Samurai Shodown is now available for Android if you wanted another fighting game to add to your library. It’s the latest mobile published by Netflix. Which already houses a large list of games for people with memberships.
Although you can probably tell, this is the Samurai Shodown reboot. The one that launched in 2019 for consoles and the new defunct Stadia. As well as PC in 2021. Graphically and mechanically it was meant to be brought in-line with more modern fighting game titles like Street Fighter V. Obviously, the graphics aren’t going to be quite as good as they would be on PC or consoles. But with the advancements in phone hardware and game development software these days, it’ll be pretty close. One thing to note however, is that while you can pick this exact same game up on Steam for $49.95, it’s free on mobile with your Netflix membership.
So if you’re planning to play it, consider picking it up on Android instead if you want to save $50. There is one downside though.
Samurai Shodown on Android doesn’t support controllers
For some people this is going to be a big no-no and will be the reason they decide not to try it on mobile. And that’s understandable. The touch controls are good, but in fighting games there’s generally just no substitute for having physical controls with a tactile feel. Unfortunately, the game has been designed to force touch controls and there is no support for controllers at all. Near as we can tell you can’t even use the new Virtual Control Mode from the Razer Nexus app with a Kishi V2 controller.
After numerous attempts to get it to work, the overlay disappears almost instantly. And there’s no way to assign any of the controls. So it looks like you’re stuck playing this one with touch controls if you want to play it on Android. As far as features go you have multiple modes to play including online, story, battle, and practice modes. There’s also a leaderboard option for checking in-game player rankings, and a gallery for viewing collected items like artwork, BGM, and videos. Overall it’s a pretty good game for free and worth a try if you enjoy the fighting genre.
Samurai Shodown