I want to add that the huge inspiration behind Samurai Shodown are the novels of Fuutaro Yamada. The man was truly a father to the "Dark Japanese fantasy" genre that's still explored today with the titles like Sekiro. Actually, Amakusa Shiro was a villain in his legendary novel "Makai Tenshou", and Yagyuu Juubei was one of his most prominent heroes. His most well-known work in the west is probably Kouga Ninpouchou (Basilisk), adapted into manga by Segawa Masaki and then into anime (Not the trash season 2 though). The old prominent animated movie "Ninja Scroll" shared the same universe with Basilisk. This is really unfortunate how few of his works got a decent adaptation and even though some were noticed in the west, the name of the progenitor remains largely unknown.

I'd like to add something that many Samurai Shodown (2019) players still don't know... in 2021, SNK released a Next-Gen version of the (2019) 'reboot.' The next gen version released only on the Series X|S on March 16, 2021 with 120fps gameplay making it the very first fighting game to have true 120fps gameplay. To this day it is still the only fighting game that has 120fps gameplay - which significantly improves netplay (even SF6 is not confirmed to incorporate the true 120fps gameplay) making this Samurai Shodown a game truly ahead of its time. If you are interested in trying it, this game is heavily streamed under the Twitch category 'Samurai Shodown Enhanced'. This game was featured as a Main game Tournament at Frosty Faustings XV Feb 4, 2023 and will be a Main Game Tournament at Combo Breaker next month. This game was also a part of Vortex Gallery Online 2023 on February 25th, 2023.

My man KBash got StumbleBee out of hiatus to talk about one of the fighting game series GOATs Being among the twelve fans of niche microcelebrity fgc creators, I'm hooting and hollering rn

The Stumblebee cameo caught me off guard lol and yeah air blocking in SamSho seems so wrong

This was great and super well-written. I can count on one hand the number of creators who can keep me engaged with an hour-plus video about a game I have never played, and you're one of them!

18:41 Because there's nothing more charismatic than a dead Alien in an unspeakable stew. Samsho is SRS BSNS.

Samurai Shodown (2019) is the greatest fighting game of the last five years. Maybe ten. Its only weakness lies in its netcode, and that's being addressed four years after the fact. Everything else about the game is sublime, near-perfect, even. Might even come out of KZfaq exile to make a response video to this. It's that worthy of praise, and I'm glad you found joy in it.

Couple things I want to mention about 5 and 6. SS5 was actually a prequel, narratively, which is why it's called "Zero" in Japan. And SS6 was just a dream match, a term used to describe games that can only occur in a dream because it features a narrative that can't happen otherwise (re:KoF98:Dream Match Never Ends). It didn't even have a number associated with it in Japan -- that was a North American thing. It's also not bloody at all due to the game being focused around a festival, which is also why one of the new characters exclusive to this game is a fireworks specialist that fights with a fireworks cannon. By making it less bloody, they could also get a lower age rating and get it to more people, they theorized. It's also a festival in that it celebrates the whole series by featuring EVERY character and different modes/ISMs/grooves/variations to choose from based on each game in the series. And since SS2019 is a reboot, that means SS4 is the last game in the series narrative so far. Oh shit, Stumblebee. Been wondering what he's been up to.

KBash covering one of my favorite game series of all time, when I know damn well it's niche as hell?? I'm actually shocked. I've been a hardcore proud Nakoruru simp since 1993. I was obsessed with this game in 1993. The weapon based combat and super stylish characters looked so much cooler than Street Fighter II to me. I have desperately wanted to play the NEO GEO CD RPG SamSho game so badly for decades. I STILL have my Samurai Shodown VHS anime tape I bought in the 90s. I still have my Samurai Shodown manga. I own Samurai Shodown Warriors Rage on PS1. I have the NEOGEO Pocket Color with SamSho2 on it and SNK vs Capcom. And finally, as an adult I was able to get my own North American NEO GEO arcade cabinet with Samurai Shodown 2 in it. I'm just such a huge fan of this series and I have been for decades.

Stumblebee! I miss your stuff, dude. You made high quality content.

Finally, an accurate depiction of SamSho hitboxes

the charrollete laugh, so good.

I remember those giant sprites in the Arcade. Mind Blown 🤯

One of these days I'd like to run some sets with you. You keep talking about and referencing fighters I love, man, IT'S INEVITABLE.

And then Haohmaru came to Soul Calibur 6, where I got to enjoy my first and only taste of samshow.

God, it's like all my braincells activated going back over this whole series. Definitely going back when the roll back rolls out.

Fun fact: I am Yeetkunedo, and it was an absolute honor and privilege to be asked to assist on this one. Welcome back to FGs, KBash.

After Watching this video, Bloody Roar came to mind. Always wondered what happened to that series. It was kinda cool back in the days.

KBash has a green screen now. He could be anywhere. He could be behind you.

I really wish the latest entry would have been more popular. People complain about fighting games were you get combod for 10+ secs but then they don’t support games like Samurai Shodown. Smh, will never understand the FGC.

Killer video, as always. SamSho 2019 was one of my favorite fighters to play with my old roommate, I have so many good memories associated with it. Excited for the rollback update, I want to make this my go to game so I'm really hoping it gets an influx of new players when the time comes.

KBash just keeps slaying with his flowing hair! It’s his power growing larger

My favourite fighting game franchise.

Some of the best memories playing this with my friends, nothing better then mom making waffles and playing this for hours with my buddies

This was a wonderful celebration of one of the coolest fighting game series ever! Also, I just want you to know that you dropping the serious voice and breaking into "OOOOOHH does X do Y? I DON'T THINK SO" is my favorite bit of yours

Kbash I really appreciate you covering certain series in full. You’re doing great work, man

Finally a fighting game retrospective ❤

The series that got me into gaming at like 6 years old

You can currently obtain a rare collectible called Samurai Sword-Down through the PlayStation Stars program for the next 14 days. I don’t know what these collectibles do exactly, I guess some kind of achievement, but it’s cool that the series is getting some random attention

Always good to see KBash covering fighters. Will watch him cover anything but it's very cool that he appreciates the genre

Another certified KBash Classic. Cool to see you get someone else in the discussion too! Very well edited and well paced video, great job!

just want to expand a bit about the nature of heavy punishing; i love how Samsho has hit stop. even as a spectator I always grunts every time the heavy button hits. it's satisfying to watch. the extra oomph is very vivid it's like saying 'look at that mistake' or 'reap your reward.' i'm KoF fans and SFV casual spectators and i rarely got the oomph cathartic experience on that game. a single button hit from samsho delivers like-you-said a mystical experience. like the definition of battling a lifeline is very much real. not to mention the comeback mechanic in this game is so good. when one player decide to burst on samsho 2019, i hold my breath anticipating when Issen is coming. and since this game is read heavy, i never know who's going to win and mostly glue myself to chair watching how the players staking their life second by second. after winner proclaim the victory only then i elude from the grasp of heavy pressure. this game is something and i really hope to see it flourish.

More like “Kslash” amirite?

While I have not played Samsho a lot, I kinda bounced off of what I tried of Samsho 5, but I do really like Last Blade 2, which feels like a very similar philosophy but is a bit more restrained in its characters and presentation. Amazingly wonderful spritework in that one too.

One of your masterpieces! Great stuff Mr. Bash Shame we didn't get that RPG

You have no idea how I feel when I’m at work and I refresh my KZfaq and see Kbash has a new video!!!

Your videos are always great and this one's especially awesome! Really appreciate the way you make these cause nobody else I know of is talking about games in quite the way you do. No offense to other youtube people, but it feels like you actually analyze the games on a deeper and more interesting level than most out there. Makes me wish Gundam had some games with stories on par with the show cause I'd love to see what you think of that whole world lol Also I did not expect to see Stumblebee, so that was great too!

Awesome retrospective! I've been meaning to try out SamSho 2019 for the longest time but after seeing this I might actually do so. Also nice to see Stumblebee again!

Thanks for the soapbox, Kbash! May our swords cross again 🍆 🍆 🤺

Shout-out to that gag about "stop saying 'im not good at fighting games' and be honest for once". Anybody who deeply loves fighting games has experienced a friend saying they're "not very good" at them and then bending over backwards to try to help them learn just to realize later they were never really interested in the first place. Saying "I'm not very good" implies that interest exists and you just don't know where to start learning. I don't know why people have such a hard time just saying "I'm not interested"

I remember the first time I sat down at my friend's computer and he booted up MAME (arcade cabinet emulator) and showed me Samurai Showdown 2, we spent probably 12 hours sharing a single keyboard with controls split down the middle amazed by the pixel art, the style, the gushing blood, the sound effects, everything. This was in the late '90s/early '00s, but the sheer level of craftmanship beat out anything else we were playing on Dreamcast or PS1.

I was like, “what’s up with this ad” when Mad Salty showed up. And closed the video immediately lol

Samsho 2019 is so fun. There's no greater feeling in a fighting game then connecting with a heavy slash.

i needed this video , been dying for samsho love

Samsho: the ultimate robbery game. . . so much salt, so much sweating, so much fun. This series honestly is a mess; but I love it for being crazy fun with friends in an arcade setting lol

I wish SNK would just team up with ArcSys and bring back the beautiful hand-drawn aesthetic that made them look so good

Samurai Shodown inspired generations of iconic Asia manga, manhwa and MOBAs with its characters alone... Now that's a legacy ⚔️🌸😃

I was there for the arcades. Thanks for making me feel old :P

That sprite work is impeccable

No wayyy u made a vid on this. Today is a good day.

Love u bro keep it up man

Man I loved this. Samsho is such a sick ass fighting game Also my man's Kbash got Bumblebee to pop by. This must means he's moving up

Samurai Shodown is where I learned about happen switching the first and last names

Bushido Blade 2 and the original Bushido Blade need to be played. It makes all lifebar games look casual. Also, the bamboo thicket arena lets you cut down every. Single. Stalk. In full 3D movement like Tekken but with more freedom of movement. There are 2 factions of "assassin schools", you can choose from a selection of weapons before each match which changes the move-set, with some characters having unique combos for certain weapons. One of the arms could be crippled by a well-placed strike, which prevents dual wield or thrown attacks (every character has their own "sub-weapon" that can be thrown or, in certain set-ups, drawn to dual wield. You could also throw sand or water if standing on the right terrain in order to momentarily stun the target). In the original, you could also cripple one leg which forced the character to shuffle around nearly prone....fun for trolling, prevented jumping, but that was removed for BB2 which was for the best. High melodrama of the 2 schools in their generations-long blood feud. Shinto v Narukagami. The opening cinematic is truly cinematic, with a Shinto ambush of the Narukagami shrine showcasing the starting roster of 3 per faction. I still remember the images and soundtrack. This is a Playstation title. As in, PS1. I still remember basically all the roster if I think, some of them don't even need to try. Kaun, Gengoro, and Jo from Shinto vs Narukagami's line up...they I don't remember the names of as easily but Narukagami is presented as the heroic faction, with "main anime young boy", "woman of skill" and "gruff tough guy" Kanuki, mirrored by Shinto's Kaun, who is the white-haired, pale faced, mysterious and solemn but slight anti-hero, Jo the bubbly precocious never-give-up girl, and Gengoro, the traditionalist samurai bound by honor, ruthless in duty (and adopted father of Kaun). Each faction has a Light, Medium and Heavy style fighter to pick from out the gate, but the story mode quickly unlocks more of the roster. Each character you play story mode on has a unique version of the story events with periodic interactions with other characters that have relationships with the character or the enemies, weaving an epic tale of loss and revenge, in delightful melodrama. Gengoro, the Highwayman, Red Shadow and her pupil Nightstalker, Utsusemi, Musashi the ronin with a corncob pipe, Tony the disco dancer, and many more characters ranging from near-absurd to classic tropes, all made to feel grounded in this real-world setting about secret martial schools who care more about their shadow war than the modern world. Also, there are 2 secret unlockable gun users. Shinto get Katze, a wannabe cowboy channeling Revolver Ocelot and Narukagami has a dominatrix-clad woman with an M-16 rifle. I didn't mention that it is set in modern day, which gives the anachronistic Bushido obsessed story an interesting layer....the story mode features a series of ninja minions between the level bosses: the Narukagami have blow dart gun subweapons. The Shinto ninjas are more dangerous; they draw and fire a semiauto pistol that can 1-shot kill. Little touches like this demonstrate that the Shinto are less beholden to tradition for the sake of victory. But, again, a good hit from the main weapon can 1-shot kill anyone, anytime. The gun users are fun, they can kill from across the map with a good shot. Which they need, lacking any melee attacks. Instead of subweapons, they can reload their guns. Guns have limited ammo before being useless until reloaded. And if the arm gets crippled by an attack...no more reload. So Katze goes from an unfair terror to completely useless; fun asymetrical balance on display. (May be worth noting that the gun wielders are only playable in Arcade and VS, not Story mode. In Story, each is a mid-point boss for the opposing faction that forces you to use mobility and positioning tactics to avoid being domed while trying to close in and get the kill.) There's rumored 2 more secret characters, uniquely costumed Kabuki warriors for each faction that you unlock by beating Time Trial, in which you, wielding a Katana (no weapon select) must beat 100 enemies with Katanas in a row. I could never beat the challenge to kill all 100, without dying once, under the time limit to unlock the Kabuki. It haunts me to this day. Go play Bushido Blade 2! I have longed for it to get an update for years upon years, and pulled it our for solo or group couch play so many times. It's a great crowd pleaser, with the chance to just get your sword edge into the opponents forehead as they go into a jump and end the fight 5 seconds in with a gout of low-polygon blood. Just for fun, the weapon choices are: Katana Nodochi Long sword (it's more just a sword) Broadsword (it's a huge great sword) Narukagami: naginata Shinto: yari spear And certain fighters get special combos with one or a variety of weapons. Oh, there's also High, Medium and Low stances for each weapon, which changes the moveset of attacks. Certain characters get a special stance with certain weapons. For instance, some replace Low stance Katana with Duel Wield using their subweapon which is a second sword. Highwayman's subweapon is a rapier (lethal thrown) but can dual wield it with a longsword. Gengoro and Kaun get Iaijutsu as a stance with katana, sheathing the sword and only drawing to attack before resheathing; which is the ultimate stance for styling on people - or getting yourself killed if you whiff an attack and are locked in place resheathing the sword as that blade comes swinging down at you with no weapon to deflect with. True masters of Bushido Blade 2 use Iaijutsu (and I think only 3 characters can access the stance, the third being Tony, an African-American disco scoundrel with an afro and sunglasses in purple disco suit). Fun visual variety between how different factions use the same stance; how different classes of characters wield the same weapons; different movesets for the same weapons, Throw animations, ultra-secret moves that are just pure anime like backflipping over the opponent to impale them with a backward stab are doing rapid "100 cut" combos, and that moment of knowing your enemy attacked with a medium stance light attack at just short of range to connect and are now helplessly open to a high stance overhead heavy, all done in less than 3 seconds. It makes For Honor, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and Tekken all look like childrens' games with the healthbars. Training wheels. I say this enjoying all those fighting games. But nothing else I've seen in the industry approaches the high-speed, fast paced, tactical and visceral chess game of Bushido Blade. Oh, and you can play in 1st person camera mode which just ratchets up the immersion, i think they give you a small wireframe model of yourself in the corner so you can keep track of what stance you are in but you really need to know the moveset to do well in 1st person since you don't get that full view of your character in motion. Rant ended. TLDR; Bushido Blade 2 is still my favorite console game. Bushido Blade 1 is worth playing afterward just to see where it came from, treat it as a prequal and not the starting point. I think you can emulate it now?

Yo StumbleBee!!! Also cool retrospective!

YEEEESSSSS FINALLYYYY FIGHTING GAME VIDEO AND ITS SAMSHO!!!

Great video!! I was sold and i immediately hopped on steam afterwards and its 90% off right now!! Until June 21st!

And wow this thumbnail is awesome! 😁

Now this is going to be a treat

One of the few fighter games where I enjoyed playing as most of the characters.

IPPON! It's a great series play action wise and character focused. Play it again tonight!

I am only now realizing it's Shodown, not showdown

It sounds like there's some heavy compression on your voice over in this one. Not exactly complaining. It's great work as usual. Just curious if you've been playing with some different EQ settings or a new mic.

SS19 had The Knight from For Honor, how could I not think it was peak

Wow, reminds me of that one time my favourite KZfaqr Kbash did a second video on Gow 🙂

Finally! Sam Sho!

Thought you'd mention the interesting tale behind Samurai Shodown V Perfect but other than that this was an excellent video on Samurai Shodown

the OG Samurai Shodown on the SNES was the first fighting game I ever played and although I have played many other fighting games it is still my favourite.

My first step into this series was with SamSho 6. It’s…interesting. As far as I know, it’s the only one where you get to play as animal characters like Poppy

This was brilliant. Kudos and thank you for this retrospective. My only critique is that I was hoping to see a loose comparison to the only relevant 2D weapon base fighter that wasn't mentioned...The Last Blade and it's sequel. Surely that was more relevant as it was under the same company umbrella than the really obscure examples you gave. Gamers have gushed about how it is visually more appealing as A reason it should've been given the green light for an updated look as opposed to SamSho2019 but it was completely absent here. I'm not one of those people but it's absence is akin to having a Street Fighter retrospective but not mentioning a thing about Final Fight. Wouldn't The Last Blade be the sister series to Samurai Shodown? Again thanks for this informative retrospective, I learned some new information on top of being entertained.

I came from a wow video and you sound like a real one(samsho real one) so I'll sub lol

Excellent video

I absolutely loved the characters of this game. Very original. And i think if they make a more hand drawn, slightly more realistic look, it would still be good. While making this evolving.

If it weren't for my shitty internet i would have gone online in smasho 2019 again and again and again. I picked warden once and it fits like a glove, gotta love it with the move cancels

This guy gives me MAJOR DOUCHE CHILLS 🙄

The hitting murderous buttons bit was so funny

For many many years I never realized the name is Shodown not Showdown like I always called it.

My favorite fighting game series

Very niche video to do sir I commend you

my favorite all-time is SS4... my brother and i bought the game by combining our savings when we were kids and spent our weekends and holiday breaks with our friends in "challenge the winner" tournaments... good, good times...

Another kbash banger

I also want to point out the manga for the first game was one of the first works by the guy who made trigun

I love this series of fighting games. ^_^

Man missing the days when use to chop off 20-30 heads back in the arcades with Samsho 4 & 5

Hadn't heard of Blandia or Mount Fuji Busters (Shogun Warriors) before. Nice.

I remember playing Samurai Shodown 5 so much.

"Lets just settle down and play the funny Samurai game" LMAOOO!!! I love this transition, its so passive aggressive

I've only touched SamShow once at an arcade where I played a few matches. I had fun. I've never been drawn into the series- I know it doesn't have the aesthetic that any of my friends would be interested in, so I wouldn't have anyone to play with locally. Which sucks, cause I've always been curious about it. Combos are one of my weakest fighting game points, though I get better with any game given time and a bit of labbing (duh), but SamShow just seemed so... perfect for me. Fundamentals, take a gamble, and have fun, straight out the gate. I think you've sold me KBash. I'll take the dive, even if I don't have many to take it with me.

Really nice video to one of my favorite fighting game series that’s not based on pre-existing comic book characters (Marvel vs Capcom), Anime characters (DragonBall Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, Sailor Moon) or Nintendo characters (Smash Bros)…..DEFINITELY my favorite true fighting game series when compared to Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, all those….. If you make a follow up, try to cover the portable games, the ones on the NeoGeoPocket Color are superb!! Well, technically there’s a release on the regular NGPocket, and the second was released on the NGPocket Color……the 2 GameBoy games are neat too, especially the Japan exclusive Samurai Shodown 3….Part 1 for the GameBoy was always noteworthy to me, it’s possibly the weakest of the early 2D entries, but it’s the ONLY game so far that lets you play as that Mail Courier haha…..The NGPocket games are really good and the GameBoy games are worth playing. I feel like all 4 mentioned games had more focus on special moves…it’s like I can play the arcade series and rarely use a special, but when I play any of the portable games I use special moves quite a bit…it’s weird how similar they are, yet how different they feel…it’s unfortunate those games aren’t as easily accessible to competitive play

Oh the nostalgia

Another things about Fujiyama Buster; the characters didn’t have individual stories or even NAMES.

You confirmed Stumblebee's alive. Oh my gosh. Now if only someone would bring back Flappy Fighter.

Why was Stumblebee just showing up so hype?

Let's gooooooo! Bro you really are my spirit animal lmao. I legit just picked up Samurai shodown VI a few days ago. I saw it on sale and thought back to when i was a kid and how fun it was to just find an arcade in the BX or commissary and lo and behold it had a samurai showdown. Id play for hours and loved it even though I had no idea what a combo was lol. Good times. Miss the early 90s.

I know its unpopular opinion, but I love the first SamSho the best. It reminds of the first Bushido Blade (or vice versa), and I love BB too. They aren't combo heavy bombastic fighters, they are far more grounded. I love SS1's music, because it wasn't energetic, and added to the quiet tension (once again like BB1). I appreciated that a single hit in SS1 took a half bar of health, that's more in-line with what a weapon like a sword would do. The game is more of a dance, or playing "chicken" to find out who is going to slip up first. I'd take strategy or yomi over "memorize this 24 input combo or fail noob" in a fighting game every time.

Awesome vid, but kinda sad it doesnt mention anything about Asura Zanmaden, cause that game must be the most solid samsho after VSP and 2. Hyper Neogeo 64 games are finally playable on mame on the latest build, and I highly recommend playing samsho 64 2 to any fan of this series.

Yoooo FIGHTING GAME TIME!!!

I wonder if 3 or 4 is the one I would see at my local arcade? I can't remember anymore.

Any in-depth Samsho vid get an instant 👍 from me 🥰🥰🥰

I love the name bit at the end. Does it cost more for him to read your name hilariously?