Stop me if I've told you this story of my youth before…
Growing up I spent a number of Friday night's at the local pizza place. Although it was officially known as "King Pizza," everyone in my town referred to it as "Uncle Larry's" because Larry owned it and Larry was an incredibly nice man (plus, he made a mean pizza). The place was divided in two, with a restaurant in the back and a pizza parlor up front. While my friends and I occasionally ate in the back, more often than not, we'd grab a couple of slices and sit in one of the booths up front. It was easier, faster, and less expensive that way. Plus, you could chat with Uncle Larry and you could sink a virtually endless number of quarters into the NeoGeo arcade cabinet he had there.
Uncle Larry had the four game arcade cabinet, and quite honestly I couldn't tell you what any of the titles in it were save for Samurai
Shodown. While waiting for a slice (or two) of pepperoni, a friend and I would put quarter after quarter after quarter into the machine, each trying to get the best of the other. While I would like to tell you that more often than not I came out on top, I think we were actually quite evenly matched (probably because we were equally good—or bad—at button-mashing).
The original Samurai Shodown has gone on to spur an entire franchise, and now the original is available on your PS3 via the PlayStation Network in the newly launched "NeoGeo Station." As you may have suspected, "NeoGeo Station" is what SNK Playmore is calling the NeoGeo group of titles on the PSN (although who wouldn't love a new NeoGeo system?). The titles are also getting a release on the PSP via the PlayStation Store.
Samurai Shodown is nothing more or less than a two-person, two dimensional fighter. It operates in the exact same manner as a Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, or Tekken title. Stop, wait, just relax for a second – yes, I understand that all those titles have differences from one another and feature their own particular quirks, but the point of them all is to bash the other guy enough times so that they can't get up again. In Shodown, you have got a life bar running at the top of the screen, there's a timer counting down to the end of the round, and you have to beat the guy twice in order to take on someone new.
The game seems to be completely intact from the old arcade version, with 12 fighters, great music, and the ability to knock away your opponent's weapon (something it was well-known for at the time). There are even some 
breakable items on the various levels, though nowhere near as much as what you see today in a fighter. The graphics haven't been tweaked either, and show 4:3 with a background picture extending past the edges on a 16:9 television. The game's instructions are also original, so it may take some time for you to figure out (or remember once you do initially learn) exactly what button as described in the game translates to what button on your controller.
Article comments
1 - OSG
The article made me remember my old hang out spot with arcade games in it. It was a bowling alley in Long Beach, NY in the early 80's. It is now closed but I remember and miss those simple times of youth.