Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
as , is a
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
fighting
Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is resorted to either as a method of ...
arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...
developed by Atop and released in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
and
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
Sammy Corporation
is a Japanese developer and retailer of video game and gambling products and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its South Korean office, Sammy Amusement Service, is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Sammy ...
. It was the first modern-fighting game based on ancient
Japanese mythology
Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...
(later popularized by
SNK
is a Japanese video gaming and interactive entertainment company. It was founded in 1978 as
by Eikichi Kawasaki and began by developing arcade games. SNK is known for its Neo Geo arcade system on which the company established many franchises ...
's ''
Samurai Shodown
''Samurai Shodown'', known in Japan as is a fighting game series by SNK. The series began in 1993 and is known for being one of the earliest in the genre with a primary focus on weapon-based combat.
Plot
The stories in the series take place i ...
'' and ''
The Last Blade
''The Last Blade'' is a fighting game developed and released by SNK for the Neo Geo system in 1997. It was also ported to several home systems. A sequel, '' The Last Blade 2'', was released in 1998. A second sequel, '' The Last Blade: Beyond the ...
'' series), and was created during the fighting game trend of the 1990s that began with
Capcom
is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
's ''
Street Fighter II
is a 1991 fighting game developed and published by Capcom for arcade game, arcades. It is the second installment in the ''Street Fighter'' series and the sequel to 1987's ''Street Fighter (video game), Street Fighter''. Designed by Yoshiki O ...
''. ''Shogun Warriors'' was followed by a
1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
sequel titled ''
Blood Warrior
''Blood Warrior'', known in Japan as , is a 1994 fighting arcade game developed by Atop and published by Kaneko. It is the successor to the 1992 fighting arcade game, '' Shogun Warriors'', also developed by Atop and published by Kaneko. Unlike ' ...
''.
Gameplay
''Shogun Warriors'' plays similarly to some other 2D versus fighting games during its release, which the player's character fights against his or her opponent in best two-out-of-three matches in a single player tournament mode with the computer or against another human player. It is controlled with an 8-way joystick and 4 buttons that perform weak and strong versions of punches and kicks. In one player mode, after selecting a character, the arcade randomly selects an opponent. The opponent order goes randomly and always leaves the last four bosses in a certain order. Some characters stabbed by ones armed with
katana
A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...
s or other sharp weapons can cause blood to spurt out, which became popularized a few months later by Midway's ''
Mortal Kombat
''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992.
The original ''Mortal Kombat (1992 video game), Mortal Kombat'' arcade game spawned Lis ...
''. The main unique feature of ''Shogun Warriors'' is its "grabbing system". When the player is grabbed by the opponent, the grabber must move the joystick left and right to make it more difficult for his opponent to escape, while the one being grabbed must rapidly press any or all buttons to make it easier to escape.
Characters
There are twelve characters, each with their own fighting style and special techniques based on the ones in Japanese culture. Besides the well-known "
Winners Don't Use Drugs
"Winners Don't Use Drugs" is an Recreational drug use, anti-drug slogan that was included in arcade games imported by the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) into North America from 1989 to 2000. The slogan appeared during an arcade gam ...
" screen being added to the North American version, another regional difference is that the Japanese version ''Fujiyama Buster'' contains original voice samples, while the North American and worldwide versions were dubbed in English for some characters.
* - his appearance, quotes and actions are based on
Tōyama no Kin-san
is a popular character based on the historical Tōyama Kagemoto, a samurai and official of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period of Japanese history. In kabuki and kōdan, he was celebrated under his childhood name, Kinshirō, shortened ...
, but also have the
Shimazu clan
The were the ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan.
The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in contr ...
's "cross in circle" wind crest on his uniform. His Japanese voice samples were replaced with sound effects in the English versions.
* - he has the ability to extend his limbs for performing long-range basic moves. He is also the only non-human character in the game.
* - based on ancient Japanese
firemen
A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as Dangerous goods, hazardous material incide ...
. His Japanese voice samples were later dubbed with completely different English words in the English versions.
* - although his true face is revealed in his motif, he wears a mask when fighting.
* - while his look fully matches his occupation when fighting, his motif shows that he has fangs like a demon.
* - his
chonmage
The is a type of traditional Japanese topknot (disambiguation), topknot haircut worn by men. It is most commonly associated with the Edo period (1603–1868) and samurai, and in recent times with sumo wrestlers. It was originally a method of usi ...
is untied and he wears an ornamental apron labeled as .
* - the only female character in the game. One of her moves is a fast-paced, one-leg spinning move.
* - although he has armor, and his motif proves that he is actually a robot, he can still bleed when attacked by blades.
Bosses
* - the first sub-boss of the game, he has fire-based attacks.
* - the second sub-boss of the game. Like Oni, Tengu's quotes are in English in all versions.
* - the third and final sub-boss of the game, he is a
sōhei
were Buddhist warrior monks of both classical and feudal Japan. At certain points in history, they held considerable power, obliging the imperial and military governments to collaborate.
The prominence of the ''sōhei'' rose in parallel w ...
who has Saitō Musashibō Benkei as his motif.
* - the final boss in the game, his appearance, victory taunts, and motif are based on
Ishikawa Goemon
was the leader of a group of bandits during the Azuchi-Momoyama period in Japan. Over time, and especially during the Edo period (1603-1867), his life and deeds became a center of attention, and he became known as a legendary Japanese outlaw h ...
.
Reception
In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Shogun Warriors'' on their November 1, 1992 issue as being the fifteenth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.