The Last Blade

"An excellent fighter that nearly breaks the SNK mold"

SNK has made a lot of 2D fighting games, that goes without saying. A lot of those games you've probably never heard of before. Games like the first Fatal Fury or the first Art of Fighting gave SNK a reputation as a poor man's Capcom or a Johnny-come-lately. As they continued to milk their various franchises, they became known solely for that one thing…milking the franchise. What does The Last Blade have to do with this? It can almost single handedly change one's perception of SNK, it's that well done.

Graphics - 9

From the opening cinematic, you can tell you're in for a treat. If most fighting games need to have some gimmick to distinguish them selves from the rest of the pack, then Last Blade's gimmick is quality animation. The fighters and the backgrounds look incredible, and most have a level of detail and animation that's not found in fighting games, especially 2D fighting games. Expect to be wowed even just watching the game demo.

Sound – 8

Nothing *too* special here. The soundtrack is good, and has two or three tracks that stand out above the rest. The vocals are all done in Japanese, which can be viewed as either good or bad depending on your taste. However, this shouldn't really matter to you unless you absolutely MUST understand what’s being said. Most of the time, it’s not *what* is being said but *how* it's being said that matters, and common sense can interpret the rest. If this worries you, know that the important text is in English (although not spoken).

Gameplay – 9

I was not expecting much from this game in terms of actual playability. I had tried most of the incarnations of Fatal Fury, World Heroes, Samurai Shodown, King of Fighters, etc. Last Blade stands apart somewhat in that it offers weapon fighting similar to Samurai Shodown, with a depth closer to King of Fighters. Borrowing a little more from Samurai Shodown, you have the choice of two types of each character: speed type or power type. Selecting speed allows you to combo moves easier, as your rate of attack is increased but your rate of damage is decreased. Choosing power means you will deal more damage, though your attacks will be slower. This gives players a little more to work with on both offense and defense if they want to master a particular character. Of course, it also adds to the replayability.

Control - 8

Both regular moves and special moves flow well, although they don't use any real innovation in pulling them off. Once again, this could be seen as good or bad. I think it helps the game in that you can usually jump right in easily, rather than having to spend time to learn another convoluted method of attacking. The characters respond quickly and lend themselves well to multiple strategies.

Overall – 8

Great animation, good controls, interesting characters, replayability...you can't ask much more from a game. The only things keeping Last Blade from a higher score are the lack of an English dub (which would likely be whined about by anime fanboys) and somewhat limited selection of characters. Compared to other 2D fighters like Street Fighter Alpha 3 or the Marvel vs Capcom games, Last Blade seems puny on selection. But that’s what sequels are for. Give Last Blade a whirl if you get the chance.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/18/04