Last night I stumbled across news of a new Samurai Showdown / Samurai Spirits game from SNK Playmore on the Atomiswave arcade board. After clarifying this on the official SNKP site I also discovered that a location test is going to be held this weekend in Club Sega, Shinjuku. This morning I went to check it out.
Saturday 10:30 am
The basement floor of Club Sega was quiet in general, but there was a big crowd gathered in one corner. The game itself was running on two back to back arcade cabinets that were in parallel with a wall, and a large screen was also linked up so that it was easy to get a good view of the game.
A crowd of between 20 and 30 people were sat on the floor in front of the screen, while other people chose to stand and watch. The queue to play the game lead into the stairwell, up to the first (ground) floor, and out of an emergency exit onto the street.
Most of the people there were holding photocopied move lists for the game, so I watched the game for a while and waited for the next batch of photocopies to arrive.
Initial Impressions
Before I start, it is worth emphasising that this is game is very much a work in progress. I have no idea how complete it is, so many things could be changed between now and when the game is finally released. Also, photography was prohibited, and I have no screenshots of the game.
Firstly, the game is not visually impressive. Apart from the new characters, all sprites seem to be recycled from previous games in the series. No big surprise there then. However, the presentation and backgrounds are also weak. The character select screen looks muddled and rushed. You select a character from a kind of grid that can by cycled endlessly. Once done you then select various system options, intercut with some really shoddy ‘fusuma’ graphics. These really do look bad.
There only seemed to be a handful of stages available, and none of these impressed me. In fact, I would say that most of them simply look poor. Nothing that was available seemed to have any originality either. One stage overlooks a harbor filled with boats, while another takes place in a street. I canÂ’t really go into much more detail as they were very bland indeed. Not only that, but I was wondering why this game was running on the Atomiswave, as I swear the NEO GEO could do a better job than what was on show here.
Characters
So far not so good. However, the character roster was quite good with a total of 28 available to play, and hints that there would be more available in the final game.
Andrew - New character. One of his moves is called Statue of Liberty, so it would appear that he is American. Looks like a cross between Charlotte(!) and Kagami from the Last Blade games. Brandishes a rifle with bayonet attached.
Sugoroku - New character. Dressed in ‘Matsuri’ clothing and carries what appears to be a large bell for a weapon. Imagine a smaller version of Wan Fu from Samurai Shodown 2.
Wan Fu - Old character revived. Wan FuÂ’s sprite is new, which is a shame as this incarnation actually looks worse than the one in Samurai Shodown 2. His weapon has changed once again: This time it is a large metal ball on the end of a pole. Fighting style doesnÂ’t seem to have changed significantly.
The rest are all old, so I will just list them.
Sankuro
Mina
Yunfei
Yoshitora
Haohmaru
Nakoruru
Rimururu
Hanzo
Galford
Ukyo
Genjuro
Kyoushiro
Basara
Shizumaru
Gaira
Jubei
Charlotte
Tam Tam
Kagetsu
Sougetsu
Rasetsumaru
Rera
Enja
Suija
Kusaregedo
Gameplay Impressions
After watching quite a few matches and picking up a copy of the move list, I headed for the stairs to queue for a game. One hour or more later, I got to play it. My opponent, who had already played a few rounds earlier, was using Genjuro: already a popular choice as he was clearly easy to use and strong with it. I could have just picked Genjuro myself, but went for Ukyo as I hadnÂ’t seen him in action up until that point, and because I am reasonably familiar with him.
The system uses five buttons.
A - weak slash
B- medium slash
C - strong slash
D - kick
E - various. Used when throwing, when dodging etc.
After selecting a character you then choose one of two game systems. I didn’t get a good chance to study the difference between the two, but basically speaking they affect the ‘desperation move’ system.
Then you choose whether you want items or not. Remember Samurai Shodown 2? If so, you will remember the guy that runs past in the background, throwing out bombs and chickens. In this game, you can specify whether you want him to appear or not. He throws a mixture of food, bombs, and additional weapons that you can pick up and throw at the opponent. One example is a small hammer. There was also a potion of some kind that lowered the opponentÂ’s defence. I went without the item system. I think the challenger gets the final word on whether items are in use or not.
The game itself felt like Samurai V/Samurai V Special mixed with Samurai 2. They are clearly trying to throw in more elements from Samurai 2 while keeping the complex systems of the more recent games.
I ended up losing the first two rounds, so it was game over pretty quickly. In hindsight I should have just chosen Genjuro myself and whored the same moves that the opponent used against me.
Overall
Last night I was pretty excited about the news of a new Samurai Spirits game that I never even knew existed. However, after experiencing it, my excitement has all but evaporated.
Firstly, there is nothing remotely fresh about this game. Sure, it is the first Samurai Spirits game to run on the Atomiswave hardware, but if no one told you that you would be forgiven for thinking this was running on the old MVS. I honestly believe that Samurai Spirits 2 and 3 look better than this. What is the point of running it on new hardware if you arenÂ’t going to make use of it? It will probably end up running on-line, as most other Atomiswave games do, but when comparing this with NEO GEO Battle Coliseum and Rumble Fish 2 you may wonder if the programmers are having a laugh.
At the end of the day though, gameplay matters a whole lot more than eye candy, but this game doesnÂ’t seem to offer anything new other than a couple of new characters. Implementing systems for Samurai Shodown 2 may bring back nostalgia for long-time fans of the series, but if I want to play that I will fire it up on my NEO GEO AES: no need to pay 100 Yen for the pleasure.
If they can maintain even character balance over a large roster, then this should make for some good competitive fighting action, but having said that, you can get that with Samurai Spirits Zero Special.
Final Word
At this point in time Samurai Spirits Tenka is nothing more than Samurai Spirits Zero Special Part II. Hopefully a lot of this is going to change between now and the release date, but I doubt that it will. If it doesnÂ’t, you should know exactly what to expect.
If anyone has any questions, I will try and answer them via the, ‘Comments’ system below. Bear in mind that I saw a lot of the characters in action, but not all.
The rest of the cast is from SS5, and I'm sure it's more recycled Neo-Geo sprites.
