|
NDS
Shin Sangoku Musou DS: Fighter's Battle -
New, In Stock |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
NCS
Game Synopsis
«©NCS»
The
expansive battlefields and armies of Shin Sangoku
Musou migrate from the Playstation 2 to the confined
interiors of the Nintendo DS. SSM: Fighters features
the same theme and spirit of the "bigger" Sangoku
Musou games but the execution and experience is on a
much smaller scale. Prior to
the Nintendo DS, Koei's Sangoku Musou has gone
portable before on the PSP which was a fairly
faithful rendition of the PS2 original. The NDS
version can't match the technical aspects of the PSP
or PS2 games and sacrifices were made to scale the
game downwards. For one, the action is throttled
down into a very straightforward and rigid hack fest
with the occasional special attack thrown in to mix
up the action. Collecting coins from fallen enemy
soldiers gives players the currency to ignite meteor
strikes, earthquakes, and other specials.
|
|
|
NCS
Game Notes
» Take control of a
general and hit the Warring States territories to slash your way
to victory. The crowds aren't as thick as the PS2
versions of the game and the action isn't as
impressive but for the NDS, it's pretty much par for
the course. The flavor of SSM is retained with
generals rushing into battlefields and destroying
legions of enemy forces. There's a limit of 20 enemy
soldiers on screen at any one time.
» Attacks may be chained in 4-thrust sequences.
After the fourth thrust, the game engine enforces a
half-second lapse before you can attack
again. Special elemental attacks are triggered by
pressing a single button (Y) while fast-twitch melee
attacks are activated by pressing just the (A)
button. The (X) button activates and uses the Musou
meter on the bottom of the screen which sends out a
swirling tornado that wrecks everyone in the local
area.
» Character cards may be collected and the general
that the card represents used in battle. Before each
battle, the general cards may be selected to include
in your deck. The game features over 100 cards to
collect and use.
» Armories may be set up on the battlefield to
replenish supplies.
»
Bosses are fought inside a grassy pen that looks
like something that farmers would use to corral
livestock. Bosses aren't too difficult to beat but
you'll basically have to use run, gun, and guard
tactics to avoid their substantial attacks while
smacking on the fly.
While a boss battle is in play, kobun coins and
steamed buns appear on the field which may be
collected. To defend against attacks, hit the
L-Trigger. Collected coins are tracked on the
lower-right corner of the screen and may be used to
trigger various effects by pressing the (Y) button
including a meteor strike and a local area
earthquake. The icon for the meteor strike looks
more like a flaming cube of caramel than a mighty
celestial body.
»
Similar to the recent PS2 Musou games, the enemies
attack aggressively as a group and don't hang back
as much as the soldiers in the original Musou games.
Archers in the distance also attack regularly and
they'll send arrows at you that sail across the air
in straight trajectories.
»
If you smack an enemy soldier into the air you can
keep hitting him in a sword swinging juggle until
dead.
»
While battling, the enemy will assail you with
magical effects including a freeze effect, slowdown,
shadowy magic which obscures your hero, and a "lose control" effect where the
d-pad doesn't work to move the hero as it should.
»
The most enemies we encountered on the battlefield
in our early morning testing was 16. The game showed
no signs of slowdown as arrows flew through the air,
enemies attacked, and our fast moving hero scattered
their ranks.
»
Picking up a steamed bun recovers about 1/5 of your
HP.
»
A combo counter on the lower-left corner of the
screen keeps track of your consecutive hits but if
you don't score a hit within 1 second of the last
hit, the combo chain is broken.
»
Battles take place on standard battlefields with
breakable rocks which reveal secret passageways and
some battles take place on a ship that rocks to the
left and right. If you don't move
while on board the ship, you'll slide to and fro with the
seesaw motion of the ship.
» A decent effort by Koei to bring the majesty of
Shin Sangoku Musou to the Nintendo DS but fans of
the PS2 versions looking for the same exact
experience won't find it here.
|
|
This document and photos are ©NCSX 2007. All rights
reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of
this document may be made without express written
consent of National Console Support, Inc. |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
