PS1

Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge

Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge is a 1996 fighting game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is the fourth installment of the Samurai Shodown series.

FightingArcade

Time to beat: about 0.8 hours

Overview

Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge is a 1996 fighting game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is the fourth installment of the Samurai Shodown series. Chronologically, it is the second and final chapter of a story between Samurai Shodown and Samurai Shodown II, with Samurai Shodown III being the first chapter. Samurai Shodown! on the Neo Geo Pocket is a monochrome adaptation of this game, and it was followed by Samurai Shodown! 2 on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, which is a 2D adaptation of Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage.

The ability to select from "Slash" and "Bust" versions of characters is retained from Samurai Shodown III.

Among other series changes, aerial blocking was removed entirely. One can also no longer charge one's own "pow" gauge. The off-screen delivery man was omitted entirely from the game. The "CD combo" was added, wherein a player can press the C and D buttons together, triggering a strike that can be followed up by a sequence of button taps.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Samurai Shodown IV on their December 1, 1996 issue as being the most-popular arcade game at the time. As reported by Famitsu, the AES version sold over 9,253 copies in its first week on the market. It was released for the PlayStation in Japan on December 25, 1997.