‘Samurai Shodown IV ACA NEOGEO’ Review – A Razor-Sharp Blade, Slightly Blunted – TouchArcade

Not like the Steel Slug collection, SNK’s well-liked Samurai Shodown hasn’t seen a lot illustration on cell. A bit over eight years in the past, Dotemu did a cell model of Samurai Shodown II for SNK. A stable selection, because it tends to be the preferred installment. As a part of its opening line-up of cell Arcade Archives, Hamster has opted to deliver us Samurai Shodown IV ($3.99), one other collection favourite.

Contemplating the dependable nature of another SNK collection, Samurai Shodown has been remarkably inconsistent. As such, it’s uncommon to seek out anybody that loves each entry within the collection. Samurai Shodown IV‘s reputation comes from a couple of enhancements over its predecessor. Some characters minimize from the third sport make their return, the visuals got a extra cartoonish look, air blocking was eliminated, and a tide-turning Rage Explosion transfer was carried out. When used, it sacrifices your POW meter for the rest of the match in change for a lift in power. You can even commit seppuku, which not solely denies your opponent the satisfaction of victory but in addition begins you off the subsequent spherical with a full POW meter. Oh, and there’s additionally the Deadly Slash, which may flip the script in a single fell swoop.

In comparison with different one-on-one fighters, matches in Samurai Showdown video games may be swift and brutal. Samurai Showdown IV leans into that, and in consequence matches are fast-paced and full of life. There’s a specific taste to this collection that few others share, and it’s what retains gamers coming again even twenty-five years later. Is it well-suited to cell? Effectively, that’s one other query. Digital controls and combating video games don’t all the time combine nicely, and a number of the motions required on this sport are significantly vexing on a digital pad. To make issues worse, multiplayer is native solely and requires you to have an additional exterior controller.

In case you’ve learn my review of Steel Slug 5, the entire choices and options talked about there apply right here. You possibly can play each the Japanese and Abroad variations of the sport, attempt a one-credit rating assault, or go for a Caravan run to see what number of factors you’ll be able to rack up in 5 minutes. You get save states, and a big selection of choices for issue, button format, video and audio, and extra. There are on-line leaderboards as nicely, which is the one actual on-line interplay with different gamers on supply right here.

The sport has help for exterior controllers, and it makes an enormous distinction for people who use them. In any other case, you’re caught with the digital controls right here, they usually’re about nearly as good as they are often. There are many choices for customizing them simply the way in which you want, if nothing else. However until you’ve an exterior controller or two, you’re probably enjoying Samurai Shodown IV utilizing digital controls in opposition to the CPU opponent. It simply isn’t one of the simplest ways to go about experiencing this one. The worth is affordable and the bundle is nice, however the transition to cell hits this sport tougher than it’d some others.

Supplied you’re used to enjoying fighters with digital controls (or have some exterior controllers) and don’t thoughts that you just’re probably going to be confined to single-player battles, you most likely gained’t discover this to be an disagreeable pick-up in any respect. The sport itself is superb, simply one of many higher fighters from a console the place that assertion actually means one thing. However it’s simply troublesome sufficient to expertise the sport the way in which it’s meant to be performed with this specific model to maintain me from recommending it with an excessive amount of vigor.