C64 Longplay [090] Samurai Warrior - The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo 

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Played by: Ironclaw
Usagi Yojimbo (which translates into "Rabbit Bodyguard")
Samurai Warrior is an adventure beat-em-up by Beam Software and published by Firebird that follows Miyamoto Usagi on an ominous quest along the rice fields and mountains of 17th century Japan. The roads are riddled with ninjas, peasants, traveling monks and monsters and your goal is to survive with honor intact. The young panda daimyo Noriyuki has been kidnapped by Lord Hikiji, the very same man responsible for the death of Usagi's father and the scarring over his left eye. Hikiji has also put out a bounty for the head of Usagi, enticing other ronin and bandits with their lust for money to hunt down the lonesome rabbit. Not everyone is out to take him down however and along the way Usagi meets many honorable characters and friendly villagers that offer their advice or services.
The game is played strictly left to right with the screen push scrolling once Usagi's sprite is centered on the screen. While no backtracking is possible, it is an open ended adventure which allows for multiple trails to be ventured and a rather large freedom of action for a game released in 1988. These trails show up in forms of an intersection with Usagi walking into the horizon if the player chooses it as his path. The roads are filled with characters of different nature, some mere peasants begging for ryo (a traditional Japanese coin currency) or murderous ninjas hiding in the trees or bushes. Dialogue is shown at the top of the screen.
Usagi has 2 main play modes that can be activated, the "Peaceful Mode" and "Fighting Mode".
It's interesting how this game uses the 2 different modes to create a different kind of adventure. Samurai Warrior revolves around karma, making the player always conscious of his approach and decisions. When you start the game, you have virtually no karma and are in dire need to raise it. To raise it Usagi must do good deeds, be it giving money to poor peasants or bowing at wandering characters of different status. It can also be raised by killing ninjas or winning first blood duels, where other samurais challenge you to a first strike showdown.
But your karma can drop as quickly as it rises. Failing duels or ignoring them will make other samurais look down on you, accidentally killing peasants or villagers will take a good chunk of karma away and even simply drawing the sword around innocent bystanders in friendly zones will cause panic and affect your stats. Once you reach zero karma, Usagi will perform seppuku, a suicide ritual used by samurais to die with honor. The game's cuteness is sharply contrasted by its brutality with decapitations and corpses being detailed viciously. When people are killed in Samurai Warrior, their spirits escape their bodies as depicted in the comic book. It's interesting to see that a game released in 1988 was capable of properly bringing consciousness and social responsibilities into a game in such a way. In some ways, the karma system can be seen as a precursor to the depression meter found in Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) which was released in 2004.
(text written by Audun Sorlie, 12/31/10, and it's a small part of the total text)

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