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Having had the game now for more than a week and having thoroughly played and enjoyed it, it's time for a review of this interesting fighter. I use the word interesting because while it's very playable, and chock full of surprises, it feels, I don't know, incomplete somehow.
Rurou ni Kenshin, based on the hit Shonen Jump manga and TV anime (a good English title would be Kenshin The Wanderer, though it's woefully inadequate) is set in Japan at the beginning of the Meiji era, practically right after Perry opened up Japan at gunpoint - a time of great social upheaval and change. At its heart is Kenshin Himura, a legendary ronin who takes up with a struggling kendo school. There are seven playable characters, with one hidden boss - who, like Sho of Toshinden fame, shows up if you beat the game on hard.
Among the modes are Story Mode (where you start off as Kenshin and afterwards can switch between Kenshin and his rival cum ally Sanosuke), VS Com, and VS Player. At the Option screen you can set difficulty (Easy, Normal and Hard), time (30,45,60,off),controller configuration, etc.
The fighting system is the same as Zero Divide - not altogether surprising, seeing as while it is an SCE title, the programming and production was done by Zoom. In a lot of ways, Kenshin can be called ZD 1.5 - movement is a lot smoother, it's easier to do special moves (though there are fewer of them - I expect that to change with more experimentation ;-) ), and there's no popup in the polygons. This game is a joy to look at. Speaking of, the intercut anime pieces (33 at last count) are great to look at too (they're letterboxed!), and are taken for the most part from the TV show.
So what's wrong? Nothing - or everything, depending on how into fighting games you are. Since this is a title-driven game, not only do you have to make sure that the gameplay is extremely balanced (so that you don't alienate the market of choice - i.e. the fans of the series - as well as the fighting game fanatics), characters are pretty much limited in the type and styles of attacks they can do to what has been seen either on TV or in print. This is not a bad thing necessarily, especially if you're a fan of the series, but if you're not, then you might experience some frustration with the number of specials per character. I can see some gamers, after having played for a bit, thinking, "Man, this could be Bushido Blade Jr. if they'd only..."
Also, in these times of Tekken 2 (25 characters), KOF 95 (26), and the soon-to-be-released TSD3 (30+!), seven playable characters and one hidden boss seems like way too few to be viable. I'd agree, except for two things: in story terms, the game covers Kenshin's time in Tokyo, so all the major players *are* represented. One reviewer in Japan's Playstation Magazine commented in his review, "I wish they'd included characters from the Kyoto chapter..." Secondly, we're talking about the maniacs from Zoom here. There were so many Easter Eggs in Zero Divide the Easter bunny had to be given a cut of the net! People were finding new things in the game six months after initial release! And there's no reason to assume Kenshin is any different.
One of the nice things about the game is that you can save the animated sequences to the memory card (among other things). If you beat the game on Hard (no matter how many times you continue), in addition to getting Saito Hajime, you get all the anime sequences. If you've done this - and haven't checked this yet - look at anime sequences 29-31. How many potential hidden characters did *you* spot?
How to get them? Ah, that's a question for a potential FAQ :-)
Final analysis: if you're a fan of the series, you will love this game. If you like fighters, you'll enjoy playing this game. Zoom did a great game and they didn't skimp, but don't be surprised if you come away feeling that they could've done more...