Samurai Shodown Anthology (PS2) Is a great collection and a must for fans of the fighting game genre.
Samurai Shodown appeared in the arcades in 1993 and for me it was an instant quarter muncher. I mean this fighting game meant business. With every hack and slash you felt, you knew, you can actually SEE that you are doing some serious damage. Not to mention the blood spray from your fallen opponent (or your opponent getting sliced in half) I knew I had a new favorite arcade game. Also, a new favorite fighter: Haohmaru (I also like Nakoruru) great graphics and awesome gameplay for its time too.
So, I was only able to get my hands on the Super Nintendo version and I'm here to say that it just wasn't the same. In fact it seemed smaller and watered down. But, hey at least I HAD the game at home minus using a ton of quarters.
Samurai Shodown II changed everything for me in 1994. It was THE game to play and one of the best fighting games ever made. It was such a dramatic improvement from the first one. The graphics were colorful and crisp, the audio was improved, and the gameplay was like butter smooth. Plus, you got to play with new characters like Cham Cham (the younger sister of Tam Tam) and Nicotine Caffeine. The stages are BEAUTIFUL in this game. Such vibrant colors! I also (and it is a minor touch) I do like that fireball effect before the first fight begins.
I played Samurai Shodown III in Japan on the PS1 and to be honest I didn't like it as much as the previous two. The characters, graphics, music, even the gameplay just seemed lacking. But, I do love the whole series and it is one of my favorite fighting game series.
To my excitement I found out that Samurai Shodown Anthology was being released for the PS2 I was tracking it, wish listing it, and awaiting the release of this game. Note to video game companies: You keep releasing old school compilations and I WILL keep buying them! well, I finished the entire collection in a day or two. It's great and every game is just like I remembered them. Samurai Shodown II, my favorite game in the whole series, has aged perfectly. Wow! it's still an excellent game. Every game in the collection is spot on! but, I wasn't prepared for what was next.
Samurai Shodown VI. I've never played this game EVER and I must say it is officially my 2nd favorite Samurai Shodown game. The amount of characters in this game is jaw dropping (just wish they didn't have a time limit to choose one!) you can even use the mascots! the title screen to this game is GORGEOUS (just love the artistic design in this game!) I'll be spending more time with this one for sure. It is a real treat! You also get a gallery, music and sound effects, and you get ALL the character endings so you don't even have to finish the game with each character to see his or her ending! I love the amount of options this game has.
Okay, so why didn't this game get a perfect 10? having my third favorite character in the games (Hanzo Hattori) in the games should be enough right? no, it's not. My first complaint in this bosses! I am tired of cheap bosses and the series is full of them between Amakusa, Minazuki Zankuro, and Gaoh Kyougoku Hinowanokami are so dang cheap. I didn't find the end boss of Samurai Shodown II cheap.
With that said there is also something else: I want the Samurai Shodown RPG! this would have been the perfect opportunity to release this game! you got all the great Samurai Shodown games how about include the RPG maybe on a bonus disc? call me greedy but, I really want to play this game.
After all that this game is a MUST BUY! you get a great cast of characters, interesting storylines, EXCELLENT graphics (I, II, and VI especially) awesome shogunate music, and nice gameplay. To me the Samurai Shodown series ranks up there with the Street Fighter series, Tekken series, Virtua Fighter series and so on. my complaints are MINOR (though the bosses are cheap/no Samurai Shodown RPG) it is still an awesome disc full of the best that the fighting game genre has to offer. The path that you must choose is Samurai Shodown Anthology.