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Samurai Shodown IV
Developer(s)	SNK
Publisher(s)	SNK
Japanese title	サムライスピリッツ天草降臨
Designer(s)	Galapagos Team
Release date(s)	October 25, 1996
Genre(s)	Fighting
System(s)	Arcade, Neo Geo, Playstation, Sega Saturn, GameTap
Players	1-2
Mode(s)	Arcade, Versus
Website	http://samuraianiv.snkplaymore.co.jp/
Preceded by	Samurai Shodown III
Followed by	Samurai Shodown V

Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge (サムライスピリッツ天草降臨, Samurai Suppiritsu Amakusa Kōrin?, released as Samurai Spirits: Amakusa's Descent in Japan) is the fourth in SNK's flagship Samurai Shodown series of fighting games. Chronologically, is the second and final chapter of an interquel between Samurai Shodown and Samurai Shodown II, being Samurai Shodown III the first chapter.

After Samurai Shodown III was received more or less poorly by the fighting game community, SNK again went back to address the complaints, and tried to deliver a followup that would hopefully regain some of the magic that had made Samurai Shodown II such a hit.

The most obvious change is visual, with dramatically adjusted color palettes for the individual characters, generally brightening them up and reducing contrast, in the attempt to make the game more cartoonish. Aerial blocking was removed entirely, and the switcharound move, which enabled a player to shift quickly behind the other's back, as well as the dodge (Evade; side-step), in which the move virtually brings a semi-3D environment to the defense in attempt to use each sword more effectively.

Following the same philosophy, some of the older characters were restored, such as Charlotte, Tam Tam and Yagyu Jubei. The entire cast of the previous game also returns, though some have been retouched to further enhance the cartoonish look.

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