I have yet to play the new Samurai Shodown. I unfortunately couldn’t make SNK’s recent American media tour or the game’s general public debut at PAX East. The longing—the FOMO, as the kids say—is killing me.
That’s maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but I very much want to play Samurai Shodown. In fact, I’ve already signed up for the Evo 2019 Samurai Shodown tournament. I’m that thirsty to mix it up with other swordsmen. Why? I love the series. There’s a secondary element at play, too: Video games get sequels right with surprising consistency.
Desperately Seeking SamSho
I’ve been a rabid SamSho series fan since the original game, also named Samurai Shodown, appeared on SNK’s Neo Geo arcade hardware in 1993. The fighting game’s combination of weapon-based battles, classic 1990s anime visual flair, and tense, methodical combat made it a wonderfully different affair than the Street Fighter II games that had taken the video game industry by storm. Now, the series is back in the spotlight for the first time since Samurai Shodown Sen, an awful Xbox 360 exclusive that isn’t worth the time I took to type its name.
So, as I poured over Samurai Shodown gameplay footage from FGC stalwarts Long Island Joe and Maximillian Dood, I began to wonder why I was so excited to see the series’ return. After all, if you were to tell me that the eighteenth Oceans’ Eleven movie was on the horizon, I’d roll my eyes with an intensity that cannot be described. So, what’s the difference here?
Interactive Action
Games, unlike film or literature, hang their hats on the interactive experience. The feel. It’s the joy of executing a well-timed Tekken 7 combo string. It’s the exhilaration of clearing multiple Tetris lines. It’s the magic of hugging a corner in Forza Horizon 4 while listening to Kendrick Lamar via the in-game radio.
That’s why I have no desire to read a prequel or sequel to, say, The Portrait of Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde executed a perfect narrative arc for the novel’s cracked-out protagonist; the chances are slim that another author would nail Wilde’s world and characterizations. As a result, there’s not much else that a follow-up tale could bring to the table that wouldn’t come off as fan fiction at best, a cheap dollar-making scheme at worst.
However, I’d play the new Samurai Shodown in a heartbeat, as I want to explore the classic, footsies-based, high-risk/high-reward fighting system and the new gameplay additions that build upon previous concepts in (hopefully) exciting ways.
Playing Progession
Long-running video game series see numerous refinements that often make their newest iterations light years better than the original releases. The Samurai Shodown reboot, for instance, not only has a slick, painting-inspired art style, but gameplay mechanics that draw from past series entries while adding new abilities. Its Lightning Blade is a debuting attack option that lets you use Rage Mode in a fresh, highly damaging fashion. Surprise Strike is an overhead that opens up your opponent to prevent turtling and add an extra offensive option. I can’t wait to get my mitts on the game.
SNK’s fighting game isn’t the only multi-game series to such progression. Ignoring their ridiculous stories, the Metal Gear Solid games feature gameplay that has wonderfully evolved over time. Each title brought something new to the series, and the stealth genre as a whole, peaking with the Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, a troubled narrative that has some of the best gameplay seen in a video game. And say what you will about EA Sports’ annual Madden NFL releases, but if contemporary gamers picked up the original John Madden Football, they’d find it near unplayable. Even The Legend of Zelda 2 and Super Mario Bros. 2, games that were considered oddballs upon their releases, are entertaining games in their own ways.
Of course, not every video game prequel/sequel/fresh start is a gem. The highly anticipated Mass Effect: Andromeda, for instance, is the most recent Mass Effect release, and easily the series’ weakest link. But, for the most part, video game sequels trend toward surpassing their predecessors.
Some of the best sequels of all time have appeared in the video games medium, which is something that cannot be said of film. For every Godfather II, there are numerous dubious Hollywood cash-ins that’re rushed to theaters, home video, or video streaming services. Final Fantasy VII, King of Fighters ’98, Metal Gear Solid 2: The Sons of Liberty, Ms. Pac-Man, Grand Theft Auto III, and Street Fighter II are held aloft as terrific titles because the development crews built upon existing gameplay concepts and introduced fresh ones that offer more control, excitement, and gameplay options.
Film series, on the other hand, quickly devolve. Die Hard, Godzilla, Star Trek, and Star Wars, are just a handful of movie series that started strong and melted into soulless product. Worse, there’s no interactive element that compensates for a less-than-stellar (or outright awful) story. In fact, the Mission: Impossible flicks represent the rare long-running series that has enjoyed a respectable quality level, despite some dips here and there.
That’s why video game sequels and prequels work, as opposed to film and books. We, as gamers, want to return to delightful, well-crafted experiences—not necessarily stories (excluding RPGs and point-and-click adventure games in which narrative is a major hook, of course).
So, as I count the days til Samurai Shodown’s summer release, I’ll take some time to bone up on my neutral game my firing up Samurai Showdown II on my Neo Geo. What else am I supposed to do? Watch Alien: Covenant?
