The essential mechanics remained largely unchanged from previous games, with the update being directed towards graphical and audio changes.

The updated visuals include portraits by artist Satoshi Ito, which convey a dark atmosphere similar to that of Samurai Shodown III.

The character must be in a rage, and the opponent's life must be below the point where they could have entered Concentration One, introduced in Samurai Shodown V as a special slow-motion mode powered up by meditating (holding D while standing still).

In addition to the overkill moves, generic fatality effects from Samurai Shodown IV were brought back for this game, such as being slashed in half horizontally.

This combination of violent acts in Samurai Shodown V Special generated much controversy and resulted in SNKP censoring the Neo Geo AES cartridge shortly after the Sasebo slashing.

Not only did these modifications censor the game, but the censorship also created bugs, such as that of the AES's exclusive training mode, and upon hearing fan outcry, SNK did a cart recall shortly after that which fixed the bugs brought about by the censoring acts, and also to partially restore the character specific Zetsumei Ougis.

The game is fully intact with the uncensored content in addition to settings to change the violence and blood in the Options mode.

Samurai Shodown V Perfect for arcades on exA-Arcadia restored the original Zetsumei Ougis resulting in body dismemberment and mutilations.