Second Samurai

Second Samurai

The game is a sequel to the First Samurai that was developed and published by Psygnosis and released in 1994.

This game was released on both the Genesis and on the Amiga, with both of them looking completely different to each other.

Story

The First Samurai told the story of Lord Akira and a young warrior who were in a village whilst they were collecting taxes. The Demon King came down from the mountains and anilated an entire village. Lord Akira was also murdered and the warrior had then decided to finish off thie Demon King for good.

The Wizard-Mage arrived on the scene to fight and destroy the Demon King and eventually drove the Demon King to retreat but he retrated to the future where there were no opponents and lived in a future of technology and no magic.

After the Mage drove him out, the samurai stared at the Mage and saw a power that was limitless so he begged him to avenge his Lord. After consideration, he accepted and managed to send him to the future where the Demon King lies.

After laying waste to all the minions the Demon King had, he teleported to Ancient Japan, where he waits for the warrior to challenge him one last time.

Amiga Version

Gameplay

The gameplay is a platformer fighting game which also contain puzzles and is also a 2 player game.

There are 3 types of co-op mode

  • Friend - players cannot harm each other
  • Stun - Once players attack each other, they will be stunned for a few seconds
  • Kill - Once players attack each other, health will be drained.

Controls

The player can move, jump and crouch on a 2d plane like a platformer.

Unarmed Attacks

  • Fast Forward Punch
  • Powerful Forward Punch
  • Low Forward Punch
  • Leg Sweep
  • Fast High Kick
  • Powerful High Kick
  • Flying Kick

Sword attacks

  • Flying Slash
  • Forward Slash
  • Low Fast Slash
  • Low and Under Slash
  • Overhead Slash
  • Overhead Swipe
  • Short Stab

There are 10 levels based in 3 worlds, past, present and future. But the Demon King has merged the worlds in one form or another.

The player has 7 hearts with also a lives counter (can be adjusted in the options, either 3, 5 or 7) and also a score counter.

An experience bar is located in the middle if the screen but it's used to see the true ending of the game.

Inventory

The game also has an inventory system where the player can collect items/weapons in the levels.

  • Yellow Spell Book - Grants the sword
  • Red Spell Book - Creates a huge bomb surrounding the player and destroys everything in its path.
  • Green Spell Book - Casts invulnerability on the player.
  • Daggers - can throw daggers at the enemies for increased damage. Can hold a maximum of 40 and can be collected in packs of 10.
  • Bombs - Bombs are thrown at the enemies and can be useful for throwing them at high platforms.
  • Seeker Skull - Follows opponents to damage enemies.

Pickups

  • Apple - Restores a small amount of health
  • Roast Chicken - Restores full health.
  • Regenerative Potion - Grants an extra life.

Objects

Pots - Used to gain experience points. Some break with one hit, some will need multiple hits.

Blue Orbs - Used to teleport to different areas of the game. Bigger orbs are used to exit a level. There are also secret orbs that lead to hidden areas of the game. It is activated by holding the fire button for about 3 seconds.

Faces - Theses faces acts as switches which can either help or hinder depending on the situation.

This game incorporated a Continue screen once all the lives are gone and a Code screen to enter in the code to jump to that level (but any collected equipment that was grabbed before, will be lost).