Samurai Games

Like ninjas, I have always found samurai characters in video games to have a certain coolness factor lacking in the stereotype square-head American action hero. Samurai have a long history in video games and this thread will give an overview of the samurai theme in gaming.

Now, I'm no expert on Japanese culture so I don't always know what exactly defines a samurai. There are instances where I'm not sure if a character is a samurai, a ninja or something else. For example, the character in Ninja Spirit looks like a samurai to me but the name of the game seems to suggest otherwise. Therefore, I have left out any game with the word ninja in the title. Feel free to correct me on any games that should or should not be included.

Samurai video games date back as far as 1980. Sega released an arcade action game called Samurai. The object was to simply to eliminate all opponents on the screen.

http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/...S/vSamurai.png

Also released in 1980 was an arcade game by SNK that might fit the samurai theme, Sasuke vs. Commander. This game is actually a shooter of sorts. You throw knives at oncoming ninjas. I played this game through emulation and I must say it is very impressive considering the year it was released.

http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/..._Commander.png

In 1984, Taito released an arcade game called Samurai Nippon Ichi, which looks to be an early beat 'em up.

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?...S&game_id=2694

A year later, Taito's side-scroller The Legend of Kage arrived in arcades. This game was ported to various home computer formats and also to the NES. The NES received a sequel a few years later called Demon Sword. I love the whole jumping through the trees thing. I'm hoping the upcoming Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon game by Genki will be like a 3d Demon Sword.

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?...L&game_id=1684

In 1986, there was Namco's arcade game Genpei Toumaden. This dark platformer had a demon/ghost samurai as a main character. Namco released a Famicom game under the same name but it was an Action/RPG. StriderKyo made a thread about it a while back. The arcade game had a sequel which came out domestically on the TurboGrafx as Samurai Ghost.

[thumbnail]http://www.workingdesigns.com/museum/turbo/software/graphics/samurai_ghost_back.jpg[/thumbnail]

Around the same time, Virgin Games/Mastertronic released Shogun for home computers.

http://www.c64gg.com/images/S/Shogun.ss.gif

Shogun was a hybrid of action and adventure elements and was based on the novel by James Clavell. More closely based on this novel was Infocom's 1989 release James Clavell's Shogun, which is considered an excellent text adventure. I couldn't get it to work on my computer but I will try again some time.

In 1987, Konami released a neat little Action/RPG for the Famicom called Getsufuu Maden. The samurai character from this game also made an appearance in Konami's Famicom game Wai Wai World.

http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics5/getsufuu.html

And speaking of the Famicom, there is a FDS game by Capcom called Samurai Sword. If anyone has info on this game, please share it.

There were several samurai-themed games in 1988. Beam Software's Usagi Yojimbo for the C64 continued the tradition of action/adventure games like Fist II. Usagi was later remade for VGA PC.

http://www.c64gg.com/images/u/Usagi_Yojimbo.ss.gif

Then there's Jaleco's arcade game Samurai Fighter Shingen. I haven't played this one.

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?...S&game_id=2704

Sega's Master System game Kenseiden is still my favorite samurai game. This somewhat Castlevania-ish action/adventure game is unique because of its non-linear design. I love how you can explore different areas and learn new moves.

http://www.shinforce.com/mastersyste...nseiden-01.gif

1989 saw a very unique game on the PC Engine by Big Club/Wolf Team called Jimmu Densho Yaksa. Picture a game like Space Harrier except with a samurai character on the ground. It's too bad NEC never localized this game; I quite like it.

http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/04/jimmu.html

MicroProse's Sword of the Samurai is about a samurai's quest to rise the feudal ladder and become a shogun. This game is a mix of strategy, adventure and fighting elements.

http://old.the-underdogs.org/Samurai.gif

[thumbnail]http://www.links.net/dox/warez/games/microprose/samurai/pix/wifecommendable.gif[/thumbnail]

Heading into the '90's we have Vivid Image's First Samurai for the Amiga. Sleeveboy did a thread on this game. Look to that thread for impressions. It was ported to PC and SNES. A sequel called Second Samurai came out a few years later for the European Mega Drive.

In 1992, Seta's Musya came out for the SNES. I don't remember much about this platformer except that it had awesome graphics and mediocre gameplay.

1992 also saw the release of Impressions' Strategy/War PC game Samurai: Way of the Warrior(AKA Conquest of Japan). I almost never play these kinds of games so I can't comment on it. There are probably earlier samurai war games(from Koei?) but I lack knowledge of this genre. A more recent game of this type is the PC RTS game Shogun: Total War.

With Street Fighter 2's immense popularity came a flood of competing fighting games. After Fatal Fury, SNK made Samurai Shodown. Samurai characters have appeared in fighting games ever since and Samurai Shodown saw several ports and sequels(and even an RPG). I can't keep track of every fighting game that has samurai in it but there are several games, such as Lightweight/Square's Bushido Blade series on Playstation.

The 32-bit era saw the rise of PC-style action/adventure games on console thanks to Capcom's Resident Evil. Konami made an attempt at the action/adventure genre with their Playstation game Soul of the Samurai. I only played the demo but this game was incredibly disappointing by Konami standards. Capcom's similar games are much better.

[thumbnail]http://sony.gamerweb.com/media/psxfight/psxfight80.jpg[/thumbnail]

Capcom's Onimusha was originally being developed for the PS1 but ultimately came out as a PS2 game. As I'm sure everyone knows, Onimusha is the big samurai franchise right now and has various sequels/spin-offs in the works.

And I will end by saying what I have said in other threads: check out Acquire's Way of the Samurai for PS2. :)

So, what are your favorite samurai-themed games? And what games did I miss?

Battle Realms on the PC was a western-developed game steeped in the east asian "cool-factor". Completely and utterly historically inaccurate, it involved Samurai, Ninjas, Ronin, and even Geisha in the most westernized way possible (complete with english voice overs with corny asian accents). It was actually a decent game, but WC3 came out a month later and everyone forgot about completely.

Nice thread NeoZeedeater. These threads must take awhile to put together eh?

Anyways Kengo is a Samurai Fighter if I'm not mistaken but it's in my pile of shame right now.

Battle Realms had some incredible concept art. I don't think I have any of it anymore, but if I can find some again I'll host some pictures. The game was actually quite good early on, but near the release of Warcraft III they released a patch that changed the focus of the game to rushing. That patch completely inbalanced the clans and screwed things up majorly, presumably in an attempt to steal some of WC3's thunder. I haven't touched it since, so I don't know if they ever fixed that.

Also within recent years was Shogun: Total War for the PC. Not a pure samurai game, they did have many in use for the large-scale battles. It's been a long time since I played the demo, so I can't remember if it's turn-based strategy or real-time. It had a lot of promise but I don't think it ended up playing very well, or I just didn't spend enough time with it.

Thanks Korian. :)

Actually, they don't take that long to make. I just think of every game that fits the category that I know of, search for pics, check the year on a few games(I often get 1984 and 1985 games mixed up) and quickly put it together.

KENSEIDEN!!! I loved this game! It was like a samurai castlevania like you said. I still remember the boss patterns and some of the challenge dojo levels. It starts out slow and gets so much better. If you haven't played it then you should try to once in your short lives.

1, Of the games mentioned Kenseiden is probably my favourite as well... It has such an incredible atmosphere, especially impressive when you consider that it's an 8-bit game.

I want Kenseiden 2! :)

2, Shogun by James Clavell is my co-favourite book of all time. I didn't know there were games based on it but I am going to have to check them out. I have not played a text adventure in ages so maybe it'll be fun.

I highly highly highly recommend the book though. It was a literary experiece like no other for me. I loved the book so much I didn't put it down for two weeks and it's a long book. For anyone who has any interest in the period you simply have to go buy this book!



ps. I really like these style threads you make NZ. Keep up the good work. They're always interesting and informative. :)

I plan on reading the book some time. I should point out that Infocom's Shogun game does have graphics to go along with the text. I just couldn't find a screenshot of the game aside from the box art.

Kenseiden is definitely my favorite.

Learning additional techniques is good, especially when you get the Helmet Smash. The map feature where you get to choose the next stage adds to it.

The wavering effect on the title screen's Kanji came as a real shock the first time I had seen it- this was something you'd expect in a Genesis game rather than on the SMS- and the BGM suits the atmosphere perfectly.

Kenseiden puts the SMS version of Shinobi to shame.

I don't usually comment in these threads of yours (though rest assured I read them), Neo, but Samurai and their ilk are worth me contributing.

Excellent thread, man. Since you and Nick have been up Way of the Samurai's butt for so long, I think you've convinced me to pick it up. I'll do so tomorrow. :D

Nice thread. Second Samurai is my favorite.

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Originally posted by Captain Vegetable
Since you and Nick have been up Way of the Samurai's butt for so long, I think you've convinced me to pick it up. I'll do so tomorrow. :D

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Took you long enough. :p

Yes, everyone should buy Way of the Samurai. one of the best games of 2002.

I remember sometime last year it was announced that some Japanese publisher bought the rights to Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai. For those not in the know, its easily the most popular Japanese film of all time, and with good reason. I can't remember which publisher it was though. I wanna say Sammy, but I'm not sure.

Its an interesting choice for a game, mainly because outside of the finale, there is little action in the film. would the game focus on finding samurai to join you? I'd imagine that the game wouldn't follow the plot so much, and would focus on controlling the 7 samurai as they defend the village. could be fun.

another excellent thread, Neo.

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Originally posted by NeoZeedeater
Now, I'm no expert on Japanese culture so I don't always know what exactly defines a samurai. There are instances where I'm not sure if a character is a samurai, a ninja or something else. For example, the character in Ninja Spirit looks like a samurai to me but the name of the game seems to suggest otherwise. Therefore, I have left out any game with the word ninja in the title. Feel free to correct me on any games that should or should not be included.

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Think of Samurai as knights in shining armour, while ninjas are more like Robin Hood. Samurai was an official military title, and they're usually visually defined by the two swords they wear and serious armour, which outlaw ninjas generally avoid in most depictions. Samurai also don't wear masks, unless they're of the built-into-the-helmet type Sodom from Final Fight/SF wears. And generally anything involving flipping around, disappearing and throwing stars/knives is ninja activity. Legend of Kage, for example, is definitely a ninja game (Kage means "shadow", a ninja name if ever there was one). I'd be tempted to say Sasuke vs. Commander was as well, although I've never played it.

But you're right, the line in videogames and cartoons between ninja and samurai is often blurred. And more often than not for whatever reason game designers decide that their generic martial artist is one or the other.

The mother of all samurai games imo is either Nobunaga's ambition or Kessen, for their quasi-realistic depiction of samurai antics, and inclusion of real life samurai. Onimusha is way cornier, but I also found it to be really enjoyable. Another one worth mentioning is Shingen the Ruler, an NES strategy affair based on the exploits of Takeda Shingen, the 16th century samurai warlord.

A Seven Samurai game would be interesting as hell, to say the least (anyone ever seen the 7 hour version of that film?).

I still haven't played any of the Genpei Toumaden games.

And as a historian, Shogun makes my head hurt. Sorry, it just does.

Anyway, cool thread.

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Originally posted by MechDeus
Also within recent years was Shogun: Total War for the PC. Not a pure samurai game, they did have many in use for the large-scale battles. It's been a long time since I played the demo, so I can't remember if it's turn-based strategy or real-time. It had a lot of promise but I don't think it ended up playing very well, or I just didn't spend enough time with it.

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SHogun was a good game. It was split between realtime and turn-based. The turn-based modes were kind of like Risk, and the realtime was badass huge thousands of people fighting battles. Good title, heard Medieval's even better.

Thanks for the info Strider. I was skeptical of Legend of Kage and Sasuke for the reasons you mentioned. In Sasuke, you are under orders to protect your master, the shogun. Would this be a samurai thing to do?

And I can't picture Seven Samurai translating into game form very well.

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Originally posted by NeoZeedeater
Thanks for the info Strider. I was skeptical of Legend of Kage and Sasuke for the reasons you mentioned. In Sasuke, you are under orders to protect your master, the shogun. Would this be a samurai thing to do?

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I guess so, but I've seen several instances in comics & games where the Shogun or whoever has ninja bodyguards, so it doesn't guarantee anything. Knife throwing wasn't a part of the real-life samurai itinerary (bow & arrow was more their thing), so I'd still lean towards ninja.

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And I can't picture Seven Samurai translating into game form very well.

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Why not? Toss in some brief random dungeony parts and you've got Xenosaga with samurai.

Slightly OT: I recently picked up a novel called "The Last Samurai" by Helen DeWitt. It's about a boy who is obsessed with The Seven Samurai.. and well, the movie is a sort of backdrop to the novel.

I only read a little bit of it so far and it was pretty good. I decided to shelf it until I have time to rent the Seven Samurai again, so I can have it fresh in my mind as I read.

Anyway, I just thought that someone reading this thead may find it interesting.

:)