Samurai Shodown

"Far from the arcade version, but still a good game"

The game
Samurai Shodown set many standards for the fighting game genera. For its time Samurai Shodown had amazing graphics and sound. The picture would zoom in and out depending on how close your characters were to each other and it had a beautiful traditional Japanese soundtrack. Oh, don't forget the cheesy awkward translation of the win quotes ^_^. The SNES conversion wasn't able to capture all of this, but the home conversion is still fun to play.

Graphics
First of all, there is no way the SNES can match the RAM capabilities of the Neo Geo. A lot was taken out of the game as far as how it looks. If you're familiar with the arcade version, the first think you'll notice is that the screen no longer zooms in and out. The characters have been sized down considerably, and their animations have been cut down as well. The backgrounds are all there, with less color, detail, and animation. Another thing that arcade fans will notice is that in these battles to the death, nobody dies. In fact, I don't think anyone even gets cut really. You guessed it, all the blood has been taken out. In addition to that, after you best your opponent 2 out of three rounds, they get up off the ground as if to say, “ouch that hurt, good fight though, I'll see you around!”

Sound
What was sacrificed in graphics is more than made up for in sound. The sound doesn't match the arcade version of the game, but it is still very well done. When you turn the game on and watch the intro screens, you'll notice a Dolby Surround logo at the bottom. Yes, Dolby Surround sound! I highly recommend going out and buying an AV cable for your Super Nintendo to enjoy this sound. All the sounds come out very nice, from the deep pounding drums in the background, to the “ching” of swords clashing. If your character jumps from one side of the screen to the other, you'll hear him/her take off from one side and land on the other (make sure the game is set for stereo and not mono). The music sets the mood of the game beautifully. Traditional Japanese music, soft at some points and intense at others is perfect. Just like the battle of two samurai.

Game play
The game play stays in tact. All the moves are there, you can still come back from far behind with a well timed hard attack, and you can also lose your lead from a badly timed attack. The game's slowdown can be a problem sometimes, but it's just a matter of getting used to it.

Recommendations
Rent this game first, or buy it used. If you have a Sega Genesis, look for that version also so you can compare. The characters are slightly larger and the slowdown isn't as bad as the SNES version, but the sound is terrible.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 09/03/02