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.
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Samurai
Shodown III character selection screen.
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REVIEW:
The third installment to SNK's hit Samurai
Shodown series made a statement by being considerably darker than the first two games. To the dismay
of some fans, old favorites like Charlotte, Cham Cham, Earthquake, and Gen-an
were removed from the roster and replaced with newcomers like Shizumaru,
Rimururu, Basara, and Gaira. The newcomers add an all new charisma to the
series, along with brand new fighting styles. The character sprites have been completely redrawn
in a new style, and all of the backgrounds, animations, music, and voice-overs
are brand new as well!.
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The
new alt. colors help set the SSIII's darker tone. . .
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With this installment, Samurai Shodown's
gameplay
and "pace" has changed quite a bit from the first two games and
almost feels completely original. One of the most notable gameplay changes
is the ability to "charge up" your character's POW gauge (not unlike the super meter in
AOF). The other new addition to the gameplay is the fact that there are
now two "versions" of each fighter: Slash and Bust,
each mode offering a slightly different move set per character. Air blocking was
also added to the gameplay for the first time ever.
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another
step forward graphically. . . a BIG step!
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Many priority 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 done by pressing the A & B buttons simultaneously.
When close, a character whom performs a Dodge Attack will quickly move around
the opponent, allowing them to attack from behind. Like in the prequels, items
were thrown onto the battlefield but this time coming from off-screen instead of
from a character in the background.
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| Page Updated: |
July
13th, 2022 |
| Developer(s): |
SNK |
| Publisher(s): |
SNK |
| Artwork
by: |
Eiji
Shiroi
Promo Art
Shirou Ohno
Character Portraits
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| Platform(s): |
Neo
Geo, Playstation, Sega Saturn, PSN, PS2, PSP, Wii Virtual Console, PS4, Xbox One
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| 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
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Featured Video:
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| 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 |
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Gameplay
Engine
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8.0 / 10
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Story
/ Theme
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9.0 / 10
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Overall
Graphics
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9.5 / 10
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Animation
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10 / 10
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Music
/ Sound Effects
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9.0 / 10
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Innovation
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8.0 / 10
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Art Direction
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9.5 / 10
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Customization
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9.0 / 10
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Options / Extras
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9.0 / 10
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Intro / Presentation
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8.5 / 10
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Replayability / Fun
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7.0 / 10
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"Ouch" Factor
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9.0 / 10
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Characters
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8.5 / 10
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BOTTOM LINE
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8.7
/
10
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Review based on Arcade
version
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| Final
Words: |
Samurai Shodown III's gameplay system
was a dramatic departure from Samurai Shodown II (and SS1),
forcing fans to pretty much "relearn" the dynamics of the game completely. While some returning fans might've been disappointed by the removal of several fan-favorite characters, the characters who did return in SS3 look absolutely stunning with crispy new 2D sprites and the most dynamic animations to date. Furthermore, the character art and
overall art-style of the game was simple off-the-charts!
SamSho III
was an intriguing change of pace for Samurai Shodown. While many other recent titles were "bright and cheery", SSIII's "darker" vibe defined the new direction of the series and showed what SNK was capable of in 1995-1996. That said, Samurai Shodown III was definitely ahead of its time, visually at least. The
gameplay was still good, though it needed a few refinements (which came later in SSIV).
Samurai Shodown III made a strong
statement in 1995 and was easily one of the best-looking 2D sprite-based fighting games to date. In some ways, Samurai Shodown 3 didn't feel "complete" (in my opinion)... thus,
about 1
year later, Samurai
Shodown 4 was released, offering a more refined gameplay experience and much-improved character roster - bringing back many returning fan-favorites who went missing in this installment.
~TFG
Webmaster |
@Fighters_Gen
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