Samurai Spirits Zero Special © 2004 SNK Playmore.
An 'upgrade' of the Samurai Spirits Zero episode with its 24 fighters plus 4 more characters : Amakusa, Gaoh, Zankuro and Mizuki. It's probably the ultimate game released on MVS since SNK Playmore decided to develop its future games on AtomisWave.
Runs on the SNK "Neo-Geo MVS" hardware.
Game ID : NGM-272
Players : 2
Control : 8-way Joystick
Buttons : 4
=> [A] Light attack, [B] Medium attack, [C] Kick/Break defence, [D] Lie down/Forward roll/Back roll/Small jump/Dodge
Samurai Spirits Zero Special was released in April 2004 in Japan.
This game is known outside Japan as 'Samurai Shodown V Special'.
The original version of the game contain some bugs and characters don't have fatalities. To correct that, SNK Playmore released corrected cartridges (without any problems) which can be recognized by a small NeoGeo sticker on the top right
On the game box, SNK put the following message : 'A final Farewell. To all of our customers, who have purchased NeoGeo rom cartridges up till now, thank you very much. We offer our most heartfelt gratitude for your loyal patronage over these 14 full years and hope for your continued support for our games on the many other platforms we will provide products for in the future. NeoGeo fans rule!'.
Some rumors says that SNK Playmore wanted to release an other upgrade of "Samurai Shodown V" on NeoGeo MVS called "Samurai Shodown V Special Final" including 2 new characters, some new stages and the correction of all the original game's bugs. A location test occurred in Tokyo in october 2004 but then SNK Playmore denied developing this game.
* I'm Not Afraid Of You! : think you are really good? Tap Start 3 times quickly to make your character drop his/her sword. Now show your opponents that the most fearsome weapons are the ones you were born with!
* The game has several last bosses: Amakusa, Zankuro, Gao and Muzuki. In order to reach the latter bosses, you need to perform a fatality on the former ones. If you don't, you'll instead get a bad ending.
1. Samurai Spirits [Model NGM-045] (1993)
2. Shin Samurai Spirits - Haohmaru Jigoku Hen [Model NGM-063] (1994)
3. Samurai Spirits - Zankurou Musouken [Model NGM-087] (1995)
4. Samurai Spirits - Amakusa Kourin [Model NGM-222] (1996)
5. Samurai Spirits 64 (1997)
6. Samurai Spirits 2 - Asura Zanmaden (1998)
7. Kenkaku Ibunroku Yomigaerishi Soukou no Ha - Samurai Spirits Shinshou (1999, PSX)
8. Samurai Spirits Zero [Model NGM-270] (2003)
9. Samurai Spirits Zero Special [Model NGM-272] (2004)
10. Samurai Spirits - Tenkaichi Kenkakuden (2005)
11. Samurai Shodown - Edge of Destiny (2008)
* Voice Actors :
Announcer/Narrator : Satoshi Taki
Haohmaru : Masaki Usui
Nakoruru : Harumi Ikoma
Yoshitora Tokugawa : Hiro Yuki
Mina Majikina : Satsuki Yukino
Ukyo Tachibana : Eiji Yano
Rimururu : Hitomi Nabatame
Yunfei Liu : Satoshi Taki
Kusaregedo the demon : Go Shinomiya
Genjuro Kibagami : Kong Kuwata
Rera : Kyoko Hikami
Kyoshiro Senryo : Monster Maetsuka
Rasetsumaru : Tsuguo Nakajima (formerly Mogami)
Kazuki Kazama : Atsushi Yamanishi
Sogetsu Kazama : Naoki Oikawa
Enja : Shintarou Ohata
Suija : Ikuji Nose
Hanzo Hattori : Toshimitsu Arai
Galford : Mantaro Koichi
Shizumaru Hisame : Miho Kaneda
Jubei Yagyu : Kiyoshi Kobayashi
Basara : Masahiro Nonaka
Gaira Caffeine : Takeshi Watanabe
Charlotte : Harumi Ikoma
Tam Tam : Toshikazu Nishimura
Zankuro Minazuki : Kazuhiro Nakata
Shiro Tokisada Amakusa : Takashi Ohara
Rashoujin Mizuki : Shizuka Ito
Gaoh Kyougoku Hinowanokami : Kenji Utsumi
CONSOLES:
SNK Neo-Geo AES (jul.09, 2004; "Samurai Spirits Zero Special [Model NGH-272]")
SNK Neo-Geo AES (jul.09, 2004; "Samurai Shodown V Special [Model NGH-272]")
Game's ROM.
Samurai Spirits Official Web Site; http://www.samuraispirits-official.com