The Retrospective 07.19.07: SNK Season: Samurai Spirits/Shodown (Part 4 of 4)
Posted by Sean McCabe on 07.19.2007
Sony, I hate your guts, and I’d tear them out and eat them, if I could. But then I’d spit them out because they taste like you. Like shit.
Well, I apologise if my particularly contentious teaser offended. I thought it best to let out most of my venom before starting the column. Let's hope it did some good anyway. I got a stacked column this week, so lets get on with things.
The Introspective
So E3 has been and gone. Microsoft showed some games, and pretty much did not rock the boat much because really, they had nothing new to show. Sony did have a lot new to show, and that is all well and fine, however, they shot themselves in the foot AGAIN. I know a few people here or there who talk about Killzone 2 and how awesome that looked, and Heavenly Sword etc. But uh… most people are talking about the price drop or lack thereof. This is a master class of how you shit on the Public's goodwill. Nintendo showed Wiifit, and I am shortly just after reading Fact or Fiction and Josh's commentary on the concept. However, I would say wishing this game to flop and it actually flopping are two different things, and I construe what Josh said as being far more the former than a credible prediction of how it will actually perform. Maybe I'm a little biased because I'm trying to lose weight right now myself, but making the Wii an advantageous thing to have towards that aim, it's not a bad way at all to sell it. I believe there are some gamer's who's attitude towards the Wii is one of resentment because it's not hardcore enough for them, that it's aimed at a different, or wider audience than just them, and they are irritated about it. I know how it feels to be irritated by popularity, but at the end of the day, Nintendo have done nothing but deserve this, their success, as nobody has done as much for gaming as they have. Why not that they crack the mainstream market in ways that probably give Microsoft and Sony executives wet dreams? Sounds like a mix of irony and poetic justice to me.
There wasn't a lot of new games shown at E3 that greatly interested me. RE5 and Assassins Creed are nice and all but still known commodities, and as for the games that fanboys typically go apeshit over, like Killzone 2 and Halo 3, I don't care about to be honest. It's just more of the same, with shinier graphics. MGS4 will be awesome, but I won't be playing it unless it gets ported to the 360, or a friend of mine buys a PS3, neither of which look likely. However, there is one game recently unveiled, albeit not at E3 that I am interested in, and that is DICE's new game, Mirror's Edge. I read an extended article on the game in UK's Edge magazine, and whilst details are pretty thin, what is know is that the game will seek to combine agile movement with the first person point of view. Such an ambition is a spiritual extension of Namco's criminally underrated and ignored masterpiece, Breakdown, and you know, gasp, brings something new to the FPS genre, unlike most of the overhyped snorefests doing the rounds right now. I know saying all this probably doesn't make me popular, but my interest in the FPS genre is in line with how it keeps itself from being stale, and well, most of the big titles are that. Here's to hoping for more games like Mirror's Edge to carry the genre forward as well as the soon to be released Bioshock.
Gaming these past couple of weeks has been relatively slow. I got The Darkness and enjoyed it, and of course reviewed it and I'm due to borrow copies of Project Sylpheed and Overlord to play, and also there's Bioshock to look forward to. However, I've mostly been playing the usual, which for me, is bursts of Puzzle Quest and Fire Pro R.
Silent Bomber
Silent Bomber is an arcadey blaster on the PSX, which I picked up recently for dirt cheap based on a friend's recommendation. Whilst I always though 3D PSX visuals are quite ugly, and that holds true for this game, the gameplay to this game is so fun it doesn't matter. You are a soldier sent to infiltrate a titanic battle ship and destroy it before it can obliterate the Planet Hornet. Your weapon is explosive mines that can be planted or fired via lock on. You choose when to detonate. This is Bomberman as an action game, and it is enormous amounts of fun. But also, it's very hard in that old school way.
VG Babe of the Week: Athena Asimiya
Athena is the closest SNK have to an official mascot, as she appeared in a number of SNK's earliest games, and has since become a King of Fighters regular in her schoolgirl persona. However, this picture is artwork from Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, which brought her back to her earlier Goddess persona.
The Breakdown
Samurai Spirits Zero/Samurai Shodown V
Developer: Yuki Enterprise
Format: Neo Geo/PS2, Xbox
Release: 2003/2005
Notes: Samurai Shodown V was the first game in the series for four years after Warriors Rage, and SNK Playmore handed development to the largely unknown Yuki Enterprise. Character designs were handled by the author of Rurouni Kenshin, Nobuhiro Watsuki.
Samurai Shodown V has a storied porting history. For one, the PS2 port was never released in North America, and the Xbox port was never released in Europe. The PS2 port was also quite bad, having played both it and the Neo Geo versions I can attest to that. The Neo Geo game, we shall look at in more detail. The game did away with the Slash/Burst dual version of each character, and instead expanded the roster with clone characters that acted like the burst version of certain characters. The new character designs were quite nice but moved away somewhat from the realistic, gritty feel of the early games and moved more into fantasy. The fatalities were removed, which was a shame, as they did make the previous games more interesting.
The game did offer a great, still authentic sounding soundtrack, and introduced Mina Majikina into the mix, the Bow Woman who remains one of my favourite designs in the series and in fighting games in general. The backgrounds were also beautiful, and shows that SNK have some tremendous designers still working for them. However, all in all, the gameplay suffered thanks to the dilution off the roster.
In Retrospect: Not a bad entry, but not a return to form. It was successful enough to justify the rebirth of the series, thankfully, and it wouldn't take long before perhaps the most able challenger to Streetfighter's "best 2D fighter series ever" hit its stride once again.
Samurai Spirits Zero Special/Samurai Shodown V Special
Developer: SNK Playmore
Format: Neo Geo
Release: 2004
Notes: SNK brough Samurai Shodown V in-house for a quick touch up… and produced a far more worthwhile game, with only about half a year's development. The guys still have it.
Samurai Shodown V Special is the game that Samurai Shodown V should have been in the first place, but since upgrades like these are pretty standard in the fighting game genre (it took Capcom 5 attempts to perfect Streetfighter 2, and 4 to perfect Streetfighter 3) The fact that SNK basically fixed V completely and utterly with just this edition isn't too shabby at all. First the bosses were added as full fledged playable characters. Some of the more diluted characters were strengthened and made more unique, and the overall presentation was added to considerably.
The fatalities returned and were gorier than ever. Also the damage balancing was changed considerably. The amount of damage done to a fighter increases sizeably if they are hit in different situations, making the gameplay quite tactical. Someone who is very foolhardy in the way they play the game could be taken apart within seconds by an advanced player, but matches between two more cautious players can last a while. The music and backgrounds maintained a high technical standard,
In Retrospect:This is one seriously solid game. Samurai Showdown V Special has some of the most brutal fighting I've seen in the genre, and I have seen a lot of the genre, suffice to say. This was a real gem and proof SNK still had it back in 2004.
Samurai Spirits: Tenkaichi Kenkaikuden/ Samurai Shodown VI
Developer: SNK Playmore
Format: Atomiswave, PS2
Release: 2005, 2006
Notes: This new rendition of the series is more of a dream match title throwing together almost everybody in the series than an official part of the series' story. Also the first game to not be developed on Neo Geo hardware.
If you ask the question, what is the most stacked Samurai Shodown game in terms of content, and there is absolutely no doubt that the answer to that question is this game. Offering around 40 characters, 6 variations of each and every character on the PS2 version, which featured a few additions over the Atomiswave arcade game, and tonnes of stages and modes, and you got yourself here the one of the most comprehensive 2D fighters ever right here. The bad? For whatever reason, SNK once again chose to remove the gore and fatalities from the game. They really can't seem to make their mind up on whether they want Samurai Shodown to be adult and gritty or a bit more family friendly. But ultimately there's a lot of things to balance out to the good side.
The presentation to this game is fantastic, as battles load up you hear a gong, and cherry blossom leaves hovering over a wooden background. The graphics are a genuine step up to. This game would also introduce Iroha, who regular readers of this column should be familiar with now. Also a lot of the previously unplayable mascots of the game, such as Nakoruru's hawk and Galford's dog are now selectable as fighters in their own right… how strange, but a cool addition, although unsurprisingly they aren't the most fleshed out characters to use.
In Retrospect: I have the PS2 version of this game and it's a real fun one to play. I would say it's close between this and V Special for the best title in the series. It depends ultimately on whether you prefer the more streamlined, grittier feel and gameplay of V Special, or the more bells and whistles, fan servicey style of VI.
I'm linking to the The Negative Edge for one main reason, and that reason is that beautiful picture of Masane. The Witchblade anime is all kinds of awesome, one of my favourite shows in recent years, and heck, you bet I'll be shilling the official DVD release in September. Oh and there's some gaming news there to.
Damian Sarcuni is hoping that multiplayer co-op gaming is about to hit a renaissance in Angry Gaming. I've played a little Guild Wars and like how the PVP works, but I wouldn't mind more offline co-op games.
Mellick looks on the bright side of Sony's E3 showing in the The Sixaxis. It was a good showing… but only Sony can cut their legs out at the end of a 100 meter sprint, and they did so quite spectacularly.
I really think Josh is the writer on 411 I least agree with on games, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't check out the The Digital Pulse. But sorry Josh. Sony had me wanting a PS3 for 15 minutes, then the pricing debacle has basically made me decide the money would be better spent elsewhere.
James McGee investigates the ERSB in the The Game Plan
My fellow brit Steve McHugh reviews all the games on the Sega Mega Drive collection inFlashback. I'd actually agree with every rating there besides I'd rate Bonanza Bros. higher. Whilst I didn't like that game being included over Alien Syndrome in the PAL Sega Classics Collection, doesn't mean I still don't enjoy the game.
That is all for this week. Next week… I don't want to guarantee I'll be here, as there's a chance I may not have computer access next week. If I am, I will be coming atcha with one more week of SNK Swordness… for The Last Blade. Keep things in perspective… unlike Sony's pricing structure.
