SNK's Samurai Shodown series has been thrilling fighting game fans for decades, but the company also tried to branch out the franchise into the world of RPGs, resulting in 1997's Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits Bushidō Retsuden.
Initially announced in 1995 as a Neo Geo CD exclusive, when it launched two years later, it was also made available on the PlayStation and Saturn. Each version is slightly different, but all have one thing in common: they never made it out of Japan (despite apparent plans to localise for a North American release).
There have been attempts by fans over the years to translate the game unofficially, but these have come to nothing. However, this particular stab (no pun intended) might fare much better. The person doing the heavy lifting here is The Price of Reason, a Samurai Shodown fan and historian. "Yes, I am translating Samurai Shodown RPG," reads his Twitter bio. "It'll be done when it's done."
He adds that this isn't a 'new' project, as such, but one which has been in the works for 15 years:
Are you looking forward to finally getting to play this slice (again, no pun intended) of Samurai Shodown history? Let us know with a comment below.