History Trivia / SamuraiShodown

** Nobuhiro Watsuki, creator of popular anime and manga such as ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'', ''Manga/BusouRenkin'' and ''Manga/GunBlazeWest'', mentioned early in ''Rurouni Kenshin'' that he is hooked on the ''Samurai Shodown'' series and bought a Neo Geo CD just to play it. He continued to write ''Samurai Shodown''-related notes in subsequent releases of ''Rurouni Kenshin'' manga. In 2003, SNK hired him to design new characters for ''Samurai Shodown V''.

* ExecutiveMeddling: SNK's community manager [[https://www.twitch.tv/kaiserwave/clip/VivaciousLachrymoseTubersKappa?filter=clips&range=all&sort=time admitted]] during one of his streams that it was him who convinced producer Oda to include Iroha in ''2019''.

* CastingGag: In the reboot, newcomer Yashamaru is voiced by Creator/KouheiAmasaki, better known as the voice of Haruo Yaguchi from Manga/HighScoreGirl, a series that is very much involved with ''Samurai Shodown'' both in and out of universe.

* PortOverdosed: The original ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' is one of the more recent games to qualify, due to SNK's near-constant stream of compilations and re-releases over the last decade.

* PromotedFanboy: Nobuhiro Watsuki, creator of popular anime and manga such as ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'', ''Manga/BusouRenkin'' and ''Manga/GunBlazeWest'', mentioned early in ''Rurouni Kenshin'' that he is hooked on the ''Samurai Shodown'' series and bought a Neo Geo CD just to play it. He continued to write ''Samurai Shodown''-related notes in subsequent releases of ''Rurouni Kenshin'' manga. In 2003, SNK hired him to design new characters for ''Samurai Shodown V''.

* RoleReprisal

* CastingGag: In the reboot, newcomer Yashamaru is voiced by Kohei Amasaki, better known as the voice of Haruo Yaguchi from Manga/HighScoreGirl, a series that is very much involved with ''Samurai Shodown'' both in and out of universe.

** Ruixiang has started to become known as "Chinese [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo Velma]]" due to her design and [[BlindWithoutEm her glasses falling off]] when she loses her weapon, as well as people getting tired of [[NoPronunciationGuide trying to pronounce her name]]. She is alternatively referred to as "[[VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} Mei]]".

** ''Samurai Shodown Sen'' attempted to follow the footsteps of combo/weapon-based fighting game like the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries''. Unfortunately for SNK, that ended up being a FranchiseKiller.

** ''Samurai Shodown Sen'', best described as a highly stripped down [[FollowTheLeader clone]] of ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur''; stripping the series from what made it unique in the first place: The 'one hit can take away a lot of health'. And in addition of that, the fantastical and mystical special moves that made the game flashy in the first place was severely toned down for the sake of 'realism'. For those reasons, this really bombed big time. It put SNK off from touching the franchise for 8 years until they decided to try again in 2018.

** According to game developer Nobuyuki Koruki, Darli Dagger's design started life as a feudal Japanese firefighter character, Hikeshi, but the team couldn’t get the concept to work. Then the concept of a burly male carpenter was pitched before they finally decided on merging this design with a that of a "powerful, strong-willed female with African roots."

** According to the official art-book accompanying the ''2019'' game, both Darli and Earthquake were supposed to be assigned with their own stages -- hers being a lush, tropical beach depicting her ship-building yard, and his a treasure-filled thieves den -- though these never made the cut at launch.

** According to the official art-book accompanying the ''2019'' game, both Darli and Earthquake were supposed to be assigned with their own stages -- her's being a lush, tropical beach depicting her ship-building yard, and his a treasure-filled thieves den -- though these never made the cut at launch.

** As revealed in a [[http://www.polygon.com/2017/4/10/15223966/the-making-of-samurai-shodown 2017 interview]], the first ''Samurai Shodown'' was originally designed as a monster-themed BeatEmUp. Genan was the only thing carried over from this version of the game.

* RoleReprisal: Kong Kuwata has the record of always keeping the role of Genjuro from his debut to every of his appearances.

** ''Samurai Shodown V Special'' might be the most egregious example, with three different ports to the [=PlayStation=] 4 - the actual release, the ACA Neo Geo release, and as a part of the upcoming ''Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection''.

** An UpgradedRerelease of ''V Special'' was location tested, but never officially released.

* FollowTheLeader: The 2019 reboot takes a number of cues from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'', right down to the 2.5D gameplay, the heavy ink lines on the character models, and the watercolor-inspired art style.

** ''Samurai Shodown Sen'', best described as a highly stripped down [[FollowTheLeader clone]] of ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur''. Good luck finding a positive review. It put SNK off from touching the franchise for 8 years until they decided to try again in 2018.

** Ukyo's current voice actor Shinjiro Sakurai, not only used to play the game in arcades, but he actually usef to play Ukyo.

** ''Samurai Shodown V Special'' might be the most egregious example, with three different ports to the {{PlayStation}} 4 - the actual release, the ACA Neo Geo release, and as a part of the upcoming ''Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As revealed in a [[http://www.polygon.com/2017/4/10/15223966/the-making-of-samurai-shodown 2017 interview]], the first ''Samurai Shodown'' was originally designed as a monster-themed BeatEmUp. Genan was the only thing carried over from this version of the game.

** The 2019 reboot as a whole is referred to by fans as "Samurai Shodown 7", despite not officially having a number in the title.