In one of its fastest arcade ports ever, SNK Playmore announced at TGS that it will be bringing the latest
Samurai Shodown (as well as NeoGeo Battle
Coliseum) to the PS2 in Japan this winter.
"Both titles will be playable online with KDDI's Multi-Matching BB service," but it is unknown whether these features
will carry over to any Western releases which may follow. With every fighter from SS5 apparently
making a playable appearance, this looks to be the largest selection of samurai in a Shodown to date. Whether
newly introduced battle mechs, maids in skimpy outfits, and fighters based on U.S. presidents can be considered samurai
or not is another question. (But, hey, if Tom Cruise can do it, why
can't they?)
In the end, you just can't beat having 40 selectable characters in a fighting game. Unfortunately, with such a large
2D roster, you know that some compromises had to be made: it may not be apparent in the screenshot resized to fit in
the space above, but click on that
screenshot at the top and you'll be treated to some Capcom-esque pixelation in the main combatants and match judge
(nicely drawn background images be darned). Check out the rest of the screenshots
here. Atomiswave or no, SNK's samurai
stable seriously needs some high-resolution redrawing (at least, that is, to catch up with the gorgeous
Guilty
Gear series). Gameplay is
gameplay, though.
