"Forget SSV/Zero, SNK makes a keeper!"

Being a HUGE fan of Samurai Shodown 1, I fell in love with the series. Shin Samurai Spirits (Samurai Shodown 2), I kinda felt SNK didn't do such a spectacular job, and could have worked on it a little more. The game felt a bit too gimicky. Samurai Shodown 3 thankfully I didn't play until much later, and most people put my expectations pretty low. It turned out not to be horrible, but not great either. Samurai Shodown 4 was a step in the right direction, and I was pretty satisfied with most of the new features and changes (Bust/Slash was in my opinion a great unique idea). So I expected after a long hiatus, Yuki/SNK would make Samurai Spirits Zero/SSV pretty darn good. Oh man was I ever disappointed. Looking at Samurai Shodown VI (SSTK), and it being released relatively soon after SSV, I thought it might be simply just a small upgrade of V, and not much more.

Well, thankfully I can say SNK did a one heck of a job with VI.

Graphics: 7/10
It's a slight improvement over the blocky outdated sprites, but it's still not as high-res as they could be. Maybe I'm spoiled with Guilty Gear, but it's still not as low-res and problematic as Capcom VS SNK 2.

The backgrounds and scenery aren't particularly stunning and the interface and menus aren't too great either. In fact, the dialogue sequences make the background look squished and strange.

Now the character art is excellent. Maybe I'm a sucker for anime-style art, but I thought it was well done, and it's a lot cleaner and proportionate than some of the later KoF games and previous Samurai Spirits games. My only wonder is, SNK seems to really want to try to make Iroha's chest a major selling point. It seems to be all over the box art, game disc, and instruction booklet.

Sound: 6/10
Very very mediocre. Some parts just make the game feel odd. The V.S. screen for example, the lack of music and the doors closing for loading just sound...well...stupid.

The music for the battle sequences is well done though, it has a nice classic feel and appropriate to the environment. Some other BGM however seems either out-of-place or cheap. The intro music for example is cheesy.

The voices and sound effects are pretty much all classic Samurai Shodown. If you liked the feel of 4, you won't mind this at all. Not quite the same "oomph" as 1, but better than a few of the others. Some of the voices are awesome (Rasetsumaru, Sankuro), some are just straight up annoying (Kyoshiro, Mina, and Iroha come to mind). I suppose if you want to annoy your opponent, it could be to your advantage.

Gameplay: 8/10
You'll either like this or hate it. I loved it. It's a huge improvement over 5 (Zero) anyhow.

One of my biggest problems with SSV was the tremendously unbalanced life bar. Some moves took way too much life bar, others just didn't do enough. The game also didn't feel complete, and the super meter wasn't anything I could figure out. VI fixes a lot of those issues.

A great feature with VI is that you now have the choice of your super meter, much like the Capcom VS SNK series. The super meter/evades now depend on what type of fighting style you prefer, including modes from previous Samurai Shodowns. While there are some slightly confusing additions, the game's "default" is a new one that's fairly balanced.

Most of the moves are thankfully easy enough to do. No more learning super complex moves to do supers, everyone pretty much has the same basic super. Additionally, supers don't even do a tremendous deal of damage, especially depending on which fighting style you're using.

One big complaint I have however are the priorities. Some moves have some strange priorities over others, even if the pixels reach the opponent (for example, Charlotte has some weird problems countering a few of Seiger's moves with her jumping strong slash; a problem that was very much inherent in previous SS's, but I thought was given much lower priority than it deserved). Also throws have strange priorities that can get rather abusive as well. While it doesn't pay to try throwing your opponent every time (since recovery is slow, and it doesn't inflict a lot of damage), it still can royally screw over your opponent even though they should normally be invincible. A good majority of supers also have a little too much of low priorities, but again, if you connect a super, a lot don't do a great deal of damage.

Another problem is a feature while I thought is great (while being a great feature itself): losing your sword. There aren't nearly enough moves you can do without your sword, and when you pick up your sword (assuming your opponent isn't keeping you far far away from it), you become completely vulnerable for almost a good second; that's far too long for you to get completely destroyed against a good player if they're ready for it.

Replay: 7/10
While I haven't quite figured out how the unlock system works yet (I'm guessing by how many points you finish the game with), it'll keep your trying to unlock the game, since the last boss is rather...well let's put it this way, it's SNK. They're infamous for making ridiculously cheap last bosses. This game isn't an exception.

The only problem I have is that there isn't too much to unlock, and only two character locked with all the bosses enabled by default (or at least the previous bosses such as Amakusa and Mizuki)? Come on SNK. Make us work harder.

But the crazy amount of characters on the roster will keep you occupied for quite a while.

Overall: 8/10
So how come I gave this an 8 rather than a 7? It's been a while since SNK has made a real solid fighter that's fun to mess with and enjoy as a fighter, especially against other people. It's not as insanely deep as, say, King of Fighters, but it's a Samurai Shodown/Spirits title that does the series justice.

If you've been waiting for a good Samurai Spirits title, forget V and get this one.

It's definitely not perfection, and don't expect a super complex, but it's definitely fun.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/06/06