The new Atomiswave Samurai Shodown

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 2:28 am

I saw the new Samurai Shodown (Samurai Spirits) location test at the Sega arcade in Akihabara the other day... despite the arcade not normally being all that busy, there was a HUGE line to try out SS. WAY larger than the line to play any of the shmup location tests I've been to actually - even Mushihime-sama.

I didn't get to play it due to the wait, but I did watch the game for a little while. It looks like it's classic SS, with few changes - but that's both a good thing and a bad thing. There didn't seem to be any real combo system in place still (SS has never been about combos, really) and there were still long, dramatic pauses after blocks and weapons hitting each other.

Some things that -are- good about the game though: 1) Graphics. The levels and characters look really good. In fact, they're the best looking sprites I've seen in an Atomiswave game yet. 2) Large amount of characters. Some really cool looking new ones too, and plenty of old-timers. According to the number of boxes on the offical game homepage, there should be 42 (!!!) characters. I -think- I saw Cham-cham in there too, but I'm not sure... please, please say she's in...

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 2:35 am

Hmm, do you have a link to that official page? It's about darn time SNK updated its sprites, at least...

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 2:55 am

Yes, I saw an ad for this in Arcadia and it looks great. A nice spiced-up version of Sam Sho V is what it appeared to be. Which is hardly a bad thing as part five is my favorite next to part two.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sun Jul 10, 2005 4:05 am

Must be pretty impressive to beat Mushi's now famous pansu girl. Makes me wish they do a superb job on Metal Slug 6.

Capt. Takehiko · Post by **Capt. Takehiko** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 4:08 am

Cthulhu wrote:Some really cool looking new ones too

I thought there was only one new character, Iroha.

BulletMagnet wrote:Hmm, do you have a link to that official page?

Can be found here.
Anyway, I heard complaints about there not being enough blood, can you confirm?

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 4:58 am

BulletMagnet wrote:Hmm, do you have a link to that official page? It's about darn time SNK updated its sprites, at least...

The SNKPlaymore page is all messed up because of the way they do PHP scripting, so it's hard to link directly to it... go to this link:

http://www.snkplaymore.jp/game/arcade/atomiswave.php

Then click on "Atomiswave" (in English) in the mid-lower left. It's the top game (title is all in Japanese), right above Neo Geo Battle Coliseum.

As for the number of new characters: No, there are several new characters, unless I'm horribly mistaken. I didn't notice much blood, but I wasn't really paying attention or looking for it.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 8:26 pm

Hmm, that is a pretty big cast so far...heck, it looks like they're bringing Caffeine and Wan Fu back! I'm not digging the official art, but as long as the actual game looks good I'll easily put up with that. And in all honesty I could care less about the blood.

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 8:28 pm

So the sprites have been redone? As much as I love Samurai Shodown, I'm not crazy about supporting another recylced, mix 'n match product from SNK.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:26 pm

sethsez wrote:So the sprites have been redone? As much as I love Samurai Shodown, I'm not crazy about supporting another recylced, mix 'n match product from SNK.

I had to stand several feet away from the machine, so I'm not sure. I -think- they're redone, but until I can see the game up close (which, um, might not happen until there's a port

) I can't say for sure.

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:20 am

It's the same thing they did for King of Fighters Neo Wave. Take old sprites and bump them up in resolution. It's not an entirely new game. This isn't an issue with me, as I love the gameplay too much to get mired in talk of "purity" but for some it could be disappointing.

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:32 am

I love the gameplay too, but I already have I-IV. No need for another one if it's just another minor tweak.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 1:49 am

If Cham-Cham is back I'll buy it. Period.

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 2:47 am

Samurai Shodown 5 sucks simply because the sound is irritating...fighting against that archer girl for example is just painful. They need to put some thought into that this time...

Unless that was all added into the PS2 port, I haven't tried emulated versions

Acid King · Post by **Acid King** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 10:15 pm

sethsez wrote:I love the gameplay too, but I already have I-IV. No need for another one if it's just another minor tweak.

If this one is like Zero/Five, then it's more than just a minor tweak (though i guess it'd be a minor tweak of Zero....). I got the PS2 port of Zero a few weeks ago and it plays quite a bit differently than IV. They took out sidestepping/sweep around, custom combos, changed the way the flash moves work and they went back to the single health bar and ditched slash/bust and upper/medium/beginner grades. .

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 10:22 pm

I'm not that interested really, although it's nice some old favourites have returned to the fray.

Acid King · Post by **Acid King** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:03 am

SheSaidDutch wrote:I'm not that interested really, although it's nice some old favourites have returned to the fray.

They need to bring back Gen An.

D · Post by D » Wed Jul 13, 2005 8:44 am

Don't understand why so few people are excited about the new Fist of the North Star fighting game.

Cool license
New Fighting game/totally new sprites, etc..
A new SS is nice, but it's still old stuff.

Oh well maybe the hype just hasn't started yet

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:06 am

Maybe because the previous FotNS games - both NES and Genesis versions - SUCKED?