Nonetheless, finally lopping off his trigger hand is fairly satisfying.Īfter this cheese-fest, you'd probably expect the game to end with a kind of mobile steam fortress, or going by Samurai Shodown's history, some manner of cataclysmic demon, but here SNK have reigned in the stupid with a hard, but fair, showdown against the sabre-wielding Golba. This hateful cowboy assassin is spectacularly cheap and comes with a range of shotgun moves that can decimate you in seconds. Each character also gets a Story mode: the player must battle through a set number of opponents before facing off against sub-boss Draco. In terms of features, at least, Sen does a slightly better job than The King of Fighters XII by including Versus, Practice and Survival modes, as well as replay save options. For some reason you have to go back to the select screen each time you lose in Story mode, and the load times are teeth-grating. The interestingly titled Kokain Gate also turned out to be a mild disappointment. None of them have any bearing on the gameplay either, as each one is nothing more than a differently decorated square accommodating the ability to bash your opponent against the wall and an awkward sidestepping mechanic. The available stages are a generic mix of tavern interiors, desert marketplaces and cherry-blossom-infested gardens, which despite numbering 21 bland locations, include five variation arenas which are set at night. Whilst enraged, you can also perform your character's Super move, which in most cases is a preset multi-hit combo, none of which are particularly noteworthy. In Sen it gradually fills as you take damage, and then once maxed, pressing all four buttons puts you into a powered up state complete with an angry red aura. what I'm talking about!', you may wish SNK had added a Seppuku option as well.īut as different a Samurai Shodown as this is, the inclusion of the classic POW gauge at least helps to retain some of the classic appeal. That said, when Haohmaru follows up a fatality with a win quote like 'That's. The general feeling of the game is a mesh between the early Soul games and Bushido Blade although Sen doesn't have realistic damage, by ending a two-round match with a heavy slash it's possible to dismember your opponent's hand, fatally slice them in half or, if you time a horizontal slash particularly well, even decapitate them.

Many of the characters look bulbous and disproportionate, and when you see Galford, an American ninja who's been with Samurai Shodown since the very beginning, you wonder how SNK went from his charismatic select-screen portrait to his completely wooden in-game portrayal.

Although Sen's character designs and animations are far better than anything the Neo Geo 64 ever coughed up, this 3D transition is still infinitely less impressive than Street Fighter IV.

Galford samurai shodown 4 slash