The Gamer's Quarter

[dessgeega]

specifically slash mode. in fact i'm not sure why this game has a story mode.

i just killed the last five or so opponents on one knee. i am having a very good time.

the enemies who repeat the same attack over and over are boring. they're easy kills, though, once you determine where that one attack leaves them open.*

that's pretty much the whole game, actually. it works because it's so quick.

and running headfirst into opponents and knocking each other out is glorious. and killing each other simultaneously, which has only happened to me three times thus far.

* further complaints: red shadow's death scream is too girly. and where did she get fire-engine red nail polish in whenever this is? actually, when is this?

the only thing that would make it perfect is if slash mode could be played in first-person. actually, that's one of the few things i remember from playing bushido blade 2 years ago: you can play story mode in first-person. at least, if i'm remembering correctly. also, there are enemies with guns who are annoying and unfair.

i need to experiment with different stances and weapons. are there differences between the characters at all? it seems like the weapons have more effect on how the game plays than anything else.

anyway.

bushido blade!
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[Redeye]

Looks good, I might pick this up.


Reminds me of Karateka and especially DeathSword.

Are there decapitations?
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I felt sheer anarchic joy when I ran over my first pedestrian.

[DaleNixon]

I don't think I ever beat that game honorably.

[Isfet]

when Bushido Blade originally came out, a friend of mine and i played the game religiously together. what's interesting about the game to me, is that i had originally played a demo of it (that came with some Square game at the time) and hated it, but then i bought it anyway and somehow the full version was really a much more intriguing experience.

slash mode was fun, but what i really loved about the game were the open spaces to just kind of run around in. Vs. mode split the stages into select areas, but if you start a single player game and have a 2nd player join in (i believe the message reads "Here Goes!"), two people can play on the entire map of the story mode. i'm having trouble remembering if there are any distinct differences between characters. for some reason, i don't think so; the weapons you choose are what matter. actually, wait a second: i think some characters have special moves with certain weapons. i'm thinking of Tatsumi with some weapon combination that i can't remember. he sort moved the sword in front of him in a circle and then does a few slashes.

as for when the game takes place, it's really sort of ambiguous. when i originally started playing the game, i assumed it took place in the 15 or 1600s. but then you run into Katze, who wears suspenders, fires a revolver and is located on top of a construction site. so, i think it's actually supposed to be a modern day game, or at least within the 20th century.

i had always wanted to get two TVs, two PS1s and do the link up for 1st person Vs. mode, but never got to. maybe one day.

i really wanted to like Bushido Blade 2, and while it isn't awful, it kind of missed the point.

[Isfet]

[dessgeega]

[a_plus]

I never had a manual for this, and had (have?) a copy that i did play for a while. I had no idea there was any 'honor' to the game at all, and thought it was just a really realistic fighting game! I kind of got to the point, quickly, of breezing through the 5 or 6 combatants i was presented with and apparently got a less-than-good ending.
I'll have to see if i can dig it up now and get into it. is there any gameplay info I should keep in mind?

[dessgeega]

you should play slash mode. it's fabulous. and

there is no bushido in slash mode.

(according to gamefaqs.)
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[xvs07]

Bushido Blade is one of those games that I know way too much about. If you want to drop a five, David Cassidy's strat guide gives you everything about the game besides glitches and Gameshark codes, and there's also a good FAQ at GameFAQs by DC (hmm...?) that covers the bulk. For starters, though, yes, each character favors two or three weapons and is clumsy with the rest. Red Shadow's best pairing by far is the long sword.

Just wondering, did anyone here ever see the secret boss without using a cheat device? I don't remember whether I did or not. Protip: His name is neither Katze nor Hanzaki.

[Scratchmonkey]

Bushido Blade is the best vs. fighting game I've ever played.

Primarily because while there's definitely skill involved, somebody can pick it up and figure out the basics quicker than just about any other game. Secondarily because the ways that you can win and lose are just about the most entertaining results you can get in a fighting game. Thirdly because the matches can be both incredibly quick and incredibly slow -- it's about the only game I can think of where you'd see something like the old samurai movie showdowns, just two combatants circling each other, changing stances and feinting for minutes before a seconds-long flurry of attacks that will determine the winner.

I would love to see a next-gen game in the spirit of the first Bushido Blade, as the sequels moved away from the concept that made it so good in the first place.

[xvs07]

Sequels? Plural? Did I miss something beyond the (unintentionally hilarious) second game?

[Scratchmonkey]

[dark steve]

Man, I remember the first time I accidentally changed stages in story mode and WHOA

Story mode is also a lot more interesting when (if) you get to the sub bosses!
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[Shapermc]

[DaleNixon]

[Lackey]

Is the sequel much different? I thought it was pretty much like Bushido Blade with more characters.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[Isfet]

no, they changed the system around a bit. i can't seem to remember what exactly, though. i'm pretty sure they took out the parrying. i haven't played it in years, but from what i remember, the game just has a completely different feel than the original. Also, i think you could no longer take out someone's legs (or maybe you could no longer affect the arms? or maybe you just had to hit the legs a few times? i'm not sure).

maybe they tried making it more of a "regular" fighting game? but by making things more simplistic than they already were (and by adding a bunch of characters) it just ruined the aesthetic. i wonder about this, because didn't Kengo also introduce a life bar? i never actually played that game, so i don't know whether or not it's any good.

[Cycle]

I remember hearing it ruins everything that made the original memorable.

[dark steve]

Yeah, they tried to clean up the fighting system (or for that matter, every other aspect of the game) and it ended up losing all it's mystique.
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[Fred]

I'm a big behind on my threads, but:

[FortNinety]

Yeah, I would play vs. with a friend in college for literally three of four hours in a row. One of those "just one more game!" type of deals, and if one person died within one second of the next round, you just had to do another one.

Also, the music, what little there is , is amazing.

[dessgeega]

so my current record in slash mode is 45 kills without dying!

just wanted to say that!

someday i'll do the whole, thing, maybe!

maybe not!
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[FortNinety]

I tried it once and told myself that I would only try it once. Got up to 97. It gets HARD near the end.

[dessgeega]

also story mode is a lot more interesting now that i've started exploring.
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[Ketch]

[dessgeega]

i fought katze for the first time.

i got shot! wow!
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[Fred]

[TheRumblefish]

[shongo22]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the one thing that turned me off Bushido Blade to the point where I just couldn't get into it at all.

The loading times.

So many of the fights were very, very short affairs -- and the waiting between each battle seemed to take forEVer.
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chriservin22, at your service.