From the back of the English version of SSZ (Exclamation marks, sentence parsing and caps are all Playmore's)

YOUR DESTINY?
IT'S ALL IN THE BLADE, KNAVE!
Which path will you take?
That of Chivalry? Or Treachery?
After seven years, relive
the Samurai Shodown experience, back on NEOGEO!
To start with, you'll find a total of 24 warriors
with 4 new characters.
Then you'll thrill to the new "Sword Gauge" and
"Concentration One" game systems!
The Sword Fighting Game
"Samurai Shodown V"
Is Coming For YOU!

Posters and flyers will be shipped separately to our customers in cardboard tubes while supplies last. The flyer is really a mini-poster with artwork that is different from the big poster.

    Scoping out the game inserts this morning, it seems that the English version is the superior one. Great, catchy cast artwork on front and similarly good artwork on back. On the Japanese insert, we just see an angry Haohmaru gritting his teeth which tells an incomplete story at first glance. He's mad at someone but we don't know who until we flip the game over...

    Our initial game this morning was satisfying but this ain't entirely the Samurai Spirits that we've gotten comfortable with in the past few incarnations. The controls are somewhat similar with A and B used for mild and middle-strength attacks. Push down on both buttons to perform a strong attack. Press C to kick or move joystick + C to throw down. When D is pushed by it's lonesome, meditation is activated but there's a few moves that may be pulled off when D is coupled with a joystick direction. The meditation meter will take a little getting used to but a well of spiritual power may be diverted from the rage meter and stored separately. Once enough meditation has been shored up, the fighter may be sent into Enlightenment Mode where the game moves in slow motion.

    There's a total of 24 characters in the game with sixteen familiar faces such as Basara, Charlotte, Genjuro, Nakoruru, Rimururu, Ukyo, and many more returning. Amakusa's missing, though. The eight new characters are Kaja, Kusare Gedou, Lera, Mina Majikina, Rasetsumaru, Un-Rei, Suija, and Yoshitora Tokugawa.