SNK’s blood-gushing classics return
Retro-game enthusiasts Hamster have launched the latest title’s in their ongoing range of classic Neo Geo titles. This week sees the sword and sorcery of Samurai Shodown II available for the Nintendo Switch, while PS4 and Xbox One owners can pick up its direct sequel, Samurai Shodown III.
Samurai Shodown II originally launched in the arcades and on the Neo Geo platform in 1994. Overhauling almost every element of the original title’s gameplay, SSII include new evasive movement and a new meter system, as well as popularising both the Hop and Parry elements we still see in many fighters today. Rather than just being a straight sequel, SamSho II was an entirely new entity in fighting games. Today it remains a great title.
It was followed (naturally) by Samurai Shodown III a scant year later. While SamSho III didn’t re-invent the wheel as its predecessor did, the game did undergo a style overhaul to give it a darker, grittier tone This was perhaps in-line with the rising success of the Mortal Kombat franchise. Each character received a “dark” variant, known as Burst, and move cancels were given more emphasis to allow for a wider variety of combos.
Both titles are good games, with SamSho II deserving more praise than it receives today for its innovation in movement and strategy, which would influence some of the titles that would supersede it, such as the excellent Street Fighter III: Third Strike. These Hamster re-releases unfortunately do not feature online support.
Samurai Shodown II is available on Nintendo Switch now. Samurai Shodown III is also available for download on PS4 and Xbox One. Both are priced at $8.
