Samurai Spirits / Samurai Shodown
This was the official English speaking website for Samurai Spirits. The original Samurai Spirits / Samurai Shodown offered twelve playable characters - Haohmaru, Galford, Hattori Hanzo, Tam Tam, Ukyo, Charlotte, Wan-Fu, Gen-an, Nakoruru, Jubei, and Earthquake. The story revolves around them traveling around the world to stop the demon sorcerer and final boss Amakusa, recently revived by the demon king to shroud the world in darkness.
The content below is from the site's 2005 archived pages and other outside sources.
Samurai Shodown / Samurai Spirits - Arcade, Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD, 3DO, Game Gear, Game Boy, Master System, Mega Drive, Sega CD, SNES, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Wii, PlayStation 3 (1993)
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NAKORURU
NAME
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Nakoruru
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DATE OF BIRTH
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October 11 in the 8th Year of Meiwa (1771 A.D.) at daybreak
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PLACE OF ORIGIN
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Ainu Moshiri-Kamui Kotan
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HEIGHT
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5 shaku, 1 sun: 154.5 cm (5'1")
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MEASUREMENTS
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2 shaku, 3 sun; 1 shaku, 6 sun; 2 shaku, 6 sun: 67-48.5-79 cm. (26"-19"-31")
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WEIGHT
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"That's none of your beeswax!"
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BLOOD TYPE
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Type AB
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WEAPON
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Her treasured sword, Chichi-ushi (Father Bull)
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FIGHTING STYLE
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Dancing Sword Arts of the Shikanna-Kamui
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LIKES
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The natural surroundings of Kamui Kotan
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DISLIKES
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Those who cannot respect nature with the highest esteem
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FLAW
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"...I can't reveal that."
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IDOLS
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Her father
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THE PATH OF THE SWORD IS?
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"Something I learned from my father as a means of self defense."
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SPECIAL SKILL
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Hearing the voice of Nature
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WHEN YOU FEEL AT PEACE
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"When I spend time among the trees of the forest."
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FAVORITE TYPE OF MATE
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"I haven't really given it much thought."
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HAOHMARU
NAME
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Haohmaru
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DATE OF BIRTH
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Year 13 of Horeki, September 5, at the hour of the Bull (2 a.m.)
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PLACE OF ORIGIN
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The castle town of Musashi-koku
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HEIGHT
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5 shaku, 7 sun: 173 cm (5'7")
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WEIGHT
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17 kanme: 64 kg (141 lbs.)
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BLOOD TYPE
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Type A
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WEAPON
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Fugudoku (The Blowfish Blade)
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FIGHTING STYLE
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His own personal style
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LIKES
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Duels
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DISLIKES
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Cowards and "grease bugs" (cockroaches)
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FLAW
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A short temper
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IDOLS
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Nicotine Caffeine, an old scholar who lived near his boyhood home
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THE PATH OF THE SWORD IS?
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"The path on which you must gamble your life and walk to the end."
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SPECIAL SKILL
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Street performance (He insists it's a serious display of swordsmanship.)
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WHEN YOU FEEL AT PEACE
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"When the rice wine tastes particularly fine."
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FAVORITE TYPE OF MATE
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Yamato nadeshiko (traditionally humble Japanese women)
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HANZO HATTORI
NAME
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Hanzo Hattori
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DATE OF BIRTH
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No intel available. (Estimated to be the 4th year of Horeki [1754 A.D.])
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PLACE OF ORIGIN
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Dewa-Sanchu (estimate)
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HEIGHT
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5 shaku, 9 sun (estimate): 179 cm (5'9")
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WEIGHT
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16 kanme: 60 kg (132 lbs.)
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BLOOD TYPE
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Type A
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WEAPON
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Unnamed ninja sword
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FIGHTING STYLE
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Iga Style of Ninja Arts
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LIKES
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Dango [sweet dumplings] (estimate)
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DISLIKES
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Those who oppose the Tokugawa Dynasty.
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FLAW
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"My fate to live and die in the shadows."
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IDOLS
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His ninja master
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THE PATH OF THE SWORD IS?
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"The way of the ninja is ever-changing and harsh."
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SPECIAL SKILL
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Ninja arts
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WHEN YOU FEEL AT PEACE
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"When I use the Methods of Dark Nothingness to disappear."
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FAVORITE TYPE OF MATE
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Independent women
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REVIEW
Samurai Shodown Anthology Review
My thoughts on this game: 'Overcame pinch by bursting rage!
BY RYAN CLEMENTS REVIEWED ON WII / 15 APR 2009
Reviews
The Samurai Shodown series was started in Japan decades ago thanks to the efforts of what is now SNK Playmore. A 2D fighter on the Neo Geo platform, Samurai Shodown was special in that it offered fighting of a much different variety than its peers -- fighting that was far slower in pace and sometimes felt more like a traditional battle from old samurai flicks. You cautiously move around the screen and you can often finish the battle with just a few precisely executed attacks. It was a different type of experience.
Samurai Shodown Anthology gives you easy access to Samurai Shodown I, Samurai Shodown II, Samurai Shodown III, Samurai Shodown IV and Samurai Shodown V. Samurai Shodown VI is on its own, as the other games can all be accessed from a dropdown menu that includes Arcade play and Practice modes (VI gets its own icon on the main menu!). The interface for the collection is similar to SNK Playmore's other offerings, so the simple grey background and big icons will be familiar to some of you.
There are plenty of options for tweaking your experience, including button configurations and character color palette editors. Ultimately though, you'll be spending most of your time diving in and out of the six games that all run well. There are obviously load times to work through and occasional bits of slowdown, but the stutters are normal for these sorts of collections.
What was most fascinating for me as a gamer was to play through each of the Samurai Shodowns on the anthology in order and watch as the series grew over the years. That's perhaps the greatest value in a compilation, and I think that historical perspective alone is worth the price of admission. But my concern is that the Samurai Shodown series is not an easy one. Balancing your Rage gauge is just one of countless sub-systems players need to learn over time and it's really not easy to pick up and play. It's also stiffer and more stubborn than the other fighters I've wrestled with, which will make it appeal even less to beginners. Then, of course, there's the beast known as Samurai Shodown VI.
The sixth member of the collection is so complicated I could barely wrap my head around it at first. There's no sense in me explaining the fighting systems contained within VI (and its predecessors), but to put matters simply, Samurai Shodown is a traditional one-on-one fighter with special moves, counters, rolls and all sorts of goodies fighting game fans should come to expect. But Samurai Shodown VI actually lets you choose between nine different Spirits, or fighting styles, one of which has eight variations. Yikes. This brings me back to my original point: this game will put newbies in a pinch and frustrate casual gamers (See what I did there?). It also has some hilarious translations, but I imagine this game will only appeal to hardcore Samurai Shodown fans anyway.
The Verdict
For $30, Samurai Shodown is packing quite a lot of classic 2D fighting into one package, which I always appreciate. But the super fuzzy sprites just don't look as nice anymore, especially in Samurai Shodown VI when they sit on the title's surprisingly slick backgrounds. Then again, hardcore fighting game fans rarely commit to the experience because of the graphics -- it's all about gameplay. This anthology has the classic gameplay some of you will recognize and that in itself is the game's main selling point. Everyone else will feel very overwhelmed upon booting up the game. But at least we can all take solace in Iroha's ridiculous charm.
The Wii version supports all the control options you'd want, including the Classic Controller, which is the only way to go. It also has an exclusive motion-controlled mini-game where you catch falling items as one of the franchise pets, like Poppy and Pak Pak. So even though there are a few Samurai Shodowns on the Virtual Console, this is still the most robust, cost-effective option.
+++
A Player's Review
2006
Do I honestly need to tell you what Samurai Shodown is? I doubt it. But just in case you're a newbie to this series, Samurai Shodown is a 2D fighting game created by SNK, the company that has ruled sprite-based fighting games for a long period of time and brought us, gamers, such gems as King of Fighters and Last Blade. My younger brother's opinion is that no other SNK series stands as tall as Samurai Shodown, at least not as tall as the first 2 games in the series. Opportunities for health increases occasionally occur during the fights (which is a good thing),but random obstacles also occur such as bombs (which is not a good thing). The stages also often have partially destructible pieces, the backgrounds are detailed, and the characters are really impressive to watch. My brother and I are ferocious players. We really get into the game. I like the fact you can actually disarm your opponent, knocking their weapon(s) away, giving you the advantage (unless you too have been disarmed) until you or your adversary can reach your weapons. It's cool that it's all fisticuffs for the unarmed player. This may hinder a player at first who loses his or her weapon, but a real gamer wouldn't be slowed down. It's a thrill to beat beating an armed foe with your bare hands! One day my brother and I really got carried away and in the bedlam knocked over our containers of soft drinks. What a mess. My brother grabbed the high quality paper towels that we have loads of since our father works for an e commerce site that sells janitorial supplies. The store itself is pretty cool selling not only janitorial supplies, but also restaurant and office supplies both on a wholesale and retail basis. My Mom likes their environmentally friendly products and the great prices since my father works there. Anyway, we could have been a Bounty commercial. I can see the ad: Two kids playing Samurai Shodown, dog jumps across table after cat spilling soda all over the floor. Mom rushes in and swiftly cleans up the mess with Bounty paper towels. Kids continue their game and the older brother, that's me, wins!! Well it didn't quite happen that way, but you get the point. Samurai Shodown is an outstanding game that I recommend playing. Go for it.