Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge

Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge (Japanese: Samurai Spirits: Amakusa Kourin) is a weapon-based fighting game developed by SNK and released for Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware in 1996. It is the fourth mainline entry of the Samurai Shodown franchise. Chronologically, it picks up after Samurai Shodown III and takes place between the first Samurai Shodown and Samurai Shodown II. In 1789, disasters ravage Japan, and the cursed Amakusa Castle emerges on the Shimabara Peninsula. The defeated Amakusa Shiro Tokisada resurrects, planning to merge his split spirit and plunge the world into endless darkness. Warriors from across the land march to Amakusa Castle to stop him. It keeps the Slash / Bust dual fighting style system introduced in Samurai Shodown III. Slash offers solid, traditional movesets, while Bust features riskier, more aggressive techniques, effectively doubling each fighter’s playstyle. New mechanics include **Rage Explosion**: activate at full rage gauge to boost attack power and unlock Fatal Flash, a devastating instant-kill special. The CD combo, known as the famous 14-hit multi-slash, adds brand-new combo options. The roster expands to 17 fighters. New arrivals are the ninja brothers Kazuki and Sogetsu Kazama. Fan favourites Charlotte, Jubei and Tam Tam return with fully redrawn animations. Gameplay still emphasizes careful spacing and sword control with heavy-hitting slashes. Blade clashes and weapon-knockout mechanics remain intact. Its unique single-player timer system requires players to reach Amakusa within 8 minutes. If time expires, you get the bad ending even after defeating the final boss, raising tension during arcade runs. Matches follow best-of-three rules, with random meat for HP recovery and bombs dropping onto battlefields. Visuals are brighter and more polished than Samurai Shodown III, with smooth sprite animation and dramatic Japanese-style soundtrack. It rebalances characters and fixes controversial mechanics from the third game, bringing the combat feel back to classic Samurai Shodown while adding combo possibilities. It was widely popular in Chinese arcades and remains a beloved Neo Geo fighting classic for retro players.

These are the default keys. Every arcade board has a different number of buttons and means different things by them. The rows above are buttons 1–6 on the board: on Neo Geo boards (The King of Fighters and friends) A/B/C/D are buttons 1–4, Metal Slug uses only 1, 2 and 4 (shoot / jump / grenade), and Pac-Man uses none at all. Six-button fighters with three punches and three kicks (Street Fighter II and the like) get a different layout from the core: light punch U, medium punch I, heavy punch Q, light kick J, medium kick K, heavy kick E. Click the gamepad icon 🎮 in the player toolbar, then “Remap keys” to open the emulator’s own control settings (keyboard and gamepad, saved automatically). Gamepads are detected automatically. On phones you get on-screen buttons.