History VideoGame / BushidoBlade

-->-- '''Blacksmith''', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3d5HS_FTQk U.S. TV ad]] for ''Bushido Blade''.

* DropTheHammer: The sledgehammer, which didn't make it to the sequel. It also served as the first game's only blunt weapon; it was ''very'' good at breaking opponents' limbs with glancing blows, but not as good as other weapons at actually landing killing blows.

* NintendoHard: It's nigh-impossible to get the [[MultipleEndings good endings]], both because you can't get hit once including non-lethal hits (if you're wearing a bandage during the next fight, you're already disqualified), and you have to do a series of [[GuideDangIt tasks the game never hints at]].

* SubsystemDamage: One of the game's unique features. Arms and legs can incapacitated in the first game, while the second only retained arm incapacitation. A broken arm would lead to weaker (and slower) striking force and defense, a broken leg would limit the player to "crawl-fighting".

* DropTheHammer: The sledgehammer, which didn't make it to the sequel.

* BladeOnAStick: The naginata in both games, and the yari on the sequel.

* GratuitousEnglish: After talking like an old-fashioned samurai for the majority of the game, Black Lotus's last words in his basic ending are "This is the Bushido!"

* TrueFinalBoss: After going through the [[NintendoHard needlessly hard]] Code of Honor handicaps [[NoDamageRun unharmed]], you get to fight each character's TrueFinalBoss: Kindachi (Mikado, Utsusemi, Red Shadow), Hongou (Black Lotus, Tatsumi), and a severely wounded Black Lotus (Kannuki).

[[SimilarlyNamedWorks Not related]] to the 1981 [[Film/BushidoBlade film of the same name]].

* AnachronismStew: The game is actually set in the modern day, so the anachronism isn't the guy with the gun on the helipad -- it's that you're fighting him with a sword while dressing like you came out of the Edo period.

* BottomlessMagazines: Averted with the gunslingers. To balance out their limitless range and power, they need to reload after running out of ammo. Katze, in both games, wields a six-shooter pistol; Tsubame -- exclusive to the sequel -- is armed with a rifle holding 10 shots.

* MultipleEndings: The first game has a different ending depending on how well you upheld the Code of Bushido (and how little damage you took along the way), as explained above. The sequel has 2 endings for the Shainto-side characters, which depends on [[spoiler:whether you kill or spare the last descendant of the Kagami]].

* TrueCompanions: Tatsumi, Kannuki and Mikado seems to be very close. This is specially noticeable in their ''Bushido Blade 2'' endings.

* AwesomeButImpractical[=/=]JokeItem: The sledgehammer is a good weapon to use for incapacitating your enemies, but good luck actually killing anyone with it. Since it's not a bladed weapon, you can't get away with simply slashing or stabbing them. The game treats blunt attacks as non-lethal hits for the most part, so only a very specific blow to the enemy's head will actually kill them.
** And if you try to use it with a lightweight character (like Tatsumi), some of the attacks will actually cause them to stumble and fall.

%%* VideoGameCaringPotential: What determines the ending of the Shainto characters.
%%* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: What determines the ending of the Shainto characters.

* AnAxeToGrind: Hongou's subweapon is a handaxe.

* PromotedToPlayable: Sazanka, Tsubame, and Hongou were originally computer-controlled only characters in the first game, but were re-introduced in the second game as playable characters, though not before getting ''radically'' redesigned ([[MoreDakka Tsubame]] and [[AnAxeToGrind Hon]][[DualWielding gou]] in particular).

** {{Ronin}}: Matsumushi from the sequel.

* SpiritualSuccessor: The ''{{Kengo}}'' series of games for the [=PS2=]. Only the first game made it to the States and Europe, whereas the second one skipped the States. The third game [[NoExportForYou wasn't exported to either region,]] while the fourth and final game was exported to Europe.

* ShesAManInJapan: Inverted case with Chihiro, who is clearly female in the Japanese script, but was given a male dub-actor and is referred to as a male with pronouns consistently in the English version.

* VideoGameCaringPotential[=/=]VideoGameCrueltyPotential: What determines the ending of the Shainto characters.

* SpiritualSuccessor: The ''{{Kengo}}'' series of games for the [=PS2=].

* GlassCannon: [[RocketTagGameplay Even by the standards of this game]], gun-wielding characters qualify for the inherent range, power, and attack speed of their weapons. However, they have the worst recovery of all the characters: their reload time makes them sitting ducks to their opponents, whom are given more than enough time to land a successful killing blow.

* PressXToDie: In both games, there's the option to surrender by pressing Select. In the first game you need to wait for your foe to finish you off; while the second activates a cutscene after a short time (allowing for some sneak hit if you attack before it kicks in). In the first game, you can only surrender if your legs are crippled, though.

* SecretCharacter: Katze (both games) and Tsubame (second only). The second also has two nameless kabuki-themed characters to unlock.

* DropTheHammer: The sledgehammer, which was only available in the first game.
* GuideDangIt: Getting the best ending in the first game seems NintendoHard because of the stringent [[HonorBeforeReason honor requirements]] that you aren't told about. But it turns out that one element that you would ''think'' is part of the honor rules isn't: [[spoiler: You are allowed to run away from opponents. The stages are not separate, but form a connected chain, and if you simply enter the next stage without killing your current opponent, they will simply follow you and no new opponent spawns. By crippling your first opponent's leg, you can easily run all the way to the well and jump into it, where you face the last four opponents after the one you ran away from. So you can get the best ending by handicapping yourself against every opponent… or by simply running away and avoiding most of them. Incidentally, if you're going to cut their legs, wait until you reach the well, or else you'll have to wait for them to drag themselves to you on every screen transition.]]

* FunnyForeigner: In the sequel, Suminagashi, a [[TheBigGuy large]] American that [[{{Malaproper}} speaks broken Japanese]] in the original version (and [[TranslationConvention broken English]] in the localization). Also Tony Umeda, a [[DiscoDan disco-styled]] [[ButNotTooForeign half-African half-Japanese]] "black ninja" whose main goal is to create his own style… based on ''dancing moves''. Lastly, there's "Highwayman" who dresses like ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', but has a thick Scots accent…

* RingOut: Implemented in a few stages. There are no {{Bottomless Pit}}s though, so one can see the poor sap fall to his/her demise.

* TheSiege: In the story mode, Shainto's forces has sprung an attack on the Narukagami's HQ believing their forces are reduced after the first game's ordeal.

* TeleportSpam: Sakaki, the last opponent in the Shainto storyline. Every time the player strikes, he is instantly teleported away from you. The catch is that every teleport places him closer to the character, and leaves him vulnerable for a few seconds.

* AttackItsWeakPoint: Hiragi Taina, the Narukagami side's FinalBoss, must be hit on the back to be killed. Attacking any other part results in a rebound due to his armor.

* GuideDangIt: Getting the best ending in the first game seems NintendoHard because of the stringent [[HonorBeforeReason honor requirements]] that you aren't told about. But it turns out that one element that you would ''think'' is part of the honor rules isn't: [[spoiler: You are allowed to run away from opponents. The stages are not separate, but form a connected chain, and if you simply enter the next stage without killing your current opponent, they will simply follow you and no new opponent spawns. By crippling your first opponent's leg, you can easily run all the way to the well and jump into it, where you face the last four opponents after the one you ran away from. So you can get the best ending by handicapping yourself against every opponent... or by simply running away and avoiding most of them. Incidentally, if you're going to cut their legs, wait until you reach the well, or else you'll have to wait for them to drag themselves to you on every screen transition.]]
** There is a "clue" in the explanation for the story mode: [[spoiler: the premise of the story mode is that your character is trying to escape, and the other characters -- your friends -— have been sent to assassinate you. So the logic seems to be that you get the best ending by ''actually escaping'', while sticking around to kill all your friends is dishonorable]]. But while there's some sense to be made, it's still a major case of this trope.

* NintendoHard: It's nigh impossible to get the [[MultipleEndings good endings]], both because you can't get hit once including non-lethal hits (if you're wearing a bandage during the next fight, you're already disqualified), and you have to do a series of [[GuideDangIt tasks the game never hints at]].

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Kannuki in the first game: he's out to get revenge for his hometown being slaughtered under Hanzaki's orders. Midway through, he realizes not everyone's involved and decides to just kill those that stand in his way.

* TrueFinalBoss: After going through the [[NintendoHard needlessly hard]] Code of Honor handicaps [[NoDamageRun unharmed]], you get to fight each character's TrueFinalBoss: Kindachi (Mikado, Utsusemi, Red Shadow), Hongou (Black Lotus, Tatsumi) and a severely wounded Black Lotus (Kannuki).

* DistinctionWithoutADifference: The Shainto are [[InsistentTerminology very insistent]] that they do ''not'' a grudge against the Narukagami. They merely intend to destroy the Narukagami as revenge for the way that the Narukagami wronged them in the past. ''Totally'' different.

* DualWielding: A few characters (Tatsumi, Utsusemi, Matsumushi, Hotarubi and Highwayman) can dual-wield with a specific weapon and their subweapon.

* FunnyForeigner: In the sequel, Suminagashi, a [[TheBigGuy large]] American that [[{{Malaproper}} speaks broken Japanese]] in the original version (and [[TranslationConvention broken English]] in the localization). Also Tony Umeda, a [[DiscoDan disco-styled]] [[ButNotTooForeign half-African half-Japanese]] "black ninja" whose main goal is to create his own style... based on ''dancing moves''. Lastly, there's "Highwayman" who dresses like ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', but has a thick Scots accent...

* IaijutsuPractitioner: Gengoro, Kaun, Tony and Utamaru makes use of the "sheathed" stance in the sequel. It's also a mild case of AwesomeButImpractical, as performing just one slash in that stance results in a time-consuming (but pretty damn cool) animation where they twirl the sword around for a while before sheathing it back again.
* ICannotSelfTerminate: In the second game's ending for both Kannuki and Mikado, [[spoiler: Tatsumi forces them to kill him, since after discovering his Shainto roots, he feels that the feud will never end until the last Shainto is dead]].

* RingOut: Implemented in a few stages. There are no {{BottomlessPit}}s though, so one can see the poor sap fall to his/her demise.

* PromotedToPlayable: Sazanka, Tsubame, and Hingou were originally computer-controlled only characters in the first game, but were re-introduced in the second game as playable characters, though not before getting ''radically'' redesigned ([[MoreDakka Tsubame]] and [[AnAxeToGrind Hon]][[DualWielding gou]] in particular).

''I'', for example, make '''kazoos'''!''
-->-- '''Blacksmith''', U.S. TV ad for ''Bushido Blade''.