The Last Blade

The Last Blade
Developer(s)SNK
Publisher(s)SNK
Director(s)Kimura Ken
Producer(s)Akira Goto
Hiroshi Matsumoto
Designer(s)Econo Daisuke
Eiji Fukatsu
H. Taniguchi
Programmer(s)Naoyan Apchiba
Artist(s)Toshiaki Mori
Writer(s)Hidetaka Suehiro
Composer(s)Hiroshi Yamazoe
Yasuhiro Naka
Yasuo Yamate
SeriesThe Last Blade
Platform(s)Arcade, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD, PlayStation
ReleaseArcade
  • WW: 5 December 1997
Neo Geo AES
  • WW: 29 January 1998
Neo Geo CD
  • JP: 26 March 1998
PlayStation
  • JP: 25 February 1999
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemNeo Geo MVS

The Last Blade is a fighting game developed and released by SNK for the Neo Geo system in 1997. It was also ported to several home systems. A sequel, The Last Blade 2, was released in 1998. A second sequel, The Last Blade: Beyond the Destiny, was released in 2000.

The game takes place during the Bakumatsu era in Japan, and incorporates various elements of Japanese mythology (with a heavy emphasis on the symbology of the Four Symbols). As such, the background music generally incorporates synthesized instruments simulating a sound appropriate to the 19th century setting, in a Western classical, pseudo-Romantic style (unusual for a fighting game).