Samurai Shodown ARCADE

Samurai Shodown is SNK’s 1993 weapon-based fighting game for Neo Geo MVS hardware, one of the first arcade fighters to build its entire roster around edged weapons rather than hand-to-hand combat, giving fights a slower, higher-stakes rhythm where single well-timed hits could deal disproportionate damage.

Its rage-gauge system, which powers up a character’s attacks as they take damage, and the ability to knock an opponent’s weapon away mid-fight added tactical layers uncommon in the largely punch-and-kick fighting game landscape Street Fighter II had established. It launched a long-running SNK franchise and remains one of the most influential weapon-based fighters in the genre’s history.