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Oh, the memories...
I still remember the day I walked into the Yaohan (a Japanese mall with a cool arcade in L.A.) and saw a then-unknown game called Samurai Shodown. I was a major SF junkie at the time, but I was getting burned out on it. As soon as I played SS, I was hooked. It wasn't the gameplay as much as the atmosphere and the stunning graphics. This wasn't just a game, it was a piece of art. From that point on I was constantly devising plans to get my hands on a Neo Geo just for SS, but it never materialized. Too rich for my blood you see. Sure, I got the SNES (i.e. poor man's) version, but it just wasn't the same was it? And so it came to be that I never got my hands on this great game.
Which brings us to the present. Lucky for us PSX owners, SNK has decided to bestow us with a SS I & II compilation, formally known as Samurai Spirits: Fencing Instructor Pack. But wait; aren't these games 2-D? The PSX can't handle a decent 2-D game, right? Read on to find out.
The game combines Samurai Shodown I & II on one disc, which, if you've never played them, are both mega-classics. Gameplay is rather basic, probably not up to recent SNK efforts, but the artistry and character designs for these games are truly in a class all their own.
Not content in merely giving us straight arcade ports, SNK has also added Training and Classmatch (Survival) Modes to the PlayStation version. The training mode is especially cool as it shows you combos to try, and you can even watch them in slow motion by holding the Select button! Very nice additions.
Yeah, yeah, but is it arcade perfect? Well, it's damn close, imo. Graphically, it does seem like frames are missing, but to be honest, it's been so long since I've played the arcade version I can't remember.
Also, as to be expected, there are loading times. _Long_ loading times. Loading times before intros, loading times before matches, loading times before victory quotes, loading times before loading times... At first this was a major bummer, but then I realized that the Demo Cut option reduces the loading time significantly. The downside to this is that you miss some of the cool intro and victory scenes. Oh well, it's your choice.
The sound is excellent, which is really good news, as these two games both feature really atmospheric soundtracks. It's a pleasure hearing "Shobu Ari!" and "Ippon!" all over again.
As I said earlier, the gameplay isn't really the main attraction to SS I & II, imo. But at least the PSX version is faithful to the arcade in this aspect. I haven't seen any slowdown yet, even with two Earthquakes on the screen.
This game is available as an import only, but no need to worry. Like other fighting games, you'll get through it just fine, even if you don't understand Japanese. There is no option to set the text to English (bummer!).
Overall, I'd recommend this game to fans of the arcade versions that never bought a Neo Geo. It may not win over any new fans, but it's a great blast from the past for arcade veterans. Just remember to trun that Demo Cut option on! BTW, there's no plans for Saturn version anytime soon, so this will probably be as good as it gets.
PROS: * Great atmosphere and graphics
* Added Training and Survival Modes
* Both classics on one disc
* Relatively affordable compared to Neo Geo cart versions
CONS: * Very long loading times (better if you trun Demo Cut on)
* Frames are probably missing