In the parlance of the Internet, I agree with this post: Ben Elgin tidily points out all the things that made Bushido Blade a completely brilliant game back in 1997 and continue to make it unique and compelling even now. It’s a shame Lightweight’s follow-ups progressively watered down the core concept more and more; a game with Bushido Blade’s premise and creativity integrity running on modern tech would be an instant purchase for me. (Insert your own snarky remark about the incompatibility of creative integrity and modern tech here; I’m too weary of cynicism to do it myself.)
The death of Bushido Blade by the hands of its own creators still makes me sad. What a marvelous idea that game had.
I would recommend trying the Deadliest Warrior games for XBLA/PSN. They’ve got crippling arm/leg injuries, one-hit kills and very limited projectiles. I haven’t played the new sequel but apparently it doesn’t even bother having a health bar, since damage is all based on where you’re hit anyway.
Yeah, this game was (is) awesome. I still play it with friends, partially because of how unintentionally hilarious the game is when you’re clinging to life limping around. I’m shocked that it hasn’t spawned a ton of imitators. It’s a fighter like Smash Brothers in that regard. The concept is just gold.
It’s a nice change of pace from Tekken, anyway.
I never was good enough to get the lauded true endings, alas. My friends and I also got a lot of amusement out of simple making the characters run into each other head first, always good for a laugh.
I’m still clamoring for a reboot. In lieu of that, just re-release the original on PSN. My wife must witness the glory that is Bushido Blade one way or the other.