PS1 Bushido Blade 1997

[Guel Jeturk]

Developed by Lightweight and published by Square for the PS1, one-on-one armed combat, refers to the Japanese warrior code of honor bushidō.

The realistic fighting engine in Bushido Blade was seen as innovative, particularly the game's unique Body Damage System.

The bulk of the gameplay in Bushido Blade revolves around one-on-one third-person battles between two opponents. Unlike most fighting games, however no time limit or health gauge is present during combat.

Most hits will cause instant death, while traditional fighting games require many hits to deplete an opponent's health gauge. It is possible to wound an opponent without killing them.

With the game's "Body Damage System" opponents are able to physically disable each other in increments with hits from an equipped weapon, slowing their attacking and running speed, or crippling their legs, forcing them to crawl.

The game features eight weapons to choose from in many of its modes: katana, nodachi, long sword, saber, broadsword, naginata, rapier, and sledgehammer.

Many of these attacks are only available in one of three stances, switched using the shoulder buttons or axis controls depending on controller layout: high, neutral, and low.

A direct sequel, Bushido Blade 2, was released on the PlayStation a year later.

Another game with a related title and gameplay, Kengo: Master of Bushido, was also developed by Lightweight for the PS2.

 

[Klonoa7]

I never heard of Kengo until now. I’ll have to check it out. When I first played Bushido Blade I would get the game over and never understood why. Later on I learned that certain moves against your opponent that were considered dishonorable would result in a game over. It’s definitely a unique fighting game.

 

[Guel Jeturk]

I never heard of Kengo until now. I’ll have to check it out. When I first played Bushido Blade I would get the game over and never understood why. Later on I learned that certain moves against your opponent that were considered dishonorable would result in a game over. It’s definitely a unique fighting game.

stay tuned for more.

 

[spectresfrommercury]

one of my earliest ps1 games damn that was so much fun

 

[thanonyx]

I remember playing this game, I used to just like to cut all the trees down in the bamboo thicket.

 

[Grumpy_Old_Man]

One thing you could add is that characters have preferred weapons(More moves and often faster), like Mikado and the Naginata.

 

[Ian Naxieas]

The Bushido Blade games are so cool. They're about equal in my mind. The first game had more weapons and the blood wasn't turned into sparks. :V The story mode was kinda annoying too. The Bushido code you have to follow just never felt very consistent to me, I failed way more than succeeded. The second game has a bigger selection of characters, but less weapons. It's a little faster than the first game too. The story mode is great though. I love that you get to play as two other characters and will unlock them if you survive their battle. Good stuff. The final bosses were both annoying, but the Shainto boss was way worse than the Narukagami boss. They both have a gimmick to them, but hitting the Shainto boss in the back was frusturating.

Anyway, great series, it's very sad it started and ended on the PS1. Thankfully there are some indie games that carry the torch, but none are quite like Bushido Blade.

 

[RanmyakuIchi's iconRanmyakuIchi]

I remember as a kid thinking it was funny how I could kill my opponents while they talked, and then not understanding why my run was being cut short.

 

[King Koopa's iconKing Koopa]

I've only played this at a friend's house but I remember liking it.

 

[Toppis]

I like this game, especially when playing with two players

 

[RebelofDaNeonGod]

Bushido Blade one of the rawest games out on the ps1, I think it is such a unique and addictive game that, if you have someone else who is tapped in with games, will play constantly. I love it so much, the one hit kill aspect is awesome.

 

[Parasite_Steve]

Excellent diamond-in-the-rough game for sure. It was probably too special interest to ever take off but the whole concept has so much potential still. I do miss the psx days when something like this would get published by a major player like square.

The Kengo series was a lot of fun too and probably even more niche than Bushido Blade. Surprisingly enough only part 3 didn’t make it into the west. Kengo 2 aka sword of the samurai (not to be confused with the dos title of the same name) was the best of the bunch. As a martial artist I appreciate any attempt to bring realistic sword combat to games.