The Last Blade 2

"It's like Square made a 2D fighter..."

It's obvious the Neogeo titles are mostly fighters. After a few dozen sequels the KOFs and Samurai Showdowns tend to become old. Companies will often jump at the chance for so-called ''innovation,'' forsaking any common sense. Last Blade 2 is a perfect example of the fighting genre desperately clinging to anything new in order to stimulate the market.

The basic game mechanics are the same ones we all know. Throws, special moves, combos, and super moves are all here. The super moves require you to use your ''Super'' bar, which fills up by attacking. None of this is especially new. Each character has a unique weapon that they use (ala Samurai Showdown) and the fighters range from the token ''normal heroic guy'' swordsman to the ''surprisingly powerful little girl'' with a shortened stick. Hardly anything that we all haven't seen before...


Gameplay: This is where you really see how standard fighting games have gotten. Chances are you'll figure out all the moves using old buttom combinations from previous games. This, in itself, is not bad. The problem comes into play when you actually start playing against other people. There are 16 characters to choose from. While all the moves are at least graphically different, you can't really see the point in playing some of them. The basic buttons are Weak Slash, Strong Slash, Kick, and Defend. The Defend button works like a Parry function. Once people get good at using it, the game deteriorates. You can select from two different modes for each character. Either Speed (weaker hits, but able to combo) or Power (Strong hits, virtually never combo) can be used, but it doesn't matter. Usually the mode you play in is pretty much determined by the character. There's very little value aside from the ''token'' characters, and some extras thrown in to make the list bigger.

Control: Tight, responsive, Neogeo control. No complaints here. The only problem is the disorienting lack of animation, but that's graphical.

Story: It's like Square did this. Fighting games don't need atmosphere or a sense of purpose, but this game has it. Instead of the cartoonish appeal of many fighters, Last Blade 2 goes for a more serious look. It can be felt throughout the game.

Graphics: While 4 fighters have decent standing animations, the rest of the movements in this game a pretty choppy by Neogeo standards. This leads to control difficulty and most of time you wind up wondering when to counter or use the Defend button. The intro was nicely done, but the rest of the game fails to animate smoothly.

Sound: The sound effects and voices are the standard fighting fare. The music is extremely well done, and unfortunately set to a lower volume than most. It tends to have a more serious sound and less of the pop-synth-rock tunes that accompany most games.

With much better fighters for the system (MotW, Waku Waku 7) it's a shame they tried to extend the weapons idea. If you're really needing something new, regardless of quality, try this game.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 06/19/00, Updated 06/19/00