Official Review
So, why is Shogun Showdown so special, you ask? Well, it's one of those rarefied experiences that make you feel a special sort of stupid. It's what all the very best games do. Alongside your Darkest Dungeons' and your Into the Breaches, this is right up there with the cream of recent crops.
Shogun Showdown is so clever and assured, so simple and refined in its core gameplay loop, that you can't help but feel a bit ditzy in its presence. Taking command of a little pixel-art samurai badass, your task is straightforward; move left and right on a series of tiles to avoid enemy attacks whilst you line up and execute your own flashy moves. Survive an onslaught and you get to face another before taking on a smart end-of-level boss to end your current shift. That's the heart of Shogun Showdown, and the devs build on this with clever pickups, powers and upgrades you can make to your deck of attack moves in order to outsmart your foes.
Every time you move left or right, or choose an attack from your deck of options, your enemy will do the same. This makes it feel almost like a rhythm-puzzle-typed affair as it asks you to think ahead, read upcoming events and plan which moves to make whilst queuing up moves in advance. Once you've locked your attacks in, when you use them, they play out in the order you've placed them - arrow, sword strike, arrow and so on. You can also dodge through an opponent if you are standing beside them, but you must be facing them - both to dodge through and to attack - so this also needs consideration.
From this seemingly humble mix of mechanics, we get one of those gaming experiences that gets right under your skin almost immediately. It's super-addicting, frustrating, exciting, nerve-shredding stuff. The roguelike elements allow you to keep a little of your sanity; as you die repeatedly, you gain just enough rewards and unlocks to keep you hooked, and it all looks gloriously stylish in its parallax-style level intros and Japan-inspired designs.
There's a lovely little world map covered in clouds to bound through, a pixelated Feudal Japan to slice and dice to pieces as you progress. In-between runs you get to shop for new attack tiles - essentially, cards - to add to your deck. You start with your basic sword and arrow attacks, which you can buff and upgrade as you go, but there are also curses, smoke bombs and even a dragon punch to unlock and use in the eternal left-to-right battle betwixt you and the Shogun's minions.
There are skills aplenty as well; instant combo recharges, bonus damage to backstabs, extra damage at range, extra health and consumable slots, and lots of tricksy options to make these glorious little battles a real treat to sit with. There's no rush, the game allows you all the time you need to make a move, and it's a perfect thing to jump into for short blasts here and there in portable mode - making it likely to stay on our consoles for the foreseeable future.
If we're being super-picky, we did find ourselves needing to adjust to the control setup, not because there's anything wrong with it, it's just a little different and not using the analogue sticks took some time to adjust to when moving around. Beyond this, though, it's very, very difficult to find fault with what Roboatino has served us up here.
So, a lovely little indie treat then, it's no wonder it's sat pretty on a 10/10 user rating over on Steam, where it's been in Early Access since last year. Shogun Showdown is a perfect fit for Switch, and a surprise must-play to keep things interesting as we wait for incoming heavy hitters.
Conclusion
Shogun Showdown is an instant indie essential. A perfect little core of left-to-right puzzle-styled violence that plays like a sort of bloody rhythm game, and it makes for an endlessly addictive experience that's easy to pick up and lose hours to. There's enough progression in skills to keep it interesting over the long haul, and plenty of mixing and matching in your attack and special cards to ensure no two battles are ever the same. This is must-play stuff.
