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Wii
Samurai Spirits: Rokuban Shoubu
- New Import, In Stock |
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NCS Game Synopsis
«©NCSX»
SNK has compiled nearly all of their fighting games
onto Neo Geo Online Collections over the past few
years including King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, and
even World Heroes Perfect. Love for Samurai Spirits
was lacking. Until now. A collection of six Samurai
Spirits titles mastered on a single DVD ships
this week at the price of JPY4800. The games are:
» Samurai Spirits
» Shin Samurai Spirits: Haohmaru Jigokuhen
» Samurai Spirits: Zankuro Musouken
» Samurai Spirits: Amakusa Kourin
» Samurai Spirits Zero
» Samurai Spirits: Tenkaichi Kenkakuden
Succinctly, that's Samurai Shodown 1-6. Features
include 2-play online bouts, original and newly
arranged BGM, character color editing, a practice
mode, and the ability to check out special moves at
any time by pausing the game.
Bonus Schwag
Early preorders for Rokuban Shoubu will ship with a
bonus Samurai Spirits Towel as photographed below in 50% ratio.
Relevant Links
»
Official SNK Website with
information on all Samurai Spirits games
Jan Code:
4964808700110
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NCS Game Notes
» In the intro to the game, multiple sprays of
cherry blossoms jet through the air followed by an
animated scroll that unfurls and shows sketches of
the various characters. Next, video screens
which depict Samurai fighting action appear on
scrolls which are also unfurled and stream across
the length of the screen.
» The title screen shows Haohmaru recreating his
pose from the cover of Samurai Spirits V with his
sword hefted over his shoulders. If you allow the
game to run on demonstration, it'll boot up all of
the Samurai games in sequence and show the
introductions, the title screens, and well as a
short amount of actual gameplay. It's a nice way to
revisit all of the Neo Geo Samurai games that you've
played and loved through the years.
» Either the analog stick on the Nunchuk or the Wii
Remote may be used to make selections on the game
menu. If using the Wii Remote, you'll control a little hand-pointer
that moves around the screen to select the different
modes and options. Control in the game is handed
through a combination of the Nunchuk and the Wii
Remote. That's it.
» We were hoping the Wii edition of the first
Samurai Spirits would be better than the PS2
conversion but it's the same. In fact, all of the
games are the same as the PS2 versions.
» Nintendo didn't censor the blood in the game. It's
just as ruddy and splashy as the PS2 games.
» The Wii version of the game doesn't support online
fighting. In place of the Neo Geo Online Collection
selection in the main menu, there's a Mini-Game
option that was designed especially for the Wii.
» Press START and the Neo Geo Online menu template
pops into view. A faint image of Samurai Spirits
stages slowly scrolls in the background. The
following game modes are selectable:
Top Row from the left to the right:
●
ARCADE MODE
●
PRACTICE MODE
●
Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi
●
MINI-GAME
Bottom Row from left to right:
●
Memory Card Save/Load
●
Controller Configuration
●
Monitor or Television Adjustment
●
Sound Setting
●
Character Edit
» The quality of the game conversions is very good
overall but please read further below on our
opinions of the six games included in the
collection. Overall, they sound about right, the
controls feel like we're sitting in front of a Neo
Geo, and the visuals are near 1:1. They're so 1:1
that the shadows flicker fiercely in the early
Samurai games. The fighters also undulate when
standing in place like we remember from back in the
day.
» We get questioned about what controller we use
when playing Neo Geo Online Collection games every
time we post one of these up. We're staunch Hori
Real Arcade Pro users. Failing that, the PS2 version
of the original Neo Geo joystick is pretty good but
it doesn't match up to the feel and solid assurance
of a HRAP.
» The blood runs ruddy. On all six games. We
checked. The blood in Samurai Spirits V spurts out
in rather copious fashion.
» Press Start in Tenkaichi and the game modes are:
ARCADE MODE
VS MODE
PRACTICE MODE
SURVIVAL MODE
SPIRITS EDIT MODE
COLOR EDIT MODE
GALLERY MODE
NETWORK MODE
OPTION MODE
EXIT TO MAIN MENU
»
Quick and Durty (self-sic) run-through of all six
games in the collection
» Samurai Spirits
Why doesn't Earthquake animate in the character
selection screen? He just stands there like a
boulder. That was the first sign that something was
amiss.
(Correction: Earthquake doesn't animate in
the original Neo Geo version either).
The animation and movement of the game
doesn't feel like the Neo Geo original even though
the music and sound effects are pretty close. The
controls feel somewhat off and the frame rate isn't
up to par. The camera also does not focus in and out
smoothly like the Neo Geo original. The game plays
okay however so it's not a total loss but if you're
looking for a replacement for your Neo Geo
cartridge, this ain't it. What happened, SNK?
» Shin Samurai Spirits
What a relief. The second Samurai Spirits moves and
executes more like the Neo Geo game we know and
love. The game is a much improved conversion that
feels true to the original although it's not
perfect. The camera scroll isn't as smooth as the
Neo original but better than what we saw in the
first game. The voices and sound seem slightly off
kilter but we didn't have a chance to power up the
Neo original this morning for a side-by-side
comparison.
» Samurai Spirits III
Another faithful conversion that play well and
moves fast. Check out the beautiful detail on the
fighters and the subtle movements during the game.
Sword slashes will cause sheets of blood to erupt
from enemies which we found amusing.
» Samurai Spirits IV
The travesty that was Samurai Spirits is forgotten
once we get to SSIV. Great conversion that's blazing
fast and controls wonderfully. Check it out with a
HRAP and feel the love. For our first match, we used Nakoruru against Sogetsu and whacked him out in 18
seconds flat. It is ironic that SNK botched the very
first SS which should have been the easiest to do
but redeemed themselves in the later games which
required much more memory when they were released on
the Neo.
» Samurai Spirits V
Another excellent conversion that plays, feels, and
sounds fairly close to the Neo original. The only
thing that SNK couldn't get right in all of the
Samurai conversions is the camera movement when
fighters range near and far to each other. In the
Neo Geo original, the camera moves in and out
effortlessly and with natural fluidity. In the PS2
conversions, the camera isn't as smooth and in some
cases, it's abrupt.
» Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi Kenkakuden
The version of Tenkaichi Kenkakuden included is NOT
the same as the PS2 version which was released last
year. The included game is a port of the Atomiswave
original which is inferior (in our opinion) to the
PS2 conversion. The game plays well however and is
another very good port of the Atomiswave game. A
gallery mode in the game allows you to view the
ending animation sequences for all of the characters
right off the bat without accomplishing anything,
listen to the BGM in the game, and view a number of
illustrations of the characters in Tenkaichi.
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This document is ©NCSX 2008. 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.
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