You are going to have to slowdown for this shodown.
Overview
If one was to look at the ways of playing a SNK game on a different system, you were guaranteed it was going to be not a great translation. Some people did not mind the fact some copies would be missing stuff from the original, but sometimes it just becomes like a recurring nightmare. Sony’s Playstation One and SNK games were known not to go hand in hand with the few games that were produce. Actually, any 2D fighting within Sony’s first gaming system never came out to good reception.
Welcome, Samurai Shodown III jumping into this realm. Fresh off of what some people call a hit or miss for fans who had played the arcade version, this version would be essential to those who did not have the Neo Geo console at home. However, did the customer make a smart decision? The answer can be yes and no, which will be explained further into the review.
Graphics 6/10
Due to the structure of how the Sony Playstation system works, most games that were in 2D had certain details of graphics taken away from their original state. This adaptation got some portions kept one hundred percent, while other suffered some obviously removed. The backgrounds for the stages all looked well, having no noticeable showing of flaws unless you were dissecting it to the core.
The big culprit is seen in the animation of fighters and fonts. The intermission scenes do maintain their arcade counterparts, but from there you can point it out pretty badly during the fighting action, pausing or even just watching it when you are still playing. If you are too lazy to find them, check out the selection screen where nobody moves and the characters’ names are skinner. Also, witness how Basara’s infamous naked wife to bones win pose had tons of movement in the arcade, but now turned into a three page flip book disaster in this rendition.
Now, if you played Playstation One games many times, you would know about the “Now Loading…” phrase inputted in just about anything that needs it. In true fashion, this port of Samurai Shodown III has it, for the usual several seconds to switch to one spot to another. That is not the problem if you have patience, as the way they showcase the loading screen is just lame and downright annoying to look at. Just seeing the words, growing smaller and bigger while in waiting, it hurts your eyes and wish for it to be done soon.
Gameplay/Controls 5/10
What can I say about the playfulness of the game? Well, for starters it is a little slow. In regular battle, you will notice lagging for a few seconds when some warrior’s moves are performed, especially in supers. Speaking as a casual player, I really saw no problem with the Slash and Bust of any of the warriors during this time. Although, the AI was a lot more willing to get hit by any supers, whom normally they would simply block it and punish for even trying to use it in the arcade fights.
For those who did not like the unbalance issue before where fights ended in mere seconds, this will brighten up your days. Not because they fixed it, but since the battles are slower, it will feel like you will get to play each round in an acceptable moderate amount of time. So there is some good news, if you consider that good news.
The controls are much easier to do and executing desperation moves are a whole lot simpler, making it great to crank one out, as oppose to the arcade one, trying three to fives to do it, but that’s just me. The initial setups, for the main buttons, are lousy in terms of attacking purposes. For them going clockwise, in the order of the arcade commands, makes for a totally bad experience. You will be happy to have memory card in hand so who can put them to liking and never go back to them again. The shoulders buttons are there for you to perform special actions with no interference. No more do you have to worry about doing sidesteps when you wanted to charge up the rage meter.
Sound/Music 8/10
The sound effects transferred to the Playstation One version okay. They are some minor delays in how the voice effects come a little later then when they are assigned to. Like if someone is cut in half, you can surely expect them to let out their death cry maybe a second or two later they been slice. Sometimes the announcer will not been heard at all when it is time to single a conclusion or a player scored a perfect.
It may seem like that game has had nothing going for it, but if you were to get enhanced by the music, that is a totally different story. They are given a complete overhaul and become a high point of this edition, with the closely authentic strums and banging of traditional Japanese music. In some ways, it calms the player a little to even out the problems plaguing the game. A stress reliever, if you will.
Replay Value 4/10
Of course, a usual fun factors of the game are the single story mode and versus for two players. That we already know. The downside to that is their really nothing to do after that, especially when the story endings are not that interesting. The only other choices was to watch a “How to Play” demo in case you were too lazy to read the instruction booklet and of course the options to alter controls, time speed, and difficulty. A practice mode would have done wonders if it was put in it.
If it is any consolation prize, there is a cheat code for you to play Zankuro, but only in versus mode. This review was created about twelve years after it was release, so it may not be a total lost as there are people out there considering this game as a sought after game to add to their collections, willing to buy it off of you, for a decent price. Not bad, if you some of your money back from when you made your purchase.
Overall 5/10
Blades of Blood: Samurai Shodown III is sweet and sour on both ends. Many fans and players liked the changes, while many did not. The particular segment done on Playstation One did not really make any of the people’s opinions look at it for the better.
You could say most players knew what was going to happen as seen back when King of Fighters’ 95 came out for the Sony system. It is hard to find one today, but if you loved the updated soundtrack, you should keep it. Any other reason of why you would want it is really up to you.
- by Boombada
