits Bushido Rensetsuden Sega Saturn instruction manual (in Japanese). SNK, FujiTV, Asatsu. p. 13. T-3112G.
  5. ↑ SNK, ed. (1997). Samurai Spirits Bushido Rensetsuden Sega Saturn instruction manual (in Japanese). SNK, FujiTV, Asatsu. pp. 32, 33. T-3112G.
  6. ↑ Famitsu, ed. (1997). Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits Bushidoretsuden Official Guide Book (in Japanese). ASCII. pp. 174–185. ISBN 4-89366-789-0.
  7. ↑ SNK, ed. (1997). Samurai Spirits Bushido Rensetsuden Sega Saturn instruction manual (in Japanese). SNK, FujiTV, Asatsu. pp. 18–21, 24. T-3112G.
  8. ↑ SNK, ed. (1997). Samurai Spirits Bushido Rensetsuden Sega Saturn instruction manual (in Japanese). SNK, FujiTV, Asatsu. pp. 15, 17, 23. T-3112G.
  9. ↑ Famitsu, ed. (1997). Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits Bushidoretsuden Official Guide Book (in Japanese). ASCII. pp. 2–6. ISBN 4-89366-789-0.
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