The Samurai Shodown series has been around since 1993, but when it comes to American audiences, it has always lived in the shadow of the more popular Street Fighter franchise. Both fighting games have strong rosters, great combo mechanics, and fast-paced gameplay, but the former never really took off in the same way. With a brand new "sequel" out this year called Samurai Shodown (simple if a bit confusing), developers SNK hope that's about to change.

Like SNK's other Japanese fighting franchise, King of Fighters, Samurai Shodown has seen a resurgence in popularity recently due to representation in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster. Though Shodown didn't get a fully-fledged character like Terry Bogard, Sakurai included the character Nakoruru as a Mii Fighter costume and as a spirit. Hot of the heels of this inclusion, the new Samurai Shodown is getting a Nintendo Switch release - after a Q4 2019 Xbox One and PS4 release - this February.

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Samurai Shodown is very similar to Street Fighter, the game's main difference being its roster. Largely comprised of Japanese characters, Shodown features a lot less international representation, hence why it is less beloved in North America. Additionally, a lot of the franchise's titles weren't released on North American consoles and were only ever playable on the Neo Geo or in arcades.

Samurai Shodown Fight

The 2D fighting game mostly stands on its own, however. Its beautiful 3D backgrounds and traditional Japanese music set it apart, while it sticks to strong fundamentals of gameplay. Players approach their opponent (either CPU or human) with a series of light, medium, heavy, or kick attacks. There are special moves that require precise button inputs, and powerful attacks that can only be performed when a gauge is filled to max. Anyone familiar with Street Fighter will have no problem picking up Samurai Shodown. 

But the question remains: why not just play Street Fighter? Samurai Shodown has a fair amount of content, but it can't hold a candle to its competitors in that regard. Its primary "exclusive" feature where players can train ghosts that will learn their fighting patterns and style and then go only to fight real human players is more or less a glorified amiibo. The Story Mode is fun but brief, and there are several different wave-type modes to cushion out the game.

All of Samurai Shodown's iconic characters are present here, with their traditional (and some non-traditional) feudal Japanese stylings. The graphics aren't particularly next-gen, but the art style more than makes up for it. But when there are better (and more popular) alternatives out there, it's hard to make a case for why Samurai Shodown is worth the 50 dollar price tag.

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Samurai Shodown is available for Nintendo Switch for $49.99 and was previously released on the Xbox One, Google Stadia, and PlayStation 4. Screen Rant was provided with a digital Switch copy for the purpose of this review.