Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits Bushidou Retsuden

Nicknamed “Samurai Shodown RPG” by the English fans (and known under the fan translated subtitle Tales of the Bushido), this title is exactly what it sounds like. Samurai Shodown has plenty of backstory, and makes for a brilliant tale.

The gameplay is pretty much Final Fantasy with a Samurai Shodown twist. Characters represented by resized sprites from the main series perform RPG-style actions on opponents you encounter in random battles. There are basic attacks, magic, and special attacks, which can be upgraded as the game progresses. Even the Rage gauge has been implemented into the system: as you take damage, your character gets angry and starts inflicting more damage on the foes. There’s also the obligatory “wait-for-your-turn” meter based on your character’s speed stat, and various commands for items and the like. There’s also a choice to use the fighting game notations to perform moves, which is novel for a while, but grows tiresome rather quickly.