BLOOD WARRIOR
Original Release: Kaneko, 1994, Arcade
The sequel to Kaneko's iffy Shogun Warriors basically copies and cobbles elements from a variety of other popular fighting games of the time, and actually ends up being a little better
Blood Warrior (Arcade, Kaneko, 1994)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: Arcade Emulation Guide
Review by: C. M0use
The follow-up to Kaneko's Shogun Warriors adopts a Mortal Kombat-esque digitized graphics style and fatalities, but retains gameplay that is more in line with Street Fighter or an SNK title. It's tuned up some, a little more zippy and fun to play, if only because the computer isn't so brutal this time out.
The "feudal Japan" theme returns along with the roster of samurai, ninjas, geishas and such, but the characters have received a total overhaul to fit the new graphical style (and most don't look quite as ridiculous/ugly, though there are plenty of silly accoutrements for some reason). They also now have names, not that it does much for their personality. You probably don't wanna get too chummy with them anyway as they're all gonna be reduced to comically Troma-esque piles of guts before long.
Blood Warrior's violence is poorly drawn, yet amusing in how over-the-top it goes. There are constant comical arterial gushes that make no sense (and feature blood that looks like MS Paint scribbles), and at the conclusion of battles you can do one of your super moves to utterly gib the opponent in several different ways.
Though the look and violence comes from Mortal Kombat, and the gameplay moves more to Street Fighter 2 Turbo than World Heroes, the characters actually seem like a direct rip from Samurai Shodown in many cases. Shogun Warriors actually came out first, but I guess they decided "if you can't beat 'em copy 'em." Certain characters like the ninja and samurai feel and have movesets very much like their obvious counterparts from the SNK lineup, but to be fair you also have some total oddballs like the kappa with Dhalsim limbs.
Anyway, this is a "meh" fighter at best, definitely an improvement over the prequel but still noticeably more unrefined than the top titles on the market circa 1994. But the over-the-top exuberance of it all and the comically excessive yet sloppily-done gore makes it like a good B-movie of a game. It's a total meme game, but at least a somewhat fun and amusing one.
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