Stage

The **Stage** is the place/area/background/arena where a match takes place in the Samurai Shodown series. While remains truth to the 18th century aesthetics, in most of the video games within the series each character has his/her stage, featuring scenography and music according to the image he/she represents in the game itself. Stage’s imaginary can be influenced by character’s alignment in the storyline, nationality, and fighting style. For example: Kyoshiro’s stages are distinctive for portraying Kabuki theater, and Charlotte’s stages are within a European castle. Sometimes stages feature real-life references, like USA’s Great Canyon, Mount Fuji, and Shimabara Castle, and *Samurai Shodown VI* stages are based on famous festivities around the world. Easter eggs are also included in specific stages. Stages don’t affect the flow of the battles, instead they presents destructible things like barrels, bamboo trunks, stone objects, or plants.

Between *Samurai Shodown III* and *V Special* the series features some stages with two or more different variations of the same stage to add more deep and immersion to the player. A special background variation during the final seconds of the match can be triggered if a character is about to be defeated or Rage Explosion was activated by a player.

In 1997 the series did a step into 3D graphics, first with *Samurai Shodown 64*, and its follow-up *Warriors Rage*. The stages are now conformed with high amounts of polygons and bitmaps, while preserving the classic style of *Samurai Shodown*. Players can move his players in all eight directions of the arenas with free camera rotation. PlayStation saw the release of a third 3D game (*Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage* in North America) with graphic and design similarities compared to the previous Neo Geo 64 games. In 2008 *Samurai Shodown Sen* was released on Japanese arcades, being the first HD game developed by SNK (then SNK Playmore) and showing an unprecedented detail level for the stages.

The latest entry in the *Samurai Shodown* series released in 2019 make a return to the 2D side-scroll view, featuring Full HD graphics and staple stages like the rocky shores (Mount Fuji at the distance), and bamboo forest. Now the coloring of the stages makes reference to brushstrokes and traditional Japanese painting.

### Introduced in Samurai Shodown

1. Gairyu Isle (Morning: Haohmaru, Night: Ukyo)
2. Green Hell
3. Hokkaido
4. Kochi
5. Onigami Isle
6. San Francisco
7. Seian
8. Shimabara
9. Texas
10. Tokyo
11. Versailles
12. Yamagata

### Introduced in Samurai Shodown II

1. Bamboos – Early Winter
2. Battlefield – The Sunset
3. China - Xian
4. Devil's Island - Dinner
5. Edo – The Kabuki Stage
6. Gairyu Isle (evening: Haohmaru, night: Ukyo)
7. Green Hell Island - marsh
8. Himalaya – top of the mountain
9. Northern Country - summer
10. Osorezan - Hell
11. Paris – The Versailles Palace
12. The Prosia Kingdom - Nights
13. San Francisco - Noon
14. Susukigahara Field - November
15. Temple - Mist
16. Texas – Pacific Railway

### Introduced in Blades of Blood

1. Bamboo Forest
2. Cherry Blossom Forest
3. Sanzu River
4. Kabuki Theater Stage
5. Kuroko's Training Hall
6. Mountain Stream Valley (Spring & Autumn)
7. Ezo House
8. Ring of Stones
9. Temple Ruins
10. Demon God Temple
11. Kokain
12. Devastated Post Town
13. Active Volcano
14. Waterfall Bridge

### Introduced in Amakusa’s Revenge

1. Amakusa Castle
2. Arie
3. Dohsaki
4. Fukae
5. Funatsu
6. Koga
7. Kusenbutake
8. Kuchinotsu
9. Kushiyama
10. Obama

### Introduced in Samurai Shodown V

1. Akoh
2. Asamayama
3. Dewasanzan
4. Edo
5. Ezo
6. Hida
7. Izumo
8. Nagasaki
9. Ryukyu Oukoku
10. Sado
11. Shin
12. Sunpu
13. Tosa
14. Towada
15. Yamashiro
16. Yoshino
17. Yomigahara

### Introduced in Samurai Shodown V Special and Perfect

1. Amakusa Castle (remake)
2. Dohsaki (remake)
3. Gairyu Isle (V Special/Perfect)
4. Iwayama
5. Kuroko Dojo
6. Nihonbashi
7. Osorezan (remake)

### Introduced in Samurai Shodown VI

1. Africa - Nyagoro Plains
2. America - White House
3. Caribbean Sea - Del Omo
4. Demon World - Hei-an kyo
5. Inca - Machu Picchu
6. Ireland - Castleconnell
7. Kyoto - Tenkakuza
8. Oedo - Asasuka
9. Oshu - Urushiyama
10. Sunpu - Jonaiminami Hiroba
11. Shin - Choan

### Introduced in Samurai Shodown (2019)

1. Dojo
2. Gairyu Isle (2019)
3. Galleon Senjō
4. Green Hell (2019)
5. Hall of Minerva
6. Kamui Kotan (Autumn & Winter)
7. Kumanokodō
8. Mikatagahara
9. Nikko
10. Rakuchūsan Monzen
11. Shibaigoya
12. Shizuka Sen-nen Sakura
13. Sumidagawa
14. Uduki