Samurai Spirits III [JP] (AES)

ITEM DESCRIPTION

They called him "The Demon." His real name, Zankuro Minazuki. From time immemorial he had indiscriminately attacked villages, slaughtering all who stood in his way. Those who faced him shrieked their final gasps and sank into eternity, enveloped by a sea of blood. No one alive could stop his evil deeds. And then one day, it happened...In a certain village, Zankuro failed to kill a single infant. Some insist the evil one was unable to kill him-but why? The truth remains a mystery. But from then on, Zankuro marked all those who carried a sword for slaughter. Several years later....Twelve samurai and swordsmen are spurred to action by their own hopes and aspirations. But all have a single objective: the head of the dreaded "Demon." The head of Zankuro Minazuki.

Along with the aesthetic overhaul came significant changes in the gameplay. The most obvious was the addition of two selectable versions of each character.

Slash: Known to the Japanese as Shura (修羅), which means "fighting" or a "scene of carnage", and occasionally mistranslated as "Chivalry," and implies a regular fighter. This version tended to be the closest in style and moves to the Samurai Shodown II version of the character.
Bust: Known to the Japanese as Rasetsu (羅刹), which is a derivation of the Sanskrit word, "rakshasa," in reference to a type of demon. It is occasionally mistranslated as "Treachery," implying a rulebreaking heel version of the character. This version typically differed considerably from its Slash counterpart in gameplay, though it visually did not look different beyond its color palette. The fighter Nakoruru is the only notable exception to this, likely taking after the portrait differences of her purple color swap, sporting the same haughty smirk in her Bust form. The "Slash" version of her character is accompanied by her pet hawk, Mamahaha, as in the two previous SS games. Her "Bust" version, however, is accompanied by her pet wolf, Shikuru. (Like with Mamahaha, she is able to hop onto Shikuruu's back and perform modified attacks.) Galford in his "Bust" version fights without his dog, Poppy for the first time in the game.
Also, the button layout was changed, mapping the first three of the four available buttons to weak, medium and strong slash attacks, respectively. The fourth button was used for kick attacks, presumably to de-emphasize kicks in favor of the sword strikes.

ITEM DETAILS

PLAYERS: 1-2 Players

GENRE: Fighting

RATING: T-Teen

RELEASE YEAR: 1995

NOTE: Requires Unibios Mod to play in English