Samurai Shodown V Review (no fat)

Game Description

Long time no see, Samurai Shodown is back. For all of you who miss the experience that the original title delivered back in the early days of 1993, Samurai Shodown V is here, and ready for your XBox. The game is pretty much a port of the 2003 title for the NeoGeo console and it also features some sound and graphics taken from Samurai Shodown III (1995).

Of course, the title still remains a 2D Fighter but that’s what the fans are most likely to be expecting anyway. The player can choose among 26 different characters; each character has his very unique appearance, moves, historic background and characteristics. Most of those characters are implemented well but there are also a few that don’t live up to decent expectations. Probably, the most important feature that was added is the online multiplayer support which can be utilized through XBox Live.

Samurai Shodown V Gameplay

The game is pretty entertaining when it comes to the actual fighting. Each character has different movements and abilities. Game characters will gather rage after getting a few hits from their opponent and as soon as they fill the rage bar completely, they can execute multiple-combo movements.

Furthermore, as your strongest card, you can activate a special “rage-explosion” mode where you deliver the most painful hits possible. The rage explosion mode is only useable once during a match up, so it gives an element of strategy to the proceedings.

Apart from rage, you can also gather spirit strength. Spirit strength can then be activated on a ‘Concentration One’ attack which will slow down your enemies. Although this move by itself is very effective, gathering spirit strength is not. This is mostly due to the fact that you have to sacrifice too much rage in order to have enough spirit strength.

In single player mode, you choose your character of choice and fight your way through the rest of the characters as well as a few mini bosses. Of course, the final big boss is still around if you have expectations to finish the game.

Samurai Shodown V AI

Although there is nothing more exciting than playing versus other players online, the single player mode is pretty challenging. The closer you come to the end of the game, the harder you will have to battle. For those who don’t have the skills to fight face to face, there are still a few hacks to make it through. You can either take advantage of specific movements that your enemy appears not to be able to counter efficiently or, if you are one of those who belong to the “bad-boys” category, you can activate cheats!

Samurai Shodown V Multiplayer Support

The most important addition to the game is the multiplayer support. You can play online at any time with XBox live. Obviously, it is a great advantage because you can find various opponents of different skill levels and thus, you can enjoy and improve yourself in the best way possible. You can also organize your own tournaments (from 4 to 128 players) or participate in various other tournaments.

Samurai Shodown V Graphics & Sound

Graphics are one of the major drawbacks of the game. Most of the graphics where originally designed for gaming consoles that date back to 1993. As if this wasn’t enough, the newly created characters are not even as good as the old ones.

Apart from that, the overall graphics are pretty much satisfying. Most characters are very vivid and unique and their animations are smooth. The backgrounds are very colorful and the only flaw that can be noticed is that they are not very dynamic. A cool thing that catches the player’s eye is that the background is automatically affected when the player enters rage-explosion mode.

The sounds department is mostly limited to groans, grunts and screams. The sound effects of weapons are not too hot either -- no matter which weapon you yield, they all sound the same -- you won’t know the difference until you confirm otherwise with your eyes.

Samurai Shodown V Closing Thoughts

For the players that are still desperately clinging on the 2D beat em up genre, Samurai Showdown V will merit a decent choice. Of course, the loyal fans of the series will be nostalgic about the old good days, the title can’t really be considered a blockbuster.

If nothing else, the multiplayer capability by itself is worth the price. And if you are a fan of 2D fighters, this one might just hook you yet.

Samurai Shodown V Cost

Samurai Shodown V retails for $29.99 at the time of writing.