Misunderstood
In this game you progress in your abilities as a sword fighter. Like some sports games (boxing, tennis) there are side-games you play through to in crease certain stats for your fighter - speed, strength, spirit etc. After improving your stats, you challenge other dojo's fighters, and compete in tournaments. Although not as harshly realistic as it could have been, this game tries to at least base its mechanics in real life. If you like to mash buttons and hack at your opponent for the entire match, this game probably isnt for you. It relies more on timing, position, and placement for your fights to be successful. Although you usually dont die from one smack from a sword, there are attacks that deal quite a bit of damage.
Overall, I'd say the graphics were pretty good for its time. Some of the blood effects are reminiscent of scenes from Kill Bill. Nothing remarkable about the audio, although to me it sometimes seems too quiet.
For such an old game, I still sometimes enjoy pulling it out for a couple fights. Im a fan of the realistic sword-fighting the developers were trying to pull off, and wish they would have made that sequel.