(LAST UPDATE: 6/24/2009)
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Developer(s): Squaresoft / Lightweight
Publisher(s): Square Co. (JP), SCEA (NA)
Designer(s): Tetsuo Mizuno
Platform(s): Playstation
Release Date(s): March 14th 1997 (
), September 30th 1997
(
), February 1st
1998 (
)
Characters: Kannuki, Mikado, Tatsumi, Red Shadow, Black Lotus, Utsusemi
Related Games: Bushido Blade 2
Story: Bushido Blade takes place on an island near the southern mountains of Japan. A five hundred year old dojo known as Meikyokan lies within this region, and teaches the disciplines of the master Narukagami Shinto. A society of assassins known as Kage also resides within the dojo. Once led by the honorable swordsman Utsusemi, he lost his position to Hanzaki, another skilled member of the dojo, in a fierce battle. Hanzaki gained respect as the Kage leader, until he discovered a cursed sword known as Yugiri. He began to change, disregarding the groups honor and the traditions held by its students.
One day, a Kage escapes the confines of the
dojo with its secrets. Several other members of the society, under penalty of
death, are sent to dispatch the defector, only catching up to him (or her)
within the ruins of the surrounding Yin and Yang Labyrinth Castle. The player
takes on the role of the escaped assassin, fighting his or her way out by
killing comrades one by one. The game story differs with each character
selected.
Review: Bushido
Blade was a fighting game that somewhat re-introduced the 3D weapon based
fighting game genre. Square decided to completely take out a staple to most fighting
games... "life bars," which means that with one good slash, you could be
the victor. Definitely unorthodox gameplay, but much more realistic and makes
sense when considering we're dealing with samurai and live blades here. 
The game also presented a unique idea that every characters could use all eight
weapons featured in the game, which include the katana, nodachi, long sword,
saber, naginata, rapier, broadsword, and sledgehammer... Each character also has
3 different stances (high, mid, and low) in which different attacks can be
thrown from. Depending on the character and weapon, attacks varied, however a
lot of the characters did share the same animations (as you can see from the
screenshots above and below, lol).
One of the game's most distinctive
aspects is its incorporation of the Japanese honor code of Bushido.
During the story mode, players are encouraged to battle honorably by adhering to
certain rules within combat. Actions such as attacking from behind with cause an
automatic game over at the end of some battles. The gameplay also features a free-running feature... Don't feel like fighting your opponent
in your current location? Run away and fight somewhere else! It's quite
funny in a way, and adds some strategy and simple fun to the game as well.
The immersive environments
are also interactive, with trees you can cut down, places to climb,
etc... There are only 6 characters to choose from, but each of them
can use any of the 8 different weapons in the game, another innovative feature.
In addition to the game's single player story mode, Bushido Blade
contains a two-player versus mode and a link mode that supports the Playstation
link cable. Other single player options include a practice mode and a first
person mode, which can be played with two players by using 2 televisions! Also
included is "Slash mode" which pits the player against 100 enemies,
one after another... An entertaining mode and a nice break from the game's main
story!
The biggest flaw
of Bushido Blade would definitely be the graphics. The environments, though
pretty and immersive for the time, look quite "pixilated" and the
in-game blood looks more like fireworks, or confetti... 
It definitely doesn't look like blood, that's for sure.
The gameplay is solid and fun, but somewhat slow; especially when compared with the
likes of later weapon based fighting games. If you can get past the out-dated graphics, there's a
satisfying gameplay experience in Bushido Blade that no fighting gamer should miss.
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7.5 / 10 |
Closing Comment:
Bushido Blade was a cool, classy, and unique console fighting game at it's
debut. It left much to be desired in the graphics and characters department, but
Bushido
Blade 2 nicely improved on those aspects. ~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG