Choose a fighter over 20 characters and take on your opponents in white-gun battles. In Samurai Shodown, duels are intense and every mistake can be fatal.
   | Release date: June 25, 2019 on Playstation 4 and Xbox One. November 19, 2019 on Google Stadia February 25, 2020 on Nintendo Switch June 11, 2020 on Epic Games Store PC March 16, 2021 on Xbox Series Developed by: SNK Published by: SNK Available on: – Playstation 4 (physical format, blu-ray or digital format, download), – Playstation 4 compatible version on Playstation 5 – Epic Games Store PC (digital format, download) – Nintendo Switch (physical format, cartridge, or digital format, download), – Xbox One (physical format, blu-ray or digital format, download), – Xbox Series (physical format, blu-ray or digital format, download) – Google Stadia (digital format, streaming) Type of game: Fighting game Average game length: 5 minutes Estimate of the total duration of the game: Infinite as long as you have opponents of the same level. Topics: Fights, martial arts Business model: Just need to buy the game once. Number of players: 1 to 2 players locally. 2 players online. The game was provided by the publisher to Écran Partagé for this review. |
Possible configurations of the Nintendo Switch:
 |  |  |
| Players | 3+ | 7+ | 12+ | 16+ | 18+ |
| Neophytes |  | | | |  |
| Intermediate | | | | | |
| Experienced | | | | | |
Replayability
The game is virtually infinite with opponents of its level.
Difficulty
Very difficult to master. However, it is possible to have fun by reducing the difficulty and with the basic strokes.
Violence, fear, nudity?
There are two modes of violence:
- a Gore mode where you can see blood spatter during fights, and sometimes the opposing character is cut in half at the end of a fight
- a mode without the effects written above. The game then has an “ordinary” level of violence for a fighting game and is similar to games like Street Fighter and Tekken
A fighting game with lots of punches and kicks and especially attacks with knives. Special powers of fire, ice, electricity and wind.
Level of language used
Very little dialogue, with only provocations between the fighters.
Positive message
Just fighting. The selection of characters is very varied. Fighters have all shapes and colors.
Minimum reading level required
Many text menus.
Additional costs ?
Every year, SNK, the game’s developer, releases 4 new characters and charges them $27 plus taxes to unlock them. It’s expensive to buy all the extra characters when you buy the game after a few years.
Minimum level of execution on the controller required
Very difficult to execute, and very difficult to learn. Nevertheless, the fun comes from the right execution of the shots at the right time and to be able to triumph over his opponent by thwarting his actions.
Principle of the game explained in detail here
Local game modes
Story: Choose a character and browse the story of the game
Versus: Play against a human opponent.
Survival/ Survival: Face as many opponents as possible in a row and try to survive the longest
Time attack / Time Trial: Win against your opponents as quickly as possible.
Ghost: Face an opponent controlled by the game that will take your habits and turn them into artificial intelligence. Take on the artificial intelligences of other online players. Honestly this mode doesn’t work at all. The artificial intelligences created are very stupid and of no interest.
Training: Training mode
tutorial
Online gaming modes
You can play online if you pay for your console’s subscription:
- Playstation 4 and 5: Playstation Plus
- Xbox One and Xbox Series: Xbox Live Gold
- Nintendo Switch: Nintendo Switch Online
- Free online game on PC.
Game mode with or without ranking.
Conclusion
Samurai Shodown is an excellent fighting game that is spoiled by 2 things:
- the game slows down a lot during some online games
- it is released on 6 different machines and these machines can not play in line together, each is separated on his machine. And so it’s very difficult to find opponents, especially if you don’t play on Playstation 4 or 5, because that’s where the community is.
More information about the game: Official game page
