Lost In Translation/Samurai Shodown

This page is a stub for arcade games that are part of the Lost In Translation series using information based on MAME (version 0.113u2).
For an example of preferred content and layout please refer to Out Run or The Ninja Warriors.

Samurai Shodown
Manufacturer	SNK
Released	1993
Control Method	8-way Joystick 4 Button(s)
Main CPU	Neo-Geo 68000 (@ 12.000 MHz) Z80 (@ 4.000 MHz)
Sound CPU	Stereo YM2610 (@ 8.000 MHz)
Video Details	Raster (Horizontal) 320 x 224 pixels 59.19 Hz 4,096 Palette colours
Screens	1
ROM Info	24 ROMs 16,842,752 bytes (16.06 MiB)
MAME ID	samsho

About The Game

Samurai Shodown is a one-on-one fighting, weapon-based arcade video game that put the Neo-Geo on the map! Featuring 12 characters, bonus rounds and one end boss.

Additional Technical Information

Players : 2

Control : 8-way joystick

Buttons : 4

=> With weapon : [A] Light attack, [B] Medium attack

=> Without weapon : [A] Light punch, [B] Medium punch, [C] Light kick, [D] Medium kick

Trivia

Released in July 1993.

The game is known in Japan as "Samurai Spirits (SNK)".

Samurai Shodown is the first game that introduced weapon fighting into the fighting game genre. The game used an upgraded version of the scaling graphics engine that was originally featured in "Art of Fighting".

Samurai Shodown also started SNK's reputation for their unique style of Engrish, known as SNKgrish in their games.

Unlike "Mortal Kombat", the usage of blood in this game is generally accepted, and the decision to replace blood with 'white blood' remains a sore point among fans of this series.

Samurai Shodown is considered by some to portray Japanese culture and language effectively. Unlike most American versions of Japanese video games, the characters in this game (including the announcer) generally speak fluent Japanese with subtitles, and traditional Japanese music is often heard during game-play. Samurai Shodown takes most of its characters from either historical sources or characters from the Ninja Scroll anime. In fact, a few designers that worked on Samurai Shodown also worked on the Ninja Scroll anime...

Haohmaru is based on the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645), whose fighting philosophy heavily influenced that of the Haohmaru character.

Ukyo Tachibana is based on Sasaki Kojiro Genryu (1572-1612), Musashi's skilled rival.

Jubei Yagyu is based on the historical Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi (1606-1644), who was a sword instructor to the Tokugawa shogunate. The Yagyu clan was a famous clan of samurai.

Hattori Hanzō Masashige (1541-1596) was the most famous of the Iga Ninja clan. He was a genius at leading night raids on forts and fiefs and became a feared assassin. Under his leadership, Iga Ninja became so notorious that Nobunaga felt it necessary to obliterate the Iga Ninja clan.

Wan-Fu seems to be a combination of two famous Chinese warriors. The first is a famous Chinese swordsman who was a rebel during the Ch'ing Dynasty. His name was Wang Ts-bin Wu, but he became known as Da Dao Wang Wu ('Big Scimitar Wang Wu'). The second lead bases Wan Fu upon the ancient, almost legendary, founder of the Chou Dynasty, King Wu Wang.

Kyoshiro Senryo is based on Nemuri Kyoshirō, a fictional character created by Shibata Tosaburo. 'Kyoshiro' translates to something like 'deranged fellow'. Tosaburo's Kyoshiro had nothing to do with kabuki theatre as does Samurai Shodown Kyoshiro. Kyoshiro's weapon is called a naginata.

Charlotte is based on a character in the manga 'The Rose of Versailles' by Riyoko Ikeda (1972).

Gen-an Shiranui looks much like Mushizo, the hunchback demon of Ninja Scroll. Gen-an's weapon is modelled after the weapon wielded by Shijima, the shadow demon, from Ninja Scroll. Although they share a surname, Gen-an is not a relative of Mai Shiranui of the Fatal Fury/King of Fighters series.

Amakusa Shiro Tokisada (1622-1638) led a Christian uprising against the Tokugawa shogunate in the Shimabara region of Japan.

Nakoruru is a homage to Sailor Moon.

A 'Kuroko' is a traditional Kabuki theatre stage-hand. They are traditionally dressed in black and took care of scenery and other behind-the-scenes needs during a Kabuki performance, just like modern theatre stage-hands. In the case of Samurai Shodown, Kuroko is the referee for each match in Samurai Shodown I and II. The black strip of fabric hanging over a Kuroko's face is to signify that they are not part of the Kabuki performance, just helping with the props. The red and white flags that Kuroko has are used in traditional martial arts matches, where each successful hit gets the corresponding fighter's flag raised.

Mai Shiranui (of Fatal Fury) appears in Haohmaru's and Gen-An's endings.

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Samurai Spirits - PCCB-00135) on 17/09/1993.

Tips and tricks

Alternate Costume Colours

Highlight a fighter at the character selection screen and press D.

Sleeping Mamahaha

This is just hilarious! To see this while playing as Nakoruru simply stand still, after a 8 seconds or so Mamahaha will land on Nakoruru's shoulder, start yawning and then it will fall asleep!

Poppy's Puppies

To see a truly cool & funny secret pose with Galford, Get a PERFECT against an opponent while unarmed. You must finish the battle with anything except a throw though!

Tam Tam's Broken Ending

If you use continues while beating the game with Tam Tam, you will miss a part of the whole ending (You can't see his real face). Beat the game with one credit in order to see his face.

Wan-fu's Sword Explosion Bug

While playing as Wan-fu trap an enemy against the edge of the screen then perform the Explosive Sword Drop with the B button (HCB + B) to throw the sword and land next to the opponent. Since most players as well as the CPU are likely to block the move, crouch and hit them with the C button (a short kick). This will make the move unblock-able and causes tons of damage!

Cut-proof Characters?

Sometimes a finishing slash will cut most opponents in half, however some characters (these being Kyoshiro & Amakusa) cannot be cut in half!

Series

1. Samurai Shodown (1993)
2. Samurai Shodown II (1994)
3. Samurai Shodown III (1995)
4. Samurai Shodown IV - Amakusa's Revenge (1996)
5. Samurai Shodown 64 (1997)
6. Samurai Shodown 64 - Warrior's Rage (1998)
7. Samurai Shodown V (2003)
8. Samurai Shodown V Special (2004)
9. Samurai Shodown - Tenkaichi Kenkakuden (2005)
10. Samurai Shodown - Edge of Destiny (2008)

Staff

Executive Producer

Eikichi Kawasaki

Main Producer

Rocket Queen

Producers

Bonehead Ken

Satoppe-

Tomi Yan

Fukui Tomoaki

Front Designers

Violetche Nakamoto

Miki

Masami Tanaka

K.Shintani-F91

Go-Go (Dave Bros)

Kazu

The.Fool

Ryu! (Dave Bros)

Erina.Makino

Back Designers

Fukui Tomoaki

AAA

Keisen (as Oshioki-Keisen)

Yasupuu

N. Azumi (as N. Azumichan)

Okap-

Mayu K.

Erina.Makino

Programmers

Nishidon

K2

Zombi Abe

Cyber Kondo

Z'N

Music

Tate Norio

Masahiko Hataya (Papaya)

Submissions

Ryu! (Dave Bros)

AAA

Miki

Okap-

The.Fool

Mayu K.

Erina.Makino

Character designers

Jubei Yagyu

Masami Tanaka

Miki

Kuma.Bee

Kazu

Earthquake

Go-Go (Dave Bros)

K.Shintani-F91

Kazu

Hanzo Hattori

Violetche Nakamoto

Keisen (as Oshioki.Keisen)

K.Shintani-F91

N. Azumi (as N. Azumichan)

The.Fool

Erina.Makino

Ukyo Tachibana

Kazu

The.Fool

Wan-fu

Go-Go (Dave Bros)

K.Shintani-F91

The.Fool

Ryu! (Dave Bross)

Gen-an Shiranui

K.Shintani-F91

Keisen (as Oshioki-Keisen)

N. Azumi (as N. Azumichan)

Ryu! (Dave Bross)

The.Fool

Galford

Violetche Nakamoto

Keisen (as Oshioki-Keisen)

K.Shintani-F91

N. Azumi (as N. Azumichan)

The.Fool

Erina.Makino

Kyoshiro Senryo

Kazu

Erina.Makino

Tam Tam

Miki

Masami Tanaka

Go-Go (Dave Bros)

Haohmaru

K.Shintani-F91

Erina.Makino

Nakoruru

Violetche Nakamoto

Keisen (as Oshioki-Keisen)

The.Fool

Shirou Tokisada

Miki

Charlotte & Poppy

Kuwa.Bee

Mamahaha

Erina.Makino

Voice Actors

Haomaru, Hanzo Hattori, Galford & Earthquake

Masaki Usui

Jubei Yagyu & Wan-Fu

Takayuki Sakai

Ukyo Tachibana, Gen-an Shiranui & Shiro Tokisada Amakusa

Eiji Yano

Kyoshiro Senryo & Tam Tam

Kazuhiro Inage

Nakoruru & Charlotte

Harumi Ikoma

Cabinet and Artwork

• 

  Neo-Geo arcade cabinet.

• 

  Samurai Shodown marquee.

• 

  Samurai Shodown flyer.

• 

  Back of the Samurai Shodown flyer.

• 

  Alternate Samurai Shodown flyer.

• 

  Back of an alternate Samurai Shodown flyer.

• 

  Samurai Spirits flyer.

Ports

Consoles

Sega Mega CD (1993)

Nintendo Super Famicom (1994)

Nintendo Game Boy (1994)

Sega Mega Drive (1994)

Sega Game Gear (1994)

SNK Neo-Geo CD (1994)

REAL 3DO (1995)

Sony PlayStation (1998, "Samurai Spirits - Kenkaku Yubinan Pack")

FM Town Marty

Others

Mobile Phones (2004)

Soundtrack Releases

Album Name	Catalogue No.	Released	Publisher	Comments
Samurai Spirits Image Album	PCCB-00147	1994-02-18	Pony Canyon, Inc.	CD version.
Samurai Spirits	PCCB-00135	1993-09-17	Pony Canyon/Scitron	CD version.
Samurai Spirits Symphonic Sound Trax	PCCB-00198	1995-11-17	Pony Canyon	CD version.
NEO SELECTION - NEO-GEO Fighting Tournament Best / SNK.ADK	PCCB-00141	1993-12-17	Pony Canyon/Scitron	CD version.
Neo•Geo Super Live! 1994	PCCB-00161	1994-10-05	Pony Canyon	CD version.
Samurai Remix	PCCB-00174	1995-03-01	Pony Canyon/Scitron	CD version.
NEO-GEO DJ Station	PCCB-00244	1997-01-18	Pony Canyon/Scitron	CD version.
SNK Character Sounds Collection Volume 2 ~ Nakoruru	PCCB-00269	1997-07-18	Pony Canyon/Scitron	CD version.
Samurai Spirits Drama CD	PCCB-00300	1998-03-04	Pony Canyon/Scitron	CD version.
Scitron 10th Anniversary Special: Samurai Spirits THE BEST -Selected by Characters-	PCCB-00326	1998-09-18	Pony Canyon/Scitron	CD version.
SNK Character Sounds Collection Volume 9 - Rimururu	PCCB-00348	1998-12-02	Pony Canyon/Scitron	CD version.
NEO-GEO DJ Station 2 ~ B.O.F. Returns	PCCB-00361	1999-03-03	Pony Canyon/Scitron	CD version.
NEO-GEO DJ Station Live '99, SNK Presents	PCCB-00374	1999-05-19	Pony Canyon/Scitron	2 CD version.
NEO GEO DJ Station in Gemudora night !	SCDC-00029	2000-07-19	Scitron	CD version.
Super Famicom Magazine Volume 15 - Starting with Famous Music!! Final Fantasy VI & New Game Sound Museum	TIM-SFC15	1994-03-01	Tokuma Shoten Publishing	CD version.
Scitron 10th Anniversary Special CD Sampler	DMCZ-300098	1998-01-01	Scitron Label	2 CD version.
Dengeki CD Bunko Best Game Selection 9 - Samurai Spirits ~Hihou Ruten Shimaki~	MWCG-0011	1994-06-25	Media Works	CD version.
Dengeki CD Bunko Best Game Selection 8 - Samurai Spirits ~Jashin Hukkatsu Shimaki~	MWCG-0008	1994-01-25	Media Works	CD version.
Dengeki CD Bunko Best Game Selection 16 - Samurai Spirits ~Kenma Taisen Shimaki~	MWCG-0013	1994-10-25	Media Works	CD version.
SAMURAI SPIRITS NEOGEO's SOUNDTRACK COLLECTION BOX	DECX-0011~5	2004-07-12	DEX Entertainment	5 CD version.
Gaesen Oh - Scitron Game Music Mega Mix Vol.1	KGCD-0001	1994-01-01	Pony Canyon/Scitron	CD version.
Super Famicom Magazine Volume 22 - New Game Sound Museum	TIM-SFC22	1994-09-01	Tokuma Shoten Publishing	CD version.
NEO-GEO DJ Station Live '99, SNK Presents	PCLP-00703	1999-06-02	Pony Canyon, Scitron Label
NEO-GEO DJ Station Live '99, SNK Presents	PCVP-12619	1999-06-02	Pony Canyon, Scitron Label	Released on VHS.

References

The contents of this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The sources used include MAME (version 0.113u2) and history.dat (revision 1.28 - 2008-10-18).
Please see http://www.arcade-history.com for credits.