Perhaps one of the greatest things about Shodown as a fighter is the POW meter (or "rage gauge") down at the bottom of the screen. The meter fills as you take damage in a battle, and once full gives you a little extra burst of angry to help you hurt opponents. If you're an expert at the game taking on a newbie you probably won't like it all that much as it really helps level the playing field, but if you're a button-masher it's a nice little bonus for when you're near death.
At the time I first played Samurai Shodown in Uncle Larry's, I found the speed of the title rather remarkable – the warriors were fast and battles unfolded very quickly. In today's day and age, while the speed of the game hasn't slowed, other titles do seem to have caught up with it, because it no longer feels all that quick. It isn't slow, it's just not fast.
What Samurai Shodown still is, though, is fun. There are combos, but fewer than in a modern fighter. There are breakable things and weird little features, but compared to many of today's fighters, it's all very straightforward and simple. The game does come with the ability to play others on the PSN remotely, but we were unable to find anyone online to test our skills against (which, if we're being honest, probably saved us a whole lot of embarrassment). What really breaks my heart about it though is the fact that Uncle Larry shuttered his doors a number of years back and to this day when I play Samurai Shodown I find myself with a hankering for one of his Sicilian slices.
Samurai Shodown is rated T (Teen) by the ESRB for Animated Blood, Crude Humor, Violence. This game can also be found on: Wii and PSP.
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.