Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge

About Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge

Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge (1996) is SNK's fourth Samurai Shodown, concluding the story begun in III with ninja brothers Kazuki and Sogetsu, CD combos and Mortal Kombat-style fatalities.

Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge in Depth

Chronologically it is the second and final chapter of a story set between Samurai Shodown and Samurai Shodown II, following Samurai Shodown III. All twelve playable characters from III return, some retouched for a more cartoonish look, along with Charlotte, Tam Tam and Jubei Yagyu from earlier games. New are two ninja brothers of the Kazama clan: Kazuki, a fire-jutsu specialist who deserts to rescue their younger sister Hazuki from Amakusa, and the elder Sogetsu, who uses water jutsu, stays with the clan and is ordered to assassinate Kazuki for leaving.

The Slash and Bust versions of each character are retained, but aerial blocking is removed entirely, players can no longer charge their own POW gauge, and the off-screen item delivery is gone. A new CD combo, triggered by pressing C and D together, opens a strike that can be continued with a sequence of button taps. SNK also added a suicide move that forfeits the round in exchange for starting the next with a full POW gauge, and certain finishes allow a fatality in the vein of Mortal Kombat. GamePro felt it lacked the depth of Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Soul Edge but was easier to pick up and play, praising its "superb animation" and "outright beautiful" stages, and Electronic Gaming Monthly praised its large roster and big sprites.

Making Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge

SNK developed and published it for the Neo Geo in 1996 to complete the two-part story started in Samurai Shodown III, bringing back characters dropped from that game and reworking its systems. GamePro was unimpressed by the two new characters but pleased by the returning ones. Its PlayStation port, known in Japan as Samurai Spirits: Amakusa's Descent Special, followed at the end of 1997. Reviewing the later Virtual Console release, Nintendo Life praised its animation, heavy challenge and thrilling pace, noting that "a single slash [is] capable of turning the tide against any opponent."