Samurai Shodown III / Samurai Spirits: Zankurou Musoken
  

  
STORY:  One man became known as the "Oni" (demon). The man's name was Zankuro. He would attack many villages and would leave none alive. But one night, he left one child alive in a village. He couldn't kill that one child. No one knew why. Ever since that night, Zankuro would only attack those who challenge him. And many years later, twelve warriors set out to kill Zankuro.

 

 
REVIEW:  The third installment of SNK's hit Samurai Shodown series made a statement with a presentation considerably darker than the first two titles. To the dismay of some returning fans, series staples such as Charlotte Colde, Cham Cham, Earthquake, and Gen-an were removed from the roster and replaced with newcomers: Shizumaru, Rimururu, Basara, and Gaira. The new generation of samurai warriors add a brand new vibe and charisma to the series, along with completely unique fighting styles. The 2D character sprites have been completely redrawn in a new style... and all of the backgrounds, animations, music, and voice-overs are completely fresh as well. To call Samurai Shodown III a fresh coat of paint is very much an understatement.
   

  
With this installment, Samurai Shodown's recognizable gameplay pace has changed quite a bit from the first two games and almost feels completely different. One of the most notable gameplay changes is the ability to "charge up" your character's POW Gauge (not at all unlike the super meter found in SNK's Art of Fighting series).
 
Another intriguing new element introduced in Samurai Shodown III is the addition of two playable "versions" of each fighter: Slash and Bust — each mode offering a slightly different moveset per character. This adds some decent replayability for fighting game players looking for variety. Air Blocking was also added to Samurai Shodown's gameplay engine for the first time ever in SS3.
   

 
Certain normal attacks can now be cancelled into special moves, unlike the prequel which only feature a few cancelable moves. Most of SS2's movement options were removed in favor of Dodge Attacks which are performed by pressing the A + B buttons simultaneously.  When close, a character performing a Dodge Attack will quickly move around the opponent, enabled them to attack their opponent from behind. Like in the prequels, power-up and hazard items are tossed onto the battlefield — this time coming from "off-screen" instead of the running background character from SS2.
 

Page Updated: July 15th, 2024 Developer(s): SNK Publisher(s): SNK Artwork by: Eiji Shiroi              Promo Art Shirou Ohno        Character Portraits Platform(s): Neo Geo, Playstation, Sega Saturn, PSN, PS2, PSP, Wii Virtual Console, PS4, Xbox One Release Date(s): Nov. 27th, 1995                Arcade Dec. 1st, 1995                 NeoGeo Aug. 30th, 1996                PS1 Nov. 8th, 1996                   Saturn Nov. 30th, 1996                PS1 June 27th, 2007                PSN Apr. 27th, 2010                 Wii VC Sept. 6th, 2010                  Wii VC Sept. 3rd, 2010                  Wii VC Apr. 19th, 2018                 PS4 Characters:  Haohmaru, Ukyo, Hanzo, Galford, Nakoruru, Genjuro, Kyoshiro, Shizumaru, Gaira, Rimururu, Basara, Kuroko, Amakusa, Zankuro Featured Video: Related Games: Samurai Shodown 4, Samurai Shodown, Samurai Shodown 2, Samurai Shodown V, Samurai Shodown V Special, SSV Perfect, Samurai Shodown 5 Perfect, Samurai Shodown 6, Samurai Shodown (2019), Samurai Shodown 64, Samurai Shodown 64 - Warriors Rage, Samurai Shodown Pocket, Samurai Shodown 2 Pocket, Samurai Shodown Warrior's Rage, Samurai Shodown Sen, Samurai Shodown Anthology, Art of Fighting, King of Fighters '95, Darkstalkers 2, Fatal Fury 3, Street Fighter Alpha, Marvel Super Heroes, Mortal Kombat 3, Killer Instinct 2, Kizuna Encounter, Golden Axe: The Duel, Soul Edge    Gameplay Engine  8.0 / 10 Story / Theme  9.0 / 10 Overall Graphics  9.5 / 10 Animation  10 / 10 Music / Sound Effects  9.0 / 10 Innovation  8.0 / 10 Art Direction  9.5 / 10 Customization  9.0 / 10 Options / Extras  9.0 / 10 Intro / Presentation  8.5 / 10 Replayability / Fun  7.0 / 10 "Ouch" Factor  9.0 / 10 Characters  8.5 / 10 BOTTOM LINE  8.7 / 10  Review based on Arcade version       Final Words: Graphically, Samurai Shodown III is striking and impressive. In addition to the visual overhaul, SS3's gameplay system was a dramatic departure from Samurai Shodown 2 (and SS1), forcing returning players to pretty much "relearn" the dynamics of the game and characters. While some returning fans might've been disappointed by the removal of several classic characters, the newcomers of SS3 look stunning, boasting crispy and very well-animated 2D sprites displaying some of SNK's most dynamic animations to date. Furthermore, the character artwork and overall art-style of the game is simply off-the-charts! SamSho III was an intriguing change of pace for Samurai Shodown... and while not a "perfect" game, definitely a stepping stone in the right direction. While many other fighting games were "bright and cheery" in 1995 / 1996, Samurai Shodown III's "darker" vibe distinguished SNK's new direction of the series (which would be revived for many sequels to come). That said, Samurai Shodown III was definitely ahead of its time... visually at least. The gameplay was still good and pretty solid, although it definitely needed a few refinements (which arrived later in SS4). Samurai Shodown III made a strong statement in 1995 / 1996 and upon its arrival was easily one of the "best-looking" 2D sprite-based fighting games to date. In some ways, Samurai Shodown III didn't really feel "complete" when compared to the epic prequels... thus, about 1 year later, Samurai Shodown 4 arrived and offered a far more refined gameplay experience and improved character roster — bringing back many returning fan-favorite characters who mysteriously went missing in this installment. ~TFG Webmaster | @Fighters_Gen    Click Here for all Animated Stages! Click Here for all Posters / Box Artwork! Click Here for more Screenshots! FOLLOW    ON:                             TFG NEWS CHARACTERS GAMES