Samurai Shodown — stories left

It was awarded "Game of the Year" at the April 1994 European Computer Trade Show (ECTS).

In 1997, Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked the Neo Geo AES version number 99 on their list of the "100 Best Games of All Time", citing the solid fighting engine, realistic use of blood, and easy to execute moves.

Next Generation reviewed the Genesis version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "fans of the arcade game won't be disappointed with this solid translation, complete with blood and all the varied endings of the original.

Electronic Gaming Monthly scored the 3DO version 38 out of 50, calling it "A very faithful home version of the arcade fighter".

In 2018, Complex ranked the SNES version of Samurai Shodown 40th on their list of "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time", praising the graphics and controls and saying everything is "on point" in the game.

In 1995, Flux magazine ranked Samurai Shodown 80th on their list of the "Top 100 Video Games".

In 1996, Super Play ranked the SNES version 99th on its list of the "Top 100 SNES Games of All Time".

In the feature "The 7th Gamest Grand Prize" (for 1993) in the game magazine Gamest, the arcade version took No. 1 for the grand prize, No. 1 for the Best Fighting Game Award, No. 2 for the Best Graphics Award, No. 1 for the Best Presentation Award and No. 1 for the Best VGM Award, and was very highly rated.

In the feature "The 7th Gamest Grand Prize" (for 1993) in the game magazine Gamest, it took No. 1 for the grand prize, No. 1 for the Best Fighting Game Award, No. 2 for the Best Graphics Award, No. 1 for the Best Presentation Award, No. 1 for the Best VGM Award, No. 6 for Hit Game of the Year and No. 5 for player popularity, and in the Best Character Award "Nakoruru" took No. 1, "Haohmaru" No. 6, "Ukyo Tachibana", "Galford" and "Poppy" tied at No. 11, and "Kuroko" No. 18.

Game magazinesIn the "Cross Review" of Famitsu it received 6, 5, 5 and 5 for a total of 21 out of 40, and in the "Game Report Card" based on reader voting in Family Computer Magazine it was rated as follows, 22.8 out of 30.

Game magazinesIn the "Cross Review" of Famitsu it received 7, 7, 6 and 6 for a total of 26 out of 40, and in the "Game Report Card" based on reader voting in Family Computer Magazine it was rated as follows, 22.4 out of 30.

In the "Cross Review" feature of the magazine Famitsu,the four reviewers gave 6, 8, 6, and 4, for a total of 24 out of 40. In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by Mega Drive FAN,it scored 20.6 out of 30, as shown below.

Released in 1993, it is the first installment in the Samurai Shodown series.

Mostly due to the negative publicity surrounding the use of violence in video games, the game was edited when it was first released for the AES as it featured blood and graphic fatal attacks that kill opponents by slicing them in half.

The 3DO version was first released in 1994 in North America, then in Japan and Europe the following year, with all blood and fatality graphics intact.

The Sega CD version retains the arcade introduction and is only missing portions of some characters' endings.

In the February 1994 issue of Japanese magazine Gamest, Samurai Shodown was awarded Best Game of 1993 in the Seventh Annual Gamest Grand Prize; it was also the first to win in the category of Best Fighting Game (Street Fighter II Dash, the previous Game of the Year, won Best Action Game).

GamePro praised the general gameplay, but criticized the quality of the conversion, complaining that the scaling is not as smooth as the arcade version, the animations are slower, the load times are interminably long, and the gameplay is crippled by a poor control configuration, which the player is not given the option to change.

They praised the accurate graphics, short load times, and ease of pulling off special moves.

It was cancelled in Japan, but in Europe and North America a Mega CD version was released in 1995 by Victor Entertainment.

Ported under the title used outside Japan.

The Sega CD version also includes the attacks that were removed or altered in the Mega Drive/Genesis version, and the music is the same as the arcade version.

In the February 1994 issue of Japanese magazine Gamest, Samurai Shodown was awarded Best Game of 1993 in the Seventh Annual Gamest Grand Prize; it was also the first to win in the category of Best Fighting Game (Street Fighter II Dash, the previous Game of the Year, won Best Action Game).