New Samurai Spirits details

Additional details on SNK Playmore's new 2D fighting game, Samurai Spirits Zero, have been revealed. The series is known as Samurai Shodown in North America. While the basic available actions are mostly intact, the controls and game system in Samurai Spirits Zero are significantly different from those found in the previous games in the series. The A and B buttons are used for weak and middle-strength slashes, and the fierce-strength slash is triggered when the two buttons are pressed together. The C button is used for kicking, and when combined with a joystick press in the direction of an opponent, it executes a guard crush throw. The D button is used for a number of purposes. Pressed alone, it executes a new action called meditation. Pressed together with a joystick direction, it executes a short jump, a ground roll, or a crouching position. The traditional anger system is still present in the game, but the system has been further developed with the meditation system. In the meditation system, characters can meditate and turn the anger stock into spiritual stock, which will allow the character to go into enlightenment mode. During the enlightenment mode, the game will run in slow motion. There is also a new sword power system in the game, in which the strength of slash attacks changes depending on the amount of sword power remaining. Each slash depletes a player's sword power, but the sword power gradually recovers as time passes by.

Samurai Spirits Zero will have 24 characters. Unlike a number of past Samurai Spirits titles, the game will not have a shura and rasetsu mode. Returning characters in the series are Haoumaru, Nakororu, Rimururu, Ukyo, Genjuro, Juubei, Hanzou, Galford, Kyoshiro, Shizumaru, Gaira, Basara, Charlotte, Kazuki, Sougetsu, and Tamtam. New characters in the game are Yoshitora Tokugawa, Mina Majikina, Yunfei, Kusare Gedou, Lera, Rasetsumaru, Kaja, and Suija. Yoshitora is a samurai with seven swords, Mina is a young female archer, Yunfei is an old-looking bearded man with a falchion, and Kusare Gedou is a demonic-looking man whose name means "rotten bastard" in English. Lera, Rasetsumaru, Kaja, and Suija are similar to rasetsu mode characters Nakoruru, Haoumaru, Kazuki, and Sougetsu from previous Samurai Spirits titles.

Samurai Spirits Zero is scheduled for release in Japanese arcades this fall.