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)
Platforms	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 of 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.

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. 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. 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). 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." All characters from the first two Samurai Shodown games make an appearance, either as a temporary helper, plot device, or enemy.

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. 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 in the 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.

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:

• Cham Cham - Sister to the Greenhell hero, Tam Tam, who goes to Japan to find the Palenke Stone. She battles Mizuki because she "needs to beat the bad guys".
• Charlotte - Optional secondary character. If she joins with Haohmaru as the main hero in the second chapter, they will exchange a special conversation when she comes home to Paris.
• Galford - Upon just completing his training with his mentor's son, Shinzo, is possessed by Amakusa. He leaves alone to deal justice to Amakusa. He intends to do the same with Mizuki.
• Haohmaru - While in Nicotine's dojo, he is confronted by Amakusa to join his forces. He refuses and gets beaten badly by Genjuro in a duel. When he awakens, he begins to wonder about his own potential, and leaves to vanquish Amakusa and find self-fulfillment. He honors his master's wishes and goes to slay Mizuki in his stead.
• Kibagami Genjuro - Humiliated by Amakusa for his preference for Haohmaru, he sets out to kill Amakusa. When Mizuki terrorizes the world, he decides to kill her from pure interest. Due to his arrogance, he is the only hero who does his story solo (the exception being Reon and his non-fighting pet in his party).
• Nakoruru - Much like her original origin story but with Rimururu present. When her father is killed by a wild bear, she goes to slay the source of the evil, Amakusa. Mizuki's revival again stirred trouble for Nature so she sets out to save it.
• Rimururu - Optional secondary character. She will have special dialogue if the main hero who recruits her is Nakoruru.
• Senryo Kyoshiro - Optional secondary character.
• Shippū no Reon - Original character. Appears in Mizuki chapter as the mandatory third/second character. A mysterious warrior on a mission to defeat Mizuki, no matter the cost.
• Tachibana Ukyo - Ill and intending to ease his beloved Kei's worry, he leaves to find the ultimate flower for her pleasure. The flower he finds after Amakusa's defeat was genuine so as a favor to Nicotine, he goes to slay Mizuki.

Other characters:

• Amakusa Shiro Tokisada - Sorcerer who revives his role as main villain for the first chapter.
• Bizuki - Priestess who is eventually possessed by Mizuki.
• Caffeine Gaira - Occasional guest party member, will have special dialogue if Haohmaru or Genjuro are the main hero.
• Caffeine Nicotine - Sage advisor and occasional guest party member, will have special dialogue if Haohmaru or Genjuro are the main hero.
• Earthquake - Minor villain; has special dialogue and scenes if Galford is the main hero.
• Haon - Original character; Bizuki's demon dog companion.
• Hattori Hanzō - Occasional guest party member; will have special scenes if Galford is the main hero in the first chapter.
• Hisame Shizumaru - NeoCD version bonus only.
• Kazama Kazuki - NeoCD version bonus only.
• Kazama Sogetsu - NeoCD version bonus only.
• Kubikiri Basara - Occasional guest party member in first chapter; optional boss in second chapter.
• Kuroko - Cameo as stageman; acts as the "save point" for the game.
• Neinhalt Sieger - occasional guest party member; dies late in second chapter.
• Paku-Paku - Cham Cham's pet monkey; in the first chapter, it is established that he is really Tam Tam. In Mizuki's story, it is unconfirmed whether he is still Tam Tam or her actual pet, Paku-Paku.
• Poppy - Galford's faithful husky companion.
• Rashojin Mizuki - Evil demon who acts as the villain for the second chapter.
• Reppū no Hion - Original character; Reon's ancestor and companion to Bizuki.
• Shiranui Gen-an - Minor villain.
• Tam Tam - Appears briefly in the first chapter of Cham Cham's story; transformed into Paku-Paku
• Tokihime - original character; sister to the lover of Amakusa. Depending on the player's actions, her sister saves Amakusa's soul from Ambrosia.
• Ushiwakahime - Original character; servant to Ambrosia but is commanded by Amakusa.
• Wan-Fu - Occasional guest party member.
• Yagyu Jubei - Occasional guest party member; dies early in second chapter.

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 Neo Geo CD version has considerably more animation in the combat sprites than the PS and Saturn, including unique idle stances for each character and specialized death animations for monsters.
• The Neo Geo CD version has more ornate and colorful menus, whereas the PS and Saturn versions have fairly blank, purple-and-green menus instead.
• Motions in the Neo Geo CD version have a smoother look and feel than the others.
• In the overworld map, the NeoCD version uses a scaled-down version of the dungeon/down character sprite. The PS version uses a new sprite entirely.
• The Neo Geo CD runs in its native resolution of 304x224, whereas the PS and Saturn run in 320x240.
• The Neo Geo CD version has less pauses between audio clips than the others.
• The PS and Saturn version have significant animation cuts in the characters' walk/run animations.
• The PS version enables the player to select the strength of a normal attack after choosing a target, whereas the Neo Geo CD does not.
• The PS version shows an Active Time Battle bar, which the NeoCD lacks.
• The PS version has higher-quality music than either of the other two versions, owing to higher-quality PCM samples.

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

• Neo Geo CD: A third "mini-chapter" is enabled, wherein the player controls Hisame Shizumaru as he wanders around, running into cameo appearances of various SNK characters from other games.
• PlayStation: A "side story" mode is enabled, which enables the player to view non-interactive sequences about many of the series' other characters.
• Saturn: An interview mode is enabled, which enables the player to view a lengthy, non-interactive sequence about the various characters, frequently breaking the fourth wall. This bonus content is also available in the PlayStation version, by way of a hacked save file.

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.