‘Usagi Yojimbo: Way Of The Samurai’ Is Available Now For All Your Gaming Needs

Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo has consistently been one of the best comics of the past 30 years. Every single issue is a masterpiece, to the point where I'm often reading it and thinking that it could only be better if it was more like Capcom's 1989 beat-em-up classic, Final Fight, the pinnacle of human achievement.

I always thought that was a silly thought, but now, it has become a reality. This week marks the release of Usagi Yojimbo: Way of the Samurai, a mobile game that puts everyone's favorite katana-wielding bunny into side-scrolling action onto iPhones and Android devices.

Way of the Samurai represents Usagi's return to video games after a 25-year absence. His last effort was the similarly side-scrolling Samurai Warrior for the Commodore 64. I don't think I'm overselling things much by saying that Way of the Samurai seems like a pretty big improvement over that game, although Samurai Warrior did have an scoring system that would lead to Usagi killing himself in dishonor if it dropped to zero. So, you know, it doesn't have everything.

It does, however, have plenty going for it, including the skulls and crossbones that rise up from dead enemies, which is a pretty awesome touch. And considering it also has bat-ninjas and Gen, the rhinoceros bounty hunter based on Toshiro Mifune, I'm pretty sure they just made two bucks.